Naruto X: Rewrite
by Blu Rose
Summary: Over 50 years into the future, mutant weapons have been created, an evil cult has risen, and the bijuu have been reborn into new hosts. One is Kazaki Nataro, host of the Kyuubi and incomplete reincarnation of Uzumaki Naruto. There's just one problem...R
1. New Adventure! New Team! New Naruto?

**Blu: Here it is! It's finally out! New and improved, it's the rewrite of…NARUTO X!!!**

**(*Sparse applause is heard in the background*)**

**Blu: Awww, come on! Be nice, you guys!**

**Naruto: How can they be nice? You've been stalling them longer than the fillers in the anime.**

**Blu: Yeah, well…it's difficult to rewrite over 40 chapters of a story, okay! But it was sure as hell easy to cut 'em down to size. Now the first part'll probably be 50 – 60 chapters long depending on whether or not **_**Time is NOT a Toy **_**is made into an arc of its own.**

**Kakashi: (While reading his smut book) Although, that was probably made easier with copying and pasting the story chapters from the original...**

**Blu: …Yes. Yes, it was. But anyway, without further ado…the first chapter of the revived Naruto X!!!**

_Summary: Over 50 years ago, Otogakure fell, Akatsuki was disbanded, and eight of the nine bijuu seemed to have disappeared, allowing the world to know peace. But now, things have changed. Two new forces are rising up and planning to cause chaos across the world, and the bijuu have been reborn into the bodies of new hosts. This is the story of Kazaki Nataro, a young boy who has just recently become a genin, is the new host of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and the reincarnation of the former host, Uzumaki Naruto. There's just one question... How is that possible when Naruto's still alive?! _

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

**"Out...**

**I want...out...**

**Let me...out..."**

**X-X-X**

_#1: A New Adventure! A New Team! New Naruto?!_

_Over 50 years ago..._

_The village of Otogakure fell..._

_The criminal syndicate Akatsuki was disbanded..._

_A runaway from Konoha had been returned..._

_And the boy that was once seen as a demon by his people...saved them...and became their hero..._

_Now, over 50 peaceful years later, the legend is reborn..._

**X-X-X**

The village of Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village, is still the most populated and varied ninja village in the world, even with the rise of new ninja villages and the fall of others. It had been years since a war was fought, and the village was relatively at peace with its neighbors. But within...it would tend to be chaotic.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?" A man shouted early one morning as he stood out in front of his home/shop.

"What's the matter, honey?" His wife called from within the store.

"Somebody vandalized our store!!"

"What?!" At that moment, a woman ran out of the building along with her young son. They stood up next to the man and stared up at the message written on it in paint.

"_'Vote Kazaki Nataro for Nanadaime Hokage'_?" The boy asked with an arched eyebrow. "It _couldn't_ be...!"

"What? Do you know who this vandal is?!" His father shouted as he began to pull on his hair in aggravation.

"Sure. He goes to the Ninja Academy. We're in the same class." The boy looked up at the graffiti once more. "He said _'As soon as I graduate, I'm gonna begin my campaign for the title of Hokage!'_ but none of us thought he was serious..."

"WHAT THE HELL?!?" Someone else shouted from down the street.

"Our house!!" A different person was heard.

"S-someone tagged my house!!" said one.

"Kazaki Nataro? Not _that_ goofball!" said another.

"Little brat!! I'm gonna report him to the Rokudaime for this!!"

**X-X-X**

Hours later, a young boy sat in front of an old man in an office within the village's administration building. He was about 12 to 13 years old with spiky blonde hair and sky blue eyes, wearing an open short-sleeved orange jacket that had been zipped down, with a large red spiral on the back and on the shoulders of the jacket, a long-sleeved black shirt, orange pants with black zigzags running down the sides, and a pair of black goggles with orange lenses over a Konoha hitai-ate that had been tied around his forehead. The boy pouted in frustration as he sat on the wooden chair, arms folded across his chest.

"I can't believe this..." The old man dressed in white and red robes, sitting behind the desk in front of the boy, sighed and rubbed his temples, brushing aside faded blonde and gray bangs as he did. "You graduated from the Academy just yesterday, didn't you? What possessed you to do such a dumb thing after that?"

"Hey, Gramps? Can we speed this up? I've got things to do and a ceremony to attend!" The boy stated as he squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner.

"I repeat: why did you go around last night tagging just about the _entire_ village, writing _'Vote Kazaki Nataro for Nanadaime Hokage'_?" The old man asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's for my campaign!"

The Rokudaime arched an eyebrow. "Campaign...?"

The blonde boy, Kazaki Nataro, was suddenly standing up on his seat. "My campaign for the title of Hokage!! Step one is already complete: I've graduated from Ninja Academy and I'm a full-fledged ninja now, so I can become Hokage!" He pointed a finger at the old man and gave a broad grin. "You may as well start calling me _'Nataro-sama'_ and give me the title of Nanadaime Hokage, old man!!"

The old man smiled and nodded knowingly. "…No can do." Nataro fell off of his chair and landed on his head. "You don't have the right..._qualities_ to become Hokage right now."

The young blonde sat on the floor and began to grit his teeth. "I do _too_ have the qualities to become Hokage!!"

"Do you know what those qualities _are_?" Nataro sweatdropped and folded his arms across his chest, muttering his thoughts out loud to himself. The Rokudaime shook his head. "If you don't know, then you're not ready to become Hokage yet!" _'Besides, I'm not sure if the people would want a vandal to become their leader,'_ he thought as a drop of sweat ran down the back of his head.

"Well..." Nataro looked up at him with squinted, fox-like eyes. "What _do_ I need in order to become Hokage?"

The Hokage smiled. "I'm not going to tell you~!"

"What?! That is _not_ fair!!"

"It wouldn't be fair if I told you, either."

The boy rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, nodding. "Yeah, I _guess_ you've got a point there, Gramps."

The old man nodded as well. "I do... And don't call me _'Gramps'_."

"Well, I best be getting to school!" Nataro said with a grin as he got to his feet and began to walk towards the door, only to be grabbed by the back of his collar by the Rokudaime. "Eh?! What's the big deal?!" He looked over his shoulder to glare at the old man, but his eyes widened from shock and sweat dripped down his face. "Gra...gramps...?"

The Hokage gave the young boy an almost demonic glare. "And where do you think _you're_ going? You've still got to clean up your mess, you know!"

"But-but-but I don't have time!!"

"You thought you were going to get out of this easy, huh? Well, think again!!"

"Ouch!! H-hey! Stop that!! Quit it, Gramps! Ow!!"

Outside of the office, the Hokage's secretary sweatdropped at the sound of the scuffle taking place. "Y'know... With the way he acts sometimes, you'd never guess that he was almost 70..."

**X-X-X**

Much later at the Leaf Village's Ninja Academy, a class of young ninja graduates were sitting around, chatting with their friends as they waited for their sensei to walk in. Among them was a young boy of 13 with shoulder-length raven-black hair that had been tied back into a low ponytail and chocolate brown eyes, wearing a short-sleeved gray shirt with a large red and white fan on the back and black pants, the Konoha hitai-ate tied loosely around his neck.

_'Where the heck is Nataro? Sensei's going to be here any minute!'_ The raven-haired boy known as Uchiha Hanzo thought as he sat behind his desk, waiting for his best friend to come. Why one of the smartest kids in their graduating class--and possibly the entire Academy--would want to be friends with someone like Nataro is a mystery, but they were friends. Hanzo looked up at the clock at the front of the room. _'Where are you...?'_

As the young Uchiha continued to wonder where his friend was, a 12-year old boy with short, somewhat messy red hair with short bangs that hung in front of his golden orange eyes, wearing a long-sleeved blue hoodie jacket, a sleeveless black shirt and knee-length dark red shorts with his hitai-ate tied around his left arm, walked towards a student. He was among the more delinquent and troublesome students because of his pyromanic tendencies. Some of the other students wondered if the teachers allowed him to pass simply because they didn't want to deal with him anymore.

"Yo, Konjo!" The redhead known as Temashi Kazemaru held out a video case to a boy with short indigo-colored hair that was slightly messy and pupilless white eyes, wearing a short-sleeved pale blue shirt with blue wave-like designs at the bottom and dark blue shorts that were just above his knees, bandages wrapped around his legs from his knees to his ankles, and a Konoha hitai-ate tied around his right arm. "Here's your video, it was really cool, gotta go, bye!" Kazemaru spoke quickly as he shoved the video into the blue-haired boy's arms, turned around and began to walk away quickly.

"Huh? Geez, thanks! I was almost worried that you forgot about it," said 12-year old Hyuga Konjo as he opened the video case. His jaw dropped at the sight of a video tape that appeared to have been broken in half and was badly put back together with duct tape. "Wh-wh-what?! M-my video!! Not _'__Trial by Fire'_!! It's been completely destroyed!!" In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Kazemaru and grabbed him by the back of his hood to stop him from getting away. "_Kazemaru_! What did you do to my _video_?!" The Hyuga boy growled as he gave his classmate the _Evil Eye_.

Kazemaru began to sweat. "Uh...! You see, I'm _really_ sorry that your video got broken, but I have a good explanation as to _why_ it was broken!"

"And _that_ would be...?"

At that moment, the door of the classroom opened and Nataro walked in, slumped over and dragging his feet with a haggard look in his eyes. He gave a groan of fatigue before proceeding up the steps. _'Damn that old man...!'_

The red-haired pyromaniac frowned and pointed at Nataro. "Y'see, it's all _Nataro's_ fault! He was running past me and knocked me down, which made me land on the video tape and accidentally crush it."

Konjo narrowed his eyes in thought. "Hmmm..." He looked up at Nataro, who was now sitting next to Hanzo in the upper seats, then looked at Kazemaru before he slumped over and sighed. "Oh... It's okay if it was an accident, I guess..."

_'Score!! Thank God he's so damn gullible!'_ The young pyromaniac thought, allowing a smirk to appear on his face for a moment.

"You've still gotta pay, though! Either get me a new copy of _'__Trial by Fire__'_ or I'll make you pay..._somehow_."

Kazemaru gave the Hyuga a half-lidded stare as he arched an eyebrow. "Is that a _threat_, White Eyes?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. If you don't wanna know, just pay me back."

_'Oooh, I'm __**so**__ afraid...!'_ The red-haired boy thought, mentally rolling his eyes as the class' sensei walked into the room.

"I still can't believe that you actually went and tagged just about every building in town..." Hanzo told Nataro, "And you didn't get in trouble!"

"What do you mean? I still have to clean up by the end of the day or Gramps'll have my hide!" Nataro collapsed onto the desk and groaned. "Future super-cool Hokage do _not_ clean up their messes! I've seen what his office looks like!"

The raven-haired boy sweatdropped. "Uh... Sure. Anyway, today's the day when we'll be placed onto teams, right? I wonder how they know who would make a good team...?"

"I don't know and I don't care," the blonde spoke, his speech muffled since he was lying facedown on the desk. "I just hope that I'll be on a team with you and not that _weasel_...!" He lifted his head to glare down at a girl who was sitting a few seats below. She had long, blue-tinted black hair set up into a high ponytail that reached the middle of her back and onyx-black eyes, and wore a sleeveless V-neck blue shirt with the red and white Uchiha fan on the back, knee-length black shorts with a pair of white vertical stripes on the sides, small Uchiha fan earrings and black elbow bands, her Konoha hitai-are tied around her forehead.

"Honestly, I don't see the point of keeping this rivalry going," said Hanzo as the Uchiha girl propped her elbow on the desk and placed her face in the palm of her hand, a bored expression in her eyes. "Once we're placed onto teams, the only way you'll see her again is if you're placed on the same team as her."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright, class, settle down!" The teacher spoke up as he stood before the young graduates. When they continued to mind their own business, he took a deep breath and shouted, "BE QUIET AND TAKE YOUR SEATS!!!" The children immediately quieted down and sat down in their seats. "Now then... As you all know, you are all now officially ninja of Konohagakure. As such, you're no longer children--"

"So I can get into X-rated shows and movies now?" Kazemaru called out from the back, making a couple of students laugh and snicker.

The teacher rolled his eyes. "No, Kazemaru...! It means that you all now have a responsibility: to aid the village and assist in its wellbeing. However, as you are genin and are inexperienced in missions, you'll be placed in teams of 3, led by a jonin superior who will train you." He pulled out a clipboard and cleared his throat. "I will call out the names of your team and team members. I'm only saying this once, so listen up!"

"Hmmm..." Nataro sat up and rubbed his chin in thought as the teacher began to call off teams. "Who would make an eligible 3rd member for our team?"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "_Our_ team? We don't even know if we're going to be on the same team."

"I know we will! There's no better person to be my teammate than you!" The blonde said with a wink. "Just wait and see!"

"There's no changing your mind, is there?" The raven-haired teen sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Well, I guess it could happen."

"Hyuga Konjo... Sekkei Shizuka... Uchiha Inahime--"

"YES!!!" Nataro exclaimed as he jumped onto his feet. "No Ina~! No worries~!" He started to laugh and whoop, which made all the other students sweatdrop. Hanzo hid his face in his hands and sank down into his seat, face red from embarrassment.

"Nataro!! You can jump for joy when _you're_ placed on a team!!" The teacher shouted.

"Yessir!" The blonde boy said quickly and sat down in his seat.

Hanzo glared at his friend from the corner of his eye. "Do you _have _to make such a big deal about it?!" He hissed.

"Now, as I was saying: Hyuga Konjo, Sekkei Shizuka, and Uchiha Inahime. You are Team 4." Konjo raised his hand. "Yes, Konjo?"

"Yeah... How come I'm the only one who gets _two_ girls for teammates? Isn't that...unbalanced?" The indigo-haired boy asked his an arched eyebrow.

"That's not true. It's a tradition for the highest-scoring student of a class to be placed on the same team as the lowest-scoring student. For this class, the #1 student was Inahime..." At this, several students gave Ina looks of jealousy, all of which she ignored, "And the student with the lowest score was Shizuka..." At this, a blue-haired girl who sat next to Ina sank into her seat with a depressed look in her eyes. "It balances out in the end."

"Whatever..." The Uchiha girl looked at the blue-haired girl, Sekkei Shizuka, with half-lidded eyes. "Just don't drag me down."

Shizuka gulped and avoided making eye contact with Ina. "I-I-I... I'll try not to..."

Several minutes later, the majority of the class had been called, and only three students remained.

"Kazaki Nataro...Temashi Kazemaru...and Uchiha Hanzo, you're Team 14," their sensei announced. "Alright, that concludes your team call. Your squad leaders will appear after lunch and give you further instruction. But before we break for lunch, does anyone have any questions?"

Kazemaru raised his hand. "Yeah, I got a question: how come I'm paired up with a _goofball_ like Nataro?! I can deal with Fan Boy, but still...! Can't I switch places with someone? I won't mind being on an all-girl squad, too!"

Nataro narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger up at the redhead. "Wh-what the hell?! Why, you...!" Nataro began, baring his teeth. He would've already been in a fight if it wasn't for Hanzo holding him back from behind. "Lemme at 'em!! When I get my hands on you, you're gonna fizzle out!!"

"To answer Kazemaru's question, you were placed on the same team as Nataro because you balance each other out," said the teacher.

"How the hell do _those two_ balance each other out...?" Ina mumbled to herself with a bored look in her eyes.

"If you have problems with a teammate, you either have to resolve them or take it like a man and learn to get along! In fact...this reminds me of a time during my genin years, when I was teamed up with a pair of ninja I _despised_ and--"

"Sensei! Who are our squad masters?" Hanzo asked. Everyone else in the class mentally thanked the Uchiha for intervening--otherwise, they would have to sit through one of their sensei's lectures for the last time.

"Hm? Oh, right! I...almost forgot!" The teacher sweatdropped as he laughed nervously. "Your jonin sensei have already been briefed on their respective teams, so do not worry about not finding your sensei. Is that all? ...Good! Class dismissed!"

**X-X-X**

Later at lunch, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru were sitting down at a bench in the park nearby.

"Okay, whose _smart_ idea was it to have lunch together?" The red-haired boy asked with an arched eyebrow and a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he opened his can of cherry-vanilla soda.

"Well, if we're going to be teammates, we may as well try getting along first," said Hanzo, picking up an egg roll from his bento box with a pair of lacquered chopsticks.

"What for? I hardly know a _thing_ about you guys, nor do I _want_ to know!"

"That's the _point_...!" The raven said with a roll of his eyes before popping an egg roll in to his mouth. "If we know each other a little better, we'll have a better chance of working together."

Nataro, who sat in-between his teammates, slurped up the noodles in his cup of instant ramen without pausing to breath. Kazemaru gave him a look of disgust when he was done and opened his mouth to say something, only to have the blonde go on to drinking the broth from the cup. When he was done with that, he gave a sigh of satisfaction and smile broadly. "Gotta love that miso!"

"_Man_, you're disgusting. Can you eat any louder?" Kazemaru asked before taking a sip of his soda.

The blonde boy glared at the redhead. "I can beat the crap out of you! Would you like _that_?!"

The taller boy arched an eyebrow. "You tryin' to pick a fight with me, _Ramen Breath_?"

"Maybe I _am_..._Pyro Freak_!"

The two boys immediately began a glaring contest, growling as they did. Hanzo sighed in defeat before he began to enjoy his bento lunch, ignoring his teammates. In a flash, they were both on the ground behind the raven, rolling around and shouting insults that attracted the attention of a few other students. _'Some team __**we're**__ gonna be...'_

**X-X-X**

As this was going on, within the Hokage's office, a pair of shinobi stood before the Rokudaime's desk.

"_Please_, Hokage-sama! Allow me to teach the #1 team!" Asahara Tsuki pleaded, holding her hands together. She was an attractive woman who looked somewhere in-between her late 20's and early 30's, with dark purple hair set up into a ponytail that separated into several spikes resembling pineapple leaves and lavender eyes, wearing a short-sleeved black kimono top with a dark blue undershirt that showed off her..._large_ chest...tight black pants with slits in the sides, black hand guards and light purple eye shadow on her eyelids, wearing her Konoha hitai-ate lopsidedly around her waist on a blue cloth like a belt.

"Honestly, why are you fighting against this? If Hokage-sama says that _I'm_ getting the #1 team, then I'm getting the #1 team! His word is law," said 35-year old Uchiha Haseo as he opened one of his closed eyes to look at the kunoichi. He had short honey-blonde hair with his bangs hiding his forehead and honey-gold eyes, and wore a long-sleeved black shirt with the Uchiha fan on the left shoulder and the Konoha spiral on the right underneath a regulation green flak vest that had the same red spiral on the back, red wrist bands and his Konoha hitai-ate tied around his waist on a red cloth.

"I have the skill to train them to be top-notch ninja!" Tsuki argued, ignoring the blonde.

"Then why can't you do that with the team I assigned to you?" The Rokudaime asked with an arched eyebrow as he opened a cup of instant ramen behind his desk, out of the sight of his subordinates.

At the mention of her team, the purple-haired jonin looked out of the corner of her eye and rubbed her arm. "Well... From what I've read in their files, they're nothing special. I doubt they'll pass _the test_, and even if they do, they'll probably wind up getting killed."

Haseo and the Hokage sweatdropped at how nonchalantly she spoke of such a thing. The old man snapped out of his daze and began to stir the ramen in the cup with a pair of chopsticks. "What makes you say that?"

"Because just about everyone who was on a team with the #1 rookie become famous or notorious shinobi later on in life. Just look at Haseo!" She motioned towards the taller jonin with a pout. "He's well-known outside of Hi no Kuni for far more than being a flirtatious nitwit!"

Haseo narrowed his eyes. "_Flirtatious nitwit_? Do I _have_ to stand around and listen to this, Hokage-sama?"

"Hmm..." The old man stopped stirring his cup ramen and gave a nod. "That makes some sense."

"What?! My Lord, don't tell me you actually _agree_ with her?!"

"I said it makes _some_ sense. Don't have a fit..." He looked at Tsuki. "So, where do you think _I_ ranked up after graduating from the Academy, Tsuki?"

"Oh, that's easy! I bet you were the #1 rookie of your genin year!"

"Nope."

Tsuki blinked and folded her arms across her chest. "Oh. Well, I bet you were somewhere in the top five, right?"

"Nope."

"Top ten?"

"Nope."

By this time, Haseo had an arched eyebrow. "Exactly how low could you get?"

"That's what _I'm_ trying to figure out," Tsuki muttered as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Were you an average student? Because you certainly couldn't have been among the--"

"Worst students?" The Rokudaime finished for her. "Uh-huh. At the very bottom of my class." _'Dead last.'_ Those words made him flinch visibly to the jonin, but he immediately slapped on a smile and continued, "And _I_ became Hokage. So if a low-scorer like _me_ could become the leader of an entire village, imagine what sort of shinobi _you_ could turn those boys into!"

"Dead last...?" Tsuki whispered to Haseo.

"That would explain what Mai's dad meant when he said the Hokage was always an idiot...!" He whispered back to her.

"Come to think of it, he _always_ said that, didn't he?"

"HEY!!" The old man shouted, making the jonin back away from fear of being struck. A vein throbbed on his forehead and his eye twitched. "Just...go. Just go to your teams and..._go_!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Tsuki and Haseo stuttered before they both disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Of all the nerve...!" The Rokudaime placed his cup of instant ramen on top of his desk and began to glare at it. "If that bastard hadn't already retired, I would give him D-ranks for the rest of his life!" He sighed and relaxed a bit. "Forget about him. Time for my meager restitution..." He broke apart the chopsticks and smiled. "It's not Ichiraku's but oh well! Time to eat!" He swirled the chopsticks around in the cup, picked up some noodles, brought it up to his mouth and began to slurp it down when the door was kicked open. He almost choked on the noodles as a woman walked into the room.

"What the--?! What're you doing, Hokage-sama?!"

He pounded hard on his chest before the noodles made their way through his windpipes. The old man took a deep breath before pointing his chopsticks at the woman. "No talking. Lunchtime."

"Lunchtime?"

"Yes, lunchtime. That thing between breakfast and dinner," the Rokudaime stated in a flat tone before he went back to eating his noodles.

The curvaceous 20-something year old woman with the long, wavy blonde hair and ice-blue eyes, wearing a knee-length black robes with long-open sleeves and black square-lensed glasses stared at him in disbelief. "Honestly, that stuff's not good for a man your age..."

He spoke something that, if his mouth hadn't been full, would've sounded like, "You're not my doctor!"

**X-X-X**

Earlier at the Ninja Academy, we find Teams 14 and 4 are the only genin squads whose masters had yet to arrive. The two groups had separated into different parts of the empty classroom.

"What's taking so loooong...?" Nataro moaned as he rested his head on the desk.

"It's only been a couple of minutes since the other squads left with their sensei," Hanzo told the blonde with an arched eyebrow. "Don't overreact."

"Really?" Nataro's gaze drifted from the wooden paneling of the desk to the glass window where sunlight shone in. "It feels like it's been _ages_ since I last saw the light of day! I feel like I'm gonna grow old, shrivel and turn into dust in here!"

The Uchiha sweatdropped. "Didn't I just say not to overreact?"

"Look who you're talking to, Fan Boy. We haven't even been sent on a mission yet, and he's already gone insane."

The orange-clad boy lifted his head up to shoot a glare down at Kazemaru, who had seated himself in the same spot that Ina had once occupied. "Says the guy who burned the trash in the trash cans last year!" He then calmed down and blinked. "Insane...? What're you talking about?"

The redhead shifted around in his seat so as to face his teammates and smirked. "Don't you know? Shinobi can go _crazy_ after being sent on certain missions."

"You're lying..."

"No, he's right," said Hanzo with a nod of his head. "There _is_ a _chance_ of going insane during one's career as a shinobi. Some cases are caused by powerful illusions via genjutsu while with others..." He looked out of the corner of his eye. "With others...the pressures of their lifestyle causes them to snap."

Kazemaru whistled. "Man, Fan Boy! You sure do know a lot about that. You must know someone who went through junk like that."

"O-oh, no!! No! I just...read it in a book, that's all!" The raven-haired boy responded immediately. "Right, Nataro? ...Nataro?" He looked down beside him and noticed that Nataro was missing. "Huh?" He looked towards the door and saw that the blonde was walking towards it. "Where are you going? Our sensei could be here any moment!"

"Well, I need to do _something_ to teach that guy a lesson! I'm going to the janitor's closet to get a bucket, _and then_ I'm going to the bathroom to fill it up with water to _dunk on his head_! That'll teach 'em for showing up late!"

Ina gave the blonde a half-lidded stare from the other side of the room. "You're joking, right? You honestly expect a _jonin _to fall for your stupid little prank?"

"Ina has a point, Nataro. They're not the elite for nothing," said Konjo, who was sitting several seats down from Ina with Shizuka, who looked a tad bit uncomfortable.

Nataro snorted and pointed a finger at the indigo-haired boy. "Look, you worry about _your_ teacher and I'll worry about _mine_!" He turned on his heel, slid open the door, and walked through only to walk right into someone. The orange-clad blonde stepped back and he exchanged looks with Haseo. After a few seconds of staring at each other with confusion, the genin folded his arms across his chest. "Well, it's about time you got here!! Do you have _any_ idea about how _long_ we've been waiting for you?!"

Haseo arched an eyebrow and bent over so he was at eyelevel with the boy. "Right. And you are...?"

"Your student!!"

"No, you're not. My students are...Hyuga, Sekkei and Uchiha."

Nataro blinked as the jonin brushed past him and made his way towards Team 4. "Huh...?"

"Yo!" He gave the children a short salute and a smile. "I'm Uchiha Haseo, and I'll be your jonin sensei."

"Uchiha...?" Shizuka mumbled, glancing back and forth between the man and Ina.

"You're in the Uchiha clan, too? But...you look nothing like Ina," said Konjo.

"I married into the clan." _'Because her damn father wouldn't allow Mai to become __**'Shun Mai'**__...!' _"Now then, why don't we get to know each other better outside?" He motioned for the three genin to follow as he walked towards the door. The trio followed him in a line, Ina in the back and grumbling.

"How unfair is it that I wind up with _this_ moron for a sensei? Isn't it against the rules for relatives to teach relatives...?"

After Team 4 had left the classroom and closed the door behind them, Nataro slumped over, depressed. "Oh, man...! How long do we have to wait before our sensei comes?"

At that moment, the door opened and Tsuki walked in, scratching the back of her head. _'It's been a while since I've last been here. Took me a while to find the right room...'_ She then looked down to notice Nataro staring up at her--or maybe at her chest--with wide eyes. "Hm?" She looked over to the desks and saw Hanzo and Kazemaru staring at her as well, the latter blushing. "Oh... you guys must be Nataro, Kazemaru and Hanzo." She said with a smile.

"Uh-huh..." The blonde genin stated as he continued to stare at the kunoichi's breasts.

"You know our names," said Hanzo. "So then...you're our sensei."

Tsuki nodded, her smile growing wider as she placed her hands on her hips. "Yup! My name is Asahara Tsuki, your new sensei. You may call me Tsuki-sensei... Well, I guess you're _supposed_ to call me that out of proper manners and all."

_'Wow! Our sensei's a babe!'_ Kazemaru thought with his cheeks tinged dark red.

_'How heavy could those things be...?'_ Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow as he continued to stare at the woman's breasts.

Their purple-haired sensei giggled and gestured a finger. "Come on, let's go outside to get some fresh air. Then we can get to know each other."

**X-X-X**

Outside of the Academy, the newly formed Team 14 had settled in an empty training area near the forest. Tsuki was leaning against a tree while Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru sat in front of her on the ground.

_'Well, here we are... May as well get it over with,'_ the kunoichi thought as she folded her arms across her buxom chest. "Now then, let's chat. I already know your names and the Academy's evaluations of you, but I wanna know _more_. What are your likes and dislikes, hobbies, hopes and dreams? You know, things like that. I'll choose who goes first..." She pointed at Kazemaru.

The redhead blinked and scratched his face. "Oh? Me? Okay... My name's Temashi Kazemaru, but I don't mind being called Kaze. I like music, mochi and fire. I hate the sea, snow, spinach and fire. My hobbies include...fine reading and going to the hot springs." He then gave a wide smile. "And one of these days, I'm gonna be _famous_!"

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "_Famous_? How so?"

Kaze shrugged. "I dunno. I'll figure it out."

"Huh... Alright! Next up is _you_, cutie!" The jonin exclaimed as she pointed at Hanzo.

"My name is Uchiha Hanzo. I like reading ancient scrolls and stargazing. I...can't tell you all of the dislikes I have, but I can say...I don't like spicy food or alcohol."

"What about Ina?" Nataro interrupted. The raven-haired boy shifted around slightly so he could give the blonde a glare. "What?"

The Uchiha muttered something under his breath before continuing, "My goal is to become a great ninja and make my parents proud of me."

Tsuki nodded. "Uh-_huh_... Well, you're an Uchiha, so I suppose it won't be _too_ hard to make succeed at your goal. After all, just look at your grandfather."

Hanzo looked out of the corner of his eye. "Uh-huh..." No one seemed to notice the sad look in his eyes.

_'Speaking of his grandfather, I hope I __**never**__ have to meet that awful man again...!'_ The purple-haired woman thought as her eye twitched and her grip on her arms tightened.

"Hey, Tsuki-sensei? You okay?" Nataro asked with a sweatdrop rolling down the back of his head. His sensei didn't seem to notice that he and his teammates were staring up at her while she muttered things under her breath.

Tsuki sweatdropped herself and smiled nervously. "Oh, I'm okay! Just remembering something..." She looked Hanzo up and down. "You look like a friend of mine did when he was young is all..." Hanzo blushed at this while Nataro and Kaze snickered in the background, trying to hold their laughter in. Their sensei ignored this and looked at Nataro. "Okay, it's _your_ turn."

"Right!" Nataro jabbed his thumb to his chest and gave a broad grin. "My name is Kazaki Nataro! What I like is ramen! What kind? Any kind! I dislike stuck-up people who think they're all that, vegetables, and the 3 minutes it takes to make instant ramen! My hobbies are bugging Gramps while he's working and pulling pranks on people! And my dream--no, my _destiny_ is to become the Nanadaime Hokage!!" He exclaimed with a sparkle in his eyes that made them resemble jewels.

"His _destiny_?" Kazemaru asked as he quirked an eyebrow. "What a lunatic...! I doubt he'll even become a _chunin _let alone Hokage...!"

Tsuki smiled and got a soft look in her eyes. "I see... It's nice to have big dreams. And I promise that I will help you all make your dreams come true! Now then, on to other things…"

"Wait, sensei!!" Nataro exclaimed as he waved his hand in the air excitedly. "What about _you_? Tell us about you!"

The kunoichi blushed and began to giggle. "_Me_? ...Fine. My name is Asahara Tsuki. My turn-ons are strolls on the beach at sunset and candlelit dinners, my turn-offs include..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Nataro interrupted. "That doesn't sound right!"

"Why does it sound like something from a dating column?" Kaze asked no one in particular.

"It probably is," said Hanzo.

"Sensei!! Tell us the _truth_!!" The blonde genin demanded, pointing an accusing finger at their sensei.

"Oh, I was just joking, guys! Lighten up!" Tsuki cleared her throat and straightened up with a smile on her face. "My likes and dislikes are mine alone to know, as are my dreams and also my hobbies."

Silence filled the training area for a moment, save for the wind that blew through. Finally, the three genin responded, albeit mentally, and they all thought the same thing:

_'We haven't learned a single thing about her...except that she might like sunset strolls and candlelit dinners.'_

"Anyway, _Team 14_, meet here tomorrow morning at...7 AM. Bring any kind of ninja tools that you like. Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn't eat breakfast."

The three boys blinked. "Um...why not?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow.

Tsuki winked at him. "Oh...you don't wanna know... Dismissed!" She then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Man, are we lucky or what?" Kazemaru began to smile and his cheeks turned scarlet red. "Our sensei is a _seriously hot_ _babe_! But..." The blush then disappeared and he slumped over with a groan. "7 in the morning...! I don't get up that early! I'm a growing boy, and I need my sleep!"

"Looking at you, I can tell that it's obviously not _beauty sleep_," Nataro teased as he gave the pyromaniac a half-lidded glare, which was returned with just as much intensity.

"Keep joking! You're gonna find my foot up your ass in a few seconds!"

"Oh, I'd love to see you try, _Pyro Freak_!"

At that moment, Tsuki appeared behind Nataro and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Whoops! Almost forgot. There was a message in your file that said I should deliver you to Hokage-sama for your _punishment_ regarding the tagging incident." She lifted the boy off of the ground and turned him around so her stern face was only inches away from his. "By the way, my apartment building was one of the places you vandalized!"

"Um... Sorry?" Nataro asked as he chuckled nervously.

"Sorry doesn't get that paint off of my window. Now, let's go!!" In a poof of smoke, the jonin and the genin disappeared.

Kazemaru gave a cat-like smirk. "Ooooh...! Ramen Breath's in _trouble_~!"

Hanzo shook his head. "You know what they say: _'you do the crime, you do the time'._"

**X-X-X**

**"I want out...**

**Let me out...**

**I want out...now...!"**

A pair of red beastly eyes suddenly opened, bloodshot with slitted pupils as a low growl echoed through the darkness.

**X-X-X**

Nataro immediately sat up straight in his bed, breathing heavily as beads of sweat trailed down his face. He took several deep breaths before he realized where he was. Not in complete darkness with those eyes looking down at him, but in his bed, in his room, in Konoha. _'What was that?'_ He wiped the sweat on his face off on the sleeve of his sweatshirt. _'It felt so real...'_

The door opened slightly and a woman's voice floated in. "Nataro? Are you okay? I heard screaming."

The blonde boy blinked. _'Screaming? I don't remember screaming.'_ He scratched his head in confusion before answering, "I'm fine, Ma!! I...I thought I saw a rat!"

The door was then kicked open by a woman in her early 30's with short blonde hair that had a pair of silver hair clips holding some hair in place to the right. "R-_rat_?! Where?!" She searched the floor for a moment before she gave a squeal and jumped onto a nearby chair, dusting off her beige apron, yellow blouse, and blue skirt as if they were crawling with vermin.

Nataro sweatdropped. "Uh... Relax, Mom! I said I _thought_ I saw a rat!"

Nataro's mother, Kazaki Aiko, calmed down and stepped off of the chair. "Oh... Don't frighten me like that!! You know very well how much I hate vermin!"

"Yes, m'am..."

The blonde woman gave a nod and then she smiled. "Good! Now, hurry and get dressed so you can come downstairs. I have a _surprise_ for you~!" She spoke in a sing-song tone as she walked out of the room, humming.

Her son blinked, confused by his mother's behavior. Ever since he had told his mother his sudden dreams of becoming a ninja, she had been against it. The thought of her only boy living the dangerous, life-threatening life of a shinobi was too much. In fact, when he told her two days ago that he had graduated and became a genin, she broke down and cried for the entire night. So for her to be so happy after two days alone...something had to be up...

**X-X-X**

...And it was. Upon entering the kitchen, the newbie genin was graced with the presence of most of his favorite breakfast foods crammed onto the small round kitchen table. Nataro's jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and he froze in place in the middle of the doorway.

"Ta-da!!" Aiko exclaimed as she gestured towards the spread on the table. "I realize that how I acted after you..._graduated_ wasn't very mature," she spoke sadly as she stared down at her feet. She then regained the happy look on her face. "So, I thought that we should celebrate now!"

"W-wow...! When did you find time to make this, Mom?" Nataro asked with wide eyes.

"I woke up earlier than I usually do. No problem," said Aiko with a nonchalant wave of her hand. Of course, her son knew it was a problem, since she usually woke up around 5 AM, but he didn't get a chance to voice this as his mother grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him over to the table. She made him sit down and clapped her hands together. "So, what do you think?"

"I think that I'm--!" At that moment, the boy's stomach growled, reminding him of his test today. "Um...I...think I'm gonna skip it." His mother's eyes widened and before she could speak, Nataro quickly added, "B-but it's not _your_ fault! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you've gotten over me wanting to be a ninja, but I'm doing something with my team today and my sensei said we shouldn't have breakfast. If I had known, I would've stopped you and...!"

Aiko blinked and gave him a look. It wasn't an angry look, just an unreadable one. "Oh... Okay. I understand."

"Uh... You okay, Ma?" Nataro asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He could feel the increasing intensity in the atmosphere and worried if he had said something to upset his mother.

"I'm fine. It's okay... I understand. Just...go to your team meeting thing."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. Just go."

"Really?"

Aiko narrowed her eyes. "_Nataro_...!"

"R-right!! I'm going, I'm going!" The blonde boy exclaimed as he shot out of his chair and out the room.

Aiko sat down in the chair and began to look at her feet with an unreadable expression. Seconds afterward, she buried her face into the palm of her hands and began to cry silently.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, all the way on the other side of Konoha, Hanzo stared at himself in the mirror, eyes half-lidded and hair loose. A bag carrying his ninja gear was on his bed, which was neatly made up, and on the floor were dozens of scrolls and books hat had been littered all over.

"Okay, no sweat. It's just a little training exercise. No big deal. It's not like...we'll be punished if we fail. We've already graduated, so we've got no problems," the raven-haired boy told himself as he tied his hair back into its normal low ponytail with a hair band. When he was done, he took a look at his reflection in the mirror and gave a nod of satisfaction. "Okay?"

"Okay," an old woman in her late 60's spoke from behind him, frightening the genin. She stood in the doorway of his room, her fading pink hair set up in a bun, save for the set of bangs that framed her face and reached past her chin, wearing a long-sleeved maroon house dress with a white frilled apron tied around her waist. She smiled when she noticed the boy's startled expression. "Breakfast is ready, Hanzo. If you don't get it soon, it'll be all gone!"

At that moment, Hanzo's stomach growled. The raven-haired boy slumped over a bit, his cheeks tinted blue. "Ugh...!" His stomach was gnawing at itself from lack of food, seeing as how he barely ate dinner last night. He spent most of the night reading the scroll that his mother, who was currently away on a mission, had gotten for him as a graduation present.

"Is something wrong, Hanzo?" The sound of his grandmother's voice brought the boy back to reality. "You don't look so good."

"I'm alright, Grandma..." His stomach growled once more.

His grandmother, Uchiha Sakura, narrowed her eyes and walked up to the boy, grabbing his arm. "You're hungry. Come on, let's get down to the kitchen before your brother eats everything."

"I-I can't eat it! It's part of a training exercise that we're doing, and my sensei said we're not supposed to eat before we do it."

"Hm..." Sakura stared at Hanzo for a moment before she laughed lightly. "I gotcha!" Her actions made her grandson stare at her in confusion, but she ignored that and began to straighten up his hair with her free hand while the other gripped his arm. "Don't mind me...! You go on your way now, okay?" The old woman kissed him on the forehead, which made her grandson blush and mumble things under his breath. Hanzo was about to walk out of the door when she grabbed him by the arm once again and pulled him back towards her. "Uh-uh! " She tapped her cheek with one finger.

Hanzo frowned. He _really_ didn't want to do this. "Grandma..." The stern look in the old woman's eyes made him stand on the tips of his toes and kiss her on the cheek. He grabbed his bag and ran out of the room without giving her a second glance.

"You better say goodbye to Grandpa and Kotaro, too!!" The elderly woman called out with a small smile on her face. She walked up to the full body mirror and traced the wrinkles around her eyes. She gave a fond sigh as she pressed her forehead against the glass of the mirror. _'Such wonderful memories...'_ She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _'So wonderful...'_

**X-X-X**

Upstairs in a two-floor shop/home in another part of Konoha, Kazemaru walked into the small kitchen of his family's home, which was situated right above their bookstore. The pyromanic genin was already dressed in the same outfit he wore yesterday and carried a black backpack on his back. He immediately made a beeline towards the coffee maker on the counter and started to pour himself a cup.

"Uh... What are you doing? You _do_ know that's coffee, right?" His brother, Temashi Yutaro, asked as the redhead continued to pour his coffee. Yutaro was about 22 or 23 years old--Kaze was never sure--with short, white-blonde hair that was styled nearly, and wore a sleeveless black shirt and black leggings with an ANBU tattoo exposed on his left shoulder.

"I know." Kaze began to drink the coffee.

Yutaro arched an eyebrow, forest green eyes reflecting confusion. "You..._hate_ coffee."

"Ugh!!" The redhead slammed the cup down on the counter once he was done drinking it all down and shuddered, blue in the face. "Nasty! Disgusting! This stuff is _awful_!!"

His brother sweatdropped. "Then why'd you drink it?"

"'Cuz I can't eat and I need _something_ to give me energy! And coffee doesn't count as food!" Kazemaru poured another cup of coffee and sipped it lightly, shuddering once again. "_Ohhh, fuuuug…!_"

"Okay, first of all: if it's bitter, put sugar in it. Second of all: coffee can only give you energy for so long. It'll wear off, and then you're gonna crash."

Kaze stared at Yutaro with wide eyes. "You're right..." He opened the cabinet above his head and pulled out a large bag of sugar. "If I put a lot of sugar in my coffee, I'll have a lot of energy!"

Yutaro almost fell out of his seat. When he recovered and began to sit up straight once more, he saw Kazemaru pouring several spoonfuls of sugar into his cup. "That's not what I told you!! And that's not gonna work!! Hello?!" He slumped over and sighed, scratching the back of his head. _'My pleas fall on deaf ears, huh?'_

**X-X-X**

Several minutes later, Nataro walked down the street, looking down at the ground as he did. The feeling that he had done something to upset his mother, albeit unintentionally, was still there, but he was focusing on the dream he had. For as long as he could remember, his dreams were unusual. In them, he would always be fighting shinobi and monsters, and he would do such amazing, heroic things--even though he didn't know about shinobi until he was 6. Nataro was one of the _very few_ people at the Ninja Academy that didn't have a ninja background, so that made things a bit harder since he knew only basic jutsu and had no family to practice with, but those dreams fueled his desire for his goal: to become the Hokage.

But in that last dream, he saw nothing but those weird eyes... Beastly eyes that he never remembered seeing, yet seemed so familiar. A sense of deja vu overcame him when he remembered those eyes, and the sadness he felt from upsetting his mother was replaced with anger. _'What was that...__**thing**__...?'_ The orange-clad blonde thought as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets and narrowed his eyes. He was so deep in his thoughts that he accidentally bumped into someone and landed on the ground on his butt. "Ow!! Watch where you're going, would ya?"

"Same to you, Ramen Breath!" Nataro looked up and saw Kazemaru in the same position as him. "Yo. How is it that out of all the people on this street, you bump into _me_?" The redhead jumped onto his feet and began to jog in place. "What're you doing sitting on your ass like that? We gotta go, go GO, Ramen Breath!"

The blonde got to his feet, staring at his teammate in confusion. "Uhhh... You look pretty peppy this morning."

"Yeah, well I had better be! I just had ten cups of coffee and I feel _pumped_! Woot!"

Nataro's jaw dropped as he gasped, pointing an accusing finger at Kaze. "Aha!! You had breakfast!! You're _cheating_!"

"Uh, I only _drank_ coffee, stupid! I didn't eat a thing!" At that point, the pyromanic boy's stomach growled loudly. The sound made him slump over and hold his stomach as he jogged in place at a slightly slower pace. "Ugh...! Thanks for reminding me...!" He grumbled, giving the blonde a glare as his stomach also began to growl. "Tch...! Let's go to the training grounds. You're starting to look like a giant sausage with scrambled eggs for hair." He jogged past Nataro, who blinked in confusion once more before running after his teammate.

"Hey!! Wait for me, Pyro Freak!!"

**X-X-X**

Nataro and Kazemaru arrived at the training area to find Hanzo sitting on the grass, leaning against his bag and staring up at the sky with a dazed look in his eyes. When the two genin came closer, they stared down at their teammate.

After a few seconds of silence, Kazemaru spoke up, "Yo, Fan Boy. How long have you been here?" Hanzo didn't respond. Kaze tapped his foot in an impatient manner. "Hey!! I'm talking to you here!"

Nataro blinked. "Hanzo?" He waved his hand over the raven-haired boy's face and snapped his fingers. "I think he's out of it."

"You think he can sleep with his eyes open?"

"Huh?" Hanzo blinked and shook his head. "What?" He noticed his teammates staring down at him. "Oh, hey guys. When did you show up?" He held onto his head and yawned. "I guess I'm a little out of it..."

"Having no breakfast can put _anyone _out of it," Nataro pointed out. He then began to grin and punched his arm out. "But, I'm all pumped up! Ready and raring to go!"

"Same as me!! Sugar-fueled energy is a go!!" Kazemaru exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.

The Uchiha sweatdropped. "Glad to see _you've _got energy..." His stomach began to growl and his cheeks became tinted with blue. "...Unlike some of us..."

"Wow... I've heard of the belly of the beast, but never the beast in the belly," Kaze stated as he stared at his stomach in awe.

Nataro nodded in agreement. "Another late-night study session, huh? Y'know...we're _out_ of school now. It doesn't make any sense for you to do that!"

Hanzo smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I forgot that I wasn't able to eat breakfast..."

In a poof of smoke, Tsuki appeared before the genin squad with a broad smile and a wicker basket in her hand. "Gooood morning, boys! I hope you're all ready for your first training session, because I'm going to push your limits," she said with a seductive smirk.

"Yes, sensei!!" All three boys exclaimed, immediately standing up in a straight line.

Tsuki nodded, impressed. She held out the basket with one hand and began to swing it left and right. "Inside of this basket are _bento lunchboxes_." At that word, the boys' eyes began to follow the basket. "We're going to do a little training exercise. Here's what you boys have to do, so pay close attention." She put the basket behind her and the genin snapped out of their daze. The jonin pulled out a pair of small silver bells dangling from a string. "Your goal is to take these bells away from me. Those who can get a bell can get lunch. And those who don't will be tied to a tree and forced to watch the rest of us eat."

The boys' mouths opened at the same time and their eyes widened in surprise as their teacher tied the bells to her pants. "WHAT?!"

The jonin kunoichi closed her eyes and smiled. "Yup! _And_ to make things even more challenging, this exercise is timed. You have until noon to succeed in retrieving these bells. If none of you get a bell, well..." She trailed off and began to laugh softly to herself, making the genin sweatdrop.

"Wh-what? What's gonna happen?" Nataro dared to ask.

"Trust me: _you don't want to know_. So, you better get...." When she opened her eyes, Tsuki noticed that the boys weren't there anymore. "...Started. Huh. I guess they're smart enough to hide." _'Or at least __**try**__.'_ The female jonin looked around to try and spot colors of red, orange, yellow or gray in the surrounding foliage. She heard the sound of something flying towards her from behind. _'Ooh, someone's anxious!'_ Tsuki reached into her back pouch as she jumped out of the path of a group of shuriken. As soon as she landed, she turned on her heel to see Hanzo standing on a tree branch, holding some more shuriken in his hands. _'I didn't think __**he**__ would show himself first.'_ With one swift hand motion, she pulled a kunai out from her back pouch and threw it in his direction.

Hanzo didn't move. He just kept staring at the oncoming kunai. It looked as if he had gotten scared and froze on the spot.

_'Why isn't he moving?'_ The kunoichi thought, her eyes widening slightly.

The kunai flew right into his chest and embedded itself in his chest. The Uchiha's eyes widened as he fell out of the tree and landed behind the bushes below.

_'Oh, crap!!'_ Tsuki cursed mentally as she ran towards the bushes that Hanzo had landed in. _'His family will never forgive me if he's dead!'_ She peeked behind the bushes and saw...nothing. There wasn't any blood, or Hanzo, for that matter. Tsuki arched an eyebrow in confusion before a look of realization flashed in her eyes. _'Wait a minute...'_ She grabbed the hand that had been reaching for the bells on her pants and threw the owner of that hand headfirst into a tree.

"Owww...!" Nataro moaned as he rubbed the top of his head, wincing in pain.

"Nataro. So where is Hanzo?" The jonin got her answer when Hanzo dropped down from the leaves of the tree above and attempted to drop a kick on her head. She grabbed his leg before it could even touch her head and winked at the raven-haired boy. "Nice try." She then threw him to the same spot that Nataro was lying down.

Or at least, where Nataro _had been_ lying down. Now the blonde was gone.

"Hm. You guys are better than I thought." The jonin disappeared in time to avoid getting a jump-kick to the back from Kazemaru. Upon landing, he quickly turned around and saw a pair of breasts a few inches away from his face. "Boo." Tsuki pulled her hand back while her red-haired student stood before her, blushing, until she punched him in the face hard enough to send him skidding back into a tree trunk. The redhead sucked his teeth, the blush still vivid on his tan skin, and jumped up into the trees.

_'So that's it, huh?'_ Tsuki thought as she looked up at the trees.

"Grrr...! Man, she's good!" Kaze whispered to Hanzo and Nataro as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead on the back of his hand. They were in a tree that was a good distance away from their sensei's current location, each boy sitting on a separate thick branch.

"I'm surprised you noticed with the way you were staring at her _breasts_!" Nataro hissed.

"I'm only human! Besides, if you had those things sticking into your face, you would freeze, too!"

"Ssshh! Would you two be _quiet_? I'm trying to think..." Hanzo hissed at his teammates. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in thought. "What we need is something that could catch Tsuki-sensei off guard long enough to allow one of us to grab the bells. Question is..._how_?"

Kazemaru nodded in agreement and glanced over to the branch where Nataro was seating. However, the blonde was no longer there. "Uh... Hanzo? Where's Nataro?"

The Uchiha looked at the unoccupied branch and his eye twitched slightly. "Don't tell me...!"

"HEY!!! SENSEI!!!" The two genin looked through the leaves down at the clearing below. Nataro was standing there below the tree, waving his arms like an idiot as Tsuki stood a few feet away from him. "Tsuki-sensei!! Come an' get me!!"

"Ugh...! What the heck is he doing?!" Hanzo moaned.

"He's gonna blow this exercise for us!" Kazemaru hissed.

"Come on!! Let's make this a battle worthy of the greatest warriors!" Nataro exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the female jonin.

"Nataro..." Tsuki paused as she tried to figure out what to say. "Nataro, you're an _average_-scoring student, so I assume that you would know...just how _stupid_ you're acting."

"We'll see who's the stupid one!!" The blonde genin exclaimed as he charged towards her and tried to deliver a solid punch to the gut. However, she simply raised her leg and blocked the attack with her knee before kicking the blonde upside the head, sending him tumbling away from her.

"What a stupid plan. If you want your lunch, you'll have to get these bells. And if you want these bells, then you're gonna have to try something better than that."

"Tch!" Nataro got to his feet and spat on the ground. He reached into his back pouch and pulled out several kunai and shuriken. "How about _this_?!" First he threw the shuriken at the purple-haired woman, but she easily stopped them with a few slashes of her kunai, then he went on to throw the kunai at her, but those were also deflected. "Man...!"

"Kazaki Nataro... You're an average-scoring student. You don't come from a ninja clan, nor do you have any shinobi in your family. Do you even know any jutsu outside of what you were taught in the Academy?" Tsuki asked as she began to walk towards him, twirling her kunai in her hand. "I suppose not."

_'Jutsu...?'_ Nataro bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. _'I need something more...!'_

"So, have you given up?" The genin opened his eyes and looked up to see Tsuki looking down at him. "We could just go ahead and tie you to a tree right now." He gave a low growl and attempted to punch her in the stomach, but she disappeared in a poof of smoke and reappeared a few feet away. "Okay, I guess you're not."

The blonde boy narrowed his eyes. "I'm not gonna give up!!" Just then, on impulse, he held out his hands and formed a hand sign that seemed familiar but felt unfamiliar. "Not now! Not _ever_!!" In a poof of smoke, someone appeared beside him, standing on their feet. A _second_ Nataro.

"A...bunshin?" Hanzo asked in a confused tone.

"The hell?! He thinks a _bunshin_ is going to stand up to the might of a _jonin_?!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he smacked his hand against his forehead. "It's official, we're gonna fail."

"Honestly, a bunshin?" Tsuki asked with a roll of her eyes. "That may have worked a little while ago when you were still in hiding, but now that's just a dumb tactic. I thought you were smarter than _this_!"

"Shut up!!" The blondes shouted as the original got to his feet and the clone dashed forward with a kunai in hand. The bunshin attempted to slash her in the chest, but Tsuki easily pushed the blade aside with her own kunai. The Nataro bunshin stepped on her foot, but she braced the pain and stabbed it in the head, making it disappear in a poof of smoke.

_'Interesting... Not an average bunshin, but a solid one. That's something that only someone with the chakra of a chunin could use!'_ Tsuki said with an impressed look in her eyes.

"Try blocking _this_!!" Nataro shouted as he threw half a dozen shuriken at Tsuki. She easily deflected the projectiles with her kunai and gave a bored huff as she did. As soon as the shuriken fell to the ground, they were enveloped in puffs of smoke and changed into six Nataro bunshin.

"Huh?!"

"CHARGE!!!" The clones exclaimed as they jumped onto Tsuki, forming a dog pile as they did, and a cloud of dust formed to hide their activities. Several seconds later, the real Nataro jumped into the fray. Their shouts and cries could still be heard over the sounds of beating.

"This is _not_ how it was supposed to go," Hanzo spoke through gritted teeth. _'Why does Nataro like to mess things up?'_

When the dust cleared, all of the Nataro clones had disappeared, save for the original, who was now being held up by the collar by Tsuki. Her unscathed appearance suggested that Nataro's attack had failed.

"That was pretty good...but not good enough." The purple-haired kunoichi threw her blonde student aside. He slid across the ground and hit a tree stump headfirst.

While she was doing this, Hanzo had jumped out of the tree and landed a few feet away from her, behind her back. He quickly began to form hand signs. _'I hope this works!'_ He took a deep breath and blew out a stream of fire. Tsuki turned around to see the approaching flames and smirked as it hit her, forming a huge fireball in the spot where she stood.

"WHAT THE HELL?!? THAT'S OVERKILL, MAN!!!" Kazemaru exclaimed from the tree.

"TOO MUCH, HANZO!!! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO _BARBEQUE _HER!!!" Nataro screamed as he held onto his face in shock.

The Uchiha stopped breathing fire and his eyes widened in shock. "I-I thought she would dodge it!! I didn't mean to do it!!" Upon noticing that there was a burning log in place of Tsuki, he calmed down. "Huh? Kawarimi no Jutsu (Art of Replacement)?"

"Kawarimi?" Kazemaru asked himself seconds before a fist hit him in the face and sent him flying out of the tree. He landed on top of Hanzo, toppling the raven over, and rubbed his aching cheek. "Man...! She punches _hard_."

"Kazemaru... Get...off...of me." Hanzo spoke slowly in a dangerous tone.

"Whoops...! Sorry 'bout that." Kaze chuckled nervously and immediately got off of his teammate just as Tsuki appeared before them. She grinned and wagged a finger at the boys.

"Nothing yet, huh, boys? You had a good plan, and you _may_ have had a chance at getting these bells..." _'But I guess I'm just __**too **__good at this!! Hahaha!!'_

Hanzo and Kazemaru glared at their sensei and their stomachs began to growl. They sweatdropped as the growls increased in volume.

"Ohhh, it sounds like you guys are hungry... But, too bad!" Tsuki said with a giggle.

"CHARGE!!!" The cry of a certain loudmouth blonde genin rang out through the training area. Tsuki turned her head slightly to see about two-dozen Nataros running towards her. "ATTAAAAACK!" They all screamed as they formed a dog pile on top of the busty sensei.

Hanzo blinked in disbelief. "What is he doing?"

"How the heck should I know? He's your friend," Kazemaru spoke in a flat tone. _'Lucky bastard...!'_

"YOU LITTLE PERVERT!" All the Nataros were suddenly thrown off of Tsuki, the clones disappearing in puffs of smoke. From the look of malice in her eyes, one could see that the purple-haired jonin was upset, to say the least. "Did you...just _grope me_?! Didn't your mother teach you any _manners_?!" She shook a fist at the blonde as she shouted.

The original Nataro kept grinning and laughing. "Hahaha!!"

A vein appeared above Tsuki's eyebrow. "What are you laughing at?"

The blonde kept smiling as he held up one of the bells. "Heh-heh-heh! I got one, I got one! Now I can have breakfast!"

"Wh-what?!"

"He's...not even thinking about us." Hanzo said flatly as he stared at the scene with half-lidded eyes.

"Some teammate _he_ is!" Kaze spoke angrily.

_'He must've taken it while one of his clones touched me!'_ Tsuki smirked. _'He's smarter than he looks! And that's saying a lot.'_ "That's all fine and dandy, but what about your teammates? You have to get _both_ bells in order for the training to be over. And I'm not going to fall for the same trick _twice_!" Tsuki disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared in front of Nataro.

"Ah!" The blonde shinobi jumped back and ran off into the forest. Hanzo and Kaze looked at each other before disappearing into the forest as well. Tsuki giggled to herself. This was going to be fun! The jonin walked off into the forest as she hummed to herself, following the boys.

**X-X-X**

Nataro was sitting up in a tree, panting as he looked down at the bell he snatched from Tsuki. He grinned to himself and snickered softly. It looked like poor Hanzo and Kaze wouldn't be getting anything. _'Oh, well...! More for me!'_

"Nataro."

"Ack!" The azure-eyed boy jumped at the sound of another boy's voice. Nataro turned his head slightly to see Hanzo and Kaze sitting on a branch. "Oh... It's just you guys." He sweatdropped as both his teammates gave him glares.

"Can we _please _come up with a plan?" Hanzo said, half-demanding and half-pleading. "And _without _any interruptions?" He folded his arms across his stomach and looked at Nataro as he said this.

"Eh... Sorry?" The blonde asked with a wide smile.

Hanzo responded with a half-lidded glare. "Sure you are. Anyway...let's come up with a plan. Any ideas...?"

**X-X-X**

Tsuki was leaning against a tree in the middle of the forest. The jonin sensei had a look of boredom on her face. 20 minutes had passed and her students had yet to show themselves. She thought for sure they'd come at her already.

_'They better do something soon, unless they want to fail.'_ A shuriken suddenly landed at her feet. _'Hm?'_ It suddenly exploded. Tsuki jumped back and looked around, fully aware of her surroundings now.

"Hyaah!" Nataro had jumped onto Tsuki's back and clung onto her. "Gotcha!" It didn't last long, though, since the purple-haired woman hit her back into a tree and got the dazed Nataro off of her.

Kaze jumped out from the bushes and performed a roundhouse kick to hit her upside the head, but she blocked it with her arm. She smirked before flipping the boy over and making him land on his back. The redhead quickly got up and did a sweeping kick. Tsuki jumped up in time and landed a kick on Kaze's head.

The red-haired genin ignored the pain in his head and started to perform a flurry of combo punches, which were all blocked by Tsuki. "Kyaah!" He pulled back his palm and hit Tsuki in the chest. A light red blush appeared on his cheeks from momentary contact with her breasts as she was pushed back, making dust rise.

Hanzo, hiding up in the trees, smirked. _'Now!'_ He pulled a piece of rope he had in his grasp and the hidden trap was revealed. A rope tightened around Tsuki's feet and she was pulled up into the tree. Hanzo finished tying the rope to the branch he was on and looked at the jonin, grinning. "Hi, sensei."

The Uchiha boy reached to grab the bell off of her pants when she suddenly grabbed him. "It's not that easy!" Tsuki pulled Hanzo off of the branch and he fell to the ground, landing on top of Kazemaru.

"Ouch... Get off of me!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed as he pounded his fists on the ground in anger.

"Sorry..." Hanzo spoke with a blush of embarrassment on his cheeks.

Tsuki suddenly jumped down in front of the two genin. "Close, but no cigar, boys! You're just no match for me."

Hanzo and Kaze smirked. "That's what you think, sensei," Hanzo pointed at something behind her. "Look at that."

The kunoichi looked skeptical and gave a snort. "_Puh-lease_! That's the oldest trick in the book. Do you honestly think I would fall for that?"

"Oh, Tsuki-sensei~!" Nataro called out, waving to her. The jonin turned her head slightly to look at him with one eye. The blonde genin grinned, "Check _this _out!" He made a hand sign and a cloud of smoke appeared, hiding him. When the smoke cleared, a busty, blonde girl with her hair up in pigtails appeared...wearing _nothing at all_ with only wisps of smoke hiding her shame.

Hanzo blanched. Kaze stared at the sight with wide eyes, a little trail of blood coming out of his nose. Tsuki's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Oooohhhh, Sensei~! What do you think? I'm almost as sexy as you~!" The transformed blonde cooed as she rested her hands behind her head and posed.

"WHAT THE _HELL _KIND OF CHILD ARE YOU?!" The purple-haired woman shouted angrily. "That is _sick_...and _WRONG_!!"

"If it's wrong to be _this_ smokin' hot, I don't wanna be right! Hmhm!"

Hanzo covered his eyes, trying to block out the images of the transformed Nataro. "Nataro... I didn't think _that _was your plan!!"

Kazemaru wiped the blood off on his jacket and frowned. _'Damn it! I can't believe he did that!! What kind of weirdo uses Henge no Jutsu to transform into a __**girl**__?!'_ The redhead suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do and snuck up on his sensei as she continued to chastise Nataro. With one quick swipe, he snatched the bell off...and copped a feel of her butt for good measure.

Tsuki slapped the boy away on impulse. The slap was strong enough to send him flying back into Hanzo. Both boys were on the ground, swirls in their eyes.

"Ay-ay-ay... What a hit." Kaze said as he stood up, swaying back and forth a bit.

Hanzo, still lying on his back, said, "I have to give regards to whoever trained her... They did it well."

Nataro transformed back to normal. He could only remember doing such as risky a move as _Oiroke no Jutsu _(Sexy Jutsu) in his dreams...and perhaps once in front of the Rokudaime, but it never worked as well on him as it did in the boy's dreams. _'I just hope she doesn't tell my mom about this...! She freaks out if I'm reading a swimsuit magazine! I don't wanna know what happens when she learns I've transformed into a potential centerfold!'_

"I have...the _weirdest _team ever." Tsuki said, her left eyebrow twitching. She shook it off and a grin appeared on her face. "Congratulations! You all pass!"

The three boys looked confused. "What?"

"But Hanzo didn't get a bell," said Nataro.

"Yeah, what gives?" Kazemaru asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Sensei," Hanzo spoke, "I thought this was training. What do you mean _'Pass'_?"

The purple-haired kunoichi laughed. "Oh, did I forget to tell you? Silly me! This was actually a little test. If you guys had failed, I'd have had to send you back to the Academy!"

"Uh...WHAT?!" Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru screamed at the same time.

"There's more stuff to it too, but don't worry, all three of you pass! So, congratulations, Team 14!! You are now officially _genin_!!" Some confetti began to fall from the skies, which made the three genin sweatdrop.

"Uh... Does that mean we can _eat_ now?" Kaze asked her with his stomach grumbling.

The jonin gave them a nod and a smile. "Of course! But since there were no actual lunch boxes in that basket, I guess I'll have to take you boys out for lunch."

"Alright, food!" Nataro and Kaze pumped a fist in the air as Hanzo gave a sigh of relief.

"Finally! I'm starved," The dark-haired boy's stomach growled in response to his statement.

"Oh, one more thing before we go," Tsuki walked up to Nataro and looked at him. "...Nataro?" She said seductively.

A light blush appeared on the blonde boy's cheeks. "Y-yes, Tsuki-sensei?" The resounding sound of a slap echoed throughout the forest. Nataro was now headfirst in a tree, half-conscious. "Owww...!" Hanzo and Kaze sweatdropped and they started to inch away from their teacher, who had an aura of darkness radiating from her being.

Tsuki gave the orange-clad ninja a mad look. "Don't you ever do that...so-called jutsu ever again! Got it?!"

"Y-yes, sensei..." The blonde boy spoke in a dazed tone as he got to his feet, holding onto his aching head.

**X-X-X**

Much later, as the sun was setting over Konohagakure, the Rokudaime was in his office, with his head resting on his desk and his eyes closed. He continued to sleep even as the door was kicked open and Nataro walked in. The blonde genin had his jacket tied around his waist and his goggles hanging around his neck. There were wet spots on his clothing, and as he walked towards the desk, he made wet footprints on the floor. When he approached the desk, the blonde boy stared at the Hokage.

"Gramps? Yoo-hoo, Gramps! Are you awake?" Nataro poked the old man and no response came. "...Are you _dead_?" His gaze traveled over to the wide-brimmed red and white hat with the kanji of Fire that rested on the far end of the desk. He picked it up with a fox-like grin on his face and placed it on his head. "Well, whatever you are, you won't mind if I take this, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"AH!!!" Nataro stumbled back in fear as the Rokudaime Hokage sat up and yawned. "G-gramps!! You're _alive_!!"

The old man narrowed his eyes. "Of course I'm alive! All I did was go to sleep for a few..." His eyes traveled over to the clock on the wall. "Hours?" He looked down at the paper that his head had been resting on--a bill that needed to be passed to allow something or other to become legal or illegal or...whatever the hell it was. The Hokage realized that Nataro was there. "So, have you finished?"

"Yeah, yeah...! I've cleaned off every building in town with my name on it...!" The genin said with his eyes narrowed into fox-like slits. "So now, you've got nothing to hold me back, old man!! HA!!"

"I guess so."

"Okay... See ya!" The blonde exclaimed as he turned on his heel and proceeded to exit.

"Okay..." The Rokudaime blinked and a question mark appeared over his head. "Wait a minute..." He looked at the edge of the table where his hat had been. "What the hell?! _Nataro!_"

**X-X-X**

"Hee-hee-hee!" Nataro snickered as he ran out of the Administration building with a fox-like smile on his face and the Hokage's hat on his head. Some people he passed did double takes as soon as he exited, but paid them no mind. He had the _hat_ now, and there was no way that the old man could take it back!

Or at least, that was what he thought before he literally ran into the Rokudaime Hokage himself. As the young blonde stared up at the old man with wide eyes, the Hokage took his hat off of the boy's head and glared down at him. "Honestly, how _juvenile _can you get?"

"How'd you get down here so fast?!" Nataro exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I just left you up _there _and now, you're down _here_!"

"It's a secret."

"Pretty please?"

"_No_," the Rokudaime spoke firmly. "Just go home, Nataro. And don't pull any crazy stunts like that again. Or at least wait a few months for people to recover."

"Maybe...if I can keep the hat." From the look in the old man's eyes, Nataro flinched and put up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay! Keep the stupid hat! I'll get it myself one of these days, so watch out, _Gramps_!!" The blonde boy exclaimed as he ran past the old man.

"I'm not your grandpa!!" The Rokudaime shouted, getting a few looks from passersby. _'Honestly...that boy can be so irritating!'_ He looked up at the monument mountain and a smile broke out across his face before he turned around and began to walk towards the administration office. "But I kind of like it. It's gotten too peaceful around here… Somebody has to shake things up once in a while.

**X-X-X**

**Blu: There it is! The first chapter! I am actually hoping on posting a chapter a day until I can reach Arashiden again! I hope you won't mind.**

**Kaze: They've been waiting a long time for you to update and you're saying you'll post a chapter a day… I doubt they'll mind.**

**Nataro: Now then, remember to review the new and improved Naruto X!! Because even though you've reviewed for it in the beginning, you should review again and tell us what you think!**

**Blu: See you in the next chapter!**


	2. A Challenging Mission?

**Blu: I promised that the next chapter would be up the next day, and damn it, I've kept my promise!!**

**Hanzo: Good. You wouldn't want to anger the masses so shortly after beginning the story again.**

**Nataro: Yeah, 'cuz those fans can get **_**pretty**__**nasty**_**…!**

**Blu: Well, once they know that this is another all new chapter not shown in the original story, they shouldn't get mad! So, let's roll the fic!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and her stories._

**X-X-X**

**"Out...!**

**I want out...!"**

**X-X-X**

_#2: A Challenging Mission?!_

"Pass this? Sure! Confirm this? Sure! Legalize this? Sure!" The Rokudaime Hokage spoke as he stamped forms and sheets at an amazing pace...probably because he wasn't even looking at them since his mind was somewhere else. _'I wonder how Tsuki's team is doing...?'_ He looked at the girl standing next to the missions' desk out of the corner of his eye. "Are you sure you don't want something to sit on, Sakuya-chan?"

"I'm fine, Naruto-sama," said the 11-year old girl, Sarutobi Sakuya as she folded her arms behind her back and twisted around uncomfortably. She had straight chocolate brown that appeared to be cut a few inches above her shoulder and straight bangs that hid her forehead. She wore a dark purple shirt with violet-colored sleeves, a black frilled skirt and a pair of black formal-looking sandals.

"You're sure now?"

"No, thank you, sir."

"Um, I could...get you a chair, Sakuya-hime," said one of the chunin who was sitting beside the Hokage.

"I said _'no, thank you',_" Sakuya spoke stiffly as she cast a glare at the chunin.

68-year old Uzumaki Naruto sweatdropped and gave the girl a half-lidded stare. "Easy now, Sakuya-chain. No need to act like that..."

At that moment, the door of the office was kicked open and Nataro marched in. He had several scratches on his hands, arms, and face, all caused by the seemingly harmless, cute white gray kitten he held out in front of him as if the feline had a foul odor. Hanzo and Kazemaru walked in after him, sporting fewer scratches than their teammate, and Tsuki came last with no scratches at all.

"Mission accomplished!" The blonde boy grumbled as he held out the kitten to Sakuya. "Here's your fluffy, little bast--MMPH!!" He couldn't finish his sentence because the Rokudaime had a hand over his mouth.

"Don't you dare!" Naruto hissed.

"Um... Th-thank you...!" Sakuya asked with a slight blush on her cheeks as she took the kitten from Nataro's hands. She stared at Nataro for a while, and when her face turned a bright shade of red, she bowed her head. "Thank you very much for finding Neku!"

"Yeah, yeah, just get that fluff ball from hell--I mean _heck_ as far away from me as humanly possible!" Nataro exclaimed, pointing a finger at the kitten. Neku's response was to hiss and scratch his finger. "Owww!!"

"S-sorry!! I'm sure he didn't mean it!"

"He meant it, that little furry bast--!" It was Tsuki's turn to cover his mouth as a string of muffled curses came out.

"Sorry... Thanks again!" The brunette ran out of the office, still blushing.

Kazemaru blinked. "Uh... Is it just me, or have we seen that girl before?"

Hanzo stared at the redhead with half-lidded eyes. "Well, we _did_ have to find her cat _five times_ for the week... You'd think she'd learn by now to keep that thing locked up properly." He then noticed Nataro sucking on his injured finger. "Oh, come on! It couldn't have hurt _that_ much."

"Didn't you see that?! That fur ball attacked me! I better not get rabies!"

"Nataro, I keep telling you that that was _drool_."

"That was almost as bad as the time we had to find those dogs...!" The blonde boy groaned, ignoring his teammate. He glared at Naruto and pursed his lips. "We better get a better mission, old man!!"

"Yeah, one that doesn't include animals!" Kazemaru muttered under his breath as he looked in the corner of his eye.

"You honestly shouldn't be complaining. All genin take these kinds of missions," Naruto stated with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "They're meant to improve your skills."

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "How the _hell_ does chasing after animals improve our fighting skills?"

"Good question," Hanzo mumbled.

"Hmmm... If you want another mission, okay." The Rokudaime picked up a scroll and opened it. "Let's see... They could use some stand-ins for the staff on the farm in the nearby countryside. Or you could pick up trash around the Academy... Or babysit for the members of the Village Council..."

"No, no, NO!! I refuse!" Nataro exclaimed, turning his back on the old man. In a flash, he was holding onto a bump on his head, courtesy of his sexy sensei.

"I'm your sensei, and you have to do what _I_ say or face _'execution'_!" Tsuki told him with a silky tone in her voice that made Hanzo and Kaze turn blue in the face.

"But we've been doing these kiddy missions for a _week_ now! Enough with the..._volunteering_!! We need to see some action!!"

"Yeah, 'cuz so far, I feel like all that talk about how _cool_ being a ninja is...was false advertising," said Kazemaru with a flat tone.

_'I have to admit, this isn't exactly what I imagined when I graduated,'_ thought Hanzo.

"Is that so?" The Rokudaime asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It _is_ so! We're advanced enough to get a more _challenging_ mission by now, Gramps!"

"Challenging, huh?" The Rokudaime picked up a scroll. "I think...I may have a _challenging_ mission for you. One that's _so_ difficult that for the last couple of years...the people hired to do the task have been _mentally scarred for life_ at the end..."

"Mentally scarred?" The three genin asked with a hint of worry in their voices.

"Mentally scarred? ...Isn't that a bit over the edge, sir?" Tsuki asked, concern for her students' wellbeing flashing in her eyes. After all, she didn't want to mentally scar them so early in their shinobi careers. "They've only been genin for a week! They don't sound ready for this kind of thing."

Naruto smiled as he opened the scroll and read it over. "You can relax. It's only a D-rank mission that the genin have been complaining about for quite a while..." _'The client's done a bit of complaining as well.'_ "They honestly think it should be labeled as a _C-rank_ mission instead."

"Hmmm, that sounds great, but is it _really_ challenging? This isn't some kind of trick that you're trying to pull to make us do some kind of humiliating mission, is it?" Nataro asked the old man as he squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner.

"You have my word as Hokage that this will be _very_ challenging for you."

The orange-clad boy snapped his fingers and began to smile broadly. "In that case, we accept!"

"H-hey, that's not your place to decide!!" Hanzo spoke up, his eyes slightly larger from shock.

"Me, too! I accept!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he raised his hand in the air.

"What about _me_?! Doesn't _my_ opinion matter?"

"Nope," the pyromanic genin spoke in a flat tone, almost making the Uchiha fall over. "Majority rules, Fan Boy!"

"That's politics, Hanzo!" The loudmouth blonde added.

_'What place do politics have in the ninja world?'_ The raven-haired boy thought as he gave his teammates half-hearted glares.

"Don't worry, Hanzo. I'm sure the client won't be as hard on you as they were on the other genin they've offed," said Naruto as he handed the mission scroll to Tsuki.

Hanzo's mouth opened. "_Offed_?"

"Figuratively speaking, I mean."

"Figuratively.... Of course... You wouldn't give a group of kids a life-threatening mission, Hokage-sama," the raven-haired boy spoke as he gave a mental sigh of relief.

"AH!!" Tsuki gave a short scream, almost dropping the mission scroll as she did. Her students stared at her confusion as she stared at the Hokage in shock. "You...can't be serious...! This is too...! The _client_ is...!"

"Uh-huh!" The Hokage smiled and leaned back in his seat. "What's the matter, Tsuki? Don't tell me that you're scared just because the client is--"

"Uh-uh-uh! I am _not_ afraid of _him_! Absolutely not!!" She slammed the mission scroll down on his desk, making the chunin on either side of him flinch. Tsuki turned around to face her students with a frightening look of determination blazing in her eyes. "Boys!! Let's go!!" She stomped past the boys, leaving them behind with confused expressions on their faces.

"Okay... What just happened here?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow as he stared at the doorway.

"I think we missed something," said Hanzo.

"Definitely missed something," said Kazemaru.

"BOYS!!'" Their sensei's angry voice made the three genin zoom out of the office.

"Heh-heh-heh! God have mercy on their souls... They're gonna need it!" Naruto cackled to himself as he held onto his stomach, much to his assistants' confusion.

**X-X-X**

"What does this make now? You've scared off so many people, I've lost count!" 69-year old Uchiha Sakura groaned as she rubbed her temples. "Honestly...! When I asked nurses from the hospital to come check up on you, you scared them off! Now none of them are willing to speak to me unless it's necessary! And they _flinch_ every time they hear your name! I've hired genin to take care of the chores around the house, and you use _genjutsu on them_! What does that mean, honey? Huh?"

68-year old Uchiha Sasuke sat in his armchair, with steel-gray hair that spiked up slightly in the back of his head, a dark blue yukata that had the Uchiha fan emblazoned on the back and on the left and right breasts, and a cane leaning against his leg. He looked up at his wife with dull onyx eyes. "Can't you take a hint? I can take care of myself. It's not like I'm disabled."

"Who said you were disabled?! I didn't think you were disabled! I just don't want you to put too much stress on yourself at your age..." She sat down on the arm of chair and began to stroke his hair. "You know?"

"You're one to talk. You're older than I am and still working at the hospital."

"Oh, be quiet! That doesn't have a thing to do with the conversation!"

"Does it?"

Sakura frowned and hit her husband upside the head. "No, it doesn't! Quit trying to change the subject!"

The woman who stood in the doorway of her parents' bedroom sweatdropped. She was in her early 30's with shoulder-length pink hair with a red short-sleeved buttoned-up blouse, a black skirt and black heeled sandals. "Dad, why do you have to act so difficult?"

"That's just one of his many _bad traits_, Hikari," Sakura said with a huff. "It's up there with his arrogance, stubbornness, and ever-shifting superiority/inferiority complex."

Sasuke snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Complex? I don't know what nonsense you're spouting off, but I don't have a complex."

"It's so sad to see someone with a problem in denial..." The old woman sighed as she pushed herself up from the arm of the chair. "But I've been married to you for so long, I've gotten used to it."

"Going back to the subject!" Hikari exclaimed as she walked over to her father and held onto the hand that held his cane. "If you went out more, we wouldn't be doing this, Dad," she told him, looking into his eyes.

"I don't _need_ to go out. I can take care of myself without any assistance."

"But what if you have an accident while we're gone? What if you fall and hurt yourself?" The pink-haired woman asked. "There'll be no one there to help you with us at the hospital, and you don't want Naoto or Ichigo or Mai's families to look after you, so if something happens--"

"Would you stop that? God, you're as annoying as your mother sometimes..." Sasuke grumbled, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not _that_ old. If you're so worried about me being alone, then..." He pointed at Sakura. "Tell your mother to retire, so she can stay home and not worry about me."

"That's not the point!"

Sakura grabbed hold of her husband's face and made him look up at her. "I just can't stand the thought you staying in this big empty house all alone for the entire day, honey. You know my heart's in the right place when I say...you're getting babysitters." She kissed him on the forehead, ignoring the glare he was giving her. "And if you try to corrupt or twist any of their minds, I will make sure that you really _are_ disabled."

"Hn..." Sasuke broke free of his wife's hold and fell back into his chair, staring out into space.

"Do you hear me? I'm serious, Sasuke!"

Hikari sweatdropped once again and held onto her forehead. _'Honestly... My parents...!'_

**X-X-X**

"So our clients are my grandparents?" Hanzo asked in an unsure tone as Team 14 passed through the open wooden gates and entered the Uchiha district.

"Uh-huh," Tsuki said with an expressionless look on her face.

"Seriously?"

"Well, the scroll only said that Uchiha Sakura was the client, but the mission is to tend to the house and see after Uchiha Sasuke."

"Would you look at this place? We haven't seen _anyone_ yet!" Kazemaru spoke up as the group passed an abandoned store.

"Well, only 20 people live here, and just about everyone must be out for the day," Hanzo explained.

"_20 people_? The village is willing to allow 20 people to stay in a big place like _this_? That's a waste of space!"

The raven-haired boy began to stare down at the ground. "That's true... This place would be livelier if it was sold back to the village, but my Grandfather has this thing for tradition and keeping family values alive."

Kaze nodded in a knowing manner as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, I see, Fan Boy. Your gramps must be one of those _'You whippersnappers have no respect for your clan heritage'_ types. I've got a great aunt who's exactly the same way..."

The rest of the group walked on, Kaze and Hanzo making idle chitchat and Tsuki paying some attention to them. They didn't seem aware that Nataro had stopped walking to stare at a flag with the Uchiha clan symbol imprinted on it. He didn't know why, but the sight of that fan made something well up inside of him.

**"Let me out."**

"Huh?!" Nataro stepped back from shock and looked up and down the street. No one was there but him _'I thought I heard someone...'_

"Nataro!!" The blonde boy turned around to find Hanzo at the corner, motioning for him to come. Nataro ran over and gave a sheepish grin as the Uchiha boy stared at him. "What were you doing? Don't tell me you find this old place interesting."

"Mmm, maybe a _little_..."

"Huh. Never thought _you_ of all people would." Hanzo pointed around the street corner. "My grandparents live down _this_ way. Oh, and..." A slight blush appeared on his cheeks. "Uh... Try not to overreact when you see it, okay?"

Nataro blinked. "Overreact? Why would I do that?"

**X-X-X**

A few minutes later...

"HOLY CRAP!!! YOU LIVE _HERE_?!?" Nataro screamed upon seeing the large, two-floor compound. It resembled an old-fashioned traditional house like the ones he had seen on historical cartoon shows.

"Wow, Hanzo! You're livin' in the lap of luxury, aren't you? Why the _hell_ would you wanna be a ninja when you've got this kind of money to throw around?" Kazemaru asked as he stared up at the Uchiha compound with eyes the size of saucers.

A drop of sweat ran down the back of Hanzo's head._ 'So much for not overreacting...'_ "I don't live here. My brother and I just stay here whenever my mother's away on missions." He stared at the house for a few seconds before he turned to his teammates. "People who weren't born in the clan seem to think that a house like this is impressive."

The orange-clad genin gave an overdramatic gasp. "Are you _insane_?! It doesn't _'seem'_ impressive! It _is_ impressive! _Way_ impressive!! This is the kind of house a Kage could live in!!" Upon lowering the volume of his voice, Nataro placed his hands together and leaned close to his raven-haired friend. "Is this how _your_ house looks, too? C'mon, tell me!"

"Honestly, my house is not exactly impressive when compared to..._this_," Hanzo gestured towards the compound dejectedly.

"If it's even _half_ as big as this, then it still qualifies as impressive," said Tsuki.

"Stop being so modest and just tell me, Hanzooo!!"

The shoji door on the porch slid open and Sasuke walked out onto the engawa. His hand gripped the head of his cane as he stared at the genin squad and their jonin sensei. They were actually wondering if he would attack them when he spoke up, "Go away."

The team gave a collective "Huh?"

"Your services are not required. Now, _leave_."

"Sasuke! What did I just tell you a while ago?" Sakura chided her husband as she appeared in the doorway, dressed in a high-collared white coat with a red cross over the left breast. "Besides, I've already paid for their services. You can't send them away after I spent the money..."

"Hmph." The Uchiha patriarch turned his head, not bothering to make eye contact with Team 14 or his wife.

"Forgive my husband. He's had something stuck up his butt for a couple of years now..." The Uchiha matriarch apologized, smiling playfully when she noticed the way her husband flinched.

Hanzo sweatdropped. "Um... Good morning, Grandma. Grandfather..."

"Huh? Oh, Hanzo! So, it was _your_ team that was chosen. I'm so relieved!" She pointed a finger at Sasuke, who still refused to make eye contact. "Your grandfather won't _dare_ hurt his own flesh and blood for a childish reason!"

Nataro walked forward and stared at the Uchiha clan elders. "Um... So, you're Hanzo's grandma and grandpa? And in that sense, you're Ina's grandparents, too, right?"

"That's how genetics work, Ramen Breath," Kazemaru told the orange-clad blonde with a roll of his eyes.

"Allow me to introduce ourselves--since my dear husband seems to have taken a vow of silence. I am Uchiha Sakura and this is my husband, Sasuke."

"Sakura and Sasuke..." Nataro pronounced. "Sakura and Sasuke."

"Hey, be respectful!" Hanzo hissed in his ear.

"Huh? Oh, right. Sakura-san and Sasuke-san." The blonde genin folded his arms across his chest and gave a fox-like smirk. "So, I guess you know who I am, huh?"

Sakura blinked. "No."

"What?! Hanzo!!"

Once again, Hanzo sweatdropped. "Grandma, this is the friend I told you about. Kazaki Nataro?"

"Kazaki Nataro..." Her eyes clouded over as she took in Nataro's appearance. "Yes... I know you." Sakura narrowed her eyes. "You're the little smart aleck who wrote your name on the walls of the hospital!"

In the blink of an eye, Nataro found himself hiding behind Tsuki. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!" For reasons he didn't even know, the sight of this old woman glaring at him was enough to make him want to run for cover.

"Wh...what? I won't hit you!" The old woman gave him a look of confusion. "Oh, well. I have no time for this. I'm late as it is!" She leaned against Sasuke and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Mwah! Promise to be good, dear? ...I'll take a risk and say your silence is a _'yes'_." She walked up to Hanzo and pulled out a piece of paper from her jacket, which she handed to him. "Here's what you need to do before the end of the day. Okay? Good. I'll see you by sunset." She then walked out of the compound quickly.

"Well... Your granny's an interesting person, Fan Boy," said Kazemaru. "Are _all_ the women in your family like that?"

"If by _'like that'_ you mean _'potentially frightening,'_ then yes. Yes, they are."

Sasuke finally decided to look at Team 14 again. "So, _this_ is the team you were placed on." He gave a snort. "Doesn't look very impressive. Or smart. Especially the short one."

"Hey, you can't say that about Kazemaru!!" Nataro shouted. Tsuki, Hanzo and Kaze stared at him with arched eyebrows. "What?"

"The hell?! I'm the tallest one in this squad, moron! He's talking about _you,_ _shrimpy_!" The pyromanic genin exploded.

"...Oh." In the blink of an eye, he attempted to pounce at Sasuke, but found himself being held back by Tsuki. "How dare you stand there and say I'm dumb?! Lemme at that old goat!!" He growled as he clawed at the air and bared his teeth.

The elderly Uchiha gave the boy a half-lidded glare. "Stupid, barbaric, rude to his elders... The quality of genin these days has sunken to a new low."

"Look here, you old bast--MMPH!!"

"No cursing your elders, Nataro," said Tsuki as she held her hand over her student's mouth. _'No matter __**how**__ much you want to punch their face in.'_

"Um, don't mind him, Grandfather!" Hanzo exclaimed, bowing in apology to his grandfather. "Nataro doesn't mean anything he says!"

"MMMMPPPH!!!" _'Yes, I do!!!'_ Nataro stopped struggled when Tsuki removed her hand from his mouth and lightly pinched him in the neck. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell over, unconscious.

"That'll keep you quiet." The purple-haired woman noticed the looks she was getting and sweatdropped. "What? I didn't do anything _harmful_. He'll wake up in a couple of minutes. I'll leave you boys to your business. Hanzo, since this is your house, you're in charge."

"For the last time, it's _not_ my house. And..." Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "Why are you leaving?"

"Oh, I have some important..._things_ to do. I'll be back by the time your mission is done, so don't worry," she told the Uchiha boy as she patted his head. She then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Who was that, Hanzo?" Sasuke asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Our sensei, Asahara Tsuki. Have you...ever met her?"

The old man arched an eyebrow. He turned on his heel and motioned for the boys to follow. "Come on, don't dawdle! You've got _work_ to do..." He muttered as he shuffled into the house.

Kazemaru bent down next to Nataro and poked the blonde in the cheek. "Hey, Nataaaaroooo... Wake up, Ramen Breath!" He started to pull on the shorter boy's cheeks. "We...have...work to do!"

"Would you stop that? He's out cold," said Hanzo. "Just...pick him up and we'll carry him into the house."

**X-X-X**

Later, Team 14 walked through the halls of the Uchiha compound, Nataro still in a bad mood about what had happened before.

"Damn that cranky old man! Forcing us to do his _chores_...!" The blonde grumbled as he walked behind Hanzo.

"He's not _forcing_ us. This is our mission, remember?" The raven-haired boy spoke as he led the group through the compound.

"Hmph! What's so challenging about cleaning up some old guy's house?" Kazemaru muttered, narrowing his eyes as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Old man Hokage must be senile..."

"He's not just _'some old guy'_. My grandfather is a legendary shinobi! Or at least...he _used_ to be. He's retired now."

The red-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Still sounds like some old guy to me."

As the group walked past a slightly open shoji, a yellow snake-like eye peeped out at them from within the room. Kaze stopped walking and arched an eyebrow in confusion. He stepped back and looked into the crack in the door.

"Say, Hanzo? You said that most of this house is uninhabited, right?"

Hanzo stopped walking. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I think something's in here."

"Huh?"

"Aw, it's probably a rat," said Nataro.

The redhead pulled up the sleeves of his jacket and frowned. "Ugh...! Rats! Guess our first chore is _pest extermination_!" He slid open the door. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "You've gotta be shitting me."

A large, dull gray snake was coiled up in the middle of the room, its body resting on a small table. Its head traveled towards Kazemaru and it flicked its tongue out, lightly tickling the stunned redhead, who was too shocked to move. When the snake opened its mouth, revealing two pairs of fangs, Kaze felt his legs shake. The snake shot forward with the intent of swallowing the genin whole, but Nataro grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way in time, and the snake collided headfirst into the wall, putting it in a momentary daze.

"What the _fug_ is that thing?!" Kazemaru screamed.

"Sure as hell ain't no rat!"

The snake recovered and focused on the two genin. It slithered forward, opening its mouth once again to swallow them, but instead, it swallowed several kunai that had bomb notes wrapped around their blades. In less than a second, the kunai exploded and smoke came out from within the reptile's stomach.

"Come on!! Let's get out of here!" Hanzo shouted.

"You don't have to tell _us_ twice!" Nataro and Kaze shouted at the same time as they each grabbed hold of one of the Uchiha's arms and began to drag him away from the snake, not even caring about their teammate's wellbeing until they dashed into another small room and slid the door shut behind them. The blonde and redhead slid down against the door, breathing heavily, while Hanzo laid down on the floor.

"That...was...a _snake_!" The Uchiha spoke slowly, staring up at the ceiling in shock.

The pyromanic genin of the group narrowed his eyes. "Oh, no. That was a _rat_. Of course it was a snake! A...really big snake. What in the _hell_ is a giant snake doing in your house?!"

"How should _I_ know?!"

Nataro crackled open the shoji door slightly and peered outside. After a few seconds, he slid the door open and looked down the hallway. The giant snake was no longer there. "Where'd that snake go?" His teammates immediately stuck their heads out of the room at those words. "It's like it just vanished!"

"Vanished? No, that _couldn't_ happen!" Hanzo exclaimed. "Maybe...we were all hallucinating?"

"Hallucinating?! Are you serious?" Kaze asked the Uchiha with a skeptical look in his eyes. "But...then again, Hokage-sama mentioned something about the people before us being _mentally scarred_... You honestly think that giant snake was just an illusion?" He rubbed his cheek in disgust. "I practically felt that thing's breath on me!"

"The question is who's behind this?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's probably that old goat upstairs!" Nataro grunted as he made his way into the hallway and glared up at the ceiling. "It's gotta be! You said he was _'legendary,'_ so he's gotta know a few legendary tricks, too!"

"Don't be so stupid! Why would my grandfather use genjutsu on us?" Hanzo asked, folding his arms across his chest. "It doesn't make sense!"

"Because he's a crazy old _coot_, that's why!!"

"Don't insult my grandfather like that!"

"But it's the truth!"

"You don't know him!! He may not be the friendliest person in the world, but he's not like that!" The raven-haired boy shouted, making his blonde friend stumble back in shock. "Never mind the hallucinations...! Let's get back to our chores...!" He pulled out the list form his pants pocket. "Next is..."

**X-X-X**

"...Getting rid of the bugs underneath the house," said Hanzo as he stood on the porch.

"Just bugs, huh?" Kazemaru said with a mischievous smirk that was mirrored by Nataro. "We can do that. All it takes is one good blow and...SQUISH! Goodbye, bug!"

"Now _this_, we can do!" Nataro exclaimed, nodding fervently.

"You guys go underneath there, and I'll stay here," the Uchiha stated. "I'll go clean up the kitchen."

"Hey, how come _we're_ dealing with bugs and _you're_ dealing with cleaning?" The pyromanic genin asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Hey, yeah! What gives, Hanzo?" The orange-clad blonde added, narrowing his eyes. "You _know_ something, don't you?"

Hanzo sweatdropped and looked out of the corner of his eye, smiling nervously. "Does it really matter? Besides, if we split up the work, we can get things done faster. So stop trying to put it off and get going!"

"Alright, alright! Sheesh! Slave driver...!"

Kazemaru and Nataro got down on the ground, lying on their stomachs as they crawled underneath the engawa and under the house while Hanzo walked into the kitchen nearby. Mere seconds later, the blonde and redhead both shot out from under the house, covered in small black bugs that resembled beetles. The genin rolled along the ground, screaming at the top of their lungs as the bugs bit them. A few minutes of helpless rolling later, Nataro and Kaze stopped moving altogether and the bugs continued to swarm on them.

Hanzo poked his head out from the kitchen and sweatdropped. "Should I have told them that those were chakra-eating bugs?" The groans that came from his teammates made the drop of sweat on the back of his head increase in size. "Uh, are you guys okay?"

**X-X-X**

"Gardening should be easy, guys. Don't worry!" Hanzo assured his teammates as he watered some herbs that were growing in a plot. "And if by some bizarre twist of fate it _isn't_, we can't screw this up! This garden is Grandma's hobby when she's home... I mess it up, and she'll kill me."

"Yeah, yeah, sure..." Nataro grumbled, still upset about what had happened with the bugs. He got on his knees and began to pull out weeds from the ground. _'So long as we don't meet up with more snakes, I'll be happy!'_ He froze the moment he heard a hissing sound, pupils shrinking as he did so. Nataro looked down at his hand and saw that instead of a weed, he was holding a long green garter snake. "Ack!!" He dropped the snake and watched as it slithered away. The orange-clad genin was about to give a sigh of relief when he heard some more hissing sounds. Looking down, he saw dozens more snakes slithering on the ground. Some wrapped themselves around his legs and arms, made their way up his body and began to enter every possible orifice that they could reach. He tried to call out, but it was done in vain as snakes filled his mouth to the point where they were beginning to choke him. It didn't seem as though his teammates were paying much attention to him, either, as they went on doing their assigned chores.

Kazemaru plucked some tomatoes off of a plant and dropped them into a small basket. _'Challenging. As if!'_ His gaze focused on the last ripe tomato on the final plant. _'No one will mind if I take __**just**__ one...'_ He thought with a sly smirk. Kaze plucked the tomato off of the plant, looked it over for any bruises, glanced out of the corner of his eye to see if Hanzo still had his back turned, and took a bite out of the fruit. The moment he did, his eyes snapped open and he threw the tomato on the ground. Instead of sweet, pink flesh, the fruit was filled with squirming maggots. The sight of the squirming insects made the pyromanic genin double over and throw up. As Kaze wiped the sleeve of his jacket off on his mouth, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye that made the urge to vomit rise up again. Maggots were beginning to poke out from beneath the skin on his hands and arms, and he could feel a few on his face, too. As much as he wanted to scream, it seemed like he couldn't.

Hanzo continued to water the herbs until he heard a caw. Looking up, he saw a raven perched on the lower roof of the compound just above his head. Just then, two more ravens landed onto the lower roof, perching next to the first. Then came another...and another...and another, until there were well over two dozen ravens seated on the roof of the compound. The flock of ravens sat there, still as statues, as they stared down at Hanzo with bright red eyes with three comma-shaped markings around their pupils. The Uchiha boy's eyes widened as he gulped, sweat beading on his forehead. "Uh-oh...!"

**X-X-X**

Naruto stared up at Sasuke with half-lidded eyes. The Uchiha elder stood before him with Sharingan eyes activated, comma-like markings spinning slowly like the hands on a clock. "Sasuke. Glad to see you've decided to get out of the house." He gave a small smile. "It's been ages, hasn't it?"

"I wish it could've been longer..." The Uchiha patriarch spoke with an emotionless look on his face.

The Rokudaime sighed and shifted the crystal ball in his lap. Old man Sarutobi really did leave behind a wonderful little object. It was probably the only way he got to see what was going on in the village when he was trapped in his office or in meetings. He looked up from the crystal ball at Sasuke. "You want to talk?"

"What I _want_ is for you to stop conspiring with Sakura."

"Conspiring?" Naruto arched an eyebrow. "All I did was accept her mission request."

"And it was under false conditions. I'm not too old to take care of myself! So do the both of us a favor and stop sending those dumb genin over."

"I never thought you were too old. If you're too old to take care of yourself, then I'm too old to do this job. And I _know_ that I'm not too old." The elderly blonde leaned forward, careful not to drop the crystal ball off of his lap. "You should know by now that Sakura doesn't want you to stress yourself in your old age. She wants you to relax and enjoy the years you have left."

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, though he continued to glare at the Hokage. "Screw that. You don't see the look that she and the children give me. They _pity_ me."

"Oh, don't say that! Now you're just taking this the wrong way! If anything, they're worried that you're becoming a recluse in your old age." Naruto scratched his cheek as he glanced down at the crystal ball. He arched an eyebrow before placing the item onto his desk. "Tell you what: why don't you sit down and watch some entertainment with me?"

The Uchiha stared at the image in the crystal ball and sweatdropped. "You're finding this entertaining? You're an awful Hokage. You're..." He lowered himself into the seat in front of the desk, "You're as bad as I am."

"No, no, no! What _you_ did is worse than what _I'm_ doing. _You_ put your grandson and his friends into a dangerous illusion. _I'm_ just watching--"

"And not doing a thing to stop it," Sasuke muttered flatly.

Naruto gave his friend a half-hearted glare. "Keep it up. At the end of the day, _you're_ the one who's going to get their ass kicked by Sakura."

"Hmph! You honestly think I'm afraid of her? I know she won't hurt me."

"Never say _'never,'_ Sasuke..."

Tsuki sat outside on the roof, cheeks tinged blue as a small vein throbbed on her forehead. _'Unbelievable...! Rokudaime-sama needs to be impeached! He's just as bad as that man!'_ She would've walked right in and given her leader a piece of her mind if it wasn't for the appearance of Sasuke.

"Uh-oh. What's this?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow as he leaned forward.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Heh-heh-heh...! Your wife's back early, Sasuke~!"

"Hm? She must be on break."

The Rokudaime stared at his friend for a few minutes before speaking up, "Well? Aren't you going home?"

The Uchiha patriarch arched an eyebrow. "You _must_ be senile. Why would I go back home just to endure her nagging?"

"Hm. Good point."

**X-X-X**

"My eyes...! My eyes...!" Hanzo repeated over and over as he sat on the engawa with his grandmother sitting next to him. His fingers lightly touched his closed eyelids every few seconds.

"There, there. It'll be okay..." Sakura mumbled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "...You can open your eyes now."

"Huh?" The raven-haired boy blinked his eyes open. They weren't being pecked out by crazed ravens. He was safe. "I...can see?"

Nataro held onto his throat as he sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. He tried to cough up some snakes, but none came up. Not that he wanted to, so it made him relieved. "Man...! I thought I would die...!"

"Me too...!" Kazemaru breathed out as his bangs clung to his forehead with sweat. He checked over his arms and felt his face for any holes or maggots and felt his heart lighten up when he found none. "What the hell happened to us?"

"Sasuke, that's what happened! And to think that I had come all the way over here during my break because I thought about changing my mind!" The Uchiha matriarch exclaimed, folding her arms across her chest. "Honestly...! It's bad enough to put children into genjutsu, but your grandchildren...?" A powerful aura of murderous intent began to radiate from the old woman. "When I see him, I'm gonna bash his head in with his own cane!"

"You go, Sakura-san!! Teach that old bastard what's what!" Nataro exclaimed.

"What did you call my husband?" Sakura huffed.

"I called him...an old man...m'am...!" The blonde boy squeaked, suddenly on his knees with his hands put together. His friends sweatdropped in the background as they stared down at him.

"That's what I thought."

"So...um... Are we done here, Grandma?" Hanzo asked in a wary tone.

Sakura snapped out of her murderous thoughts to look at her grandson from the corner of her eye. "Of course not! You haven't even started yet!"

Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru stared at her, chibified with their eyes reduced to small dots as they gave a collective "huh?".

"Well, you were all lying in the courtyard under the effects of that genjutsu."

"What the fug?!" The pyromanic redhead screamed.

"You must be kidding!!" The loudmouth blonde shouted.

"So...everything we endured...from the moment Tsuki-sensei left us alone with Grandfather...was just part of his genjutsu?" The raven-haired boy spoke in a daze.

"Afraid so. But it's not like you don't have time to finish. Sunset is still a long time from now," the old woman assured the genin. "So, are you all okay?"

"Yes, m'am..." The boys answered in harmony.

"That's good. The last genin that Sasuke put in an illusion, they wound up in the hospital mental ward for _weeks_." Not even noticing Team 14's shocked expressions, Sakura turned on her heel and began to straighten up her outfit. "Well, I'm off again! Remember: you've got _5 hours left_!"

As his grandmother walked away, Hanzo closed his eyes and sighed. "I can't believe we spent several hours in an illusion..."

"I can't believe that it was your _grandpa_ that did it to us!" Nataro grumbled as he bit the inside of his lip.

"I can't believe that we still have to clean this damn place up!" Kaze snarled, grinding his teeth. "Say, Fan Boy, your crazy grandpa doesn't have any secret traps or weapons hidden around here, does he?"

"Well... Grandma _did _joke once that Grandfather was as paranoid as an ex-ANBU..."

The pyromanic boy stepped off of the porch and made his way across the courtyard. "Uh-huh. Well, _I_ give up. Mission: _failure_!"

"H-hold on! I was just joking!" The raven-haired boy snickered behind his hand. "Odd as Grandfather can be sometimes, he's not _that_ crazy."

Kazemaru spun on his heel and flipped the bird at the Uchiha. "_Not_ cool man! Do _not_ joke about something like that after the experience we just had!"

Nataro shook his head. "Seriously, it's not funny, Hanzo...!"

**X-X-X**

At the Hokage's office, Tsuki stood in the doorway with a cat-like smirk on her face and a satisfied look in her eyes as she purred in a singsong tone, "You're gonna get it now~!"

No one else would dare to enter the office when an angry Uchiha Sakura marched in--though you could bet that the staff outside was probably listening in. The elderly woman held a chair over her head with the intent of bashing her husband's head in. Sasuke stood in front of Naruto's desk with a calm, cold look. Naruto, on the other hand, was frantic, even though he didn't show it much.

"Sakura, c-calm down! I know you're angry at him, but that doesn't give you the right to destroy my office!" The Rokudaime exclaimed. Tsuki swore she heard a hint of whining in his voice.

"Forget it, Naruto! Today, my husband will die and I'll be known as the Widow Uchiha!!"

Sasuke snorted. "You _know _you won't do that."

"Maybe not, but I can beat the ever-loving _crap_ out of you!!" His wife screeched as a vein throbbed on her forehead.

"P-put the chair down, Sakura! You're supposed to be the patient one in your marriage, aren't you?!" Naruto told his friend.

"Forget patience!! He needs to have a few _lumps_!"

"Sasuke!! Control your wife, would you?!"

"I only have a few years left, Naruto. I'm not going to jeopardize them by doing something stupid." Sakura stared at Sasuke for a while before putting the chair down. "See? She's calmed down all by herself." His wife walked up to him...balled up her fist...and...

Naruto averted his eyes as the sound of Sakura's fist meeting Sasuke's face was heard. "Hmm... Well, at least she didn't destroy anything."

"Just one punch? That's all you're going to do, Sakura-san?" Tsuki asked with a hint of whining. _'I was hoping she would beat him up some more...!'_ "Well, at least beat up Hokage-sama! He was enjoying watching my genin suffer!"

"What?!" The Hokage exclaimed, waving a hand in front of him in self-defense. "Wait, wait, wait! If you knew what was going on, why didn't _you_ go and cancel the genjutsu on them, huh?!"

"_Naruto_...!"

"Huh?" The old man's gaze drifted over to Sakura, who had a familiar aura of murderous intent rising from her that made him start to sweat. "Wait, Sakura-chan, I can explain!"

"Arguing is _useless_!!"

The sound of the Uchiha matriarch punching her Hokage in the face made Tsuki fold her arms across her chest and smirk. "And justice has been served."

**X-X-X**

Hours later, as the sun began to set over Konohagakure, Nataro finished wiping some dust off of a book in a study in the Uchiha compound. The blonde boy gave a sigh of relief before falling back into the chair for the desk that he was standing behind.

"Finally...! I'm _done_...!" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pushing up his goggles in the process. "What a relief...! Now I can sit back and relax...!" He opened his eyes and noticed something that he had missed--a photo that stood on the desk, its frame and glass dusty. "Huh. I must've missed this..." Nataro picked up the photo and used the sleeve of his shirt to clean the dust off of its frame. "There! _Now _I'm done!"

With the dust cleaned off, Nataro could see the picture clearly even though it had yellowed with age. It was of three kids--two boys and a girl--with a masked man who wore the standard jonin uniform leaning over them. One boy frowned as he glared at the camera, the other boy glared at the frowning boy, the girl was in-between them sticking out her tongue cutely, and the masked man gave the peace sign as his visible eye winked and formed an upside-down 'U'.

"Who _are_ these guys...?" Nataro mumbled as he brought the photo closer to his face.

_"Kakashi-sensei, does Naruto honestly have to be in the photo?"_ He heard a girl's voice echoed in his mind. _"He'll probably just mess it up."_

_"M-m-me?! What about Sasuke? He probably won't even smile at the camera!" _A boy's voice echoed in his mind.

_"That's not true! Right, Sasuke-kun?"_

_"Hn..."_

_"Anyway, I think we should leave Naruto out."_

_"Ah?! S-sakura-chaaan!"_

_"This is a __**team**__ photo, Sakura. We all have to be in it," _a man's voice spoke. _"Now then...smile!"_

Sakura walked into the study and stopped in the doorway when she saw Nataro sitting in the armchair, staring at the photo. "Oh, there you are!" She looked around the room and gave a satisfied smile. "Good job..." After a few seconds, she realized that the boy was still staring at the photo. She walked up to the desk and lightly tapped on the desk, bringing his attention. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, uh..." Nataro tilted his head slightly and gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Heh-heh! I guess I spaced out for a moment..." He turned the photo around to show the Uchiha matriarch. "Whose squad is this? Yours?"

"Mm-hm..." The look in Sakura's eyes softened. "Mine's...and Sasuke's...and Naruto's..."

"Oh. I see-- Wait, _what_?!" The orange-clad genin jumped out of the chair and leaned across the desk--or attempted to do so, at least. "Naruto... That name sounds kind of familiar."

"It should. He's the one you're supposed report to for your missions."

"Wow... You were on the same team as Gramps?" The blonde asked with his eyes slitted like a fox. A smile broke out across his face. "Heh-heh...! I bet you're so cool, Sakura-chan!"

The old woman blushed and held a hand to her face. "Oh, my...! It's been a while since someone's complimented me like that!" She stopped blushing and blinked. "Wait. What did you call me?"

Nataro blinked. "Sakura-san."

Sakura arched an eyebrow. "Right... It's just that I thought..." She trailed off and began to shake her head. "Never mind. I guess looking at you reminds me of Naruto when he was a kid. You look so much like him...I thought I was seeing things when I first saw you!" It was the genin's turn to blush as he looked out of the corner of his eye while Sakura smiled.

**X-X-X**

"Wow! What happened to you, Gramps?!"

Naruto glared at Nataro as he sat behind his desk. He had a black eye and he twitched in pain every couple of minutes. "_No questions_." _'At least all she gave me was a black eye.'_

"Come to think of it...didn't Hanzo's grandpa have a black eye?" Kazemaru asked, scratching his cheek in thought.

"Yeah, but that was because Grandma..." Hanzo trailed off as his eyes widened in realization. "Oh... Oh!"

Tsuki stifled a laugh as she hid her mouth behind her hand. Nataro, on the other hand, doubled over, holding his stomach as he laugh loudly. "HAHAHAHA!!! Sakura-san...beat you up?! Some Hokage!!"

A vein popped up on Naruto's forehead. "You _do_ realize I could put you on D-rank missions for the rest of the month?" The blonde boy immediately stopped laughing and gulped. "That's better..."

The orange-clad genin quickly regained his courage. "I still have some complaints!! You knew what he was going to do to us and you _allowed_ us to go work for that crotchety old bastard!"

"First of all, you agreed to do it without even looking at the form, so it's _your_ fault if you didn't know what you were in for."

"Nothing was ever said about one of the clients being a crazy old man!!" Kaze shouted through clenched teeth.

The Rokudaime scratched his head. "Well, okay, Sasuke can be a bit..._drastic_, but you should try looking at this mission as an...educational experience."

Nataro and Kaze's eyes twitched. "_Educational experience_?!" Tsuki grabbed the collars of their jackets in time to hold the boys back, so instead of attacking their leader, they were punching their fists at thin air.

_'That wasn't educational... That was awful!'_ Hanzo thought as he stared out of the corner of his eye. "There's not a chance that this mission will...pop up again, will it?"

The struggling blonde and redhead glared at their raven-haired teammate. "HELL NO!!!"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Oh, this was actually fun to watch. Old!Team 7 as much fun to write as Team 14! Even if I did have to resort to the cliché of Sakura beating up Naruto and Sasuke.**

**Nataro: I liked it!**

**Naruto: I **_**didn't**_**!!**

**Hanzo: Only because you got beat up.**

**Sakura: And you **_**deserved **_**it!!**

**Naruto: Yes, m'am.**

**Blu: Ah, well… Here's hoping that everyone will review! See you in the next chapter!**


	3. Just a Scrol? On to Benzaiten!

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

**"Let me out...**

**Can you hear me...?**

**I want out!"**

**X-X-X**

_#3: Just a Scroll? On to Benzaiten!!_

"I'm being serious, Hokage-sama, this has _got to stop_," said Tsuki as she stood before Naruto with an irked expression on her face. In the background, Nataro was seen on the ground, trying to pry Sakuya's kitten, Neku, off of his face while Hanzo and Kazemaru just stood there, not daring to interfere, and Sakuya froze on the spot, spouting off apologies.

"I know, I know..." The Rokudaime sighed. "She has to learn that she can't keep losing her cat on purpose... This may be the _eighth _time you've had to find it, but she's lost it over a dozen times for the past month! Heck, even _I'm_ getting sick of it."

The jonin blinked. "Did you say..._'on purpose'_?"

"AAAAAHHHHH!!! Get it off of me, get it off of meeee!!" Nataro screamed as he continued to wrestle with the kitten. After a few seconds of hesitation, Hanzo and an unwilling Kazemaru jumped in. The raven-haired boy tried to get his friend to hold still while the redhead focused on trying to pull the cat off of Nataro's face.

Naruto nodded and bridged his fingers together. "Mm-hm. I think she does it because she likes your team in particular."

"Really? We're nothing special..." Tsuki tapped her foot in thought before an idea struck her. "Oh, I know! She must have a crush on Hanzo! He certainly looks cute enough, doesn't he?"

"Come on, Nataro! If you ease up, it might let go!" Hanzo's voice came from behind them.

"_Ease up_?! How can I ease up with this demon's claws digging into my face?!" Nataro screamed.

"Man up, Ramen Breath!! Stop being such a pussy!" Kazemaru shouted.

The Hokage sweatdropped and scratched his cheek. "Maybe, but I'm not sure if he's the reason why..."

"AAAAHHHH!!! Get this fuggin' thing off of me!!" Kaze screamed as he stumbled around, trying to pull off Neku, who was now on _his_ face with his claws digging into the genin's cheeks.

"Man up, Pyro Freak!" Nataro mocked as he gingerly touched one of the scratches on his cheek.

"Well, it can't be Kazemaru... It _definitely _can't be Nataro." Tsuki sighed and scratched her head.

"What makes you think that? Women have some strange taste in men, you know."

The purple-haired woman looked down at the Hokage, an eyebrow raised. "Really? Well, I suppose that's true-- W-wait, what the hell are we talking about?! We went off subject!!"

"Did we? I didn't notice."

Tsuki sweatdropped. _'He honestly didn't notice how we went from talking about missions to talking about love interests?'_

"YEEEEOUCH!!!" At the sound of Kazemaru's cry, the female jonin looked over her shoulder to see Kazemaru and Nataro holding onto their scratched faces and Hanzo observing his scratched-up hands. The blonde and redhead were glaring at Sakuya's little kitten, which she held in her arms.

"Um... S-sorry about that...!" Sakuya stuttered, a tinge of red on her cheeks. "I don't know why he always gets like this around you..."

"Maybe that cat needs to be _neutered_," Kaze grumbled. "I'd be glad to do the surgery myself!"

"Do us a favor and keep that fur ball from hell on a leash! Or better yet, keep it in a cage!" Nataro shouted as he pointed a finger at the kitten. Neku made to scratch the genin's finger once again, but he pulled his hand back in time to avoid being scratched. "Haha! In your _face_, fur ball!!"

"Once again, I'm very sorry about this! Please, forgive me!" Sakuya exclaimed with a quick bow as she ran out of the office.

"I'm not sure if I'm ever going to understand that girl..." Naruto mumbled as he stared at the doorway. "Oh, well." He looked at Team 14 and smiled. "Now then, about your next mission..."

"ARE YOU BLIND, OLD MAN?!? WE'RE IN _PAIN_!!!" Kazemaru screamed, and was immediately struck upside the head by Tsuki.

"We need rabies shots, stat!" Nataro whined.

Hanzo sweatdropped. "I keep telling you: it doesn't _have_ rabies!"

"Hey, it runs away a lot! You don't know where its paws have been!"

Naruto blinked before lacing his fingers together. "If you're hurt, you can go to the hospital _after _I tell you about your next mission."

"Do we have to? I can practically _feel_ the rabies in my bloodstream...!" The orange-clad genin shuddered.

"I'm not going to try and correct you anymore," Hanzo muttered as he gave the blonde a half-lidded stare.

"Moving on..." The Rokudaime began. "There's something waiting for me in a city."

"Ooohhh, is it some kind of secret scroll? I bet it is! Hee-hee, we're going to retrieve a secret scroll!!" Nataro exclaimed, forgetting about his previous mission.

"If it _was_, do you think I would send a squad of genin?" The elderly blonde leaned back in his chair. "Actually, I ordered something from the city of Benzaiten. But, seeing as how I can't leave on account of my position, I'll be sending your team on my behalf."

"Wow...! Having Hokage-sama for a client...! Such a responsibility is just about every ninja's dream," said Kazemaru with a small smile on his face. The smile became a full-blown grin as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Should we be honored?" _'Hell yes!! He's got __**tons**__ of dough, being the Hokage and all!'_

"That would make this our first mission outside of the village," said Hanzo. _'I'm kinda nervous...'_

Nataro smiled "Ooohhh, retrieving an item for Gramps! That's gotta be, what, an _A-rank_ _mission_?"

Naruto sweatdropped. "Again, if it _was_, do you think I would send a squad of genin? It's a C-rank--a _very_ simple one. Just get my package here in one piece."

"Uh... What happens if we don't? Y-you wouldn't do anything _life-threatening_, would you?"

"Do you _really_ want to know?"

Tsuki smiled and nodded in approval. "I was wondering when this opportunity would pop up. This is your chance to do something that's close to _real_ ninja fieldwork!"

"Hell yeah! I'm in!" Kazemaru exclaimed, flexing his nonexistent muscles. "We can take it!"

Nataro puffed out his chest proudly. "You bet!"

"This was going to happen eventually," said Hanzo. "I don't mind."

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow morning, Squad 14 will set out for Benzaiten, Rokudaime-sama," their jonin sensei announced with her arms folded behind her back. "We won't fail you, sir. Now then..." She looked down at her blonde and redheaded students with an arched eyebrow. "Don't we need to get you two to the hospital?"

"Huh?" The boys suddenly remembered the scratches on their faces as the feeling of happiness wore off. "OUCH!!!"

**X-X-X**

The next day, Team 14 met at the large gates of Konoha.

"We're going on a C-rank~! Finally out of the village~! Ha-ha-ha, hee-hee-hee~!" Nataro sang happily as he held onto the straps of his backpack with a sunny smile on his face. "This is the marking point! As soon as we set foot on the other side of this gate, we will finally become _real ninja_!" He exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "So come on, come on! Time to get a move on, people!"

"Shut up! You don't even know which direction we're going," said Kazemaru as he double-checked the contents of his duffel bag.

Hanzo gave a sigh as he shifted his single-strapped bag underneath his shoulder. _'Today was the day that Mom was supposed to come back from her mission...but it looks like I'll miss her.'_

Tsuki appeared before her students in a poof of smoke with a smile on her face. "Good morning, boys! Everyone present and accounted for?"

The genin immediately formed a straight line and gave her the salute. "Yes, m'am!"

"Alright, the trip to Benzaiten is going to take a while. 3 days at the very least, but should we come across any problems, it could take longer."

"Problems?" Hanzo asked.

"Thieves, wild animals, bad weather, and the highly unlikely chance of running into enemy ninja."

Kaze gulped and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Enemy ninja...? Are you for real?"

"Well, it's highly unlikely, but it's still possible... There have been times in the past when shinobi from other nations have snuck past the borders of Hi no Kuni to do _business_ here. But, you have nothing to fear!" The purple-haired kunoichi reassured her student as she patted him on the head. "I won't let any harm come to you."

The pyromanic genin blushed, his face the same shade of red as a tomato. "Tsu...Tsuki-sensei...!" He jumped up in the air and pumped a fist. "There's no need for that!! If we meet up with any ninja, I'll show you what I'm made of!"

Nataro folded his arms across his chest and pouted. "Suck-up...!"

**X-X-X**

Two and a half days later, Team 14 decided to stay at a roadside inn. The day went by quickly as they enjoyed the inn staff's hospitality, ate well--with Nataro and Kazemaru getting into an eating contest and almost choking at the same time, and ended with Nataro and Kazemaru spying on Tsuki as she bathed in the hot springs--and being swiftly punished afterwards. The three boys slept peacefully in their room that night as dreams filled their minds.

**X-X-X**

_"Naruto...!" The pink-haired girl wearing a short-sleeved red dress and dark green pants growled as she cracked her knuckles in a threatening manner._

_His dream started off where it left off the night before. After an embarrassing accidental kiss with that guy he hated even more than Ina, Nataro found himself staring down several angry girls that all looked thirsty for his blood._

_"B-but...! Sakura-chan, it was an accident...!" The blonde boy stuttered. He didn't even know why he called her 'Sakura'. She just looked so much like the young, cute Sakura-chan that he couldn't resist._

_Of course, right now, she had the murderous aura of old, scary Sakura-san. "Arguing is USELESS!!!" She screeched as she punched him in the face so hard that he saw stars._

_Thankfully, he didn't feel the intensity of that punch and he found himself somewhere else. Now he was inside a room in the Academy, behind an open window with a rope in his hand and a mischievous look on his face. On the other side of the window was the dark-haired boy that he probably hated more than Ina--better known as Uchiha Sasuke, who was eating a rice ball casually. In a flash, Nataro pulled him inside and a ruckus could be heard from outside._

_"What the he-- __**Naruto**__!"_

_"Sssshhh!! Be quiet, idiot!"_

_After the difficult task of tying up the boy and placing duct tape over his mouth was done, Nataro transformed into Sasuke in a poof of smoke. He smirked at the real Uchiha._

_"So long, __**loser**__." He walked out of the room and slammed the door shut, and as soon as it did, the scene changed again._

_Now he was sitting on a bench with Sakura, still in his transformed state. "Sakura... I have something to ask you," Nataro said, looking at the pink-haired girl. "What do you think of Naruto?"_

_She frowned, furrowing her brow. "He's annoying." That comment broke his heart. "I think that if he had his way, I would never find love or happiness. It's like he...__**enjoys**__ tormenting me! I hate him! There's only one person whose opinion I care about and that...is __**you**__, Sasuke-kun." A blush appeared on Sakura's cheeks as she leaned forward. The way she puckered up her lips suggested that she was trying to kiss him._

_"Sakura..." Nataro leaned forward and puckered his lips as well. She may have hated his guts, but this was his chance to get a kiss from this cute dream girl. Or it __**was**__ until he felt a pain in his stomach._

_"S-sasuke-kun? Are you okay?"_

_"I...need...to...go...!" The transformed blonde spoke through clenched teeth as he got up and began to awkwardly walk away. In a flash, he was sitting on the toilet, back to normal as he held onto the seat. "M-man...! That was __**terrible**__! I didn't even get to kiss her! And...she hates me..." He started to smirk as he looked up at the door. "But...I could just make her hate Sasuke even more than she hates __**me**__!! Heh-heh-heh!"_

_In a flash, he was out of the bathroom and running down the hall, only to skid to a halt and fall down on his butt in front of Sasuke. "Ah!! How did you--?"_

_"Any good ninja is an escape artist." The raven-haired boy began to smirk. "Try to keep that in mind...__**dunce**__."_

_"Awww...!"_

**X-X-X**

The next morning, Hanzo and Kazemaru stood fully dressed beside Nataro's bed. The blonde was still asleep, snoring away without a care in the world.

"Would you just look at him? You know, he looks so peaceful that I could just _flip him out of there_," said Kaze.

"That's a two-man job," said Hanzo.

"Why, Fan Boy, are you insisting on helping me?"

"No, I'm just saying that Nataro's size doesn't change the fact that he weighs _a lot_..."

Kazemaru blinked. "And you know that _how_?"

"...Don't ask questions and grab the mattress," the Uchiha muttered flatly as he held onto one end of the mattress while Kaze grabbed the other end. "Ready? One...two..."

Before Hanzo could finish counting, Kaze had already flipped Nataro off of the mattress. The blonde landed on the floor facedown. "OOF!!!"

"Kaze..."

The redhead arched an eyebrow. "What? You were counting too slow!"

Nataro, still dressed in his dark blue pajamas with some sort of super-deformed chibi ninja on the torso, picked himself up off the floor and rubbed his head. "Ow... What hit me?"

"The floor," Kaze answered quickly. "Now get dressed so we can get going to Benzaiten!"

**X-X-X**

"Man, how much farther until we get to Benzaiten...?" Kazemaru groaned as Team 14 continued on the path to Benzaiten, walking past several other travelers as they did. The redhead shoved his hands into his pants pockets and gave another groan. "I'm soooo _bored_."

_'You're not the only one... The only bad part about being a genin squad sensei is that there's hardly any action.'_ Tsuki thought as she walked at the head of the group, reading the map in her hands. "Don't worry. We should be getting close to the city by now."

Nataro was uncharacteristically quiet as he walked at the back of the group with a thoughtful look on his face. _'In my dream...they called me Naruto...again. I didn't even start to notice until I met Hanzo's grandparents...'_

"I can't wait until this mission is over. It's been ages since I saw my Mom..." Hanzo mumbled.

"Mommy's boy?" Kazemaru asked with a toothy grin. "I kinda pegged you for the wimpy type, Fan Boy."

"Wi-_wimpy_? I am _not_ wimpy!" The raven-haired boy growled. "Missing my mother doesn't make me a wimp! Right, Nataro? ...Nataro?" He blinked when he noticed the blonde wasn't responding.

_'Gramps' name is Naruto... So why would I dream about being __**him**__...?'_

"Yo, Ramen Breath! You in there?" Kazemaru asked as the blonde boy walked past him, still thinking hard as he stared at the ground.

Tsuki blinked as Nataro walked past her. "Nataro...?"

_'How weird...! Maybe this is a sign of something to come!' _Still not noticing what he was doing, Nataro continued to walk with a smile forming on his face. _'Maybe this means I'll become Nanadaime!!'_

"Nataro!! WAIT!!!"

"Huh?" The orange-clad genin blinked as he set his foot down and began to tumble down the other side of the hill that Team 14 had just walked up, screaming all the way, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow...!"

"Geez...that kid...!" Tsuki muttered as folded her arms across her chest and looked down the hill. "He makes me believe he's one of those dumb blondes."

"That's because he _is_ a dumb blonde," Kaze said with a half-lidded stare as a drop of sweat ran down the side of his head.

Hanzo looked down the hill at the orange speck that was his teammate. He couldn't see it, but Nataro was lying facedown on the ground with a tiny bird pulling on a strand of his hair. "Um... Shouldn't we go and see if he's okay?"

"We'd have to, anyway. He fell in front of the entrance to the city," the female jonin pointed out the city below.

Hanzo and Kazemaru, who had just recently noticed the city, blinked. The only thing that stuck out to them was the tall metal spire in the center of the village. "Wow... It looks plain," said the redhead.

"I was expecting something a bit more...flashy," said the Uchiha.

"Yes, well... As a person who once traveled to Benzaiten, I tell you that you won't be surprised until you step foot inside," Tsuki explained to the boys as she began to walk down the hill. They exchanged looks before running down after her. By the time they reached the bottom, Nataro was already up and shooing the bird away. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're not hurt."

"Go on!! Get away, you dumb bird!!" Nataro screamed as the little sparrow flew off with a strand of hair in its beak. He rubbed his head around the spot where the bird had pecked and plucked with a frown. "What _dumb bird _would think my hair can be used for a nest?!"

"Common sense thinks that," his raven-haired friend stated.

"Besides, your hair already looks like a nest. No harm done!" The Pyro Freak joked with a broad grin.

A vein began to throb on the young blonde's forehead as he shot his redheaded teammate a hard glare. "I can fix that...!"

"Now, boys, no arguing when we're almost finished with our mission," Tsuki ordered the trio in a stern tone.

"Uh...really?" Nataro turned around and noticed the entrance of the city. "Awwww!"

"What? Don't tell me _you're_ disappointed by the village, too."

"No... I just didn't think it would end like _this_!" The blonde said with a pout. "We didn't fight _any _nukenin _or_ thieves or even wild animals on this mission! This is such a drag...!"

"Don't get all depressed! Not all missions are highly intense adrenaline rushes. Sometimes, you're gonna get jobs like this where conflict can rarely happen." _'Sad as that is,'_ the sexy sensei thought as she looked out of the corner of her eye.

"Aw, man...! There better be thieves waiting for us on the way back!"

**X-X-X**

As they walked through the cobblestone streets of Benzaiten, the Konoha ninja were blessed with the sight of several models of street art, such as pictures painted on the ground, metal statues, and oddly enlarged objects. But what could one expect when the city was a city of art where aspiring artists came to study the different kinds of art. The squad wandered around Benzaiten for a while, lost on account of Tsuki being unable to read the map properly, but the boys took it in stride and saw it as an opportunity to sightsee so long as they were there.

"Oooh, check that out!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pointed at the oil painting of a naked woman lying on the ground with a dazed look in her eyes that was propped up in front of a stall. Actually, it was just one of many with a naked woman, but that one stuck out to the genin. "What I wouldn't give to have _that_ in my room!"

"You want a picture of _that_ in your room?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow. "You're such a weirdo...!"

Hanzo shook his head. "You're hopeless! Honestly, what self-respecting artist peddles off _porn _as _art_?"

"I don't know, but I like 'em!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed as he ran up to the stall. "Hey, mister! How much for your painting?"

"Painting?" The grizzly-looking man arched an eyebrow. "Which one?"

"The one of the naked woman lying on her back! How much?"

"KAZEMARU!!!" Tsuki bellowed as she suddenly appeared behind the red-haired boy in the blink of an eye. She grabbed the back of his jacket collar and pulled him away from the stall with one hand. "For the love of all that's wholesome, what were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking _'I want that painting'_!" Kaze whined until he saw the cold look in his sensei's eyes. He gulped and withered under her gaze, deciding it best to remain silent while sweating bullets.

"Buying such an awful thing...! What kind of little _pervs_ did they give me for students?!"

"But...I'm no pervert..." Hanzo spoke up.

The purple-haired kunoichi blinked. "O-of course not _you_! I'm talking about _this_ little pervert and _that_ little per--" She stopped when she realized that Nataro was no longer standing next to Hanzo. "Where is Nataro?" She felt someone tugging on her arm. Kazemaru, still too afraid to speak, pointed at something a few feet away. Tsuki's eyes focused on what he was pointing at and her jaw dropped. "What...the...hell...?"

Nataro was hugging a large cup of generic brand instant ramen. "It's my dream come true!!"

"Na...Nataro, stop that!! That's just a prop! There's nothing in there!"

The blonde's eyes popped open, large and blank. "N-n-nothing in here? At all?!"

"You honestly thought that something was inside?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow.

Nataro sweatdropped. "W-well..."

_'And he called __**me**__ a weirdo!'_ Kaze thought as he directed a half-lidded stare in the blonde's direction.

**X-X-X**

"Whoa..." Nataro mumbled as he, Kazemaru and Hanzo stood before a wall mural. It depicted a large red fox with 9 tails standing over a burning village, baring its fangs with a full moon behind it and red clouds painting the dark sky.

"This looks wicked awesome!" Kaze exclaimed.

"It's an artist's rendering of the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Hanzo explained.

"Look at the size of that thing! It could've squashed the entire village all on its own!"

"Uh-huh. Luckily, we don't have to worry about that since it's sealed inside of the Rokudaime Hokage."

The pyromaniac's eyebrows rose and hid behind his bangs as his mouth formed an 'o'. "F-for real?! The old man's got a thing like _that_ in him?"

"It was in the new edition of the village history book from our first year. If you actually _studied_ for that class, you may have remembered."

"Pssh...! Who'd wanna remember something from _that_ boring class? And that was long ago! Can't expect us to remember something like that after so long, right, Ramen Breath?"

Nataro wasn't paying any attention to his friends' conversation. All of his attention was focused on the mural. _'Those eyes...! I've seen them before from...somewhere...'_

**"Can you hear me?"** A deep voice rang clearly through his ears.

"Huh?"

"Grrrr...!" Tsuki gave a low growl as she stood a few feet away from her students, reading the map and flipping it over every couple of seconds or so as she gritted her teeth. _'Stupid map! Why can't I find this place already?!'_ A few more seconds passed until she snapped and threw the map to the ground. "That's it!! I need a better sign to finding this place than this map!" At that moment, a bird that had been flying overhead holding a stone in its beak accidentally dropped the stone. The stone landed on Tsuki's head and made her whirl around and glare up at the culprit, only to stare up at a building in surprise. "Huh...? Oh. It...was right here all along..." She sweatdropped as a crow cawed. "Boys!! This is it!!" The jonin shouted, motioning for her students to follow her before walking in.

The genin walked up in front of the building and stared at it with unimpressed looks. It was an average-sized shop, with only a pair of windows in the front. All in all, it was nothing special. "This is it? It doesn't look so great," Kazemaru mumbled as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"I was expecting that any place Hokage-sama would order from would look more..." Hanzo trailed off.

"Fancy?" Nataro finished. "I know what you mean."

When they entered the store, their jaws dropped. For such a small building, it was almost jam-packed with scrolls. Small scrolls were placed on shelves that hid most of the walls in the entire store, large scrolls stood on their own on the ground, and a few ink paintings hung up n the walls. "Whoa...!"

Tsuki approached the scroll-covered counter where an elderly old man was reading something. "Excuse me, I'm here to pick up something for the Rokudaime Hokage?"

The old man noticed the purple-haired woman and blinked. "Eh? Who?"

"Um...Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Uzumaki...? Uzumaki..." The old man smiled and began to nod stiffly. "Oh, yes! I remember. I have to say that this one is one of my better masterpieces. Hold on for a second..." With some signs of effort, the old artist got up off of his stool and hobbled towards the door behind him. He opened the door with a yell of "Riki!!"

"ACK!!" The sound of several objects falling to the ground could be heard out in the storefront. "Oh..."

"Now look at what you've done!! Everything's out of order!"

"I-I'm sorry, Junzaburo-sensei! You know I didn't--!" A young man stuttered from inside.

"Save it! Now I have to search for Uzumaki-san's...!"

"Y-you don't have to worry, sir! Th-this is it, right?" The group saw a bespectacled young man from the doorway, red-faced as he handed Junzaburo a large red scroll.

"That's more like it! And clean up this mess!"

"Y-yes, sir..." Riki stuttered before the door was slammed in his face.

Junzaburo hobbled back to the counter, struggling a bit with the scroll before setting it on the counter. "Here we go! That'll be $250,000 ryo."

"What?! That much for _one_ drawing?!" Nataro shouted.

"You don't seem to understand how hard it was to find the right brushes, paints and scroll necessary for this project, little boy. I use only the finest in my art!"

"Yes, sir!" Tsuki exclaimed as she covered the orange-clad boy's mouth with one hand. "Please, forgive him, sir! He's just a boy who knows nothing about art!" She bopped Nataro on the head before pulling her traveling bag off of her back and searching through it. She pulled out a large sack that jingled with the sound of coins. "Here's your pay, sir. Straight from Hokage-sama himself." Tsuki placed the bag on the counter and grabbed the scroll. "Here." She tossed the scroll to Nataro, who could barely hold it and fell down trying to maintain his balance. "You can carry that all the way home for disrespecting an elder like that."

_'Man...! Old people get away with __**anything**__!'_ Nataro thought as he puffed up his cheeks in irritation.

**X-X-X**

"Hey, let's go get something to eat!" Nataro suggested as he shifted the scroll in his arms. "The mission's over now, so we can wind down, right?"

"The mission isn't over until we report back to Hokage-sama," said Hanzo as he stared down at the drawings on the street.

"But it's not like we have anything doing! Besides...I'm hungry."

Tsuki stopped walking. "Well... It _is_ about time for lunch. And I _am_ a bit peckish... I don't see why we can't stop for a bite."

"Yay! Let's go for ramen!" Nataro exclaimed as he danced in place excitedly.

The purple-haired kunoichi sweatdropped and placed her hands on her hips. "Nataro, what makes you think there's a ramen store here?"

"'Cuz I can see it!! There's a shop over there and it's calling my name!" The blonde pointed at a small ramen stall that was nearby. He had to hold back to urge to drool as his stomach let out a loud grumble.

His sensei gave him a half-lidded stare. "You know, too much ramen could kill you."

"No, it can't! Quit tryin' to scare me, Tsuki-sensei!"

"It's no use, sensei. Nataro eats ramen just about everyday, and it's never affected him," said Hanzo with a shrug.

"No wonder your breath always reeks of ramen..." Kaze muttered as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Freak."

"Call me that again. I'll smack you with this scroll!" Nataro growled as he pulled on the straps that held the scroll to his back.

"Do that and _I'll_ smack the _both _of you," Tsuki threatened.

Both boys gained a tint of blue in their cheeks and started to sweat. "Yes, sensei..."

The Konoha squad entered the ramen shop, seeming to not notice the pair of hooded figures a few feet away from them. They wore cloaks long enough to hide all parts of their bodies, save the Oni masks that hid their faces, and stared at the shop that Team 14 had walked into.

**X-X-X**

The owner of the ramen stall set down a large bowl of ramen--easily _three times larger_ than those of his team--in front of Nataro. The blonde smiled eagerly and broke apart his chopsticks. "Alright! Chow time!"

"Wait, you're going to eat _that_?!" Tsuki exclaimed, dropping her chopsticks into her bowl by mistake.

"I haven't had ramen in _three days_! This has gotta substitute for that!" Nataro picked a string of noodles and started to slurp them down.

"You don't have to worry, Tsuki-sensei," said Hanzo as he observed the bowl. "This isn't as big as a Hagakure Special back home."

"How big's a Hagakure Special?" The jonin asked in a flat tone as Nataro continued to slurp his ramen without stopping to breathe and Kazemaru shot him a disturbed look.

"Oh, twice the size of what's Nataro's eating."

Tsuki's eyes widened to comical lengths. "Tw-twice the size of what he's...?! That does it!" She slammed her hand down on the counter, making everything on it shake. "When we get back to Konoha, I'm going to convert you from ramen. Or at least get you to stop eating it so much!"

At that moment, the blonde genin started to choke on his noodles from the shock of his sensei's words. After beating on his chest for a couple of seconds, he was able to breathe and shouted, "No way!! I don't eat it _that_ much!"

"You eat it for lunch every day," Hanzo pointed out, resulting in a glare from his friend.

"Whose side are you on, Hanzo?" Nataro shifted on his stool to face Tsuki. "And I'm not gonna stop just because you tell me it's bad for me!"

"It _is_ bad for you with the way you're eating it!"

"Nuh-uh!" He shifted once again and began to twirl his chopsticks in the broth of his bowl. "How can something so good be bad?" He picked up a fish cake and was about to pop it in his mouth when a pair of hands reached through the curtains and grabbed the scroll that was still strapped to his back, pulling it and Nataro out of the stall. "HEY!!" The blonde boy blinked as he found himself staring up into a red Oni mask. "The hell?! Lemme go!"

Tsuki burst out of the ramen stall to see Nataro being held onto by a cloaked figure wearing a red Oni mask while another cloaked figuring wearing a blue Oni mask cut the straps around the scroll. In a flash, her hand reached into her thigh holster, drew several kunai and sent them flying towards the mask-wearing strangers. One managed to fly through one of the red-masked stranger's eyeholes, making them give an inhuman cry of pain, but the rest were easily swat aside by whatever was hidden beneath the blue-masked Oni's long sleeves.

"I _said_ lemme _go_!!" Nataro screamed as he stomped on the red-masked stranger's foot and took the opportunity to run out of their grasp. Unfortunately, he realized too late that they now had the scroll. He blinked, and they were now jumping on rooftops, getting farther away every second. "I can't believe this!! We were _robed_!!" The blonde exclaimed as Hanzo and Kazemaru came out of the stall.

_'Those guys were...!'_ "We can't let them get away!! After them!" Tsuki exclaimed as she jumped onto a rooftop and began to jump along the same roofs as the Oni-masked people.

"S-sensei!! Wait for us!!" Hanzo shouted as he, Nataro and Kazemaru chased after her.

_'Those masks...!'_ The purple-haired woman thought as she jumped across the rooftops of Benzaiten. _'They couldn't be...!'_

**X-X-X**

By the time the genin caught up with their sensei, they were outside of Benzaiten and approaching a tall forest of tall, thick trees. The boys found their sensei fighting off one of the masked men at the forest entrance. She nimbly backflipped away from the red-masked Oni as it slashed at her with what appeared to be ink-black claws. After landing on her feet, Tsuki threw a set of shuriken at her opponent, but they easily slashed it aside with their claws.

"Tsuki-sensei!!" Nataro shouted as they reached the top of the hill. Both he and Kazemaru reached into their thigh holsters, drawing kunai and shuriken that they launched in a flurry of steel. The weapons were also easily swatted aside by the Oni.

"Whoa! He stopped that with his arm alone...!" Kaze whispered in frightened awe as the Oni attempted to slash through Tsuki's throat. The female jonin ducked, avoiding the death blow, and stabbed the masked man in the stomach with a kunai knife. "Tsuki-sensei is _amazing_...!"

"What're we doing just standing around?!" Nataro exclaimed, pounding his fists together. "Sensei needs us!"

"You're stupider than I thought!! Did you not see how that guy just swatted our weapons aside with his _arm_?!" The pyromanic genin shouted.

"There must be _something_ we can do to help," said Hanzo. "But...do we really want to interfere in a fight like this?"

The blonde genin blinked. "Hey, where's the other one?! He's getting away with the scroll!"

"He probably ran into the forest."

"Well, if we can't help Tsuki-sensei, we'll get back that scroll!"

"NO!!" Tsuki shouted as she lifted her foot in time to avoid having clawed hands stab it. "You can't compete with these things!! Just stand back and don't get in the way!"

Hanzo blinked. "_'Things'_...?"

Nataro stomped his foot angrily. "What do you mean we can't compete?!" He formed a hand sign and in a poof of smoke, roughly a dozen bunshin appeared around him. They all dashed towards the Oni, but they disappeared in large puffs of smoke in a matter of seconds. When the smoke cleared, a bomb note was revealed to be stuck to the masked stranger's forehead.

"Gotcha!" Kazemaru exclaimed as the note began to burn away.

The piece of paper exploded with the force of the bomb it was named for, and the Oni was sent flying back into a tree.

"Alright!! Let's go, go, go!!" Nataro exclaimed as he, Hanzo and Kaze ran past the fallen Oni and into the forest at top speed.

"NO, YOU CAN'T GO!!" Tsuki shouted as she ran towards the entrance herself, only to wind up having the red-masked Oni block her path. "Get out of my way!!" She shouted as she pulled a kunai knife from her back pouch and attempted to stab the Oni in the chest, but its claws pierced her stomach and she jumped back to avoid having them go any deeper. _'Damn it...! What are those boys thinking?!'_

The Oni's mask began to crack down the middle as the kunoichi held onto her wound.

_'This doesn't look good...!'_

**X-X-X**

"Damn it!! What the _hell_ were we thinking?!" Kazemaru shouted as he and his teammates jumped through the treetops, using the thick branches as their footing. "Going after a ninja on our own when Tsuki-sensei told us not to...!"

"That guy in the mask... Tsuki-sensei called it a _thing_," said Hanzo. "Not a ninja, or a thief, but a _thing_."

"Yeah, so? What's so important about that?" Nataro asked as he looked over his shoulder at the raven-haired boy.

"Well, maybe the things that stole the scroll...weren't human."

"What're you talking about, Fan Boy? Of course they were _human_! They looked human, didn't they?" said the pyromaniac of the group. "They're just thieves who wanna sell Hokage-sama's painting thing to get money. Not _monsters _or something!"

"You're right... That was a dumb idea," said Hanzo. _'Monsters... As if.'_

The genin of Team 14 continued to search the forest from the treetops for minutes until finally, Nataro spotted the blue-masked Oni a few feet ahead, carrying the scroll underneath its arm.

"Aha!! Found 'em!" The blonde genin pulled out a bomb note and threw it at the masked man's back. When it was stuck on there, the note began to burn away, unnoticed by the Oni until it exploded while in mid-jump. The force made the Oni hit a thick tree branch headfirst, cracking its mask slightly and releasing the scroll in the process before it fell down, hitting several branches and breaking many bones in the process before it hit the ground with a final sickening crack that made the genin trio flinch.

"Dude... That's worse in real life than it is on TV," Kazemaru said with a tint of blue on his cheeks.

"We just killed a person..." Hanzo said with wide eyes. "It's funny, but...I thought I'd feel regretful. But I don't feel anything."

Nataro jumped off of his branch and landed next to the scroll. He picked it up and stared at its plain covering in confusion. "I don't get it... What's so important about this thing, anyway? It's just a scroll, right?" His fingers ran down the flap that would open the parchment. "Maybe I should...take a peek just to assure myself... After all, Gramps didn't say we couldn't take a peek." With held breath, Nataro placed the scroll on the ground and unrolled it.

"Nataro!! What are you doing?!" Hanzo exclaimed. "You're not supposed to open Hokage-sama's painting!!"

"...This isn't a painting!!"

"What?!" The raven and redhead shouted at the same time.

"What do you mean that it's not a painting?! Don't toy with me, Ramen Breath!!" Kaze exclaimed as he shook a fist at his orange-clad teammate.

Upon the aged parchment was not a painting, but an elaborate-looking symbol drawn in the center in dried blood. Upon closer inspection, Nataro saw that the symbol was actually made up of kanji. His teammates jumped off of their branches and landed next to him to stare down at the scroll.

"This looks like a seal..." The Uchiha boy stated. "There must have been a mix-up."

"But that doesn't explain why--"

Before Nataro could finish his sentence, the kanji began to glow in an ethereal manner. In a poof of smoke, a person appeared on the scroll. It was a young girl, close to the boys' age with short pale pink hair, wearing a tattered sleeveless white dress, sleeping peacefully on the parchment.

"...I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" Kazemaru asked with wide eyes.

"It's...it's...!" Hanzo stuttered.

"It's a _girl_?!" Nataro screamed.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Benzaiten was named after the goddess of the same name, the goddess of music and art.**

**Oni are the well-known ogres of Japanese folklore.**

**Hagakure (not to be confused with the book on samurai history) is made up with the kanji for "leaf" (Ha) and "Hidden" (Gakure).**


	4. My True Self? Kyuubi no Kitsune Awakens!

**Blu: Despite the complaints about repetitive phrases and the mystery of why Naruto's still alive while Nataro is, I'm liking how this story's going so far.**

**Kakashi: Too bad most the later arcs are made up of copy and pastes of the old story.**

**Blu: Quiet, would you?! I may have copy and pasted those chapters, but I rewrote the ones that I thought needed changing. I even rewrote most of the bridge battle chapter so it wouldn't seem too much like God-modding!**

**Kakashi: (Pats Blu on the head) Good for you.**

**Blu: Yes, good for me. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: the introduction of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and a little insight on what the hell Nataro is!! Roll the fic!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#4: The True Self?! The Kyuubi no Kitsune Awakens!_

"A _girl_?! Th-there's a girl on the scroll!!" Nataro shouted, pointing down at the pink-haired girl who was sleeping peacefully on the scroll.

"We can _see_ that," Kaze stated.

"B-but she was _in_ the scroll!! Is that possible?!" The blonde held onto his head. "I am so confused...!"

"Well, she was in there, so I guess it would be..." said Hanzo. "Although, I've never heard of sealing a living person inside of something. Maybe she's dead?"

At that moment, the pink-haired girl blinked her eyes open. They were completely black, almost making it seem as though she didn't have eyes at all. The girl sat up and looked around in a daze. "Hmm...?" She noticed Nataro, who was still holding onto his head, first. "Hello!"

"Huh?" The blonde genin looked up at her and jumped back from seeing her eyes. "Ah!!"

"Who are you?" The pink-haired girl asked as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Huh? Who, me?"

"Yes, you!"

"Uh...Nataro..." He spoke slowly, eyes slitted like a kitsune mask's. "Who are _you_?"

"Asura. ...I think."

"You _think_?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow. "How could you not know your own name?"

Asura blinked, finally noticing the other two genin. "Who are _you_?"

"Kazemaru and Hanzo," Nataro answered for his teammates.

"And the person in the weird mask?"

All three genin blinked as a feeling rose up from the pit of their stomach and the blue-masked Oni stood behind them. It held up one of its arm and the long sleeve fell, revealing three long, thin black claws that melded to form a hand. Just as they Oni tried to slash through the boys with its claws, they jumped out of the way, so it cut nothing but air. However, instead of going after the Leaf genin, the masked stranger ran over to Asura and picked her up in one go, and then it ran off deeper into the forest.

"Asura-chan!!" Nataro screamed as he attempted to run after them, but Hanzo grabbed him from around the waist and kept him in place. "Lemme go!! We can't let a civilian get hurt!!"

"Civilian? She was in a _scroll_, Nataro! You don't even know what she is!"

"The hell?! That guy survived that kind of fall?!" Kazemaru screamed as his heart continued to pound rapidly against his chest.

"Tsuki-sensei was right. They aren't human," Hanzo stated, "It's not safe to go after them... We may get hurt, or worse...!"

"That doesn't matter! Someone's life is in trouble!" The orange-clad genin shouted as he struggled to free himself of the Uchiha's grip. "Would you really let someone die like that?!"

"No, of course not!"

"Then let's go get her!!"

The raven-haired boy blinked before he released his friend and sighed. "Fine...! We'll go, but we have to be careful. We go, get Asura, and report back to Tsuki-sensei."

The blonde nodded. "Got it!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you for real?" Kazemaru asked his teammates. "What makes you think that thing won't catch us and kill us?!"

Nataro pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. "Then we'll have to be fast enough so it won't catch us!"

"You honestly believe that crap, don't you?!"

"No more talk!!" The blonde genin shouted as he grabbed Kazemaru's jacket and jumped up into the trees with the redhead, followed by Hanzo. "Time for action!!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, at the forest entrance, the red-masked Oni had just punched Tsuki in the face hard enough to send her flying back, but before hitting the ground, she performed a handstand and flipped back, landing on the ground gracefully. _'I can't afford to waste anymore time!'_ The purple-haired kunoichi began to quickly form hand signs. _'Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Violent Water Wave)!!'_ Tsuki's cheeks expanded before she spat out a blast of water.

The red-masked Oni gave a short grunt before forming a single Tiger hand sign. From the mouth hole of its mask, a stream of swirling fire, much larger than Tsuki's jutsu, was blown out, tall enough to completely engulf the Konoha kunoichi. The Katon jutsu easily overtook her smaller Suiton jutsu and her entire being as well. When the flames died out, the scorched earth was exposed and Tsuki was nowhere to be seen. The Oni turned to enter the forest when Tsuki jumped out of the ground and spat out small needles of purple chakra that hit the Oni's body like senbon.

_'That should slow 'em down!'_ Tsuki thought as the red-masked Oni turned around and gave a low growl. She reached into her back pouch and pulled out a kunai that was roughly the size of a dagger. She dashed towards the Oni and slashed at its mask. In the blink of an eye, the slash became apparent and the mask fell apart. "Yes!!"

"GYUUUUHHHH!!!" The unmasked Oni cried out as it hid its face in its clawed hands. Parts of its body began to bulge slowly until its entire body grew too large for its cloak to contain it and ripped apart. With its body entirely seen, Tsuki could see why the creature preferred the cloak. Aside from looking like an experiment gone wrong, with its ashy gray skin, enlarged muscular arms with claws in place of hands, and elongated fangs that resembled a beast's, there were scars and stitches all over its body and stringy black hair hanging in front of its face and hiding its eyes.

"Hm... I forgot they could do that..." The purple-haired kunoichi said as she stared up at the mutated monstrosity. It raised its arm to strike, but she jumped back in time to avoid the blow. However, as she was in mid-jump, the Oni opened its mouth and spat out a large fireball at her. When it made impact, the fireball exploded and Tsuki was sent flying back. When she landed, she began to roll down the hill until she reached the bottom. "Don't remember if they could do _that_, though..." Tsuki groaned as she got to her feet, rubbing the back of her head. She stared down at the ground and noticed the shadow that was being cast over her. The Konoha kunoichi immediately jumped away from that spot to avoid being crushed beneath the fists of the mutated Oni.

"GYUUUUHHHH!!!" The creature roared as it slashed a large claw at the female jonin with the intent of gutting her. Tsuki just barely parried its attempts with her kunai and jumped out of the way in time to avoid being hit in the face with another fireball from the Oni's mouth.

_'I don't have time for this!!'_ Tsuki thought as she landed on the ground, narrowing her eyes. _'My boys are in trouble!'_

**X-X-X**

Within the forest, the blue-masked Oni landed in the middle of a clearing, growling in a low tone. It had been wandering around for hours, unable to find the way out. The Oni shifted the unconscious Asura on her place on its shoulder and was prepared to jump up into the trees and continue its search for an exit when it heard something: three pairs of feet landing on the grass behind the Oni in almost perfect synchronization. Turning around, the bizarre creature saw that it was its chasers, whom it had thought it'd lost while running through the forest.

"Hold it right there, pal!!" Nataro exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the Oni, while Hanzo and Kazemaru tensed up their bodies and prepared for the worst. "If you don't hand her over, you're gonna get a beat down so intense, you'll _drop_ from the memory of it!!"

"Would you shut up?! Don't threaten a guy like _this_!" Kazemaru hissed, raising a fist to strike his blonde teammate. He would've done it, to, if it weren't for the fact that he was too afraid to make any violent movements for the masked stranger to attack them.

The Oni remained silent as it dropped Asura onto the ground, not even caring if the drop hurt her in anyway. It dashed forward with blinding speed and swung its long, three-clawed hand to cleave the blonde genin's head in, but Nataro backflipped in time to avoid the attack, a claw cutting off a few of his blonde hairs. As he landed, he stumbled back and fell down by accident, just barely avoiding being gutted.

Hanzo immediately began to form hand signs and took a deep breath. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Art of the Phoenix Flower)!!'_ He jumped back, barely dodging a swift slash of the Oni's claw, and spat out a dozen small fireballs at their masked opponent. However, the Oni took a deep breath and spat out several small, balls of water that put out the fireballs upon making impact with each other. _'Huh?'_ Through the steam, the Oni ran towards him and drew back its arm to stab the raven when Kazemaru tackled into the creature and pushed it out of the way.

_'I have no idea what the __**hell**__ I'm doing!!'_ Kaze thought as he drew a kunai from his thigh holster and held it in his shaking hand. He blinked and jumped back as the blue-masked Oni slashed at him. Though it wasn't lethal, the Oni managed to slash through his clothes, leaving three thin cuts visible through the newf slits in his shirt. The second time it slashed, he attempted to block with his kunai, but only managed to get cut in his arm. "FUG!!!"

"Hang on, Kaze!!" Nataro shouted as he got to his feet and formed a hand sign. _'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Art of the Shadow Doppelganger)!!'_ In poofs of smoke, well over two dozen Nataros appeared in the clearing, wielding kunai and shuriken with looks of determination on their faces. "Ready or not..." They all jumped up into the air. "Here we come!!" The kage bunshin threw their weapons down at their target in a flurry of steel. Rather than deflect them, the Oni allowed the weapons to hit it, not reacting until a shuriken became stuck in the crack on its mask. The masked enemy gave a screech of pain and immediately pulled out the shuriken just as the kage bunshin came falling down towards it.

The Oni's traced the crack on its mask with a single claw and for a moment, something red glowed within its mask's eyeholes. When the blonde and his clones were close enough, it began to jump around, unleashing a flurry of slashes, punches and kicks that easily dispatched each kage bunshin with one blow. There was so much smoke from the disappearing clones that Kazemaru and Hanzo could only see parts of the action until the smoke cleared. The blue-masked Oni was holding Nataro up off the ground by the throat, two claws digging into his skin, bringing out blood, with his goggles hanging off of the other.

_'This guy...! He looks like a human pincushion, but that's not stopping him!'_ Kaze thought with wide eyes. _'We can't win against someone like __**this**__!!'_

Hanzo's eyes widened in shock. "Nataro!!" He closed his eyes and formed a hand sign. _'Please, let this work!'_

The masked stranger pulled back its free hand, dropping Nataro's goggles as it did. It gave a low growl as Nataro attempted to stab the creature's arm to make it release him.

_'There's no...way...I'm gonna...die...here!!'_ The orange-clad genin thought with each stab of the kunai. He grit his teeth as he began to feel woozy from blood loss.

The Oni growled once more just as a wind picked up, causing leaves to swirl around. In a few seconds, Nataro disappeared from its grasp, and his teammates disappeared from sight. It opened its clawed hand, not noticing the dull sound of a thud as it raised its hand up to its face for inspection. The skin appeared to be peeling off, revealing muscle. The cloaked figure look uninterested as peels of flesh dropped out of its cloak.

_'What's up with him...? He looks out of it...'_ Nataro thought as he sat on the ground, staring up at the Oni while it stared at its hand.

"He's in a genjutsu," said Hanzo as he and Kaze ran up to the blonde. "He won't be doing anything while he's trapped in an illusion."

"You sure about that?" Kazemaru asked with an arched eyebrow. "_'_Cuz nothing else worked up until now..."

"Trust me, it'll work. Now, let's just grab the girl and get out of here!" The Uchiha hissed, nodding his head in Asura's direction.

"Right!" Nataro said as he got to his feet, holding onto his bleeding neck. He winced in pain and stumbled forward, but Hanzo caught him in time.

"Hey, you okay?" The raven-haired boy moved the blonde's hand away from his neck. Upon seeing the wound, his mouth opened in surprise. "This looks bad... If watching horror movies has thought me anything, it's that bleeding too much from the neck will result in death."

"D-d-death?!"

"D-don't worry!! I've just gotta...um..." Hanzo grabbed Nataro's shirt sleeve and ripped off a piece, which he began to tie around Nataro's neck tightly. "There! Just don't agitate it, okay?"

"Uh... Guys? I thought the plan was to grab the girl and _get the hell out of here_!!" Kaze screamed, causing his teammates to flinch.

Just then, the Oni touched its mask and grabbed hold of the edges. It started to pull on the mask, giving grunts of effort as it did so. The boys stared up at the Oni in confusion while it continued pulling on its mask.

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know... Maybe it's part of the genjutsu."

"Yeah, well, _who cares_? Let's just grab the chick and get out of here!"

The Oni succeeded in pulling its mask off, though the Konoha genin didn't get a good look at its face as it slumped over, body twitching, claws moving like it was working a typewriter. The sound of bones cracking could be heard as the Oni began to turn in all directions, ripping off its cloak to reveal its ashy gray chest, covered with scars and stitches all over, and breasts hidden by bandages that were stained red. A row of spines grew out of its back, positioned over the spine. It got on its hands and feet, resembling an animal as its teeth grew to the point where they stuck out of its mouth, resembling small needles. Its stringy black hair hung down to the sides, allowing the genin to see its pure black eyes that greatly resembled Asura's as it made a sound between a hiss and a growl.

"HOLY CRAP!!!" Kazemaru screamed as he and his teammates jumped back, away from the monstrosity before them. "D-d-did you j-just see that?! It changed into a...a..._monster_!!"

"What the hell _is_ this thing?!" Nataro shouted.

The Oni opened its mouth, allowing some kind of mist to seep out of its mouth. The mist hung in the air, filling the entire clearing as it grew thick and heavy until the boys could no longer see the silhouette of the she-creature.

"Be on guard!" Hanzo whispered to his teammates as he pulled a kunai out from his back pouch and got into a defensive stance. Nataro and Kazemaru nodded and did the same. The three boys formed a triangle formation that they had been taught a while back, standing back-to-back, eyes darting everywhere they expected the Oni to jump out. "It could be _anywhere_... Stay focused."

_'How can he say that...?'_ The pyromanic redhead thought as his hands began to shake and he started to sweat. He gulped and tightened his grip. _'Just standing here, waiting for that...__**thing**__ to come out is driving me crazy!! ...Okay, chill out, Kaze...! Or you'll wind up getting __**killed**__!'_

Nataro blinked and looked out of the corner of his eye to see a silhouette appear in front of him. "Huh? It's over here!!"

"Right!! Get ready!!" Hanzo exclaimed as he and Kaze turned their heads in the direction where the silhouette was.

The red-haired genin suddenly got an odd feeling in his chest. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Oni right next to him. Its entirely black eyes locked with his orange eyes and Kaze felt his blood run cold. Seconds later, the Oni stabbed its claws in his side, deep enough for it to feel a rib. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Huh?" His teammate's attention was now turned to their injured comrade. "KAZE!!"

"Nnngh!" Kazemaru clenched his teeth as he began to taste something like copper in his mouth. One hand immediately moved to the Oni's arm on impulse, trying to get it to pull the claws out of his side. When that didn't work, the hand that still held a kunai forced him to shift slightly and throw the blade into the creature's eye.

Once again, the Oni gave a cry between a hiss and a growl as it withdrew its blade-like claws from the genin's side and stumbled back, standing on its legs once more. Kaze fell back, landing in the arms of his teammates.

"Kaze!! Are you alright?!" The team loudmouth shouted with concern in his eyes. He may not have liked the pyro freak that much, but he didn't want anything like _this_ to happen to him!

Despite the pain he was in, said pyro freak looked up at the blonde and spoke flatly, "Of course not, I only got _stabbed in the fugging ribs_!!" He then clenched his teeth, closed his eyes and began to breath heavily as the blood flowed freely.

"H-hanzo! We've gotta help 'em!"

"Don't you think I know that?! We _can't_!!" Hanzo shouted at a much louder volume than he was used to. "A cut's one thing, but _this_...!"

"Oh, crap...! I don't wanna die!!"

Nataro balled up a fist and punched the ground. "You won't!! Just hang on, alright?!"

Hanzo glanced over at the Oni, who had succeed in pulling out the kunai and now had its injured eye closed, blood seeping out of it. It disappeared once again into the mist. "It's going to do it again," he whispered with wide eyes. "Nataro. Keep an eye out for me."

"Huh?" The blonde blinked as his raven-haired friend turned around and began to form hand signs. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not sure if I can do this...but please keep an eye out for that thing!" The Uchiha took a deep breath and held it in. _'I hope this is going to work!'_

"Okay, Kaze! It's gonna be okay..." Nataro spoke softly as he helped his teammate lie down on the forest floor. After that, he got to his feet and formed a familiar hand sign. Four kage bunshin appeared around him in a poof of smoke, and the boy and his clones stood around Kazemaru, weapons at the ready as they kept their eyes peeled for any signs of their enemy.

"Over here!!" The bunshin facing westward exclaimed as the Oni's silhouette appeared on his side. At that moment, the she-creature jumped out and stabbed the clone in the neck, making it disappear in a poof of smoke. The other clones jumped on top of it, stabbing the creature with their kunai, but the Oni shook them off somehow and easily dispatched them.

Hanzo's eyes widened._ 'Yes!'_ He turned on his heel and blew out a large fireball in the Oni's direction. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ The Oni stared blankly at the fireball before jumping up high into the air to avoid the attack. _'Crap!!'_

"Don't worry! I got this!!" Nataro exclaimed as he reached into the bag on his back and pulled out a large blade with an open-circle hilt. With a flick of his arm, the blade unfolded to reveal a large collapsible shuriken. He threw the shuriken up at the she-creature. The blonde genin wanted to behead it, but with the way it shifted in midair, the shuriken only managed to cut off its right arm. "That's for Kazemaru!!"

The Oni gave a shrill hiss/growl as black blood spilled from its stump of an arm, but it recovered immediately and continued to dive down like a bomb. Nataro jumped back to avoid being stabbed in the head by its claws. As soon as the Oni landed on the ground, it dashed forward and stabbed Nataro in the stomach while he was in midair. Sky blue eyes widened in shock before they glazed over.

"NATARO!!!" Hanzo screamed as the Oni tossed the blonde boy aside, his body sliding off almost too easily before he went crashing into the trunk of a tree and slid down to the ground. The raven-haired boy's eyes widened. _'This can't be happening...! This can't be happening...!'_ His breathing became heavy as the sound of his heartbeat in his ear increased in volume and tempo. _'We can't die here...!'_ His eyes darted over to Kazemaru, whose blood was beginning to stain the grass beside him red, then at Nataro, whose body remained still as a corpse. The Oni disappeared into the mist once more. _'I won't let that happen!'_ He reached into his back pouch and pulled out a pair of kunai. _'I refuse to let it!'_

At that moment, the she-creature appeared behind him, its claws raised up into the air. Just as it allowed those claws to fall, Hanzo spun on his heel and blocked the claws with one blade just barely while he slashed the Oni in the stomach with the other. Brown eyes narrowed as he clenched his teeth, struggling to keep his grip under the Oni's strength. The monster woman opened its mouth and hissed, breathing out mist before kicking the Uchiha boy in the stomach hard enough to make him falter. Hanzo's arm slackened, giving the Oni ample opportunity to slice the raven-haired boy in the shoulder. When its claws slid out of his shoulder, Hanzo jumped back, landing next to Kazemaru's body. He gingerly touched his wounds and dropped his remaining kunai by accident just as the Oni ran towards him, and took a slash with its claws.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

**"Let me out..."**

Nataro's eyes snapped open upon hearing a deep voice speak. He looked around and found himself standing in the middle of total darkness. "Who's there...?"

**"Let me out..."** The voice repeated.

"Who _are_ you?"

**"I...am you... You are me..."**

The orange-clad blonde blinked. "You're..._me_?"

**"Let me out... So we can show them our power...!"**

"Power?"

**"Power to win... Power to succeed... A **_**wonderful**_** power indeed... Do you want it?"**

"Power...to win," Nataro repeated as he clenched a fist. "I need power! To blow that monster away!!"

**"Louder!"**

The blonde narrowed his eyes before throwing his head back and screaming, "I NEED POWER!!!" At that moment, a pair of red beastly eyes appeared before him, staring down at him. He could feel hot air blown on him as sharp-looking white teeth made themselves visible, spreading out into a wicked grin. The sight of those eyes made Nataro freeze on the spot, his own eyes widening and jaw dropping down. _'That thing...!'_

Red light shone down on him from the ceiling in the form of a spotlight, revealing that he was standing on firm ground--or rather on a metal floor. A second spotlight shone down and revealed the appearance of the thing in front of him. A large red fox laid down before him, its nine tails swishing about as the smile on its face grew wider. Nataro stumbled back, the spotlight following him as he did. **"What's the matter? Surprised to see me, **_**Naruto**_**?"**

"Y...you're the...Kyuubi no Kitsune!" The orange-clad blonde stuttered as he pointed a finger up at the demonic vulpine. "That can't be!! I was told that...you're sealed inside of the Rokudaime Hokage!! How can that be unless...this is a dream. I'm hallucinating from severe blood loss or something like that!!"

The Kyuubi glared down at the boy. **"I can assure that this is no mere hallucination."**

"I'm talking to a giant woodland creature!! Sure sounds like a hallucination to _me_!!" At that point, the kitsune snorted, making him stumble back. "And by the way, my name is _Nataro_! Not _Naruto_!"

**"You **_**are**_** Naruto."**

"No, I'm not! I'm not sure if you know this, but...the _real_ Naruto is ancient!!"

**"You're **_**still **_**Naruto. Or rather...you're a part of him."**

Nataro blinked, confusion appearing in his eyes. "What? A part of him?" After a few seconds, he shook his head. "If you think we're related, you've got another thing coming, fur ball." The Kyuubi no Kitsune growled at a low tone as it narrowed its eyes and bared its fangs. Nataro stepped back, wary, even though he thought of the fox as just a hallucination.

**"You are a piece of Naruto just as **_**I**_** am simply a fraction of my true self...!" **The nine-tailed beast growled as its tails swished about. **"I swear, when I learn of the one who did this, I will rip them apart and **_**destroy them**_**! It was awful enough living inside of a child one time, but a **_**second**_** time?"**

"Wait, wait, wait!! A fraction of your true self?" The blonde boy asked with an arched eyebrow. "So I _was_ right! You're not the real Kyuubi! Just a figment of my vivid imagination! Now, to find a way outta this place...!" He turned his back to the demon fox, only to find himself looking at it once again. "Huh?!"

**"Fragment or not, the truth of the matter is that **_**you're**_** Naruto and **_**I**_** am your only hope of survival once again."** The Kyuubi no Kitsune bared its teeth in delight once again. **"Now, let me show you some of **_**our**_** power...**_**Naruto**_**."**

The genin twitched as he felt something wrapping around his feet. Looking down, he saw bright red chakra wrapping itself around him, making its way up his body. "Wh-what is this?! Stop this, you...!"

**"Don't resist. I could do far better things than help you out, but I fear the conditions are the same in here as they were in your original body."**

"What...the hell...are you talking...about?!" Nataro managed to scream out before the red chakra overtook him entirely, forming some sort of cocoon.

**X-X-X**

In reality, Hanzo fell over, blood flowing out of a bruise on the side of his head. There were several cuts and scratches on his body, and only a few were thin. The Uchiha had already lost consciousness as a result of blood loss. The Oni stood over him, long claws twitching as blood dripped down from them. Kazemaru laid a few feet away, in the same state as Hanzo, and a few feet away from Kaze, lying against the trunk of a tree with blood staining his shirt and the front of his pants was Nataro. As the Oni bent over, placing a claw on Hanzo's neck, it aimed to force the black blade-like claw through the boy's neck when it just stopped. To the eyes of a bystander, it seemed as though the she-creature had stopped moving entirely. It had even gone so far as to open its injured eye.

Meanwhile, a bright red chakra was beginning to rise from Nataro's body, thick enough to see. The wounds in his stomach healed over to the point where it seemed like he had never been impaled, and through the holes in his shirt, one could make out some form of marking underneath. The blonde boy slowly lifted his head and his dull blue eyes regained their light, only to turn blood red with slitted pupils, resembling the Kyuubi's eyes. His nails and teeth began to grow longer and sharper until they resembled claws and fangs, while the red chakra continued to rise up from his body at an increasing rate.

The Oni's body began to shake like it were having a seizure, blood seeping from its injured eye, drool leaking out from the thin spaces between its jagged teeth as it made a sort of huffing sound. The spines on its back lengthened before it got on the ground, completely forgetting about Hanzo and its initial manner of attack as it charged off towards the source of the powerfully malevolent chakra. It pounced through the mist, slashing its claws at Nataro, but it got a shock when the genin grabbed its blade-like claws with his bare hands.

"_You_...!" He growled, glaring up at the Oni as blood dripped from his hand. "You hurt...my _friends_...!"

The she-creature ignored the blonde boy's statement as it decided to open its mouth wide and sank its needle-like teeth into his shoulder. The Oni began to shake erratically as it bit down further into his shoulder. The shaking went on until it suddenly stopped moving.

"Get off of me!!" Nataro growled, grabbing the creature's hair, and pulled it off of him with amazing strength. The small holes that were its bite marks immediately healed over, unmarred.

The Oni fell to the ground, but it immediately jumped back to its feet as a dark purple chakra rose up from its body and came out of its mouth in wisps. The spines on its back twitched as a low growl came from its mouth.

Nataro got to his feet, traveling bag lying on the ground. He hunched over slightly as whisker-like markings appeared on his face, widening and growing deeper every second. The Oni charged forward, opening its jaws once more to taste the source of that pleasingly maddening chakra. The genin balled up a fist and when the she-creature came his way, he delivered a single punch to the face that was enough to send it flying back. When it hit the ground, it began to roll and make dust rise as it hit the ground, but it was soon back on its feet and charging at Nataro again. The blonde gave a growl before running towards the monster as well with a burst of speed. When they met in the middle of the clearing, the transformed blonde leaped up into the air to avoid being slashed by the Oni's claws. When he came back down, he landed a drop kick on its head that was powerful enough to make the she-creature to collapse on the ground. Then he grabbed the back of its head and began to pound it against the ground, over and over until the Oni broke free of his grasp and pounced on him. The monstrous woman sliced into his flesh once more, completely ignorant of the burning sensation it got from the red chakra as its claws dug into his torso. Nataro began to do the same, scratching and clawing at the Oni's face until he decided to dig the claw on his thumb into the Oni's remaining eye.

The she-creature hiss-growled as blood leaked from its left eye. Now blinded in both eyes, it started to swing its arm around wildly in the direction where it sensed the inhumanly strong chakra. In the midst of its wild swinging, Nataro grabbed the Oni's claw once more. He tightened his grip, drawing more blood, and with a lot of effort, broke off the Oni's claws. But it still persisted, raking the remnants of its claws, leaving jagged scratches and trails of black blood from its attempts. It was too blinded by hunger to realize it had just lost its remaining claws.

"Persistent...BASTARD!!!" Nataro screamed before it used one of the she-creature's blade-like claws to stab it in the head, the tip going straight through the back of its head. The Oni fell back, pushing out the claw in the process. Nataro pulled out the claw and got on top of the Oni, baring his fangs and shaking in a violent manner that was eerily similar to the creature he was sitting on top of. He held the claw above his head and began to stab the Oni's body over and over and over...

**X-X-X**

Back at the forest entrance, Tsuki's eyes widened as she heard a faint scream from the forest. She had several bruises on her body and scorch marks here and there as a result of the Oni. But as soon as she heard the familiar scream of her loudmouth of a student, the weariness that came from her wounds disappeared completely. The purple-haired kunoichi gave the Oni a fiery look. For all its cuts and injuries, the creature bled very little.

"I was _trying_ to kill you without tampering with your body chemistry," the Konoha kunoichi spoke, "But I've wasted far too much time with you as it already is!!" She formed a few hand signs and immediately sank into the ground seconds before the Oni tried to pounce on her.

The Oni looked around, trying to find its prey when walls of stone suddenly rose up from the ground and closed to form a dome.

_'Doton: Doheki (Earth Style: Earth Dome)!!'_

The Oni began to pound on the walls of the dome, causing it to shake. All the while, it was unaware of the small hole that had been made in the ground.

Underground, Tsuki began to form hand signs and raised her head so she could place her lips to the hole. _'Ninpo: Yuudoku Kemori (Ninja Art: Toxic Smoke)!'_ She opened her mouth, allowing thick purple smoke to rise through the hole into the dome. The Oni continued to pound away at the walls, unaware of the smoke until there was so much that it was visible. By that time, the fire-breathing creature had felt its body stiffen from paralysis. Seconds later, purple veins began to become visible on its body, and then it began to throw up bile without pausing. The bile soon became mixed with black blood as the Oni's eyes bulged out. Blood seeped out from its eyes, ears and nose while it continued to throw up until the monstrous brute finally fell over, dead.

The earth dome collapsed and Tsuki popped up out of the ground, staring down at the Oni. "Huh... I sure hope all that poison won't affect it _too_ seriously... Now for the next one." She then disappeared in the blink of an eye, a purple and blue blur racing into the forest.

**X-X-X**

In the forest clearing, Nataro continued to stab the Oni. The mist had already faded away, allowing the sun to shine down through the leaves of the trees, but the brighter appearance didn't seem to do quench his bloodlust.

**"Heh-heh-heh...! There you go..." **The Kyuubi spoke in the boy's head as he kept stabbing. **"Isn't it wonderful to give into your animal instincts? **_**This**_** is what you really are!"**

Just as the blonde genin was about to stab the Oni once more, he held his hand in the air. _'What I...really am?'_

**"Of course. What you really are...is a **_**beast**_**. Just like me. I am you...you are me..."**

Nataro finally became aware of his surroundings. The coppery scent of blood invaded his senses almost immediately. He dropped the claw and held his hands out in front of him. They were stained red, dry blood crusting beneath his nails. His hands began to shake. Tears welled up in his eyes against his will. _'I'm not...!'_

**"There's no use in trying to convince yourself otherwise. You are a monster. A natural-born killer. What else could you be?"**

The blonde boy closed his eyes and squeezed them shut, not wanting to see those beastly hands anymore._ 'I'm __**me**__!!'_

"Nataro-san?" After a few seconds of silence, he cracked open his eye slightly and found himself looking at Asura.

"Asura-chan...! You're alive!" He breathed out.

The pink-haired girl smiled. "Huh? What are you talking about? I just went to sleep!"

"_Asleep_?" Nataro was so worried that she had been seriously hurt, but to think that she was only _sleeping_... _'I got all riled up over nothing...!'_ He blinked and noticed something dangling in front of his face: his goggles. "H-hey! Where'd you get those?"

"On the ground. Aren't these yours?" Asura asked him with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah! It's mine!" He exclaimed as he took the goggles from the weird girl and placed them back around his head. "Huh?" The blonde genin held out his hand and noticed that he no longer had claws. Running his tongue over his teeth, he was relieved to not find fangs. His eyes had now returned to its normal azure blue _'Yes...!'_ He balled up a fist and pumped it in the air. "YES!!! I'm not _you_!! I'm _me_!!" He shouted up to the heavens.

Asura blinked, unsure how to react. So, she simply asked, "Where are your friends?"

"My friends!!" Nataro immediately jumped to his feet and looked around for his teammates. The first one he noticed was Kazemaru, who remained on the ground in the same position he was in before. It was hard to tell whether or not he was merely knocked out from blood loss or dead. Then he noticed Hanzo and his heart dropped into his stomach. "My friends..."

The pink-haired girl gained a sad look in her eyes. "Um... Are they...okay? Are _you_ okay?"

_'I don't know what the heck I am and my friends are probably dead...! I'm okay!'_ He thought sarcastically in his mind as he balled up a fist and began to shake, bowing his head. "This is all my fault... If I hadn't rushed in the first place...then Hanzo...and Kaze...would be...!"

"Nataro!!"

The sound of a familiar voice made the blonde genin look up just in time to see Tsuki land before him. He took in the injuries on her body and felt a chill run down his spine. If they hadn't ran off, would she have those bruises on her? Nataro blinked and realized that his sensei was now shaking him by the shoulders.

"Nataro, what happened here?!"

"I... Hanzo and Kaze are...!" Once again, tears welled up in his eyes against his will. "They're _dead_!"

Tsuki's eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to. They hadn't even been genin for a full month, and already two were dead. _'No... It can't be...!'_ "Where are they, Nataro?!"

The blonde genin sniffled, wiping his eyes off on the sleeve of his shirt before pointing over to Kazemaru's body. He just stood there as Tsuki ran past him and over to the pyromanic genin. She knelt down beside him and placed her hand against his chest. After a few seconds, she felt a faint heartbeat and breathed a sigh of relief. _'Thank goodness...! He's going to be okay...'_ Tsuki noticed the injury in his side and frowned. She reached into her back pouch and pulled out a small scroll with the kanji for _'First Aid'_ written on its band. After unrolling the scroll on the ground, a first-aid kit appeared in a poof of smoke on its center. "You're going to be okay..."

**X-X-X**

After several minutes of being worked on by their sensei, Hanzo and Kazemaru were standing with Nataro and Asura. Nearby, Tsuki was observing the Oni's body.

"You were _asleep_?!" Kazemaru screamed as a small vein throbbed on his forehead. He would've waved his arms in the air in fury if it weren't for the irritating pain in his side.

"We should be grateful that she's okay," said Hanzo, who had bandages wrapped around his head and the exposed parts of his arms, as well as a few underneath his clothing. _'Then again, it sounds weird to fall asleep while you're being kidnapped.'_

Nataro took in the pink-haired girl's appearance, as if trying to find something wrong with her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Asura nodded. "Uh-huh."

"That's good," the blonde mumbled, scuffing his foot in the dirt. "At least _one_ person didn't get hurt because of me..."

Hanzo frowned. "Nataro, it's not _your_ fault that we got hurt."

"Are you kidding?!" Kaze screamed. "I've got a _gash_ in my side and had that _thing_ scraping my _bones_ from the inside!! All because this moron wanted to be a gung-ho action hero wannabe and chase the bad guy!!" The Uchiha then elbowed the redhead in the stomach. "Ouch!! Uh...But, I...guess that if we hadn't gone after that thing, Pinkie here would've been the one whose bones were scraped."

Asura blinked and scratched her head. "Pinkie?" Asura grabbed a handful of her bands and brought it in front of her eyes for her to see. She gasped and exclaimed, "My hair is pink!"

The genin sweatdropped and stared at the girl in disbelief until the team pyromaniac spoke up. "The hell?! You didn't even know what color your _hair_ was?!"

"Um..." The pink-haired girl looked down at the ground for a moment before shaking her head. "Nope."

"You've _got _to be kidding..." Nataro mumbled, his eyes squinted like a kitsune's.

Before anymore could be said, Tsuki walked over to the kids holding something in her hand. Upon closer inspection, the boys backed away slightly when they saw it was the Oni's head. "Okay... I am seriously having mixed feelings right about now. I'm _upset_ because you blatantly disregarded my orders, and _relieved _that you managed to survive, and _curious _about what the _hell_ you were thinking!!" The boys winced at the tone in her voice.

Nataro gulped and stepped forward. "Sensei... It was my fault. B-blame _me_, but don't blame Hanzo and Kaze."

"Oh, no! _All_ of you are taking the blame! You may have been the instigator, but they still followed. Because of that, you were all almost _killed_! If it weren't for the fact that I'm having this mixture of anger, shame and disbelief, I'd give each and every one of you a bop on the head!!" The purple-haired jonin raised her arm, making a fist for emphasis and the boys flinched, expecting her to strike them. Instead, she gave a sigh and lowered her arm. "I'll punish you all later. Right now, I have some questions I need you to answer. First of all..." With her free hand she pointed over to the decapitated Oni's mutilated body. "Who is responsible for killing it?"

"Not me," said Kaze with a shrug.

"Me neither," said Hanzo. "It couldn't have been Nataro, either, since I saw him get stabbed in the stomach. I...could've sworn he was dead."

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Hanzo? Nataro was just fine when I arrived. In fact, he's the only one who didn't have any serious injuries."

"Huh?!" The raven-haired boy walked up to Nataro and lifted up his hole-riddled shirt to see his stomach. There were some thin scratches on his stomach, but no signs of any stab wounds. "Unbelievable...! I-I could've sworn that I saw you get...!"

Nataro looked out of the corner of his eye with a nervous smile, unwilling to make eye contact with anyone. "Well...I'm not so sure how I survived, either. Must've gotten lucky!"

"That doesn't explain why you hardly have any injuries! And also...if you were the only one who was awake when Tsuki-sensei came, then that would mean that you either saw who or what killed the monster or..._you_ killed it."

"Pffft!! As if Ramen Breath could kill a monster!" Kaze said with a snort.

"But he stabbed the monster!" Asura piped up, getting looks from the shinobi. "Like _this_..." She held her hand out in front of her and began to imitate Nataro repeatedly stabbing the Oni. "He just kept doing it, and doing it, and doing it until the weird feeling went away."

Tsuki, Hanzo and Kazemaru stared at Nataro in awe. "Nataro, you... _You_...? _You_ killed the Oni?" Tsuki spoke in a surprised tone while the boys could only stare at their teammate. "How did you...? How _could_ you kill it?!"

"Um... I dunno... Everything's a blur," the blonde lied. He couldn't exactly tell them that a giant demon fox gave him tremendous power. Heck, _he_ still thought he was crazy and that the fox was just a dream.

Tsuki narrowed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "I don't buy that. Tell the truth, Nataro. It's not like I'm going to punish you _more_ for it."

"I'm being honest, sensei! I can hardly remember anything after that thing attack me!" _'At least __**that's**__ true. It really is all a blur...'_

The kunoichi sighed and held a hand against her forehead. "Hmmm... I suppose it can't be helped. What's important is that you're okay..." _'Until we get home, where I'll run you __**ragged**__!'_ "Now, where is the scroll?"

"Oh!!" The boys' eyes widened while Asura simply tilted her head in confusion. "Sensei!! The painting!!" The genin shouted together.

"Yes, the painting. Nothing happened to it, right? It wasn't damaged, was it?"

"That's the thing! What was in the scroll _wasn't_ a painting!!" Kazemaru exclaimed.

"There was a _seal_," Hanzo continued.

"And _she_ was inside of it!!" Nataro finished as he pointed at Asura, who waved at the jonin with a smile.

Tsuki blinked. "Uh... WHAT?!?"

**X-X-X**

In Benzaiten, people in the streets stared as the injured Team 14 and Asura walked through town.

"Boys, why is this girl following us?" Tsuki asked as she glanced back at Nataro and Asura, the latter of the two taking in her surroundings like she was seeing it for the first time.

"Dunno. She's clinging to Nataro, though," said Kazemaru.

"Ko-no-ha?" Asura pronounced slowly. "What's that?"

"I told you, it's where I live." Nataro looked at the girl with an arched eyebrow. "You've never heard of Konoha?"

"No..."

"Then I suppose you'll tell me you don't know about shinobi, either..." The blonde muttered as he placed his hands behind his head and looked out of the corner of his eye.

"Shi-no-bi? Is that food?"

Nataro fell over, landing flat on his face. The pink-haired girl stopped walking to stare down at him as his team walked on. He got to his knees with a groan. "Unbelievable... I can't believe you don't know what ninja are...! I mean...I didn't know until I was a kid, but I had a reason: my mom didn't want me to know about 'em."

Asura blinked in confusion. "Mom? What's a mom?"

At that moment, the genin's eyes locked with the weird girl's own. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke, "You...don't know what a mom is, either? What kind of girl _are_ you?"

"Mom... What's a mom?"

"Um... A mom is...that lady that gave birth to you, and takes care of you and tells you how much she loves you... Y'know, a mom?"

"I don't think I've ever heard of that before..." Asura got a far-off look in her eyes. "But...how does that feel? What's it like to have a mom, Nataro-san?"

"What's it like?" Nataro sweatdropped, squinted his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "Uh... I dunno. I can't describe something like that properly... You've gotta experience it for yourself to know what it's like."

"I see..." The pink-haired girl began to bounce on the balls of her feet and a smile appeared on her face. "What does it look like in Konoha?"

The orange-clad blonde got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Oh, well I can tell you _that_!" They began to walk off in the direction that the rest of Team 14 had gone. "There are lots of trees and tall buildings, and there's this mountain...!"

**X-X-X**

"...And because the Yondaime Hokage went and sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune into a baby boy, the village was saved! But he lost his life in the battle."

"Kyuubi! Kyuuuubiiii~!" Asura spoke in a sing-song tone. "Isn't it fun to say? Key-you-bee. Kyuubi!"

Nataro sweatdropped. "Maybe for you... Speaking of Kyuubi, the baby that it was sealed into is our Rokudaime Hokage."

"Hokage! Ho-oh-kah-gay." The pink-haired girl stopped smiling and shook her head. "That's not fun to say."

"Yeah, well, whether or not you don't like saying it, that doesn't change the fact that the Hokage is _the_ strongest shinobi in the village! And I'm gonna become the Nanadaime Hokage!" Nataro exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Nana! Nanadaime~! That one's fun!"

"Gee, you're a weird girl..."

Just as the loudmouth genin and the weird girl walked up to the Junzaburo's store, Tsuki, Kazemaru and Hanzo walked out. The purple-haired woman held a large scroll underneath her arm, similar to the one Asura had been sealed in except for the kanji _'Uzumaki Naruto'_ written on the sides.

"There you are! I was wondering if you two were doing anything _naughty_," the sexy sensei said with a wink and a giggle.

Nataro stumbled back, eyes large and blank like dinner plates. "Wh-wh-what?! We were only talking!!"

"Hmhmhm! Just kidding. Anyway... It seems as though there was a mix-up. Instead of getting Hokage-sama's painting, we got a scroll that Junzaburo-san's assistant bought on the streets."

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "The streets?"

"Sounds shady, don't it?" Kaze said. "Get this: the guy said that the person who sold him the scroll said it held special painting techniques. The guy got gypped."

"So, I guess it's mission accomplished, huh?"

"No. We need to find the person who sold the assistant the scroll Asura had been sealed in and ask him a few questions," said Tsuki. "We've got the painting now, but there are still some things that need to be cleared up before this mission can officially be closed."

Hanzo looked up at her with an eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"Special information to report to Hokage-sama. Besides, when you get a scroll and open it to release a living, breathing girl, you can't just walk away... It's not right. Or sensible." The jonin shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. "Alright, let's go and find this shady salesman. We can only pray that he hasn't left town..."

"We don't even know what he looks like... How are we supposed to find him?"

"Well... Just be on the lookout for suspicious shady-looking people and try not to get conned by the wrong one!!"

Hanzo stepped away from the purple-haired woman as she began to take deep breaths. "Tsuki-sensei, are you alright?"

"Yeah, you look stressed," said Kazemaru.

"Ohhh... All this trouble is seriously giving me a migraine...!" Tsuki said with a sigh.

**X-X-X**

Later, Team 14 had separated and were wandering through the market place, where the artists of Benzaiten displayed their creations on the streets.

"What are the people like where you're from, Nataro-san?" Asura asked the blonde boy. They were standing in front of a stall, where the pink-haired girl was playing with a daruma doll modeled to look like a geisha.

Nataro looked away from the samurai doll he was holding to stare at the pink-haired girl. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, is everyone there like you?"

"I repeat: what do you mean?"

"You know...nice."

The orange-clad genin blinked, confused before he realized what she meant. "Oh, well...I dunno...I guess. Although...there _are_ a few people that are kinda...heck they _are_ evil!" Immediately, images of Ina and Sasuke popped into his head. "But...most of the people I know are nice." He pointed over at Hanzo, who was flipping through a book that a wandering salesman had offered him. "Like Hanzo. He can pretty weird some times, but he's cool with me." Then he pointed at Tsuki, who was telling off a man who offered to draw her portrait. "Tsuki-sensei's nice, too, when she's not...angry...and scary..." Then he pointed at Kazemaru, who appeared to be talking avidly to a man with a large, lumpy bag. "I guess Kaze's an okay guy, when he's not being a _jerk_..."

"So, lemme get this straight: _music_ can be used for jutsu?" The pyromanic genin asked the salesman with an arched eyebrow.

"Not music. _Sound_," the man stated as he adjusted his straw hat. "Like the ones that were once used in Otogakure?"

"Really? Did you _get_ them from Otogakure? Or are you just lying to get me to buy 'em?"

"Am I lying..." The man grumbled, bending over his bag. He reached inside and pulled out a small scroll with a symbol of a musical note on the seal tag. "Does _this_ look like I'm lying?!"

"Is that for real?!" Kazemaru reached a hand out to touch the scroll, but it was immediately slapped away by the salesman.

"Uh-uh! First pay me. Then you can touch it all you want. Now, do you want it or not?"

"Um, wait a sec. Gotta check first." The redhead began digging through the pockets of his pants and jacket for some money. Eventually, he pulled out some bills and bronze coins. _'I was saving this for a drink, but...'_ He frowned. _'I gotta have that scroll!'_

"Kazemaru!!"

"Yipe!!" At the sound of Tsuki's voice, Kaze dropped his money. He looked up and saw his sexy sensei standing over him, glaring down at him.

"Kazemaru... What were you doing?" She asked him in a tone so calm that it chilled him to the bone.

"Um... Buying jutsu?" He told her with a wide, nervous grin.

"Really." Tsuki looked at the salesman and shifted the scroll under her arm. "Hello, sir. Did you happen to sell a scroll earlier in the day to a young man?"

"Heh. I sell lots of scrolls to lots of men, toots. Can't remember all of 'em..."

"No worries. We have the scroll right here... NATARO!!!"

"Ack!!" Nataro almost dropped the clay bowl he was holding. He quickly placed the bowl on the table of the stall he was in front of and ran over to his sensei. "Yes, sensei?"

"Turn around," Tsuki ordered with a gesture of her finger.

"Huh? Okay..." He spun on his heel and turned his back on the rest of the group, allowing them to see the back of the scroll.

The salesman looked the scroll up and down. "Huh... I remember that one. First scroll I ever got that someone _willingly _gave to me."

"Willingly?" The Konoha kunoichi asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, they just walked up to me and handed me the scroll."

"Do you remember who it was?"

The salesman wrinkled his nose as he thought deeply. After a few seconds, he shook his head. "Nope. Can't seem to remember." Before he knew it, Tsuki was holding him off the ground by the collar of his shirt. "Huh?!"

"Don't lie to me!! You couldn't have forgotten who they were so quickly!"

"I-I'm being serious! I can't even remember when I got the thing, let alone who gave it to me!! When I try and remember it, all I get's a _blank!_!"

The purple-haired woman's eyes widened a bit as she released the man. _'A blank...? I wonder...'_

"What does this mean, Tsuki-sensei?" Nataro asked her from over his shoulder. "Are we going home now?"

"Yes... We're going home," she answered back, dejected.

"Okay!! Mission accomplished! ...Kinda," the blonde genin said with a grin. "Hey, Asura-chan! I guess this means you're coming home with us!"

"Yay!!" Asura exclaimed as she suddenly latched onto Nataro and kissed him on the cheek. "Mwah! Thank you very much!"

"H-hey, hey, HEY!!! What was _that_ for?!" Nataro screamed with a face as red as a tomato, though he didn't seem to be trying to break free of her hug.

"I'm thanking you. Don't you like it?" She gave him another kiss on the cheek. "SMOOCH! Tee-hee!"

"ARRGH!! Cut it out!!"

"Y'know... You're not doing anything to stop her aside from screaming," said Hanzo as he walked up to the pair with a book in his hand.

"That's because he obviously _likes_ it," said Kaze with a lecherous grin.

"Oh, young love! So grand, so wonderful! It's a great pick-me-up!" Tsuki giggled.

"What're you guys doing?! Stop making fun of me and help me out here!!"

**X-X-X**

Several days later in Konohagakure in the Hokage's mansion, in the Rokudaime's bedroom, where he stood in front of a window, dressed in a dull red long-sleeved haori with a black shirt and pants.

"Hmmm... The coast is clear!" Naruto whispered to himself. Forming a hand sign, a kage bunshin of himself dressed in a yukata appeared beside him in a puff of smoke. He slid open the window and began to climb out of the room, one leg first when the door opened and his assistant walked in.

"Hokage-sama, I--" She noticed him immediately and narrowed her ice-blue eyes, fiddling with her square-lensed glasses. "Where do you think you're going?" She was an attractive-looking woman with an hourglass-shape, long wavy blonde hair, black eyes and a knee-length black dress with a broad white stripe going up from the skirt and to her chest. In Naruto's opinion, she'd look better without the scowl.

"Um... Taking in the fresh air?"

"I thought you were _sick_."

The tone she spoke with made Naruto wince as his bunshin dispersed. "I am... I just thought a little fresh air would do me good." It was true that a few days ago he felt a bit lightheaded and collapsed right there on his desk, but he was feeling a lot better. He was just using the incident as an excuse to get out of office work. "Come now, Tsubaki-chan! If you want, you can come with me--and it doesn't even have to be a date!"

Tsubaki's eye twitched. "_Be serious_."

Nataro poked his head into the room between Tsubaki and the doorframe. "A date? Geez, you aren't even _close_ to her league, Gramps."

"Who asked you, you little--?!" The Hokage calmed down a bit and pulled himself back inside. "Oh, it's you," he mumbled as Tsubaki stepped aside and Tsuki pulled Nataro back so she could walk in. The blonde boy walked in after her, with Hanzo, Kazemaru and a wide-eyed Asura following. "I trust your mission was successful."

"Yes, but there were some problems, sir..." Tsuki loosened the strap on her back and pulled out the large scroll. "There was a slight bit of a mix up when we went to pick up your package...and because of that, we had some _trouble_."

"Nothing too serious, I hope."

"Like I said, there were..._problems_...wearing _masks_..." At the look of confusion on her leader's face, Tsuki sighed. "_Oni _masks." Now Naruto's eyes had widened a bit. "They wanted the scroll that we took instead of yours, sir. Sealed inside of the scroll was a girl." She looked at Asura from the corner of her eye. "Come here, Asura-chan."

"Hm?" The pink-haired girl stepped up next to the purple-haired kunoichi, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"_This_ girl. According to my students, when she appeared out of the scroll, the Oni focused on _her_ instead of the scroll."

Naruto stared down at the ground with a contemplative look in his eyes. "I see... I'd like to speak to you more on the matter--_alone_."

Tsuki gave him a nod. "Yes, sir. Nataro, Hanzo, Kazemaru, you can leave now. I'll give you a few days off to recover from your injuries."

"W-wait a sec! What about Asura-chan?!" Nataro exclaimed as he shoved past Tsubaki. "Why does _she_ get to stay and _we_ don't?!"

"Because she _has_ to."

"But _why_?"

"_Nataro_...!" Tsuki growled as she gave the blonde boy a look that made his blood run cold. "There are some things that _genin_ cannot participate in. _This_ is one of them. _Now leave_."

He got over the fear he felt from her look and snorted. Folding his arms across his chest, he grumbled, "Yes, _Tsuki-sensei_." He turned around and walked out of the room.

"Wait, that's it? I thought he was going to blow up," said Hanzo as he walked out as well.

"Yeah... That would've been fun to see," Kazemaru said with a sigh. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"Now then... Did you bring back any remains?" Naruto asked the jonin as folded his arms behind his back.

"Yes, sir. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring back their entire bodies."

He shook his head. "No, no, so long as you brought back _something_, it doesn't matter. Now, did you notice anything else?"

"Well... The man who once owned the scroll Asura-chan was sealed inside of couldn't remember how he came across the scroll--just that someone gave it to him."

"Mmhm... I see. Just to be sure, you're _positive_ that those were really...?"

"Yes, sir. They transformed just like Oni...and..._her_ eyes..." Tsuki pointed at Asura, who looked up at her in confusion. She gave a weak smile. "Fortunately, she didn't fight back. In fact, she didn't try _anything_ offensive."

"Oh...fence...if?" The pink-haired girl pronounced oddly. "What does that mean, Tsuki-san?"

"She also doesn't seem to be very worldly... She didn't know what Hi no Kuni or Konoha were, or even what a _family_ is."

Asura got a depressed look in her eyes. "You never told me what a family is..."

"That's..._something_," said Naruto as he walked up to the pink-haired girl. He bent down slightly and gave Asura a warm smile. "Hello, Asura-chan."

"Hello!" She exclaimed, getting happy once again. "What's your name?"

"Naruto."

"Na-ruuu-to! Hee-hee! What a funny name!"

Tsuki sweatdropped. "Asura-chan! You don't know who you're making fun of!"

"Heh-heh! You can relax, Tsuki. I don't mind," the Rokudaime chuckled. "You know, Asura is a weird name, too..."

"It _is_, isn't it?" The pink-haired girl giggled.

"Asura-chan, would you mind doing something for me? I'd like it if you went with Tsubaki-san," he pointed at his assistant, "to the hospital. Just to make sure you're okay."

"Hospital? What's that?"

"It's...where sick people get better."

"Am I...sick?"

"We don't know. That's why I want you to go there." Naruto gestured for Tsubaki to come towards him. When she did, he whispered something in her ear, which she gave a nod to. "And you don't have to be afraid of Tsubaki-san. She's not as scary as she looks sometimes!" The blonde woman's eye twitched and he immediately added, "Just kidding!"

"Of course, sir..." Tsubaki muttered as she took hold of Asura's hand and walked out of the room.

"Bye, Naruto-san!" Asura called back.

"And Tsuki, take those body parts you have and bring them to the medical squad for special inspection."

"Yes, sir," Tsuki nodded before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Naruto gave a sigh as he walked over to his bed and sat down on it with a sigh. After a few seconds, his eyes narrowed and his hand balled up into a fist as if subconsciously. "Oni..." He mumbled underneath his breath.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Asura means "demon" in Japanese and is the name of fallen Gods in Hindu myth.**

**Daruma dolls are these little dolls that are kind of shaped like eggs, and when you open them, there are smaller versions of the outer doll inside.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Okay, maybe there wasn't as much insight on Nataro and Naruto than you may have wanted, but it'll become a little more apparent later on.**

**Kazemaru: You sure they're gonna like that?**

**Blu: Hey, if they coud wait several years just so we could hear Hinata confess her feelings to Naruto, have characters reveal the Yondaime as Naruto's father and tell us the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre, they can wait for this, can't they?**

**Kaze: Nope.**

**Blu: Nope?!**

**Kaze: They could just flip to another story and not bother.**

**Blu: ...Geez, you sure can bring down my mood... Anyway, stay tuned for a humorous little omake before we move on to the next arc: the Chunin Exam arc!!**


	5. Omake 1: When They First Met

**Blu: Wow, the first omake of the rewrite! I'm so excited!**

**Nataro: Just for spite, this won't have summoning in it, will it?**

**Blu: Nah, we'll save the summoning jokes for another time.**

**Nataro: There's a relief...**

**Blu: So, for the pleasure of the viewing audience, we introduce the first of the omake series! First up: Nataro and Naruto's first meeting!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_Omake #1: When They First Met..._

Let us turn back the clock several years ago, to a more peaceful time.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

...Well, maybe not _that_ peaceful.

Naruto stood in his office, seemingly upset about something. Standing before him was a squad of ANBU, who were all standing stiff and rigid--not out of respect, but out of _fear_. Because when their Rokudaime got mad, he got scary.

"Alright, whose idea was this?!" The Hokage screamed as he pointed a finger out the window to show the ANBU squad the defaced Hokage Monument, where several childish pictures had been drawn and, from the letters written on the foreheads of the six Hokage, the word _'loser'_ had been spelt out across the mountainside for all to see. "Who's the culprit?! How long has this been going on, Enoki?!"

"3 days, sir," said the ANBU wearing the lynx mask.

"And _who_ is the culprit, Juri?!"

"We don't know yet, sir," said the short-haired female wearing the bird mask.

"So what're you doing standing around for when you could be catching the culprit?!"

"Because called us, old man--I mean, sir," the spiky-haired man wearing a black cowl and a cat mask stated.

Naruto glared at the cat-masked ninja. "Don't get smart with me, Kira...! Get going!!" The frightened ANBU disappeared in puffs of smoke. Once he was alone, the old Hokage stared out the window and sighed. He wasn't exactly _furious_...just upset that there was someone out there attempting to imitate a prank he did in his youth. Vandalizing the mountain had been something that only _he_ had the guts to do, after all! But whoever the culprit was did it for three days straight! _'This just isn't fair...! Who out there thinks they can best __**me**__?!' _"I need to know who'd be crazy enough to try this...!" He said out loud with a grave look on his face.

"Talking to yourself again, Hokage-sama? That's a sign of senility, isn't it?"

"Eh?!" He turned around and saw the ANBU known as Kira standing behind him. "Didn't I tell you to _get your ass in gear_?!"

"Yeah, sure! On it!" The ANBU captain said cheerfully when he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

**X-X-X**

That night in the village, a short figure climbed down the rock face of the Rokudaime with the grace of a cat...at least until he found himself stuck on something. He tried to move his hands and feet, but found that they were stuck in some sticky substance.

"I...can't..._move_!" The person whined.

The light of a flashlight shone down on the culprit. Naruto, who was sitting on the Godaime's nose, gave a smirk. "The jig is up, you little..." He paused as he got a better look at the culprit. _'Either I need to get my eyes checked or that's a...' _"Boy? A boy... A _BOY_?!?"

No, he wasn't seeing things. There really _was_ a little boy stuck on the Rokudaime's rock face with a rope wrapped around his waist and suction cups attached to his knees and arms and a bag chock full of paint brushes and bottles of paint. He had spiky blonde hair and sky blue eyes, wore an orange T-shirt with the Leaf symbol on it and blue shorts. He looked a little like Naruto did when he was young--minus the whiskers--and that was what made him stare at the child.

"Little boy, do you know what you're doing?"

"I'm not little!! I'm Kazaki Nataro!!"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Okay... Nataro-chan, how old are you?"

Little Nataro screwed up his face in thought. "Fuh... Five!!"

_'A __**five-year old**__**boy**__ managed to evade ANBU and copyright my work?!'_ "I was expecting someone older...so I'm not sure if I should be impressed or ashamed... So, why'd you do this?"

The little boy narrowed his eyes until they were slits and grinned. "I saw it in a dream and thought it was _cool_!!" Naruto almost fell off of Tsunade's rock nose from hearing this, but he managed to maintain his balance. "Besides, I don't like the way these guys keep looking down at me. I _hate it_! And I hate _them_, too! Just 'cuz!"

"Because of _what_?! What have the Hokage ever done to you?" Naruto asked with a skeptical tone in his voice. "Or should I be asking, what have _I_ ever done to you? Because I think that I've done a damn good job these last 40 or so years."

"Ho...ka…ge? Whazzat?" Nataro asked as he stared at the old man in confusion.

"...You're living in Konoha, but never heard of the Hokage?"

"No. Should I have?"

"Of course you _should_!! Considering that what you're defiling is a _monument_ to the Hokage!! And that's _my_ face you're on, ya brat!!" Naruto exploded.

"Huh?" Nataro stared at the Rokudaime's rock face for a few seconds...then gave a snort. "As if! The guy here looks _way_ younger than _you_, Gramps!" Ignoring the look of rage the old man gave him, Nataro continued, "So, uh...what's a Hokage?"

The Rokudaime gave the boy a half-lidded look. "You honestly don't know... Good grief, what are they teaching children these days?" He scratched his head. _'How could I sum it up simple enough for a 5-year old to understand?'_ He folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes in thought. "Well... The Hokage is the leader of this village, Konohagakure. They're elected into their positions because they're the strongest ninja in the village and because they care very much for everyone who lives in Konohagakure. Do you get it? Basically, you're disrespecting your village leader--A.K.A.: _me_!"

"Cool! Now, uh...what's a _ninja_?" Nataro asked again with kitsune eyes.

"YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT?!?" The old man screamed as he jumped to his feet and began to shake his flashlight about, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "You live in a ninja _village_, but don't even know what a ninja _is_?! Are you closed-up or _what_?!"

"Well, my mom tells me everything I need to know about everything."

"Your mom...?" _'So, why would she not tell her son about ninja...?'_ Naruto sighed. He jumped off of the Godaime's nose and landed the rock version of his own, right next to Nataro. "Well, I guess it would be better if I told you _inside_."

"Good... 'Cuz I gotta pee."

"EH?!? COULDN'T YOU HAVE SAID THAT BEFORE?!?"

Up on the roof of the Hokage's mansion, the cat-masked ANBU Kira stared at the scene that was going on and laughed quietly to himself. "I never knew you could live in a ninja village and not know about ninja... Hokage-sama's gonna have his hands full." _'But then again, he deserves it for trying to do this himself...'_

**X-X-X**

The next morning, Tsubaki sat at her desk with a bored expression on her face. She hadn't seen Naruto enter that morning, but she didn't worry all that much. In the five years she knew the man, Tsubaki knew that he would come in eventually, and when he did...she'd yell his head off.

_'One of the plus sides of being the Hokage's assistant: yelling at him to do his work won't get you in trouble,'_ the assistant thought with a smirk. The sound of the entrance door being slammed shut broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up and found herself staring up at a 24-year old woman with disheveled blonde hair and wide brown eyes. Her clothes were a mess, too, and sweat dripped down her face as she took deep breathes. "May I help you?" Tsubaki asked the woman with an arched eyebrow.

"Of course you can help me!! Why the hell do you think I'm here?!" The woman screeched, making the assistant jump in her seat. After taking a few more deep breathes, she bowed her head. "I'm sorry! I-it's just that I woke up this morning, and my s-son is missing, I can't find him _anywhere_, and I need some help, so please, PLEASE, help me!!" She spoke at such a speed that Tsubaki wasn't amazed that she had to take a deep breath afterwards.

"Riiight... Well, miss...?"

"Oh, Aiko--Kazaki Aiko."

"Kazaki-san, Hokage-sama isn't in right now, so I suggest you fill out this application..." Tsubaki pulled out a fill out sheet on a chart and handed it to the younger woman, "And wait."

"Wait? WAIT?! My baby could be lying hurt and injured somewhere, and you want me to _wait_?!" Aiko screamed, slamming the chart down on the desk.

"Look, I can't--"

"THE HELL?!? YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!" Naruto's voice came from upstairs.

A look of surprised appeared on Tsubaki's face as her jaw dropped. "He's..._here_?! He got here before I did? This must be a sign of bad things to come...!"

Nataro came running down the stairs, holding a jar of ink and a brush with a broad grin on his face. "Hee-hee-hee!!"

Aiko narrowed her eyes and stepped in the boy's path, a vein popping up on her forehead. "_Nataroooo_!!"

"AAAHHH!!!" The blonde child skidded to a halt and fell back, landing on his butt. He stared up at the woman, cowering in fear. "M-mom!"

"Don't M-mom, _me_!! Where have you been?! What have you been doing?!"

"Um...!"

"AHA!! I've got you now, you little monster!" Naruto shouted as he reached the bottom of the staircase. His face appeared to have been drawn on to look like his face on the mountainside--there was even an S on his forehead. He bent over, grabbed Nataro by the waist and lifted him up into the air, squirming.

"Can't you take a joke, Gramps?!" The child screamed.

"Not when it's on _me_!!" The old man spoke through gritted teeth as he shook the boy. He stopped when he noticed Aiko and put the fidgety Nataro under his arm. "Ahem! Good morning, miss. How may we help you today?"

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama!" Aiko said with a bow of her head as she placed her hands together. "I'm sorry for my son's behavior! I promise that I will punish him severely when we get home!"

Nataro gulped and his hands began to hold his butt upon reflex. "N-no...! The future Hokage can't live with a raw butt!"

"Future Hokage?" The blonde woman asked with an arched eyebrow.

"When I caught your son last night about to perform some _more_ vandalism," at this, Naruto glared down at the boy under his arm, "We got to talking and I wound up having to explain the entire ninja hierarchy to him."

"What? Hibachi...?" Nataro mispronounced with squinted eyes.

"Then he starts saying how he'll become the Hokage one day and show me what a _'loser'_ I am!" The Rokudaime snorted. "He must not have been listening when I told you all of the feats I accomplished...!"

Tsubaki arched an eyebrow. "You know...catching vandals isn't a job for the Hokage."

"It is when it's my face that's being marked up and the ANBU does as much good as a school of fish on land!"

Aiko narrowed her eyes. "I wondered why you started laughing every time you pointed out the mountainside for the last three days... But I didn't think you'd go so far as defacing a village monument!!"

"D-d-don't get angry, Mom!! S-sure, I ruined the mountain, but I learned something from all of this!" Nataro exclaimed as he struggled to free himself from Naruto's grasp.

"Yes: _'crime doesn't pay_'!" His mother chided as she wagged a finger in front of her son's face. "Because when we get home, I am going to--!"

"No, no!! I've learned that I wanna become a ninja! So I can have cool adventures and become the Hokage!!" He shouted with a broad grin.

Aiko's eyes widened to comical proportions and lost their pupils and colors until they resembled empty plates. "N...nin...ja...?" Her entire body began to shake.

"Miss...? Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "Mom?"

Aiko fell to her knees and grabbed her head, crying. "NOOOOOOOO!!! God, why?! Why do you do these things happen to meeeee?!?"

Naruto, Nataro and Tsubaki sweatdropped as the woman began to cry on the floor. "Don't worry, Mom! When I'm Hokage, we can kick Gramps out and move into _this_ sweet place!"

"What did I tell you about calling me _'gramps'_?!"

Aiko simply continued to cry.

**X-X-X**

Naruto sighed as he stepped into his office, wiping the ink off of his face with a cloth. "I swear... That child was a _demon_ in disguise...! Here's hoping I won't see him anytime soon." He collapsed back into his chair and sighed.

"But if he becomes a ninja, won't you have to deal with having to see him almost every day?"

The Rokudaime looked over his shoulder outside the window to see the cat-masked black-cowled ANBU standing on the ledge of the roof. "Kira."

"But that's only if the little devil succeeds in the Academy, right? But who's to say if he won't go on making your life a living hell until then?" You could tell there was a smile on the face behind that mask.

"...Just for spite, Kira...did you know that it was the _boy_ who was doing all of that?"

The ANBU sweatdropped and looked away from his Kage. "No... You've seen the size of that kid--he look like he could pass for a lawn ornament!" He could feel the intensity of Naruto's glare. "Um...I'd best be going now!" Kira quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "I wonder why I made him the captain of his own squad in the first place..." He looked over his shoulder to observe the Hokage's mountain and his jaw dropped. "Wh-what?!" Though it was cleaned off yesterday, the stone heads of the Hokage were once again covered with crude drawings and the letters of 'loser' were painting onto their faces. In fact, Naruto's bust looked worse than the last time, with the addition of the words 'Gramps,' 'loser' and 'stupid' written all over it. "Grrrrr!! That brat must've snuck back and painted it over after I fell asleep!!" He got an evil look in his eyes and smiled. "Heh-heh-heh...! Next time he tries that, I'll have him arrested and thrown into jail!!"

"Can you do that to a 5-year old?"

"Heh-heh! If not, then I'll pass a law and make it so!! In fact, _your_ squad can be the ones to catch him tonight, _Kira_!"

Outside of the window, sitting on the ledge nearby, Kira groaned. _'I should've just taken perimeter patrol...'_

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Remember to review and stay tuned for the Chunin Exam arc!!**

**Nataro: See you in the next chapter!**


	6. The Next Level: The Chunin Exams!

**Blu: It's incredible how quickly this story is going along! We're already on the Chunin Exam arc and we haven't even reached the tenth chapter yet!**

**Naruto: That's why it's good to just combine your chapters. Now you're happy and your readers are happy!**

**Blu: I won't be happy until I figure out what to do after the Festival Arc…**

**Naruto: Oh… Good luck with that! In the meanwhile, on with the fic!!**

**Blu: Hey, that's my line!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#6: The Next Level: The Chunin Exams!!_

_The little blonde boy sat on a swing set in front of the Ninja Academy, swinging slowly. His gaze remained on the children standing nearby, all keeping a good distance away from him._

_"Aw, man! Report cards are the worst...!" One boy whined._

_"Speak for yourself! I'm getting high marks in all my classes!" Another said with a grin._

_"Really? I bet you're not even in Sasuke's league."_

_"No one's in __**Sasuke's**__ league. But at least I'm above __**Naruto's**__. Hahaha!"_

_When their parents showed up, the boys walked away, laughing._

_One of the girls nearby stole a glance at the blonde boy. They made eye contact for a moment before she turned back to her friends. "Say, Naruto doesn't have parents, right?"_

_"No..."_

_"So what's the point in giving him a report card? No one's gonna look at it, and he already knows how badly he's doing in class."_

_"I know! It doesn't make sense since he's all __**alone**__..."_

_"Lucky... At least he doesn't have parents to spit him out for being dead last."_

_The girls walked off when their parents appeared as well._

_"It's that boy."_

_"He's __**still**__ here?"_

_The blonde boy shifted slightly so that he could look at the two men standing nearby, looking at him. Their eyes held such coldness that would normally frighten anyone else, but the boy was used to it. People had been giving him that kind of look for as long as he could remember._

_"My kid told me about him. He does some stupid things...and gets the lowest scores out of the entire Academy...but he's still there."_

_"Hokage-sama probably has something to do with it. I don't see why he can't just--!"_

_"Ssshhh! We're not supposed to talk about __**that**__, remember?"_

_As the two men walked away, the blonde boy continued to swing slowly. The entire courtyard was empty now, and once again, he was alone. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the crumpled up piece of paper--his report card. He stared at it for a long time before he got up and dropped it on the ground. 'What's the point?!'_ _The blonde boy thought as he ran off, tears threatening to fall from his eyes._

**X-X-X**

That morning in Konohagakure, Aiko walked into her son's room, smiling. "Nataro~! Time to rise and shine, honey!" She walked up to his bedside. "Get up and at 'em-- ...Huh? Nataro? Why are you crying?"

Nataro blinked, finally coming to his senses. He had been lying in bed, staring up the ceiling in a daze as tears trailed down his cheeks. "Huh? What are you talking about?" He reached a hand up to touch his cheeks. "I'm not cry--" His eyes widened as he felt something wet on his face. "I...guess I _am_..."

"Are you okay, honey? Did you have a nightmare?" Aiko cooed as she began to stroke his hair, making him flinch.

"Mom, mom, MOM!! Cut that out!! I didn't have a nightmare!" _'Just another weird dream...'_ The genin squirmed out of his mother's grasp and grumbled under his breath as he wiped the tears off of his face. "Must be some kind of...allergy or somethin'."

**X-X-X**

Later, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru were standing above the streets of Konohagakure on a stone bridge connecting two large buildings. It had been weeks since they returned from their mission to Benzaiten, and they hadn't had a mission outside of the village since then. Not to mention that they hadn't seen Asura since their return, no matter how much Nataro pestered Naruto.

"Argh!! Where _is_ she?!" Nataro shouted as he leaned against the railing and looked down at the streets, eyes squinted like a fox's. "This is getting irritating! Every Sunday, she never shows up!"

"What do you expect? Today _is_ Sunday," said Hanzo, who was leaning back against the same railing.

Their sensei had something of a ritual: every Saturday night, Tsuki would drink herself into ecstasy. The following Sunday morning, she'd meet her protégés at a later time than usual--about two and a half hours at the least--with a killer headache and a vow to never drink again that only lasted until the next Saturday. Needless to say, it was starting to get on the genin's nerves.

"Why can't Tsuki-sensei be a _smoker_ instead?" Kazemaru asked his teammates as he paced across the bridge. "You don't get a hangover from smoking." He stopped pacing for a moment and shook his head before starting again, stating, "Actually, forget that. I couldn't stand a lady who smelled like ciggies. What I _am_ worried about is why we haven't gotten a mission outside of the village in _forever_!"

"Maybe Tsuki-sensei still thinks we're shaken up from what happened in Benzaiten," said the Uchiha. "I mean, didn't the thought of being so close to death scare you, Kaze?"

"Of course it did! But...that's what being a ninja is all about!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed as he raised a fist. "We gotta tell Sensei to nab us another C-rank mission for us! 'Cuz I'm getting tired of babysitting, and cleaning, and weeding your grandparents' garden!!"

"Yeah, 'cuz those _snakes_ crawling around in the grass are _annoying_!" The blonde genin shouted as he continued scouring the streets for Tsuki.

"How could a snake as big as my arm exist in a backyard, anyway?!"

Hanzo gave a short, nervous laugh. "What a coincidence, Grandfather says they're getting sick of _us_."

At that moment, Tsuki appeared on the bridge in a poof of smoke. She gave her students a smile and a cheerful wave. "Mornin', boys! Ready to face another day?"

Kaze and Nataro spun on their heel and pointed a finger at the jonin kunoichi. "YOU'RE LATE!!! ...Huh?" The boys all stared at their teacher. She sweatdropped under her students' gaze.

"What? What is it?" The jonin asked with an arched eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip. "Do I have something on my face?"

Nataro squinted his eyes and opened his mouth. "You..."

"Don't _look_ drunk," Kaze continued. "_Or_ reek of saké."

"You don't smell like an ash tray, either," Hanzo added. "Today _is_ Sunday, right?"

"Yeah, yeah!! It's Sunday, so you should've gone to the bar last night, gotten drunk, and come here with a hangover saying we have no practice today!"

Tsuki stomped her foot, gaining the genins' attention. "Now look here!! Is it _so_ hard to believe that maybe, _juuust maybe_, I didn't drink myself into a stupor last night?" The only thing that answered in response to that question was a lone wind blowing through the area as the jonin waited for an answer. When nothing else came, she scratched the back of her head and sweatdropped. _'Okay, I guess it is...'_

"Well, since you're _not_ suffering from a hangover, let's go out and nab us a mission today! 'Cuz I'm pumped up and raring to go, go, GO!!!" Nataro shouted with flames burning in his eyes, causing the purple-haired woman to sweatdrop.

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "Reeeally?"

"Yeah!! We haven't seen any action in _weeks_! We need a challenge!! Something where I could show off my awesome kickkass moves!!" As the blonde genin began fantasizing about defeating shinobi and powerful monsters, he didn't notice his team walking off.

"Nataro! You coming or what?" Hanzo called back as they began to walk down the stairs.

"Yessir!!"

The raven-haired boy sweatdropped. "O...kay. Don't call me that."

**X-X-X**

By the end of their mission--a simple D-rank to clean an area of the local hot springs--Nataro and Kazemaru were sporting matching bumps, bruises, and matching black eyes.

"I can't believe you two went to peep into the female side..." Hanzo mumbled as he stared at the blonde and redhead.

"You two peeping toms deserved what you got," Tsuki spoke flatly.

"It's all _your_ fault!!" Kaze screamed at Nataro with a small vein throbbing on his forehead. "Those women recognized your stupid Oiroke no Jutsu!!"

"Me?! _You_ weren't a convincing girl!!" Nataro shouted, pointing a finger at the redhead.

The redhead gave him a heated glare. "_I_ wasn't convincing? You don't even know what a naked woman _looks_ like!!"

"YOU DON'T EITHER, JACKASS!!!"

Tsuki watched the genin argue with amusement until a screech cut through the air. Looking up, she saw a hawk flying through the air, towards the Hokage's tower. "Hmm..." She looked at her students. "That's all for today, boys. I have to go turn in our mission report. See you tomorrow."

"Huh?" Hanzo looked away from the dust cloud that had formed once Kaze and Nataro began to roll around in the dirt, only to see faint traces of smoke where the purple-haired woman was standing. He looked up at the hawk that was now flying away to another part of the village. "What was that about...?"

"Hello!"

Hanzo turned around once more and found himself staring into a pair of entirely black eyes. "WHOA!!" He stumbled back, clutching his chest. "Huh? Asura-chan?"

Nataro and Kazemaru immediately jumped out of the dust cloud. "Asura-chan?"

"Nataro-san!! I'm so happy to see you!" The pinkette exclaimed as she suddenly popped up in front of him and started to hug and kiss him.

"Asura-chan...!" The blonde swooned as a blush appeared on his cheeks and his eyes formed into little upside-down u's. The times when she had kissed him on the way back to Konoha were still fresh on his mind.

_'When did she get here? I hadn't even noticed her until she spoke up,'_ Hanzo thought as he stared at Asura in confusion.

"Hey, what about us?!" Kaze exclaimed, beating his hand against his chest. "We helped save you, too!"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry!" Asura suddenly stopped hugging Nataro, much to his chagrin, and started to hug Hanzo. Here's a hug for Hanzo-san!"

"Huh?! N-no, no! That's okay!!" The Uchiha stuttered as his face turned tomato red with his bangs hiding his eyes.

Asura immediately released him and started hugging Kazemaru. "And a hug for Kazemaru-san!"

"Heh-heh-heh...!" Kaze started to blush as a perverted smile appeared on his face. His hand moved ever so slowly to her butt...only to be caught by Nataro's hand and squeezed tightly.

"Don't...even..._try_! Or I'll show you no mercy, damn it!!" He growled through clenched teeth. Nataro then looked at Asura in confusion. "By the way, Asura-chan, where have you been? And what's with the clothes?"

The pink-haired girl blinked. She tugged at the clothes that had replaced her ragged dress: a knee-length, short-sleeved white dress with a red frill and a red bandana decorated with small Leaf symbols tied around her head. "Naruto-san gave them to me!"

"Gramps? So what happened after we left? Where did you go?"

"Oh. Um..." Asura looked up at the sky in thought. "Tsubaki-san took me to this big white place. Then these people in white came and took me into a white room, where they poked me and touched me with their glowing green hands..." A sad look appeared on her face. "I...didn't like that."

Nataro and Kazemaru sweatdropped. "Say what?"

"I think she means medical ninja," Hanzo explained. "So that means that Asura-chan was in the hospital all this time."

"The _hospital_?" Kazemaru cringed as a tinge of blue appeared on his cheeks. "She's been in the hospital, with all the _blood_ and..._death_ and _illness_ in the air?!"

"Wh-what's wrong? Were you sick or somethin'?" The blonde genin asked.

"Earth to Ramen Breath: she was _sealed into a scroll_. If someone's okay after that, I'd shocked," the redhead stated as he shoved his hand into his pants pocket. _'Course, if she didn't get sick from __**that**__, she'd get sick from her recent living conditions...!'_

"The medical ninja probably assumed that being sealed away did something to her health," Hanzo added. "So, seeing as how you're out here now, that means there's nothing wrong with you, right?"

"I dunno," the pink-haired girl mumbled with a shrug. "But when Naruto-san showed up, I told him that Nataro-san promised to show me Konoha. I don't know why, but he got a look in his eyes...then he told me to leave for a while and come back."

"So, you're saying that they've been taking tests on you for _weeks_ and you have to take _more_ tests?"

"That's _weird_..." Nataro mumbled as he scratched his head. "I know that it's weird for someone to be sealed into a scroll, but what's all the testing for? It's not _that_ serious, is it?"

"You're asking the wrong people here, Ramen Breath," Kaze muttered.

"Besides, it's probably none of our business. Like Tsuki-sensei said, there are some things genin cannot take part in," Hanzo quoted, ignoring the way his friend twitched. "The best we could do is wait and see what happens..."

"You've got relatives who work in the hospital, don't you? Ask them what they're doing to Asura-chan!" The orange-clad genin exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the Uchiha.

"Wh-wh-WHAT?! I can't do that! I'll probably get in trouble for trying to learn about private business!" _'And I'm not willing to get in trouble with my mother if __**she**__ finds out.'_

"Bummer."

"Nataro-saaaan...!" Asura whined as she grabbed hold of Nataro's free hand. "You promised that you would show me Konoha, didn't you?"

"Uh... Oh, right! I almost forgot." He gave a broad grin and raised his arms in the air, along with Asura's and Kazemaru's. "Welcome to Kazaki Tours! Let's begin our journey into the heart of the greatest shinobi village in the world!"

"Yay!"

"Excuse me!! I _live_ here, so let go of my fugging hand before I bite up _yours_, Ramen Breath!" The red-haired genin threatened as he cast the blonde a glare.

The blonde returned his glare. "The offer wasn't for _you_, ya perverted pyro." He released Kaze's hand and began to walk away. "Later, guys! I have a job to do!"

"Unbe-fuggin'-lievable... There's actually a girl who wants to hang out with _Nataro_ of all people?" Kazemaru snorted and shook his head slowly. "Poor girl... She must have _brain damage_ or something. But hey, there's someone out there for everyone, I guess...but _Nataro_?"

Hanzo gave a short laugh as he started to walk away. "I think you're just jealous."

"J-_jealous_?! Of _Ramen Breath_?! Of Mr. Had To Have Cheated to Avoid Being the Lowest-Scoring Student in Our Class?! That's just _wrong_..." The pyromanic genin grumbled. When the raven-haired boy was gone, he pulled out a small paperback novel out of his shorts and began to flip through it. "Now, where was I? Aha! _'He dropped her on the bed, and slowly began to pull down her skirt...'_" He continued to read silently to himself as he walked in the opposite direction of his friends.

**X-X-X**

Within an office in the Hokage's tower, a group of jonin and chunin stood before the Rokudaime Hokage.

"You all know why you've been called. In one week, Konoha will be hosting the Chunin Exams," Naruto explained as he leaned forward in his seat. "Before we begin handing out registration papers to the genin squad supervisors, first we need the jonin overseeing the training of our recent Academy graduates to step forward.

Haseo made his way through the crowd, followed by a young Hyuga man in his early 20's with his dark brown hair tied up in a loose ponytail, wearing the standard jonin uniform with long, open robe-like sleeves that reached his wrists.

The Hokage arched an eyebrow. "Tsuki?" He narrowed his eyes slightly and saw a mass of spiky purple hair sticking up from behind one of the taller ninja. "Tsuki, stop fooling around and get up here!"

Tsuki gulped and regained her calm. She stood up straight and made her way up the front of the group, standing in-between Haseo and the Hyuga.

Naruto gave a nod. "Good. Now, seeing as how all of your students' squads have accomplished the minimum amount of eight missions necessary to enter the Chunin Exam...you can decide whether or not you feel they're ready to take part in it. Starting with Haseo."

Haseo bowed his head for a moment. "I, Uchiha Haseo, vow upon the name of the Uchiha that Team 4, consisting of Uchiha Inahime, Hyuga Konjo, and Sekkei Shizuka, qualify for the exam."

The Hyuga bowed his head as well. "I, Hyuga Ninigi, vow upon the name of the Hyuga that Team 11, consisting of Yoshida Kaoru, Kurama Rie, and Masamune Momotaro, also qualify for the exam."

All eyes fell on Tsuki, who was biting her bottom lip from indecision. _'Do I really want to put them through that sort of thing...? What happened in Benzaiten may be even __**worse**__ because I won't be there to bail them out of trouble! What if they __**die**__...?'_

"Tsuki...?" Naruto arched an eyebrow. "We don't have all day! Say something!"

After a few more seconds, the female sensei nodded before bowing her head. "I, Asahara Tsuki, don't have a clan to swear on, so..." She raised her head slightly so that she was looking at her Hokage. "I vow on my reputation and my life that Team 14, consisting of Uchiha Hanzo, Temashi Kazemaru, and Kazaki Nataro, are qualified to take the exam."

_'Suck up,'_ Haseo thought with half-lidded eyes.

"Hmm... It's been a while since we had all three rookie teams entered at once..." Naruto leaned back in his chair and smirked. "I wish your teams the best of luck! And I hope they put on a good show."

"Don't worry, they will, Hokage-sama!" Tsuki and Haseo spoke at the same time. The moment they realized the other spoke, the two jonin began to glare at each other. Ninigi simply stared at them out of the corner of his pearl white eyes with an arched eyebrow.

"Now, before we begin to hand out the registration forms for the other jonin sensei, are there any questions?"

One of the ninja in the crowd raised their hand. "Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but...is it true that there were Oni spotted somewhere in the country?" Several shinobi in the crowd began to whisper things amongst themselves.

The Rokudaime closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm afraid so."

"But isn't that dangerous, sir? What if during the exams, they--?"

"That will _not_ happen," the old man answered as his eyes snapped open. "I've already deployed the ANBU to investigate the incident. Should they find anymore, then they will be eliminated on the spot."

"But--"

"No more _'buts'_!!" Naruto screamed as he pounded a fist on his desk. When he regained his composure, he relaxed a bit. "If you're going to suggest canceling the exams, _don't_. We will not stop simply because of a few Oni." _'Even if there shouldn't be any at all...'_ "Besides, the Daimyo have already begun to arrive, and the Kazekage and Raikage have already RSVPed. There's no turning back now. Anyone else have any questions?" When none of the ninja responded, the Rokudaime gave a satisfied nod and fell back into his seat. "Good! Now, let's get on with the preparations! And remember: the exams begin in _one week_!"

As jonin swarmed to the Hokage's desk, the squad leaders of the nine rookies stayed together.

"Tsuki-sempai," Ninigi spoke, gaining the purple-haired woman's attention. "I heard that it was you and your students who encountered the Oni. Is that true?"

"Mm... Why are you calling me _'sempai'_? We're all jonin here. No need to be so polite, Ninigi-kun."

"You're avoiding the question."

Tsuki rubbed her temples. "Fine, I admit it. It was my students and I..."

"Interesting. Let me guess: you hesitated in answering Naruto-sama because they were seriously injured then, weren't they?" Haseo asked her with an arched eyebrow. "Damn it, Tsuki, if they're still shook up from that encounter, you shouldn't have said they qualified!"

"Who said they were still shook up? In fact, it only took a couple of days before they started asking for more missions outside of the village!"

"Yes, well...I bet you had to defend them, didn't you? It won't be like that during the exams. I know _my_ team can fend for themselves."

Tsuki puffed out her chest. "And so can _mine_! For your information, Haseo, my boys managed to take down an Oni themselves while I was busy fighting another, so I _know_ that even if they don't become Chunin, they're ready for this exam."

The blonde man snorted and arched an eyebrow. "Honestly...! You're going to _lie_ to justify your hasty decision?"

"Who's lying? In fact...I bet that my boys outclass _your_ students."

A look of interest flashed in Haseo's eyes for a moment. "Reeeeally? In that case, why _don't_ we bet? Just between the newbie genin. I bet that _my_ squad will make it the farthest."

Tsuki smirked. "And I bet that _my_ squad will make it the farthest."

Both jonin looked at Ninigi, who gave them a half-lidded stare. "And I am not taking part in this."

"Oh, come on, Ninigi-kun! It's not like we're going to bet for _real_!" Haseo told the Hyuga with a smile as he hooked his arm around the junior jonin's shoulders. _'Far as __**you**__ know.'_ "Besides, don't you have faith that your team could beat ours? How depressing...!"

"It's not that. I just think--"

"How upset would your students be if they learned their sensei didn't believe in them!" Tsuki exclaimed with a pout.

"They'd be shattered! They wouldn't want to participate in the exams! And it'd be all _your_ fault," Haseo added.

"Fuh...Fine! I bet that my students will outshine _both_ of yours!" Ninigi then slapped himself in the face. "What am I saying?"

"You just made a bet," the female jonin stated with a sly smile. "Good for you, Ninigi-kun!"

"And we'll see the results in a week! So, may the best squad win!" The honey-haired man told the other two with a smirk, setting off a three-way glaring contest between them.

Naruto, who had witnessed their little exchange, arched an eyebrow. _'Well... This promises to be an entertaining exam!'_

**X-X-X**

Later, Nataro and Asura were walking somewhere in town. "Now, Asura-chan," the blonde genin started, "This may seem a little confusing to you. Konoha's a pretty big town, and it seems _so_ easy to get lost here. Believe me, I know. The first time I tried walking home from the Academy by myself, I only wound back there! But everything'll be fine, so long as we stick together." He turned his head to look at the pink-haired girl, only to find that she was gone. In a few seconds, he started to panic. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Asu--! Asura-chan!! Where'd you go?! Oh, Gramps is going to bite my head off for losing her!!" He stopped panicking once he realized that she was standing in front of a fence a few feet back, looking up into a tree. Nataro quickly ran up to her. "There you are! You almost gave me a heart attack...! I thought that I... What are you looking at?"

"Nataro-san..." Asura looked at the genin, her eyes reduced to tiny black dots as a large question mark floated above her head. "Do people in Konoha usually sleep in trees?"

"_What_?" Before he could ask why she would ask a thing like that, something dropped down from the tree and landed on top of him. "GACK!!" Something _heavy_. "HEY!! What the hell?!"

"Hm?" The pink-haired girl blinked. "He fell... I guess he wasn't very good at sleeping in a tree..."

Nataro began to struggle under the weight of the person on top of him and growled. "YO!! What are you _doing_?! GET THE HELL OFFA ME!!!" His eyes became blank for a moment when he heard the person on him snore lightly. "HEY!! DON'T YOU DARE SLEEP ON ME!!!"

"Wha...? Huh?" The person sat up and looked around. He yawned and stretched his arms. "I had the weirdest dream... I dream that I was falling from a hug tree, but I landed on something orange and soft..." He spoke in a sleepy tone.

"That wasn't a dream...!" Nataro growled under his breath. "That something is _me_!!"

"You fell from the tree and landed right on top of Nataro-san," Asura stated with a smile on her face.

"Hmmm?" The sleepy-sounding person looked down and stared at who he was sitting on. His sleepy-eyed look was immediately replaced by a wide-eyed one. "Oh!" He jumped off of the blonde and started to dust him off while he was still on the ground. "I'm so very sorry! I didn't mean to land on you!"

"Hey, hey--STOP IT!!!" The orange-clad genin shouted. He stood up and dusted himself off. After that, he looked at the sleepy person. It was a boy around his age, about 12 or 13, with short brown hair and pupilless amber gold eyes. The boy wore a short-sleeved black shirt with fishnet sleeves continuing where the material left off, black pants that were held up with a long, ragged red sash that hung off of his left side. "What were you doing up in that tree, anyway?"

The boy yawned and rubbed his eye. "Sleeping." Nataro only sweatdropped in responded.

"Ooohh! Is it relaxing to sleep in a tree?" Asura asked him, clapping her hands together enthusiastically. "I wanna try!" She began to climb up the tree. A stray wind blew by, revealing her underwear decorated with little teddy bear heads. Both Nataro and the brown-haired boy blushed, but the former glared at the latter to make him stop.

"A-Asura-chan!! C-come down here this instant!! _Please_! You're gonna make me look like a perv in public!"

She had just managed to sit down on top of a thick tree branch when her tour guide had said this. With a small pout and a sad "okay," she jumped out and landed next to the blonde boy. "Next time, I want to sleep in a tree!"

"What is with this fascination with sleeping in a tree?!" Nataro exclaimed.

The sleepy-eyed boy stared at the boy and girl. _'Is this how __**everyone**__ in Konoha acts?'_

"There you are, Mamoru-kun," a girl's voice spoke.

Nataro and Asura turned around to see two people walking towards them. One was an 11-year old girl with bright jade green eyes and sand blonde hair tied up with black ribbons into two long ponytails that were styled into spikes at the end. She wore a simple, short, short-sleeved black dress that was several inches above her knee with a dark blue sash tied around her waist, fishnet stockings, fishnet gloves and a hitai-ate with an hourglass symbol tied around her neck. The other was a tan-skinned boy, about 13 years old with short, spiky brown hair and black eyes with a tattoo on his cheek of the number zero. He wore a short-sleeved black shirt with a fishnet undershirt with sleeves that reached his wrists, black shorts with the number zero on the left leg, bandages wrapped around his legs and a hitai-ate tied around his head with the same symbol as the girl's.

"Oh, there you are, Yasha-chan, Otokaze-kun," the brown-haired boy told the newcomers with a small smile.

"Don't think you can play innocent with _us_, Mamoru!" The boy with the spiky black hair shouted at the sleepy-eyed kid. "Were you sleeping in public _again_?"

"Zzz..." Mamoru snored lightly. He seemed to have fallen asleep standing up. The boy known as Otokaze, Nataro, and the sand blonde-haired girl sweatdropped. Asura simply stared in amazement.

"DAMN IT, STAY AWAKE WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!!!" Otokaze screamed as his eyes bulged out and a throbbing vein appeared on his head.

"Zzz... Huh?" Mamoru shook his head. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep...again..." The blonde girl spoke softly.

"Now, c'mon, sleepyhead!!" Otokaze frowned as he grabbed Mamoru by the sash around his waist and began to drag him away. "Saboten-sensei's worried about you! She thinks you're lost!!"

As the trio walked away, Asura waved goodbye to them, much to Nataro's confusion. "Bye-bye! It was a pleasure to meet you!"

"Er...what just happened here...?" Nataro mumbled as a drop of sweat ran down the side of his head. "Hmmm... You know what, never mind. Let's continue our tour, shall we?"

The pink-haired girl began to wave a little white flag with the Konoha symbol emblazoned on the center in red. "Yay! Lead the way, Nataro-san!"

"Eh? Where'd you get-- ...N-never mind..."

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Nataro and Asura were standing in front of the Ninja Academy.

"This is Konohagakure's Ninja Academy, where young students are molded into shinobi!" Nataro announced with a grin. "Yours truly was a student here a while ago!"

"Oooohhh, what's it like?" The pink-haired girl asked in wonder.

"Well, it was like any other school at first: _bo-ring_! But once we were old enough, they started teaching us a bunch of cooler stuff like Bunshin no Jutsu (Art of the Doppelganger), Kawarimi no Jutsu (Art of Replacement), and taijutsu training...!"

"I bet Nataro-san was the _best _here!"

Nataro sweatdropped as the memory of his Academy Years ran through his head. _'Actually...I would've gotten the lowest score in the class if Hanzo didn't help me...!'_ "Um... Oh, look! There're some students nearby!" He exclaimed, pointing to a glass of children who were exercising a few feet away from them. "Heh-heh... I remember when I had to do that... I was always pumped to show everyone how hard I could exercise!"

At that moment, a trio walked up into the courtyard, just nearby Nataro and Asura. Two of them were a pair of teenagers who were older than Nataro, probably 14 or 15 years old. They wore the exact same wardrobe: straw hats, goggles, breathing apparatuses around their necks, and black and white jumpsuits with a metal plate of a hitai-ate that bared four small lines sewn into them. The other was a pale-skinned girl about 12 years old with boyishly short dark green hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a white wraparound top that had three green buckles going down the front, a white skirt that had a slit going up the middle of the back and front, showing her black short-shorts, and a hitai-ate tied around her right arm with the same four lines as the other two.

"So, this is Konoha's Ninja Academy...? It looks fancier than I thought!" The green-haired girl exclaimed. She then noticed the students training nearby. "Oh, and look! There are some students over there!"

"Honestly, I don't know what you find so interesting about this place, Tename..." One of the suited guys groaned as the white-clad girl, Tename, continued to stare at the students in awe.

"We came to participate in the exams, not go sightseeing," said the other suited guy.

"Well, it's not starting until another week or so, right? May as well get as much of this place in as I possibly can!"

When the trio walked away from the Academy, Nataro arched an eyebrow. "More weirdoes... Today is starting to get _weird_..."

"Nataro-saaaan!!" The blonde turned his head to see Asura sitting on the swing set in front of the Academy. "Come push me, Nataro-san!"

"Huh? I'm comin', I'm comin'!!"

**X-X-X**

Later on, the loudmouth blonde and the weird pinkette were sitting at the counter inside of a shop. Behind them, several people were eating bowls of noodles and talking amongst themselves.

"This is Hagakure, the best, best, _best_ restaurant in the whole world!!" Nataro exclaimed with the wave of an arm. "They've got the best ramen for miles around! ...In my opinion, at least."

The man behind the counter set down a _huge_ bowl of ramen in front of the blonde genin with a bit of effort. "Phew! Here you go, Nataro! One Hagakure Special!" He looked at Asura and whispered to her, "Y'know, he's the only one who buys these things more than once? Two bowls of that stuff is like lunch to this kid!"

"Hee-hee-hee! Thank you!" Nataro grinned as he picked up his chopsticks, broke them apart and placed his hands together. "Let's eat!! W-wait..." He looked at Akasha, who was staring at the ramen with hunger in her eyes. How he could tell, he didn't want to know. "You want some of my ramen, Asura-chan?"

"Uh-huh..." The pink-haired girl mumbled, nodding slowly as drool formed in the corner of her mouth.

"Well, here! You can have some! I'll just eat what you can't finish!"

"Yay!" In the blink of an eye, Asura had grabbed the large bowl of ramen and pulled it over to her. She didn't even use chopsticks; she just lifted up the bowl and began to drink the broth and noodles without pausing to breathe.

"Whoa...! That thing's five times the size of a normal bowl of ramen..." The shop owner spoke, his eyes wide in awe. "Who the heck _is_ this girl, Nataro?"

"Somebody with a big stomach..."

At that moment, a trio of teenagers walked into the ramen shop and sat down in the booth nearest to the entrance.

"Mmmm, would you smell that?" The shortest of the group, a 13-year old boy with short white hair that had been cut short in back and cat-like green eyes, asked. He wore a white shirt with long, open sleeves like a kimono's with tiger-like black stripes that hid his hands, the kanji for _'tenchu'_ (Heavenly justice/Heaven's Justice) emblazoned his back in black, white knee-length shorts, black sandals with knee-high shin guards, black elbow-length armguards, and a short-sword on his back with a broad rectangular case. Tied along with the strap was a hitai-ate depicting some shapes like clouds.

"Smell what? _You're_ the one who led us in here, weirdo," The only girl of the group spoke. Her skin was light brown, her eyes chocolate brown, and her shoulder-length bleached blonde hair had a white and red lily-shaped barrette on the left side of her head. She wore a short-sleeved red top with a broad black stripe going around her chest that partially revealed the black undershirt beneath, fishnet elbow straps, black knee-length bicycle shorts, and a hitai-ate tied around her waist like a belt with the same cloud-like symbols on the metal plate.

The white-haired boy picked up a menu and opened it. "Hm? There's nothing but noodles on the menu!"

"Noodles...? As in ramen? Bleh, no thanks!"

"Oh, come on! It's not like anymore weight could go to your hips from a bit of ramen!" The white-haired boy said with a pout and a disappointed look.

The dark-skinned girl reached across the table and grabbed him by the throat before she started to shake him. "You take that back, you animal!! My hips are not big!!"

"B-but it's tr-true!! Tell her, Seian!!"

The third member of the trio was a tall pale-skinned boy with long, shoulder-length shaggy black hair that reached his shoulders in the back with a mass of bangs hiding his eyes. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with black pants, and the same cloud-marked hitai-ate tied around his left shoulder. The dark-haired boy, Seian, remained silent and began to read a menu silently to himself.

"HEEEEYYYY!!! Don't ignore me!! I'm being attacked by this devilish girl!!" The white-haired boy screamed, which got him looks from the other patrons.

"Who you callin' devilish?!" The dark-skinned girl screeched.

"B-be grateful I promised not to draw my blade in public!! Otherwise, you would be _so_ exorcised by now!!"

Nataro turned his back on the scene and rolled his eyes. "There are even weirdoes over here..."

Asura finally set down the bowl she was holding. "Ah...! All done!"

"EH?!?" Nataro looked down at the bowl. It didn't have anything in it. Tears welled up in the blonde boy's eyes as he gave a pitiful sniffle. "Noooo...! How could you eat it all, Asura-chan?!"

"You said you'd eat what I couldn't finish."

"Yeah, but I never thought you'd finish a giant bowl of ramen!!"

"Oh...! I'm sor--" Asura suddenly belched in Nataro's face. "...I'm sorry."

"Awww, man...! The scent of miso and spices is on your breath...!" He cried as tears began to stream down his face.

**X-X-X**

The next day, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru were once again on the stone bridge waiting for their sensei to arrive. Nataro was finishing up eating his sandwich, Kazemaru was reading his novel from yesterday, and Hanzo simply leaned back against the railing.

"Where is she? Today is _Monday_, so she should've been here 15 minutes ago," the raven-haired boy stated.

"Gee... You don't think she went and got drunk last night and has a hangover this morning, do you?" The blonde asked as he chewed his sandwich.

"I don't think she would. Tsuki-sensei has a pattern when it comes to her drinking, remember?"

"Yeah, well, when it comes to alcohol, a pattern may not be so easy to find," said Kaze as he continued to flip through his book, not sparing his teammates a glance.

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "And you would know that _how_?"

"Simple, Fan Boy. I read."

"Pornography doesn't count," The Uchiha stated flatly before Tsuki appeared before them in a poof of smoke.

"Good morning, boys! Excuse me if I'm a little late, but I misplaced something important that I needed to find," she told her students with a smile. "It's related to the good news I have to give you!"

Nataro immediately tossed his sandwich over the railing, got up and ran up to his sensei. "Ooh, ooh!! Are we finally getting a C-rank mission again?!" He shouted with an anxious look on his face.

Tsuki smiled. "Nope. Even _better_!"

"A _B-rank_?!"

"Would you stop it? It's not a mission!" This made the blonde genin deflate. "Actually, I've signed you boys up for the Chunin Exams! Isn't that exciting?"

Silence overcame the group. The only sounds that were heard were the bustle of those on the street below and the cawing of a crow that flew high above them.

"The...Chunin Exams? Are you serious?" Hanzo asked with wide eyes.

Nataro and Kazemaru looked at each other. "Wow!! For real?! That's great!!" The loudmouth blonde exclaimed loudly, pumping a fist in the air.

"Chunin Exams! Awesome!" The pyromanic redhead said with a grin.

After a moment of silence, they both asked, "What's the Chunin Exam?"

Tsuki blinked. "You don't know...? I'd have guessed about Nataro not knowing, seeing as how he doesn't come from a ninja family, but you've got shinobi in your family, don't you, Kazemaru?"

Kaze blushed and looked away from his teacher, slightly irritated. "W-well, it's not _my _fault if they don't tell me about these kinds of things!!"

"The Chunin Exams are...well, it's a test given to genin to allow them to be promoted the chunin rank," Hanzo began to explain to his teammates. "Ninja from other hidden villages like Sunagakure and Amegakure among others that Konoha is allied with are coming to participate in the exam as well."

Kazemaru blinked and looked at the Uchiha in confusion. "Foreign ninja...? Ain't that kinda dangerous--"

"What's the point of making us take the exam with ninja from other countries?!" Nataro interrupted.

A vein popped up on the redhead's forehead as he cast a glare at the blonde. "Damn it, Nataro!! I was talk--"

"It's done so all ninja maintain an equal balance of power, and for the relations between ninja of other nations to become closer," Hanzo explained, ignoring the upset Kazemaru.

"Hey! I haven't--!"

"Right, Hanzo," Tsuki said with a nod. In the background, Kaze growled before he sighed and slumped over in defeat. The purple-haired kunoichi pulled out three sheets of paper and handed one to each genin. "The Chunin Exams are a week from today. These forms must be filled out by then and handed in at the Ninja Academy in room 301--_remember that_. You don't have to take the test if you don't want to."

"Oh..." Hanzo gave a small breath of relief when she said this.

"But I know you'll all enter, right? 'Cuz my boys can handle anything!"

"Huh?" He looked up at Tsuki in disbelief. "But for the last couple of weeks, you've been acting like we couldn't take another C-rank mission for a long time! Now you want us to participate in the Chunin Exams?"

The purple-haired woman sweatdropped, but kept her calm. "What? Is it wrong for me to think you're ready?" Before her raven-haired student could ask anymore questions, she held up a hand. "That's all I had to say. No training for the day, so...see ya!" And in a puff of smoke, she disappeared.

"Okaaay... That was weird."

"Well, I know _I'm_ entering," said Kazemaru, jabbing his thumb to his chest with a smirk. "I'd _love_ to get the chance to kick some foreign ninja butt!" He performed an uppercut. "Kapow!!"

Nataro grinned as he stared at the entrance form. "Me, too!! I'm gonna show off all my skills and become and become a chunin." He began to chuckle to himself and squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner. "It's just one step closer to Hokage!"

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Are you _still_ going on about that? The day that _you_ become Hokage is the day I give up on the opposite sex and become...well...you-know-what."

"What?"

"Gay?" Hanzo guessed. "That _would_ be a miracle."

"You two are insulting me!!" The team loudmouth shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Noooo! Of course not!" Kaze spoke sarcastically. Ignoring the glare the blonde was giving him, he placed his hands behind his head and looked at the Uchiha. "What about you, Fan Boy? You entering, too?"

Hanzo stared at the ground for a few seconds before he shrugged. "Eh. I guess. _'Once Mom hearts that I've been nominated for the Chunin Exams, she'll be disappointed if I don't enter.'_

Nataro pointed at both his teammates. "Just you guys wait! I'm gonna pass this exam with flying colors! And _then_ I'll show ya-- Huh? Hey!!" They were already walking away from him, ignoring the blonde genin. A vein popped up on his forehead as he glared at the backs of the pyromanic boy and the Uchiha, but it went down quickly. "Oh, well..." He looked down at his registration form again and grinned. "If only it were next week already! I can't wait!"

**X-X-X**

Later that night in a home in the Uchiha section of town, Hanzo sat on his bed, staring at the blank exam registration sheet.

"What're you doing?" A little boy asked as he laid down on his back on the floor. He was about 7 years old with short raven-colored hair that spiked up a bit in the back and dark green eyes, wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back and khaki shorts.

"I'm filling out a form for the Chunin Exams."

"Chunin Exams? What's that?"

"It's...um... You remember when Kurochi and Shirochi had to go away to another country? Well, they had to go take a Chunin Exam in Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind)."

The little raven-haired boy rolled onto his stomach and frowned. "So, you're going to go away?"

"I never said that! _They_ had to go away because that year, the exams were taking place in another country. This year, they're taking place here."

"Oh! Okay." The boy got on his knees and smiled up at Hanzo. "You're gonna take it, aren't you, big bro?"

"Take what?" The boys looked at the doorway to the room and saw a 30-something year old woman with long black hair, her bangs hiding her forehead, and reddish-brown eyes, wearing a long-sleeved red dress. "What're you taking, hun?"

"Um, nothing." The older raven-haired boy said as he shoved the hand holding his registration form underneath the pillow.

"He's going to take the Chunin Exam!" The younger exclaimed.

"Kotaro!"

"Hanzo," the woman spoke in a flat tone, narrowing her eyes.

"Um..." Blowing his bangs out of his eyes, Hanzo pulled his hand out from underneath the pillow and held it up for his mother to see the paper.

Uchiha Kotoyo walked up to his bedside and sat down next to him to read the form. "Hmm... Oh! You've been nominated for the Chunin Exams so soon?" Before her oldest son could say anything, the dark-haired woman wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. "I'm so happy! I expected no less from you, honey!"

"Yes, Mom..." Hanzo mumbled as he looked out of the corner of his eye with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"So, when will it start?"

"In a week..."

Kotoyo smiled. "Well, I'll look forward to seeing you being promoted." She kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, aren't you excited?!" She got up and pointed a finger at Kotaro. "And what are you doing up still, young man? It's past your bedtime."

"Huh?! That's not fair! I know kids at school who get to stay up until 10, Mom! _10_!" Kotaro whined as he pounded his hands on the floor.

"Do you want to walk out of here, or would you prefer for me to carry you?"

The youngest Uchiha got to his feet and pouted. "I...guess that 9:00's fine, too. G'night, Hanzo."

"Night, Kotaro. Good night, Mom..." Once his mother and brother left his room, Hanzo fell back and sighed. "Now I really have no choice but to enter..."

**X-X-X**

A week later, hundreds of genin--both foreign and native to Konoha--were waiting outside of the Academy. Among them were Hanzo and Kazemaru, who were standing underneath the shade of a tree.

"Hey, when exactly is this thing starting?" Kaze asked as he sat down on the grass. _'Times like these make me wish I had a watch...'_

"I don't know," Hanzo said as he folded his arms across his chest. "Besides, Nataro isn't here yet. We can't go in without him."

"Yeah, well...if he's not here on time, we should just leave 'em." _'That would __**definitely**__ be a relief on my ears.'_

"HEY, HEY, HEY!!!" Both boys turned their head to see Nataro running towards them, living a trail of dust behind him. The blonde skidded to a halt in front of his teammates, making dust rise. He pointed a finger at Kaze as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "What was that about leaving me behind, Pyro Freak?!"

"Oh, damn. You actually came." The Pyro Freak snickered behind his hand as their team loudmouth began to glare daggers at him.

Hanzo pushed himself off of the tree he was leaning against and began walking towards the Academy. When he noticed his teammates weren't following, he gestured for them to follow.

"What do you think we are? _Dogs_? What's up, Fan Boy?" Kazemaru asked the Uchiha.

"I think it's time to go in," the raven-haired boy pointed at the other shinobi who were starting to enter the Ninja Academy.

"Why the hell didn't you say that in the _first_ place? Let's roll!" Kaze grabbed Nataro's arm, much to his protest, and started to drag the blonde towards the Academy with Hanzo walking behind them.

**X-X-X**

Once inside, Team 14 saw several other genin standing about talking, most of whom were from other countries.

"Man... Check out all the scary lookin' guys here..." Kazemaru whispered to his teammates after a pair of scarred, muscular men walked past them. "Huh? Whoa!" Hearts suddenly appeared in his eyes as soon as he saw the attractive-looking woman walking behind the men. "But the cute-looking ladies compensate for that! Who cares if they're the enemy? Bring on the pain!"

"Hmph! They don't look all _that_ tough." Nataro folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "I bet I could beat 'em all! This test is gonna be cake!"

"I wouldn't say _that_..." said Hanzo in a wary tone. "My cousin Shirochi said that people can go insane and become vegetables because of what goes on in the exams. And that in one part...people actually _die_." At those words, Nataro and Kazemaru stopped walking and began to shiver in fear, their cheeks tinged with blue. "...Of course, my cousin _Shirochi_ said that, so I'm not sure if that's true, or he said that to scare me."

_'Well, it scared __**me**__...'_ Kaze thought as he held onto his chest. _'I nearly broke out into a cold sweat!'_

"D-d-_die_?" Nataro gulped and started to sweat a little.

**"Awwww...! Is the little baby **_**scared**_**?"**

"AH!!" The orange-clad genin jumped forward and tensed up. "Wh-who said that?! I dare you to come out, wise guy!"

**"I'm right here."**

"No, you're not!! If you were here, I could see you!!"

**"Just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not there. Close your eyes..."**

Nataro stared out into space with a half-lidded glare. "Are you kidding me?"

**"Just do it."** The blonde grumbled some things under his breath before closing his eyes. **"Now open them."** When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in front of a large, open muzzle filled with dozens of large sharp teeth. **"Boo."**

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Nataro stumbled back into Hanzo, sputtering absurdly with his eyes as big as a fish's. "It's there! It's there! It's there! It's there!" He continued repeating, his breakdown noticeable to the other genin.

"Dear God...! We haven't even taken the test yet and he's already cracked," Kazemaru muttered to himself. He leaned over to Hanzo and whispered into his ear, "Do they allow crazy people to enter the Chunin Exam?"

"Nataro, snap out of it! People are starting to stare!" Hanzo exclaimed. He turned the blonde loudmouth around and slapped him a couple of times in the cheeks before he regained his right mind. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"D-didn't you see it? _Hear_ it?!" Nataro exclaimed.

"Hear what? You babbling like some psycho?" Kaze rolled his eyes. "Honestly... I didn't peg you as the crazy type, Ramen Breath."

"But...I..._heard_ it..." _'Do I have a fever or something?'_

**"Or maybe a few **_**head problems**_**. Hmhmhm...!"**

"Ack!! There it is again!" All he got in response from his teammates were looks of confusion.

**"Don't bother. You're the only one who can hear me. As it should be, considering that I'm in you... I suggest that you start speaking in your **_**head**_** before you attract anymore unwanted attention..."**

"You da--!" _'You damn bastard!!'_ The orange-clad genin caught himself in time. _'Get out of my head!!'_

**"If I could, I would. Maybe **_**you**_** could let me out," **the Kyuubi no Kitsune spoke. **"If you let me take over you completely...mind...body...and what little of a soul you have."**

_'Never!! You think I don't remember what happened the last time I let you give me your so-called __**power**__? I'm not going to let you take me over completely!'_

The demonic vulpine gave a sigh. **"Oh, well... You'll be calling on me eventually... You're too **_**pathetic **_**to do anything on your own."**

A vein began to throb on Nataro's forehead. "Grrr...!" He immediately slapped a smile on his face and marched forward. "HAHAHAHA!! Fooled you guys, huh? I'm ready for this _Chunin Exam_! No sweat! HAHAHA!!"

Hanzo looked at Kazemaru with an arched eyebrow. "What just happened here?"

"You're the genius of this group. You tell _me_," the pyromanic genin spoke.

**X-X-X**

A few moments later, the boys arrived on the third floor.

"Let's see... The entrance room should be nearby," said Hanzo.

"About time! I'm pumped and ready to go!!" Nataro exclaimed, punching the air.

"Y'know, there's no one else here but us. Go on, cower in fear like you were doing on the first floor! We promise not to laugh..._much_," Kazemaru told the blonde.

"I wasn't cowering in fear!! What do I have to be afraid of?!"

**"Boo."**

_'Not gonna work this time!!'_ The blonde genin crossed his arms over his chest and began to nod fervently as he and his teammates walked to the center of the hallway. "Trust me when I say I'm ready for this!"

"Yeah, sure... Just don't spazz out during the exam or do anything to embarrass us," the redhead told him.

"I should be telling _you_ that!"

"Yoo-hoo! Hanzo-kun~!" At the sound of a girl's call, Team 14 turned around to see a girl standing behind them. She looked about 12 or 13 years old, with long reddish-brown hair that fell a few inches above her waist and yellow eyes with white pupils, wearing a sleeveless dark purple shirt that had fishnet over the chest and stopped a few inches above her stomach, a pale purple undershirt beneath it, a dark purple miniskirt with fishnet stockings, and the Konoha hitai-ate tied around her chest just beneath her breasts. "Hanzo-kun! There you are!"

Hanzo blinked. "Do...I know you?"

The brunette smiled sweetly before giggling behind her hand. "Nooo~! But I know _ev-ery-thing_ about _you_...!" She spoke in, what the boys assumed was, an attempt at a sexy tone.

"Huh?" Nataro and Kazemaru stared at the girl with half-lidded eyes. _'Weirdo alert!'_

She spread her legs apart and folded her hands behind her, that sweet smile still on her face. "I'm Kurama Rie, buuut you could call me _'yours'_!" She said with a wink as she bent over slightly, touching her chest. "M'kay, Hanzo-kun? If you do, I'd gladly show you _every trace_ of my _body_!"

"SAY WHAT?!?" Nataro screamed, his jaw hanging down and eyes wide open. Hanzo had the same expression, though with more shock than disgust and a tinge of blue on his cheeks. Kaze just blushed, his mouth seemingly having disappeared off of his face.

"Tee-hee! Did I _wow_ you speechless?" Rie grinned.

"More like you freaked us out!! Who the hell _are_ you?!" The blonde genin screamed, but he was ignored as she walked up to Hanzo.

"It's okay, Hanzo-kun. Your eyes say it all...!"

"Hey!! Are you even _listening _to me?!"

Rie placed her fingers on the raven-haired boy's lips and winked. "See ya around~!" Without sparing another word, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After a few seconds of silence, Nataro squinted his eyes in confusion and asked, "Who _was_ that weird girl?"

"Isn't it obvious? What we just saw was an obsessive Hanzo fan girl," said Kazemaru. _'Although, I feel like I've seen her somewhere before...'_

"Fan girl? ...Did Hanzo ever _have_ fans? Aside from us?"

The pyromanic genin arched an eyebrow. "Uh, excuse me? When was _I_ a fan of Fan Boy's?"

"You know what I mean!!"

Both the blonde and redhead turned to look at Hanzo, who was still standing, frozen on the spot with his eyes reduced to dots and mouth long since gone.

"Oh, for the love of...! Snap out of it!!" Kaze slapped him in the face, making him regain some sense of self. "Honestly...! With the way you froze, I'd think you were...y'know..." He made a hand gesture that the raven ignored.

"What...what just happened?"

"We met your first fan girl. You _sly dog_, you!" Nataro chuckled as he wiggled his eyebrows. "This must be a sign! Hanzo must have something that makes him _irresistible_!"

Kaze chuckled perversely to himself. "Uchiha Hanzo, Shinobi _Play-yah_!"

Hanzo stomped his foot and narrowed his eyes. "Knock it off and let's get going!! It's almost time to turn in the registration papers!" He stomped off, the blush on his cheeks very apparent. _'Besides, who'd want to drool all over __**me**__?'_

**X-X-X**

After a few minutes of walking in complete silence, mainly because Nataro and Kazemaru were afraid of what Hanzo would say if they prodded him about his fan girl more, they came up to a door.

"Wow, you guys all came!" A familiar woman's voice called out.

The boys turned around and found Tsuki standing behind them. "Sensei?"

"Thank goodness you boys came," the purple-haired woman said with a breath of relief as she walked towards her students. "I was worried that all three of you wouldn't show up."

"Huh?" Nataro arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I thought we had a choice whether or not we could enter! What about _that_?" Kaze asked with the same expression as Nataro.

"There are two reasons for that: one is that all three of you must enter as a cell. If one of you didn't come, then none of you could take the test." Tsuki sweatdropped and gave a nervous smile. "That should've been one of the first things I told you a week ago, shouldn't it?"

"Ya _think_?" The blonde and redheaded genin grumbled.

"And the second reason, sensei?" Hanzo asked.

Tsuki coughed and looked away. "I can't say."

He blinked. "What? Why not?"

"Or did you forget why you couldn't say anything _either_?" Nataro asked with a vein popping up on his forehead.

"I'm not at liberty to _say_ the second reason. It's..._private_." Ignoring the looks of confusion her students were giving her, the jonin kunoichi turned her back to them. "Anyway, I just wanted to see if you would all show up. You can go through now. Good luck!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke before the boys could ask what the second reason was.

"Weird... Why I have this feeling that the second reason is based on more than us coming as a team?" Kazemaru asked, rubbing his chin in an intellectual manner. "...Aw, forget it! Let's just go in already!"

"Yeah!!" Nataro shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "You guys ready to rock?"

"As I'll ever be," said Hanzo, stuffing a hand into his pants pocket.

"You betcha!! I am _pumped_!!" Kaze exclaimed as he struck a superhero pose, making his teammates sweatdrop. "Look out, losers! Here comes Team 14!!"

Nataro smirked as all three of them placed a hand on the door. "Ready or not...here we come!" They pushed the door open and walked in. After a few moments, it hit them.

"...HOLY CRAP, THERE'S A LOT OF 'EM!!!" Kazemaru shouted.

The room was packed with shinobi teams that the boys had never seen before--all made up of older and fiercer-looking ninja than they were. Hanzo gulped and while Nataro and Kaze stared at all the people in the room and they stared back. For a moment, the boys were the center of attention before the other genin went back to their business and resumed what they were doing before.

"All of these people...are genin? Here to apply for the exams?" Hanzo asked, shaking slightly. _'This...might be hard...'_

"Hmm... These guys don't look so fearsome to me," said Nataro. "I could take 'em _all_ out, with both hands tied behind my back!" At this declaration, some of the older ninja nearby began to give Team 14 the Evil Eye.

"Nataro...! If you keep saying things like that, I doubt we'll live to see the end of this exam...!" The Uchiha hissed.

"Well, look who it is!" Team 14 turned around at the sound of a familiar voice. It turned out to be their fellow Academy graduate, Hyuga Konjo, who was walking towards the group. "Hey, guys! Long time, no see!" Konjo exclaimed.

"Geez, it hasn't been _that_ long since we last saw you, White Eyes. Chill out!" Kaze scoffed.

Hyuga Konjo was unique among the rest of the Hyuga clan. The reason why might've been because of an accident during a training session where he suffered some mild head trauma. Needless to say, Konjo went from stoic and quiet to friendly, exuberant, and at times, a bit of a klutz. This might seem like a nice turn-around, but he still had one small problem: a defect with his Byakugan that made him get headaches whenever he used it too long. Still, he wasn't such a bad guy to hang around.

"So, how've you been, Konjo?" Nataro asked the indigo-haired boy. "Have you gone crazy yet from being _you-know-who's_ teammate?"

Konjo blinked. "You-know-who...? Oh, you mean In--"

"Ah-ah-ah! Yes! _Her_! The _evil one_!" The blonde interrupted, baring his teeth. "I bet it's torture to be around that bitch for just about every day! You must have the patience of Buddha to put up with it!"

"N-no... Ina's not such a bad person... A little frightening sometimes, maybe. Rough, of course. Painfully blunt, yes. But it's not that bad... Mainly because Shizuka-chan's there."

Nataro gave a nod and rubbed his chin in an intellectual manner. "Oh, that's right...! Shizuka-chan was placed on your team because she got the lowest score, and had to be placed on a team with Ina, the High-Scoring Bitch, for balance!"

Konjo sweatdropped. "That's about the gist of it... By the way, you shouldn't say such bad things about Ina."

"Why not?"

The Hyuga stepped back and pointed at something behind the blonde. "Because she's right behind you."

"...Eh?"

"Well, if it isn't the loudmouth..." A cool-sounding voice spoke.

Nataro cringed and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, dear God... Please..._Please_ don't tell me that who I think it is...is standing behind me." He looked at Hanzo from the corner of his eye. The Uchiha nodded and he slumped over. "_Damn_!" He turned on his heel to look at Uchiha Ina with his signature kitsune eyes. "Well, if it isn't Weasel Girl!!"

Ina narrowed her eyes. "What did you call me?"

Uchiha Ina of the genin squad Team 4 was Hanzo's cousin, the highest-scoring student of their graduating class, and the Rookie of the Year--the first female, to be exact. Because of her skill, she radiated much pride and overconfidence in her skills, but there dozens--maybe hundreds of boys who admire her, even if she ignores or insults them. It would seem that she and Nataro have some sort of rivalry, but that's only on Nataro's side since he usually starts the fights.

"Um, hello, Ina!" Hanzo exclaimed, hoping his interruption would stop a fight from escalating.

"I said: _what did you call me_?"

"_Weasel Girl_...! Wanna make somethin' of it?" The blonde said with a vein popping up on his forehead.

"Hmph!" The Uchiha girl smirked and folded her arms across her chest. "You must _want _to get beaten up again! Didn't you get enough lumps back in the Academy..._loser_?"

The vein on Nataro's head increased in size and began to throb quickly. "That does it!! It's _go-time_, bitch!!"

"Bring it on, moron!"

As Nataro lunged at Ina, Hanzo held him away from Ina with all his might. "LEMME AT HER, LEMME AT HER!!! She needs to have some _manners_ beaten into her, that chick!! That _bitch_!!"

"Nataro, cut it out!!" The raven-haired boy exclaimed over the blonde's rabid screams.

"So weak that _Hanzo_ could hold you back... You're still the loser you were back in the Academy," said Ina with a bored look in her eyes.

"H-hey! What did _I_ do for you to insult me?"

"See that?! I'm gonna deliver the smack down on that bitch--!" Nataro stopped once Hanzo struck him in the back of his head. "OW!!"

"I _said_ to knock it off..."

"Um... H-hi, Hanzo-kun..." A soft female voice spoke, making the raven-haired boy stand straight.

Upon turning around, he blushed at the sight of the girl standing behind Ina. She had blue hair that went past her shoulders in the back and bangs that framed the sides of her face and lavender purple eyes. She wore a pink jacket that was halfway zipped up, showing the torso of the blue fishnet-sleeved undershirt beneath it, and black pants with a Konoha hitai-ate tied loosely around her neck.

"Hi, Shizuka-chan..." Hanzo answered. "H-how are you doing?"

"Fine... Y-you?"

"Fine."

Shizuka gave a weak smile as she looked out of the corner of her eye. She didn't notice that Hanzo had done the same. "That's good."

Sekkei Shizuka was the nicest member of genin Team 4, but after graduating from the Academy with the lowest score among the passing class, people have seen her as...an idiot, for some reason. Despite that, Shizuka has aspired to becoming a medical ninja since Ninja Academy. She has a crush on Hanzo, and is extremely shy around him because she thinks he won't feel the same.

Kazemaru and Konjo exchanged looks with each other. Nataro and Ina had gone from verbal fighting to simply glaring at each other. They were so busy that they didn't notice the way their teammates acted around each other.

"Dude... Is it just me, or are our teammates _weird_?" The redhead asked the Hyuga with half-lidded eyes. "Two of 'em talk nothing but smack to each other...and the other two hardly say anything to each other at all... Good thing we're the normal ones."

"Once again, that's not the best thing to say near Ina..." Konjo sweatdropped and looked at Kaze with a shocked expression on his face. "Wait, since when did _you_ qualify as normal?"

"Same time that you qualified as normal with those bug eyes of yours, White Eyes."

"_Bug eyes_?"

"Well, if it isn't the misfits?" The two squads turned their attention to the two boys that were walking up to them. "I never thought _you_ guys would make it," said the 12-year old boy with the short scarlet red hair that had spiky bangs hanging on the right side of his face, reaching down to his chin, red eyes hidden behind a pair of oval-lensed black-framed glasses. He wore a blue long-sleeved jacket that was only zipped-down half-way, showing the dark gray shirt underneath, and had a high-collar that hid his neck, black pants, black gloves and the Konoha hitai-ate tied around his forehead.

Kazemaru gave a cat-like grin. "Well, if it ain't Kaoru the Yo-Yo!"

The redheaded Kaoru's eye twitched. "Quit calling me that!!"

Yoshida Kaoru was a guy who was a bit moody depending on the situation. Normally, he was sarcastic, sly, and insulting, but around girls he saw as potential dates, he was a perfect gentleman. Usually, it was a success since most girls thought he was cute and they fell for his lines with ease. Despite his faults, he was actually one of the highest-scoring students in the class and always seemed to score in the high ranks.

"Oh!" Upon spotting Ina and Shizuka, Kaoru cleared his throat and pulled off his glasses to give them what could only be called a _'Bishonen Look,'_ with its sparkling eyes and bishie sparkles floating around him. "Hello, Ina-chan... Shizuka-chan... You both look as radiant as ever."

"Um..." The blue-haired girl was speechless and looked down at the ground.

"Buzz off, Yoshida," the raven-haired girl spoke flatly.

"Huh?!" The redhead's eyes widened before slipping on his glasses. An aura of gloom began to radiate from his body. _'Damn! Am I losing my charm? Can't be...!'_

"You should've known better, Kaoru-kun, considering that Shizuka likes Hanzo and Ina is...Ina," said the boy standing behind Kaoru. He had short gray hair that had a long, thin ponytail that was set down, held together by a long black and red cloth hairband, and silver-gray eyes. He wore a short-sleeved dark green shirt with matching pants that had a Konoha hitai-ate tied around his waist through the loops in his pants and a katana strapped to his back with an elegant-looking scabbard and hilt.

"Quiet, _Momo_," Kaoru spat bitterly.

"You mean _Masamune_. I don't know why I have to keep reminding you. It can't be that hard."

Masamune Momotaro was, in the opinion of several of his classmates, weird because he seemed to have a thing for samurai. He was born outside of the village and arrived in the Academy during the middle of the year, but he somehow managed to pass with a fair score. Masamune was often polite and smiled often, not to mention that he had the bad habit of daydreaming.

"So, Smiley...where's the third member of your squad?" Nataro asked, placing his hands behind his head. "I really can't remember who it was they called out along with you guys when the teams were assigned."

"Oh, she's about to creep up on Hanzo-kun," said Masamune as he pointed at the Uchiha boy.

Hanzo blinked. "What?"

"Hanzo-kun!!" Kurama Rie exclaimed as she, from her spot behind Hanzo, wrapped her arms around him. The Uchiha froze in horror, his eyes reduced to little black dots, as the brunette's grip increased. "I was waiting for you to show up. It feels like it's been _hours_ since we last laid eyes on each other!"

"...Didn't we meet her just a few minutes ago?" Nataro asked Kazemaru, who replied with a shrug.

"O-oh. Th-that's...nice. Who are you?" Hanzo asked with a stutter.

"I told you, silly! Kurama Rie!"

"I know your name, but not who you are. Seriously, you look _kinda familiar_, but I've never seen you at the Academy before. I'm drawing a blank here and I've never heard of any Kurama Rie..."

Rie smiled slyly. "Isn't it obvious? I'm your _soulmate_!" She purred in his ear, making the Uchiha flinch once more.

"Huh?!" Shizuka squeaked a _little_ too high, and found herself the center of attention.

"Well, well, if it isn't _Dead Last_," Rie said with a frown upon noticing the blue-haired girl. "You _do_ know that only very _skilled _ninja--like myself--have a chance at becoming chunin?"

"Wh-who are you? And...did you just call me..._'Dead Last'_?"

"Of course! You're the lowest-scoring graduate, aren't you, Dead Last-chan?" At those words, Shizuka flinched before slumping over in depression.

Ina narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hey, you. Who do you think you are, talking like that when we don't even know you?"

"You don't need to know me. However..." The brunette began to rub her hands up and down Hanzo's chest. "I'll tell you anything you want to know about me, Hanzo-kun! I might even give you my..." She whispered something in his ear that made the Uchiha freeze in his spot. In the blink of an eye, she was holding nothing but air. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"No, thank you! That's not my kind of thing!" Hanzo exclaimed as he stood behind Nataro, his face tinted blue.

"What's wrong with you...?" The blonde asked his friend.

"She...she wants to...!" The raven whispered something into his friend's ear. When he was done, Nataro flinched. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah...!"

_'Lucky!'_ Kaze and Kaoru thought at the same time as they gave Hanzo looks of jealousy.

Rie pouted. "What's the matter, Hanzo-kun? If you'd like, I could show you how to--mmph!" She couldn't finish her statement once Masamune placed a hand on her mouth and pulled the purple-clad girl back.

"I think you have _'wowed'_ Hanzo-kun enough for one day, Rie-chan," the sword-wielding genin stated.

"...Ignoring the Weirdo Squad..." Nataro mumbled, walking away from the other genin and ignorant of the look he got from Kaoru, to observe the other squads. "A few of these guys may _look_ tough, but that doesn't mean they _are_..."

**"And just because a few of them look weak, doesn't mean they are, either..."**

The blonde held onto his head and groaned. _'Why don't you just shut up and stay out of my business? Besides, what about a Chunin Exam would interest a demon?'_ He didn't have time to hear the bijuu's response because he spotted someone familiar sleeping on the floor. "Huh? IT'S _YOU_!!!"

Mamoru woke up and looked around, same sleepy-eyed look on his face as he gave a yawn. "Who said that...?" He yawned once more as he stood up, strapping a large package wrapped in cloth to his back. "I was having a dream about a fox and a weasel...that were fighting. Then I saw a crow picking on some poor guy and saying dirty things. How weird."

The orange-clad genin sweatdropped. _'Is he talking about me and Ina?'_

**"There weren't any other arguing foxes and weasels in the vicinity, were there?"**

_'Would you stop talking to me?!'_ Nataro walked over to Mamoru and looked at the Suna hitai-ate tied around the strap of the package. "Is that...? You're joking! _You're_ a ninja? How is that even possible?"

The brunette tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion. "Huh?"

"The first time met you, you were asleep. Now, the next time I meet you, you're asleep on the ground! What are you, a hypochondriac or someone who falls asleep _really easily_?"

"Zzzz..." Mamoru snored as he stood sleeping on his feet.

Once again, Nataro sweatdropped. "Hey. _Hey_! Wake up!!"

"Zzzz-- Huh? What?" The Suna genin shook his head. "I'm sorry. I sometimes just...fall asleep." He stared at the Konoha genin for a while before giving him a small smile. "Well, a pleasure to meet you again." He walked away, and Nataro wasn't going to try and stop him.

"What...a..._weirdo_. How could someone like _that_ become a ninja in the first place?"

**"Well, I suppose if **_**you**_** could become a ninja, anyone can,"** the Kyuubi spoke up once again.

"Damn it!! Didn't I tell you to _SHUT UP_?!" It took a while for him to notice, but Nataro figured out that everyone in the room was now staring at him.

"What's _his_ problem?" Rie asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Don't tell me the idiot went crazy after graduation..." Ina muttered to herself.

"Is Nataro okay?" Konjo asked as Shizuka looked at the blonde with a worried expression.

"Nataro!! What the hell gives, _huh_?!" Kaze shouted before he placed his blonde teammate in a chokehold.

"Gack!! Kaze...! Let...me...go!"

Hanzo sweatdropped before he gave a sigh. _'Well...so much for making a good impression.'_

Just then, in a large poof of smoke, a group of shinobi bearing the Konoha hitai-ate and wearing tan-colored uniforms appeared at the front of the class, immediately drawing attention. At the front of the group was a woman in her late 40's with dark hair that had a few streaks of gray and black eyes. She wore the same uniform as the other shinobi, but she wore a long-sleeved buttoned-up black jacket over her's.

"Silence!!" The woman shouted, immediately commanding attention. All the genin in the room quieted down and looked at her. The dark-haired woman radiated some sort of aura that demanded that you pay attention to her. She cleared her throat and continued, "I am Yukitama Tsuriko--the proctor of your first exam and also the chief examiner. Please turn in your registration papers, take one of the assigned seating cards," She held up a card that had the number 4 printed on it, "And report to the seat indicated on it. When everyone is seated, we shall begin the written test."

Ina arched an eyebrow. "Huh? A written test...?"

"Shirochi never said they had to do _that_..." Hanzo mumbled, mostly to himself.

"I wasn't prepared for this..." Shizuka mumbled.

"I never _did_ like tests..." Kazemaru mumbled as he glared out into space.

"Did...they just say the first exam was a _written test_?" Nataro asked no one in particular, his eyes squinted like a fox's. "_Written test_?"

The pyromanic genin stared at him for a while. "Nataaarooo! Yo, what's wrong?"

"A...a...A WRITTEN TEST?!?" The blonde shouted loudly before he fainted, landing on his back on the ground, swirly-eyed.

Ina sighed and rolled her eyes. "What an idiot..."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Mamoru means "Earth".**

**Otokaze is made up of the words for "Sound" (Oto) and "Wind" (Kaze).**

**Yasha is the name of a female demon in Hindu mythology.**

**Tename means "Heaven Rain" (Ten-Heaven, Ame-Rain).**

**Yoshida is a common surname while Kaoru means "scent" or "fragrance".**

**Masamune is the name of a legendary swordsmith and often used to name certain swords in forms of media (usually video games).**

**Kurama means "Crow" while Rie means "Holy Blessing". (A cookie for anyone who guesses where the name Kurama came from!)**

**Sekkei Shizuka means "Snow Valley" and "Peaceful" respectively.**

**Konjo means "Guts"--as in persistence, not the other kind of guts.**

**Inahime is the name of a historical Japanese figure, a warrior princess and daughter of a powerful clan head.**

**Ninigi is the name of a descendant of Amaterasu, the Shinto sun Goddess.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Wow, I'm impressed with how I improved this chapter! I just hope the readers will be impressed, too…**

**Kakashi: Keep worrying about that and you'll mess up somewhere along the line.**

**Blu: No, I won't!**

**Kakashi: (Points at a part of the chapter) There's a mistake right there.**

**Blu: There is?! …Wait, there's no mistake here!!**

**Kakashi: (Visible eye becomes a 'u'.) Just pointing out the obvious.**

**Naruto: Wow, you sure are gullible.**

**Blu: Y'know…**_**his**_** character is dead in this fic, but I could still do something awful to **_**yours**_**.**

**Naruto: Tch! What're you gonna do! It's not like you can kill me off!**

**Blu: I don't have to kill you off to hurt you…! Kukuku…!**

**Naruto: (Begins to sweat and gulps)**

**Kakashi: We hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you'll review.**

**Blu: They better, or you'll use your Mangekyo Sharingan to make them implode on themselves!!**

**Kakashi: (Ignoring Blu) Until next time. Later!**


	7. The First Exam! Cheat or Fail!

**Blu: I think this chapter is the shortest of the storyline chapters… It's only over 4000 words!! And that's even after I combined the chapters that made this part up!**

**Kazemaru: That's good, isn't it? That means less time for checking.**

**Blu: That's true… Let's just hope the readers don't mind… ON WITH THE FIC!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#7: The First Exam! Cheat or Fail?!_

Inside of a room in a building somewhere in Konoha, two of the jonin sensei of this year's nine rookies were sitting around.

"The first exam should be starting now," said Ninigi as he looked up at a clock on the wall.

Tsuki closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned back in her seat. "Okay, so what do we do to pass the time? We don't have our students to pester..." She cracked an eye open to look at the Hyuga. "And where is Haseo? He should've been here by now. Unless..." She began to smirk and folded her arms across her chest, "He's realized that his students can't beat my boys! Ha!"

"In your dreams, Tsuki." Haseo stood in the doorway, hands shoved into his pants pockets.

"Aww... Oh, well. Why are you late, anyway? It's polite to be punctual."

"Says the kunoichi who once forgot her own birthday."

"I never did that!!"

The honey-blonde man smirked and made his way towards the female jonin. "In that case, how old are you?"

Tsuki gave him a half-hearted glare. "That's not gentlemanly, y'know. Asking a lady for her age is like asking for her weight or dress size."

"But I'm _not_ asking for your weight and dress size... Unless of course, you _want_ to--" Before he could say anything more, Tsuki slapped the man in the face hard enough to make him fall to the floor.

"Pervert!! You're _married_! You shouldn't be doing things like this!" She hissed as she gave him a look of disgust.

"Tsuki-sempai has a point there," said Ninigi with a wry smirk.

"I wasn't serious. I would never try and cheat on Mai behind her back," Haseo stated from his spot from the ground. _'Because she'd torture me for days on end and kill me if she ever found out!'_

"Uh-huh. Care to explain why I was late?"

The Uchiha-by-name blinked and began to blink. "I was...busy."

"You were having _'fun'_ with Mai, weren't you?" Tsuki said in a flat tone, still looking at Haseo with disgust.

Haseo looked out of the corner of his eye and grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "_Maybe_..."

**X-X-X**

Back at the testing room were the first Chunin Exam was beginning to take place, Nataro held his head in his hands as he stared down at the desk he was seated at. After that Tsuriko woman said the exam was a written test, he had fainted, and woke up to find himself seated at a desk. Hanzo and Kazemaru were seated behind him in different parts of the room.

_'What am I gonna do...? I cheated off of Hanzo back in the Academy whenever I wanted to pass a test!'_ Nataro thought to himself as he started to fidget uncomfortably in his seat. _'Heck, I may not have graduated from the Academy without cheating!! There's no way I'll pass this! I'm in it __**deep**__--big time!!'_

"Well, look who's finally up," a familiar female voice spoke. Not that it was a voice the panicking genin wanted to hear at the moment.

Nataro lifted his head slightly. _'Don't tell me...'_ Slowly, he turned his head to the side to see the _last_ person he wanted to see at a time like this.

"May I help you with something, _dumbass_?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow as she played with her pencil.

"Oh, no...!" The orange-clad genin groaned before he banged his head on the desk. "OWWWW!!!" He raised his head and looked in Ina's direction once more. "Damn... You're _real_. I was hoping that I was having a nightmare..."

The Uchiha girl simply stared at him. "Whatever. Just don't try to cheat off of me, _or else_."

Nataro's eyes narrowed. "Or else what? You're gonna take off that mask and show me your _real face_?" For a moment, he thought Ina's eyes had flashed red. He didn't have time to affirm this when she started looking towards the front of the classroom.

"Hey, don't ignore me!!"

Tsuriko slammed her palm down on the podium in front of her, once again commanding attention from the genin. "Keep your papers face down until I say when. I will start explaining the rules of this test once and _only_ once. No one is to ask any questions..._or else_." She turned around and began to write on the chalkboard. "Rule number 1: each person taking the test begins with 10 points. The test itself has 10 questions. For each wrong answer, a point is subtracted from your score. For example, if you get four wrong answers, your score will be 6 points. Get no answers wrong and you maintain 10 points."

_'Gee, I hope this isn't scored like a school test!' _Kazemaru thought as he tapped his knuckles against the desk.

"Rule number two: this test is a team even, meaning all three of your squad's points are added to yours, making it thirty points. The sum of the points you and your teammates have shall determine whether you've passed or failed. The goal is for the team to have as few deductions as possible." Tsuriko paused and waited for it all to sink in for the genin before continuing. "The third rule: anyone who cheats...will have two points subtracted from each member of said cheater's team. _Meaning_ that six points will subtracted from your score."

"Aw, crud...!" Kaoru grumbled as he pulled at the collar of his jacket, sweating slightly.

_'There's no doubt about it. This test is going to be hard to pass!'_ Hanzo thought. He looked at Nataro, who was sitting all the way up front and still holding his head in a panic, then at Kazemaru, who was sitting in the back somewhere near a window. _'I just hope Nataro and Kaze don't try to cheat!'_

Kaze banged his head against the desk, unaware of the look his Kusa ninja neighbor was giving him. "Crap...!" _'Cheating was what I was hoping to do! This means I'll actually have to...__**work**__! Tch... Even worse, Nataro'll probably get every answer wrong! We are so screwed...'_

"And lastly," the chief examiner spoke up once more, this time with a smirk. "Rule number four: if one individual ninja loses all ten of their points, they and their teammates shall automatically be disqualified, regardless of how well the other two members of their squad do."

"WHAT?!" Several genin shouted, and the loudest among them was Nataro.

Once again, Kaze banged his head against the desk. "FUG!!" His neighbor sweatdropped. _'__**Now**__ we are __**officially**__ screwed! I doubt __**I**__ can make it through this exam hell with a high score, much less Nataro!!'_

"N-no way..." Hanzo spoke through gritted teeth.

_'I can practically feel it...!'_ Shizuka thought as she clutched her head in her hands, elbows propped up on the desk. _'Konjo's staring at me and wondering what my reaction is and Ina thinks I'm gonna screw it up!'_

_'Are __**we**__ in it deep...'_ Rie huffed as she bit on her bottom lip.

"Great... Konjo and Shizuka had better not screw this up!" Ina stated as she resumed tapping her pencil on the desk. She looked at Nataro, who wasn't saying a word. He was just staring down at the desk. The Uchiha girl stared at him for a while before she started smirking. "What's the matter? Feeling afraid?" She closed her eyes. "You must be--"

"Heh... Heh-heh-heh... Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh... Ha ha ha! HAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The blonde loudmouth covered his mouth as he began to laugh louder. Ina stared at him as she sweatdropped, wondering if her neighbor had gone insane.

"Uh..." Hanzo blinked while he stared at his laughing teammate. _'Nataro...! Please don't go losing it just yet!'_

"Hm." Tsuriko arched an eyebrow. _'Interesting... Most people don't start losing their sanity until the __**second **__exam.'_ "You have exactly _one hour_ to finish your test! And you will begin...NOW!!"

As the other genin immediately went to work on their tests, Nataro continued to snicker softly to himself.

**"Normally, I could care less about you and your mental health, but what exactly is **_**wrong**_** with you?"** The Kyuubi asked its vessel, wondering if the boy suffered brain damage all of a sudden.

_'Because...I suck...at tests!!'_ Nataro thought. He sounded like he was going to cry at any moment. _'And it turns out...__**this one**__ decides whether or not I'll go up in the ranks! Isn't it ironic! Hahaha!!'_

**"...I didn't know it could happen so soon. I believe you've finally snapped."**

The orange-clad genin suddenly got a look of determination on his face and flipped over the test paper's cover page. "Okay, time to get serious!" _'This test is just like any other,'_ he thought as he wrote his name on the paper. _'Gotta take it slow, read over the questions and answers repetitively, and then choose the right one.'_

_'Okay... I have to make sure I get all ten questions correct to make up for the others,'_ Hanzo thought to himself as he tapped his pencil against the test paper. _'I hope both of them manage to hang on to a point or two, or we're out!'_

"Hmm... Geez..." Nataro frowned as he stared at the first question on the sheet. _'I know you have to solve this with cryptography... But did I even know how to do that? Um... Hello? Kyuubi...__**-san**__?'_ He tried being as polite as he could to the demon fox that was inhabiting his mind. _'Just a question, but do you know about cryptography? ...Hello?'_

**"Zzz..."**

Nataro sweatdropped at the sound of loud snoring echoed in his mind. _'Damn you, you bastard fox!! I know you're awake, damn it!! C'mon!! ...Pretty please?!'_ After a few more seconds of senseless bargaining with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the blonde boy went on two the next question.

_'Stupid test...! How __**dare**__ those people give me questions that I don't even know how to solve?!'_ Rie thought with a half-lidded gaze as she stared down at the test. She looked up a row and out of the corner of her eye saw Hanzo writing his answers quickly. _'But if I don't pass this test, I won't be able to see Hanzo-kun in the second exam and Kaoru and Masamune are gonna be sooo depressed!! Failure is __**not**__ an option, Rie-chan!'_ The brunette looked over to her left side to see Konjo easily writing down his answers, in the next row, and several more seats down was Kazemaru, who appeared to be sleeping on his test paper. _'What the...?'_

The pyromanic genin of Team 14 had his head down on the desk, his sheet of paper serving as a very flat pillow. He raised his head off of the desk and looked down at the paper with a half-lidded glare. After seeing the first two questions, he had given up. Those were the sort of questions only major geniuses like Hanzo and Kaoru got things like this with ease, but for guys like him who skipped class on occasion...not so good. _'But if I get __**no**__ points, I'm gonna drag Hanzo and Nataro down with me...and then they'll kill me because I wasn't even trying!'_ He groaned as he sat up straight and picked up his pencil. "Might as well _try_ to pass... Emphasis on '_try'_."

**X-X-X**

Thirty minutes into the test...

_'Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!!'_ Kazemaru and Nataro cursed loudly in their minds at the same time. _'I can't answer_ _**any**__ of these questions!!'_

Ina glared at the blonde sitting next to her. He was muttering things under his breath just loud enough for her to hear. _'I wish that moron would just shut up so I could concentrate!'_ She looked down at the test paper. _'Although...that wouldn't do me any good. I can't answer a single one of these questions.'_ She bit her bottom lip. "Damn."

Meanwhile, her cousin was somewhere on the eighth question. _'This test isn't so hard...for me, anyway.'_ Hanzo stopped writing and looked up to the front row. Nataro was still muttering nonsense to himself. _'But for someone like Nataro...'_

"Calm down...! Calm down...!" Nataro spoke softly to himself. "There's only one thing left to do..." _'CHEAT!!'_ He heard a snorting sound in his head followed by a grumbling noise.

**"Hmmm... Have you failed yet?"** The Kyuubi asked in an annoyed tone. **"I was having a wonderful dream about **_**ripping**_** you apart."**

Despite what the bijuu said, its vessel's face brightened up at the sound of its voice. _'Thank God!! You're awake!! There's something I gotta ask you--'_

**"No, I don't know any answers. Why would **_**I**_** bother myself with knowing things about how you ninja work?"**

_'Awww, damn!! I'm seriously, totally, completely __**screwed**__!! Unless...'_ Nataro covered his eyes with one hand. _'No, no, I can't!! But maybe...I could just...take a __**liiitle**__ peek at the other guy's paper...'_ He took his hand off of his eyes and looked out of the corner of his eye.

"Number 23, you've failed," one of the examiners sitting around the classroom spoke. "Take your teammates and leave."

Nataro froze in place and gulped, his heart racing. _'N-no...!'_

"Damn...!" The guy sitting next to him, the one from Suna, stood up, as did his teammates. They left the room, cursing softly. _'Whoa! For a second there, I thought I was done for!'_

"Number 18, your team has failed," another examiner spoke.

_'I wonder how many of them have figured it out yet...'_ Tsuriko thought as she observed the genin. Some were writing their tests with confidence, some were just sitting there with worried and frightened expressions, and...Mamoru, who was sleeping on top of his test. _'What does __**that one**__ think he's doing?'_

Otokaze, who was sitting at the far end of the row Mamoru was in, glared at his sleeping teammate. _'Damn it, Mamoru!! Do you want us all to __**fail**__?!'_

The sleepy-eyed boy suddenly woke up and sat up. He looked at his spiky-haired teammate and smiled. Otokaze could only blink before going back to his own test.

_'There's so many of those proctor guys around, I can't exactly look over anyone's shoulder for answers...'_ Kazemaru thought as he gave a loud sigh. _'I wish I was born with some sort of __**mind-reading kekkei genkai**__ or something! This is getting irritating!'_

Konjo took a deep breath. _'Okay... Here I go!'_ He closed his eyes as he made a single hand sign beneath the desk. _'Byakugan!'_ When he opened them, veins appeared around his eyes. _'Gotta make this quick before anyone spots me.'_ After a few seconds, he picked up his pencil and began to write down answers at a much faster pace than before. _'Bingo.'_

15 more minutes passed and over ten teams had failed and left the room--and the number was increasing as time went on.

"Number 14 and Number 17--you're both out."

"So are you, number 13."

_'Almost finished...and...there!'_ Ina deactivated her Sharingan and looked down at her work with a look of satisfaction. _'Lucky for me I copied them from someone who had all the answers.'_ "Hm." The Uchiha girl looked over at her blonde neighbor.

Nataro was busy banging his head against the desk repeatedly. His hitai-ate was saving him from each possible brain-damaging blow. _'Must cheat!! Can't cheat!! Cheat and pass!! Get caught and fail!! Don't finish and fail!! Either way, I'll __**FAIL**__!!!'_ "It's not fair...!" He whined.

"Oh, brother. What an idiot..." Ina muttered as she shook her head. _'He still hasn't figured out that the proctors __**want**__ us to cheat and not get caught.'_

The blonde genin stopped banging his head against the desk and glared at the raven-haired girl. "Shut up, you bitch!" He whispered to her.

The Uchiha girl smirked as she propped her elbow on the desk and placed her head on the palm of her hand. "Aren't we snappy? You know...you're such a..._pathetic dope_. I pity you. So, I'll make you an offer." She slightly pushed her test over to the blonde's direction. "I could let you see my answers..."

"Huh...?!"

**X-X-X**

Back at the Jinrei Oso, Tsuki looked up at the clock with a worried expression. "The test ought to be finishing up soon..."

Haseo noticed the look on her face and smirked. "What's the matter, Tsuki? Do you think your students have _failed_?"

The purple-haired kunoichi glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, right! And what makes you think _your_ students are going to pass, hm?"

"Because they will." He chuckled to himself. "Besides...one of your students is a prankster and another is a little fire starter."

"What does that have to do with their skill?"

"Nothing. I'm just saying."

"Well then, I'll have you know that even _Nataro_ is brimming with potential!" _'If he stops using those perverted jutsu of his...'_

Haseo turned to Ninigi. "Nataro is the prankster one. You probably wouldn't know of his latest prank because the Hyuga clan has such tight security. It involved graffiti and vandalizing the Hokage Monument."

The brunette sweatdropped. "Right... I remember that."

"Would you two stop that?! Despite the dumb things he's done in the past, Nataro _will_ pass! They will _all_ pass!!" Tsuki shouted, shaking a fist at the male jonin.

"Uh-huh. _Sure_." Once again, Haseo shifted in his seat to whisper to Ninigi, "She's a _bit_ too hopeful, isn't she?"

"What was that?!"

The Uchiha and Hyuga began to whistle innocently and looked at a wall on the side opposite of Tsuki that had just become very interesting.

**X-X-X**

_'Did she just say...what I think she just said?'_ Nataro thought as he stared at Ina in shock. He pushed out the upset voices of one more team leaving the room.

**"It seems that she's offering to help you cheat by showing you her answers,"** the Kyuubi spoke.

_'That's what I thought...'_ The blonde's eyes narrowed. "I'm not that dumb. What the hell do you want, Weasel Girl?" He whispered.

"Didn't I just tell you? I'll let you cheat off of me."

"Huh?" Nataro exchanged his look of awe for one of confusion. "What for?"

Ina looked down at her paper. "Because if _you_ fail, then Hanzo fails. It'd be a shame if he were left back just because of his stupid teammate... And like I said, I feel sorry for you. As fun as it is to see you panic...it's so pathetic that it's sad." She began to smirk. "I can be generous to, you know."

"R-really? That's..." He trailed off, eyes widening a bit. He glanced down at his paper, then up to the front of the class. "...No dice, weasel. I'm gonna pass this exam _on my own_!" He whispered to her with a look of determination flaring in his eyes. _'Besides, I don't wanna owe that bitch anything! No way!'_

Ina shrugged. "Fine. Suit yourself, moron. But just so you know, there's not that much time left." She then looked back down at her paper.

**"Well, you have your honor, your pride, and yet, you have no answers."** The Kyuubi no Kitsune began to laugh in his head. **"You must lack more sense now than you did before, **_**Naruto**_**."**

_'Screw you!! Demons have no sense of pride!'_

**"Maybe not, but we have **_**common sense**_**."**

_'Whatever...'_ Nataro looked at the last question on the test. It said that it wasn't supposed to appear until 45 minutes into the test. He looked up at the clock. Only a few more minutes until then! _'At this rate, that last question is my only hope...!'_ His heart rate increased once more.

**"In other words...you're done for."**

Kazemaru looked at the empty seat of the Kusa genin who was sent out a few seconds ago. _'Damn shame, too. I was getting my answers from him!'_ He looked down at his test sheet and gave a sly smirk. Only a few answers were missing, save for the tenth question. _'I think this is enough. I deserve a break for all the torture I've been put through...'_ And with that thought, he laid his head down on his paper/makeshift pillow.

Tsuriko looked up at the clock. _'It's time.'_ "Okay!! Time for the tenth question!! This is very important, so listen up!!"

This got the attention of the genin. The room became silent and the atmosphere became tense. Nataro gulped as he looked down at his blank test sheet.

_'This is it... Whether I pass or fail rides on this one little question!'_ The blonde thought.

_'Whatever it is, I'm sure I can answer it,'_ went through Hanzo and Kaoru's minds at the same time.

"Ohhhh...!" Shizuka gave a slight groan as she chewed on her pencil's eraser.

"Zzz--Huh? What?" Kaze had suddenly woken up from his nap, while Mamoru looked like he was about to nap himself.

"Before I tell you, I must warn you: those who fail to answer the final question correctly will fail, no matter how many points a team has altogether. Not only that... You'll never be allowed to take the Chunin Exams _ever again_."

The other proctors looked at the chief examiner in curiosity. She never said _that_ would be a part of the exam.

"Huh?! That can't be!" Shizuka exclaimed as other genin began to protest.

"Don't worry. You have a choice," said the examiner as she placed her hands behind her back. "You can choose to answer the question and risk never becoming a chunin, or..." She pointed at the door, "You can give up and leave, and try again next year. It's your decision. For those of you who want to give up, just raise your hand. When you number has been identified, your team may leave."

Kaze yawned as he leaned forward a bit. "Hmph! Like I'm gonna give up. Not after all the trouble I've been through with this damn test? Hell no!"

_'Anything she gives up, I'm sure I can take it,'_ Ina thought as she tapped her fingers on the desk.

Nataro gulped. If he got the answer wrong, he'd be a genin for life. But if he just gave up, Hanzo and Kazemaru would fail, too.

**"You really **_**are**_** pitiful. Anyone would feel sorry for a little dolt like you,"** the Kyuubi spoke. **"If I knew the answers, I'd almost be compelled to give you the answers. The keyword being **_**'almost'**_**."**

The blonde boy bit his bottom lip. _'It's not fair! I don't wanna give up, but if I get it wrong, I'll drag Hanzo and the pyro freak Kazemaru down with me! Damn!'_

_'Should I...just give up?'_ Shizuka thought as she mimicked Nataro and bit down on her lip. _'I'd hate it if we failed because of me.'_

At that moment, a young woman from Konoha who sat next to the blue-haired girl stood up and raised her hand. "I...give up! I'm so sorry, you guys..."

"Damn!" One of her teammates cursed as they both stood up.

One of the proctors checked something off on their list. "Number 110, you've failed." The team walked out of the room, one teammate cursing their luck.

Another genin, a man from Ame, raised his hand. "I give up, too!"

"M-me, too!"

"So do I!"

The proctors checked off more numbers on their list. "Numbers 54, 14, and 9, you've failed."

A few more people raised their hands as well, and left as soon as their numbers were called. Konjo gulped and began to sweat a little. "Everyone is dropping like flies..." He spoke his thoughts out aloud.

_'Kaoru and Masamune had better not even __**think**__ of raising their hands!!'_ Rie thought as a small vein throbbed on her forehead.

Masamune immediately froze in his seat in the far back. "Hm?" He looked up a few rows at Rie, who was radiating an aura of killer intent. _'Uh-oh. Either she's fighting the urge to give in or thinking __**we**__ will...'_

_'Idiot girl...!'_ Kaoru thought as he fiddled with his glasses.

Hanzo stared at Nataro's back. _'Nataro... As bad as you are at tests, I know you won't give up--you're too stubborn for that. Kazemaru, too. So I won't give in either.'_

Nataro grit his teeth. _'Damn!'_ His head began to shake a little.

_"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE ME!!!"_ A voice suddenly boomed inside of his head. And it wasn't the Kyuubi, either. It sounded a lot like..._him_. _"I DON'T QUIT AND I DON'T RUN AWAY!! I'll accept your stupid question!! And even if I risk ending up a genin for the rest of my life, I'll __**still**__ become Hokage, even if it's by pure stubbornness alone!! __**I DON'T CARE!!**__"_

**"Why do I hear that same nonsense **_**again**_**? Once was enough..."** The nine-tailed fox demon growled.

The blonde arched an eyebrow in confusion. After a few seconds, he gave a small smile. _'I don't know what __**that**__ was_, _but... No matter what happens, I'll have my dream! No matter what!'_ He breathed a sigh of relief before looking up at Tsuriko with a broad grin. "Alright, lady! Do your worst!! I'm ready!"

Tsuriko arched an eyebrow. Ina stared at the orange-clad boy. Hanzo gave a sigh of relief just as Kazemaru started to grin.

_'That's our Nataro--all guts and no common sense. But that's a __**good**__ thing, I guess,'_ the redhead thought.

Hanzo scratched the back of his head. _'If he weren't like that, he wouldn't be Nataro.'_

"Well, then... Is that all, or will anyone _else_ be making any outbursts?" Tsuriko asked. No one else raised their hand and she gave a nod of satisfaction. _'21 teams left...not a bad number.'_ "All right then... Congratulations on passing the first exam. Kudos to you."

The genin's jaws dropped. Finally, Nataro was the first to speak all of their thoughts. "WHAAAAAAT?!?"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Alright!! Next up is everyone's favorite: the Forest of Death! Where our heroes will be tortured and forced to endure harsh conditions for your entertainment!!**

**Hanzo: …Y'know, I don't like the way she says that.**

**Sakura: It's the Forest of Death. Nothing you say can make it sound good.**

**Kaze: Just wondering, Blu…you're not going to make things _worse_ this time around, are you?**

**Blu: I prefer to remain silent about my torture methods. Until the next chapter, readers! Remember to review for the sake of dear Blu!**


	8. 2nd Exam, Day 1: The Forest of Death!

**Blu: Hooray!! Here's the beginning of the Second Exam! Isn't this exciting?**

**Kazemaru: (Deadpan) Whoo-hoo…**

**Nataro: (Sarcastically) We are **_**so**_** thrilled to be going into that death trap…**_**again**_**!**

**Blu: I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the readers!**

**Kaze: Right. The guys who get off on our pain like you do!**

**Tsuki: Stop whining and suck it up, boys!**

**Nataro: But, sensei!**

**Tsuki: I said suck it up!!**

**Kaze & Nataro: Yes, m'am.**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#8: The Second Exam, Day 1! Survive the Forest of Death!_

"We..._passed_? What the heck does that mean?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Did I miss something?" Masamune asked with an arched eyebrow. "There was supposed to be a tenth question, wasn't there?"

"You just answered it," Tsuriko replied. This only got more looks of confusion from the genin. "When I asked you whether to accept thfe tenth question or give up, those of you who stayed passed."

Konjo arched an eyebrow. "And that means...we did those nine other questions for no reason whatsoever?"

"Aw man!! I did all that for _nothing_?!" Kazemaru shouted, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

Shizuka warily raised her hand. "If the tenth was the only important question, what was the point of the first nine ones?"

Tsuriko closed her eyes. "To test your spying skills, of course. With the rules set the way they are...and the questions being too hard for someone at a genin level to figure out...all of you--or rather _most_ of you--knew that the only way to get the answers was to cheat. To enable that, we snuck in a few chunin who knew the answers, posing as genin."

"Oh... So _that's_ who they were," said Otokaze, leaning back in his chair a bit.

Masamune nodded his head and rubbed his chin. "I _thought_ it was pretty weird how that guy knew _everything_. I just assumed he was super-intelligent or something..."

Nataro had a blank expression on his face. _'WHAT?! So there were actually people who __**had**__ the answers?!'_ Losing the blank expression from his face, he folded his arms across his chest and nodded. "Yup, I knew who they were all along. Any moron could notice them!"

"Except for you. You didn't even _know_ they had all the answers," Ina said as she propped her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Y-yeah, I did, Weasel Girl! I just didn't put anything down 'cuz I didn't want you to _cheat_ off of me!!"

"Whatever you say, dunce." The raven-haired girl looked away, not noticing the vein throbbing on the blonde boy's head, or how his right hand was slowly going for a kunai from his thigh holster.

Hanzo blinked as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "He...really didn't know?"

_'That was a stupid gamble!! We might've failed!!'_ Kazemaru shouted in his mind. _'...Although...I didn't know who they were, either...'_

"For shinobi, stealing information is a very important and very dangerous part of the job," Tsuriko spoke. "Anyone unable to do it properly failed. In real life, if they'd done just the same, there would be deeper consequences. Your life and the lives of others could depend solely on the information you obtain."

_'Holy shit!! Who knew it actually meant that much?'_ The redhead thought as he gave the chief proctor a half-lidded stare. "Ugh... I'm not the information-gathering type. Just make me an assassin or something..."

Hanzo raised his hand. "I get the first part, Tsuriko-san, but...what was the big deal about the tenth question? It didn't have anything to do with cheating.

"That..." The corner of Tsuriko's mouth quirked up for a second. "Is something you could thank your Rokudaime Hokage for. He said to add it in there...for fun."

"WHAT?! FOR _FUN_?!" Kazemaru, Kaoru, and Rie shouted loudly.

Ina's eye twitched. _'**That** is a twisted definition of fun.'_

_'Damn you, Gramps!! Do you get off on torturing me?!'_ Nataro screamed in his mind as he held up a shaking fist.

"Of course, the question has a purpose," Tsuriko continued. "The options for the question are similar to the conditions a chunin has on one of their missions. You have no idea what level of skill the enemy has, how many of them you'll have to fight, whether or not there are traps set up. Would you accept such a mission or reject it? Could you place the lives of your comrades and yourself on the line for the sake of the mission?" She waited for the genin to say something. When they were all too busy contemplating what they would do, she continued, "This goes to show that not all missions will be easy. There will be times where you simply _cannot_ decline from a mission, no matter how matter how dangerous it is. When you're a chunin, you must demonstrate all the skills of a leader and be able to inspire your men to succeed. If you don't have the guts to risk your life, then you shouldn't be a ninja _at all_!!"

Nataro began to grin and bounce in his seat. "That was...kinda cool!" Ina rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

"I'd love to inspire people to do things," said Shizuka as she twiddled her fingers. _'Not sure if I __**could**__, though...'_

"So, once again, I congratulate you all for passing your first exam! You can wait until the chief proctor for the second exam arrives. I wish you all good lu--" Before Tsuriko could finish, a chunin appeared beside her in a poof of smoke. "What?"

"Tsuriko-san, there's a slightly problem..." The chunin whispered something into her ear before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

The kunoichi narrowed her eyes. "That little..." She made a hand sign before disappearing in a poof of smoke as well.

Hanzo blinked. "What was _that_ about?"

Mamoru had been sleeping peacefully on his desk from the moment he learned he passed. Yasha was playing with some sort of rag doll, not noticing that the proctor had left. Otokaze sweatdropped as he looked back and forth between his teammates, his hand absentmindedly reaching for the wrapped-up package that leaned against his chair.

_'How did I get stuck with those two?'_ The spiky-haired boy thought with a sigh.

Kaze noticed the snoozing Suna boy and nodded. "That guy has the right idea. I'm gonna take a little nap." _'I deserve it after the hell I've been through for the past hour!'_

About 10 minutes had passed when another proctor appeared in the room in a poof of smoke. This one was a man in his late twenties with dark purple hair and black eyes. He wore the same sort of outfit as the other proctors in the room and his Konoha hitai-ate tied around his head. The man seemed upset, and he had a large bump on his head.

"Damn it, Tsuriko... Hurting someone and threatening to air their dirty laundry _isn't_ the way to wake someone up and make them go to work!" At least not the _nice_ way..." He muttered to himself. The purple-haired man suddenly noticed the genin in the room, staring at him. "Uh... Hi there..." He started to count the number of genin left and smirked. "Wow, 63 people left. That's...21 teams out of the 36 that came..." _'Good going, Tsuriko! My job just got a little easier!'_ "Okay then..." The chunin jabbed a thumb to his chest. "I am the proctor for your second exam--Asahara Yomi!"

"Asa...hara? Kazemaru blinked. "That sounds familiar... Ah! He has the same family name as Tsuki-sensei!"

"Wh-what?! This guy's related to Tsuki-sensei?" The blonde loudmouth of Team 14 stared at Yomi for a while, imagining that Tsuki was standing beside him. _'He does kinda look like her...if she was a guy!'_

"Okay, all of you genin, follow me!" He said, waving his arm in the air to get their attention. As they stood up, he continued, "_We_ are going to the area of the Second Exam!"

**X-X-X**

"Ugh, I'm so _bored_!!" Tsuki groaned. She was now spread out on the cough on the side of the room opposite of Haseo and Ninigi.

"So are we, but we don't need you talking about it. Now shut up," Haseo muttered, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Y'know, I heard Tsuriko's the proctor of the first test," the kunoichi spoke, ignoring the honey-haired man's statement.

"_Tsuriko_...! That woman can get a guy to do _anything_, so long as she has the proper blackmail." The honey-blonde man slumped over slightly and moaned, "Our poor, poor students..."

Ninigi looked at Tsuki and arched an eyebrow. "Did she do something to him in the past?"

"Nope. She taught his wife everything she knows about interrogation." A cat-like smirk spread out across Tsuki's face. "It's why she's so good at busting his balls!"

"...Hey, Tsuki. I heard Yomi's the chief proctor of the second exam," Haseo said as he gave the kunoichi half-lidded glare.

Tsuki gave a fond sigh. "Ah, my adorable little brother! That must have been what that party a few days ago was for! Because he was a proctor in the Chunin exams!"

"Party? What party?"

"The one that happened the night the exams were announced. I remember lots of drinking and I think someone starts stripping...or…was that _me_?"

Ninigi began to blush and Haseo's left eye began to twitch. "Tsu-Tsuki-sempai..." The Hyuga stuttered.

"Too much information, Tsuki." The Uchiha began to smirk. "I wonder if _Yomi_ could tell us how old you are?" A split second after he said that, a kunai whizzed past his head. Tsuki was now sitting up right, twirling a kunai by its ring on one finger.

"Care to repeat that, Haseo?" The purple-haired woman asked with a deviously sweet smile and a look overflowing with killing intent. Haseo and Ninigi immediately froze, refusing to say a word. Tsuki's smile widened. "That's what I thought."

**X-X-X**

The remaining genin and Yomi stood in front of a large forest that was surrounded by barbed wire fences with "DO NOT ENTER" signs plastered all around. The ominous aura that came off from the forest seemed to fill the genin with dread about what would happen next. Even more so when Asahara Yomi turned around and grinned at them in a creepy manner.

"This is where the second exam shall be held. Welcome...to Training Area 44. Better known as the _Forest of Death_!"

"The Forest of Death..." Kazemaru repeated in a flat tone. "Gee, what a _nice, inviting_ name," he said sarcastically as he brushed a red bang of hair out of his eyes.

"Hmm..." Nataro observed the forest and blinked. For some odd reason, images of being eaten by a large snake, a lady with a long tongue, giant bugs, and being surrounded by an army of identical shinobi ran through his mind. The blonde gulped. '_I hope that nothing like that's inside there!'_

"Now, before we begin, I would like to give out _these_ first." Yomi held up a bunch of consent forms. "Well, actually, I _have_ to give these out--same diff."

"Consent forms?" Shizuka blinked.

"Yup. Every one of you has gotta sign 'em."

"And why exactly would we need _those_?" Asked some boy from Kumo.

"Well...we wouldn't want to be held responsible for any _deaths _that occur during this exam." Minutes after the forms were handed out to the shocked genin, the purple-haired proctor spoke again, "Lemme explain the second exam before we begin. Uh...it's kinda like a bloody, brutal, no-holds-barred game of capture the flag."

_'Capture the flag?'_ Ina thought with an arched eyebrow.

Yomi held out his hand and a scroll appeared in the palm of it in a poof of smoke. He opened it, showing the genin what was inside: a map of the area. "This is the topography of the forest. It's bordered by a circular perimeter that has, oh, about 44 locked gates. There's a river, and in the center of the forest is a tower. The tower is ten kilometers from each of the gates." The scroll then disappeared in a poof of smoke. "You're all going to undergo a survival test, during which you may use any weapons and skills you have at your disposal and fight to win!"

"What about this whole capture the flag thing?! What's that about?!" Someone in the back of the crowd shouted.

The proctor frowned. "I was _getting_ to that. Actually, it's more like you'll be playing _'capture the scroll'_." He held out his hands and a scroll appeared in each hand. "This is a Heaven scroll..." He held up the white scroll with the kanji for _'heaven'_ on it. "And this is an Earth scroll." He showed the black scroll with the kanji for _'earth'_ on it. "The goal of this test is to acquire both scrolls and arrive at the tower in the center. And since there are an odd number of teams, 11 teams will get an Earth scroll while 10 get a Heaven scroll." _'That oughta make things a little more interesting.'_

"Did you hear that?" Hanzo whispered to Nataro and Kazemaru. "That makes things a little harder!" The blonde nodded fervently. "That means that only ten teams will pass, and eleven will fail--including the one with the extra scroll! What if we get stuck with an _Earth_ scroll?"

"Don't say that, Fan Boy! You're gonna jinx us!" Kaze hissed.

"If we get an Earth scroll, we'll just steal a Heaven scroll from another team before they run out!" Said Nataro.

"That's easy when you _say_ it, but if there's someone we can't take on who has a Heaven scroll--"

"_Don't_!! Don't say anything!" Nataro shouted. Another memory of being attacked by some crazy ninja with a long tongue flash through his mind. "I'm pretty sure we can take on anything that comes our way, no sweat!!"

"You'll have a time limit of five days to complete the test," Yomi continued. "Don't worry! It's not so bad inside."

Konjo cringed. "Fi-five days? In _that_ place?"

"Oh, boy..." Ina muttered beneath her breath while Shizuka gulped.

"How can we survive for five days without food? Water? Shelter?!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"We could always survive on nature's bounty," said Masamune. "There's probably fruit and fish in the river he was talking about."

"Phew!"

"Yeah, but there's also poisonous plants, bugs that are deadly and big as hell, and vicious man-eating animals...and there _have_ been cases where people have died from exhaustion, starvation, dehydration, and also attempting to capture a scroll," Yomi added. "But don't let _that_ bother you!"

Rie fainted and fell back into Kaoru's arms. Masamune began to try and revive their female teammate by snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"Now then...let's talk about the rules! Of course, any team that fails to reach the tower in time, carrying both a Heaven and an Earth scroll is out. So is any team that loses a member, be it because of death or a severe injury. You also can't leave the forest before time's up because we'll be locking you all in. Oh, and for those of you who try and look at the content of either scroll...when you're not inside the tower...there will be _dire_ consequences!"

Kazemaru arched an eyebrow. "What sort of consequences?"

"Wouldn't _you _like to know?" Yomi said with a grin. "When you become a chunin, there are going to be times when you're entrusted with top-secret documents that you aren't allowed to look at. This is a test to see how trustworthy you can be, as well as how well you can survive on a mission." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, that's all there is to it. Each team must go to the booth to exchange their three forms for one scroll. When you have your scroll, choose a gate you want to start from and wait until it's time for the test to start. I wish all you guys the best of luck because...heh-heh-heh...!" Yomi's grin became a smirk. "You're gonna need it!"

**X-X-X**

"I can't believe it..." Kaze muttered. Team 14 was standing in front of Gate 24. The boys were feeling slightly down, because they got an Earth scroll instead of the Heaven scroll they were praying for. "Damn it! Luck is _not _on our side!"

"I prefer it this way!" Nataro said with his eyes slanted and squinty. "The more tough challenges we get, the stronger we'll become! And pretty soon, my hidden powers shall be unleashed!"

**"Ahem. Remember me? The powerful demon that could grant you power?"**

_'Not listening!!'_

"...Okay... Either you have some sort of cool kekkei genkai, or...you read _way _too many comic books." The pyromanic genin cracked his knuckles and smirked. "But...if anyone tries to steal our scroll, I'll kill 'em!"

Hanzo gave a sigh as he looked at his teammates. _'I have a bad feeling about this...'_

Team 11 was standing in front of Gate 16. Kaoru was whispering to his teammates.

"I think...we should go after Nataro and his team first," The bespectacled genin suggested.

"Why?" Masamune asked as a question mark floated over his head.

"Because...Nataro is a slow-minded stupid weakling, and Kazemaru is a hotheaded jerk! The only person on that team to watch out for would be Hanzo, and all three of us could take him down easily!"

"But only if they have a Heaven scroll, right?" Rie asked Kaoru with an arched eyebrow. "Because I will _not_ tolerate you beating up Hanzo-kun just because you're jealous!"

"I am _not_ jealous of that loser...!" Kaoru growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead. When the vein disappeared, he continued with his glasses reflecting light, "And even if they don't have a Heaven scroll, getting rid of the competition would make things easier in the long run...!"

"He's getting that look again...!" The purple-clad girl whispered to Masamune, who nodded in agreement.

"Five days...in _this _place..." Shizuka said as she looked up at the forest. "And it's called the Forest of _Death_. Not exactly an inviting presence either..." The blue-haired girl shivered. Team 4 was standing in front of Gate 20.

"I know what you mean." Konjo agreed.

"You two are such babies." Ina said as she tucked away their scroll into her back pouch. "You're _shinobi_. We've spent nights in forests before and you never acted so afraid before."

"Not with other ninja who'd kill us," The Hyuuga spoke in a flat tone. "And not for five days, either."

Mamoru, who was with his team at gate 9, yawned as Otokaze put way their scroll. "How come _you _get to hold the scroll, Otokaze?"

"Because I don't trust you with something this important. Besides, we can switch after every few hours, 'Kay?" _'To be alone with Mamoru and Yasha in a forest for five whole days...my patience and mentality's gonna be put to the test.'_

"Almost time..." Yomi muttered under his breath as the subordinate proctors unlocked the gates. "...All right! The second part of the Chunin Exams starts right...NOW!!!"

"All right!!!" Team 14 ran through the gate, into the forest.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, we join our young heroes as they walked along the forest floor.

Kazemaru stopped walking. "ARGH!! This is too _irritating_!!" He screamed, waving his arms about frantically. "We haven't found _anyone_ yet!! It's driving me _NUTS_--" Hanzo's hand was suddenly on his mouth. A vein appeared on Kaze's head as he glared at him.

"Be quiet!" Hanzo whispered to him. "If you keep yelling like that, someone will find us--and that is _not_ a good thing right now!"

"Ah..." The pyromanic genin gulped and fell quiet.

Nataro placed his hands on the back of his head and smirked. "What's the matter, Pyro Freak? Ya scared?"

Kazemaru glared daggers at the blonde. "Well, considering _this_ place...its vibes are _super-uber creepy_! We don't know whether nor not some psychotic, super-strong enemy is hiding somewhere nearby. Like," He pointed at a nearby bush. "Some freak could be hiding in that bush over there!"

"Tch. Oh, _brother_! That's so stu--" Before Nataro could finish his sentence, a rustling sound came from the bush his teammate had pointed at. All three boys froze on the spot. After another rustling sound was made, they had their hands hovering above their thigh holsters. As they reached for their weapons, something small and furry scurried out of the bush.

The genin stared at the creature for a while before Hanzo muttered, "It's a squirrel."

"A..._squirrel_?" Nataro and Kazemaru said together with a sweatdrop.

"Your stupid presumptions made us think that something _dangerous_ was in there, ya jerk!!" The blonde shouted as he pointed a finger at Kaze.

The pyro's eye twitched. "Hey! I have a right to be presumptuous! We could actually _die_ in this test, y'know!"

"Will the two of you _shut the hell up_?" Hanzo said darkly. "Someone might hear us."

The arguing genin stared at the dark-haired boy. Hanzo hardly _ever_ sounded like that unless he was getting pissed off. Both boys nodded fervently as the squirrel stared at them.

Kazemaru blinked and took a few steps towards it. "Uh, why is it looking at us--?" Before he could finish, the squirrel blew up like a bomb. Nataro and Hanzo's eyes widened as the smoke cleared. Kazemaru jumped back, out of the smoke with a kunai in hand. "S-something's in there!" He stuttered as his teammates braced themselves.

As the smoke cleared, someone was standing on the charred ground where the squirrel once was. They wore a straw hat, a pair of goggles around their eyes, breathing apparatus around their mouth, and a black and white jumpsuit with an Amegakure hitai-ate sewn into it. On one hand was a clawed glove as he slumped over.

"So, this is what I come across first? A couple of _kids_?" The Ame ninja groaned. "But at least I'll get a scroll without breaking a _sweat_!!" He dashed towards Kazemaru, his claw weapon raised to strike.

"Ah!!" The redheaded boy managed to jump aside in time to avoid being gutted.

Nataro ran forward as he made a familiar hand sign and create three kage bunshin. The blondes drew their kunai and shuriken and threw them at the Ame nin, but he jumped up into the air, avoiding the flying projectiles and landed in front of Nataro. With a few quick swipes of his clawed glove, the clones disappeared and the real genin fell to the ground with a cut on his cheek. The orange-clad boy immediately got back on his feet and jumped back to dodge a swipe from the Ame ninja's claw. "Hanzo!! A little _help_ here would be appreciated!!"

The raven-haired genin was already forming hand signs as Kazemaru did a flying kick to the side of the Ame nin's head. He elbowed Kaze in the face, making him fall back. "Kaze!! Out of the way!!" Hanzo shouted before taking a deep breath. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!'_ He blew out several fireballs towards the bald man.

"Heh. Think _that's _gonna stop me?" The Ame shinobi chuckled darkly as he punched Nataro hard enough to knock him aside. He pulled down his breathing apparatus and began to form hand signs. _'Suiton: Suijuugan no Jutsu! (Water Style: Water Bullet Technique)!!'_ He spat out several bullets of water that were as big as his head and extinguished the fireballs, only to reveal the shuriken that were hidden within them. The shuriken hit the Ame ninja, a few impaled deep into his chest. "Guh!!"

"Yah!!" Kaze threw a few kunai with bomb notes wrapped around their handles at the older ninja's back and jumped back. A few seconds later, the kunai exploded. Bits of flesh landed around the area as the Ame shinobi fell to the ground, dead. The pyromanic genin walked up to him and kicked him in the head with his foot. "...Yup. He's dead."

"Well, _duh_. Who _wouldn't_ be dead after all that?" Nataro said as he began to search the body. "Now where could it be...?"

Kazemaru sweatdropped at his teammate's actions. "Uh, Nataro? What're you doing?"

"Looking for his _scroll_." The blonde answered as Hanzo stepped up beside him. "Uh...um... This guy doesn't even _have_ a scroll!

"You mean I almost got killed for _nothing_?" The red-haired genin began to shake with fury. "Grrr...! DAMN IT!!!"

"_Kazemaru_...!" Hanzo growled through gritted teeth.

Nataro placed a finger on his lips. "Ssshhh! You want another one of those wackos to come?" He stood up and placed his hands on his hips as he got a kitsune-eyed look. "We can't just wander around, waiting for someone to come. We need a plan!" A few seconds after saying that, he looked at Hanzo. "Well?"

The Uchiha arched an eyebrow. "Well what?"

"What's the plan?"

Hanzo sighed as he rubbed his temples. He gestured for his teammates to come closer until they were in a huddle. "So far, all I see are two choices: one is that we split up and start looking for Heaven scrolls, and the other is that we stick together. The first choice means we could scour the forest faster, however, it's more dangerous. But if one of us were to run into an enemy team, it would be the end--especially if it were a more experienced team. The second choice, albeit slower, is safer because we'd have each other to back us up. So, which do you think--"

"Let's stick together!!" Nataro and Kaze exclaimed at the same time.

Hanzo gave a wry smile. "Heh. Yeah, it'd be smarter to stay close together, considering the fact that we're this year's rookies..."

As Team 14 spoke, someone was watching them silently from the foliage of the trees and disappeared immediately.

**X-X-X**

"I'm...so...bored...!" Kotaro whined as he laid down in the middle of the hall in his grandparents' house with a far-off look in his eyes. "Hanzo's not coming home for five days...and Mom went and left me here...with Grandpa..." _'And __**he's**__ no fun.'_ He closed his eyes and groaned once more.

"Kotaro."

"Huh?" The boy opened his eyes and blinked, looking up at his grandfather.

"If you want to sleep, you have a _room_ you can do it in," said Sasuke as he arched an eyebrow.

Kotaro stared up at the old man before he whined, "I'm _bored_!" He sat up and started to tug on his Grandfather's pants leg. "Grandpa? Can I ask you something?"

The Uchiha patriarch arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Cousin Shirochi said that those Chunin Exam things are dangerous. That people..._die_. Is that true or did he just say that to scare me about Hanzo?"

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. "It's true. People do die during the exams." When he heard a whimpering noise, he opened his eyes and looked down at Kotaro, who looked like he was going to cry. "What are you so worried for, anyway? If you think that Hanzo is going to die, you obviously have no faith in your brother."

"Huh?!" The spiky-haired boy got on his knees and frowned, but instead of looking angry, he looked awfully cute. "No! No way!! I know Hanzo'll pass!" The heated look faded away and he looked out of the corner of his eye. "But--"

"No buts. You either believe in him or you don't," Sasuke said as he walked off, leaving Kotaro alone in the hall.

The raven-haired boy fell back and laid down once more, sighing. "I miss Hanzo..."

**X-X-X**

Back in the Forest of Death, the boys were leaping through the tree tops gracefully, from branch to branch. Hanzo, who was in the lead, stopped moving when he saw something glinting in the distance. Nataro and Kazemaru landed on the same branch as him.

"What's the matter?" The blonde asked.

The Uchiha pulled out a kunai and threw it at the source of the glint. It was a wire, which snapped, and several spiked iron balls fell onto the branches crashing through it, making craters upon hitting the ground.

"Wow...! Imagine what would've happened to us if we tripped that trap..." Nataro mumbled in wide-eyed awe. At that moment, several senbon came from out of nowhere and hit them, melting into water as soon as they made impact. "AHHHH!!!"

"OWWWW!!! THE _FUG_?!?"

The boys looked up and saw a pair of Ame nin standing on the branch of a tree that was much higher than the one the boys were on. One nin was similar to the one they had killed a while ago, and the other was the green-haired white-clad girl known as Tename.

"Here's more where _that_ came from!!" The blue-haired girl screamed as she formed hand signs. Water rose up from the pores on the skin of her arm. With a wave of her arm, she sent several senbon made of water flying at them. _'Suiton: Konsaisu Suisenbon (Water Style: Condensed Water Needles)!!'_

Not again!!" Nataro exclaimed as he and his teammates jumped off of the branch in time to dodge Tename's attack. The wood splintered apart upon being hit with the water senbon before soaking up the water. They landed on the ground safely, but had to duck the blade of an oncoming kusarigama before it retracted back to the jumpsuit-wearing shinobi.

"What do you say you just hand over your scroll and no one gets hurt?" Tename asked as she held out a hand.

"That's _our_ line!" Kazemaru exclaimed, pointing a finger up at the Ame kunoichi. "Come down here and fight us face-to-face!!"

"Actually, we prefer to stay up _here_," said Tename as her teammate opened a scroll and small metal balls covered in spikes fell out. They fell on the ground, creating small craters in the process. He formed a hand sign and the spikes shot out of the ball, flying all over in a mass explosion of steel. The Konoha genin immediately hid behind a tree to avoid the incoming flurry of spikes.

"How embarrassing! We outnumber them and they're beating us!" Kaze hissed.

Hanzo looked around before he gave a nod. "I've got an idea..."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" A trio of Nataros, followed by Kazemaru and Hanzo jumped out from behind the tree. They began to jump up towards the Ame ninja, against the tree trunks and branches.

"Did you forget about _this_?" With a wave of her arm, Tename sent some more condensed water senbon at them.

"Think again!!" One of the Nataro clones jumped in front and formed a hand sign, transforming into some sort of large shield.

"THE HELL?! Since when could you do _that_?!" Kazemaru screamed, his eyes bugging out of his head.

Nataro smirked as the senbon hit the shield and became water once more just as the clone disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Since I saw it on an episode of _'Yu Shinobi!'_!" The other clone then transformed into a large Fuuma shuriken. "Watch an' learn!!" He grabbed hold of the large shuriken and threw it up at the Ame shinobi. When it flew up over their heads, it transformed back into Nataro, with a kunai in hand. It aimed to stab Tename, but was dispatched by a kick to the jaw from the green-haired girl. With another swipe of her arm, a flurry of senbon were sent flying at the young Leaves, who were in the midst of pulling out weapons when they were hit and disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"What? Bunshin? Where'd they go?"

Tename got her reply when her teammate punched her in the face. The force was enough to make her fall off of the branch. The Ame ninja jumped off the branch and as he fell, he transformed into Nataro. Tename twisted her body in midair and performed a kick that sent a crescent blade of water towards the orange-clad blonde. _'Suiton: Suraisingu Konsaisu Mizu (Slicing Condensed Water)!!'_

"Ah!!" Nataro twisted his body in midair in time to avoid it just barely, getting a cut on his leg in the process. He formed a hand sign and a kage bunshin appeared beside him. It took hold of his arm and with a quick spin sent him flying into the green-haired girl, headfirst with the force of a missile. Upon landing, their heads struck each other. _'Ow...! I feel like I cracked my skull!'_ The blonde genin thought as he ignored the throbbing pain in his head.

"Nataro!! We've got the scroll!!" Hanzo's voice called out from above.

"Got it!!" The orange-clad boy jumped off of Tename and pulled out a smoke bomb in midair. He threw it down, it exploded and released a mass of black smoke. When the smoke cleared, the body of Tename's dead teammate fell right in front of her, a kunai stabbed in his chest.

Tears welled up in the kunoichi's eyes as she sat up, unaware of the gang of Kusa genin behind her. "What is this? Little girl, are you hurt?"

"We might help you..._if_ you give us your scroll first." The trio chuckled to themselves as Tename began to shake. Slowly she turned around to face them, and...

Several seconds later, the sound of Tename's screams mixed with the death cries of the Kusa ninja echoed through the forest.

**X-X-X**

Team 14 landed in a clearing. "Alright!! We've already gotten a Heaven scroll! Hee-hee!" Nataro cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"Not quite..." Hanzo mumbled, looking out of the corner of his eye. "In all our haste, we didn't notice..."

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"The scroll they had...was an _Earth_ scroll."

The two genin remained silent for a while, the sounds of the forest wildlife being the only thing heard until they cried out, "DAMN IT!!!"

**X-X-X**

Several more minutes later, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru were once again jumping through the trees.

"This is starting to piss me off," Kazemaru muttered, his eye twitching erratically.

"Don't you _dare_ start!" Nataro growled. "The last thing we want is for you to jinx us! And besides, we've only been in here for...uh..."

"_23 minutes_!" The redhead hissed, a vein appearing over the twitching eye.

Nataro blinked. "If you're recording the time we're in here, you must be _really_ upset...!" _'But he's got a point. We've been going around for minutes and we haven't found anyone yet. Do we have bad luck or something?'_

**"You should just be grateful you aren't dead yet."**

_'Was anyone __**talking**__ to you?!'_ Nataro started growling to himself, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.

**"It isn't like you can do anything to stop me."**

_'...Damn.'_ While still in thought, the blonde genin almost fell off of the branch that he landed on. He caught himself in time and hung gripped the branch tightly with both hands. Nataro gave a breath of relief as he climbed back up and got back to jumping across the tree. "How much longer are we gonna do this?"

"Until we find a Heaven scroll," Hanzo called back.

"Only to be disappointed once we find out it's another _Earth_ scroll..." Kazemaru muttered.

"Didn't I tell you not to jinx us?!" Nataro screeched.

"We were already jinxed the moment we got a damn Earth scroll!!"

Hanzo sighed. He suddenly stopped on a tree branch and looked back at his teammates. "You guys wanna rest for a while?"

Kaze landed next to Hanzo, a small vein throbbing on his cheek. "Yes! Let's rest so _another team_ of ninja who want to _kill us_ can take our scroll with _ease_," he spat.

"If you're so enthusiastic, you can be the first to be lookout for the enemy," the raven-haired boy replied with an eyebrow raised.

"...I was being _sarcastic_."

"So was I."

"...Whatever..." The pyro muttered, rolling his eyes. He jumped off of the branch and landed on the ground, followed by Hanzo, then Nataro. But as soon as Nataro landed one foot on the ground, a rope tied around his foot and pulled him up into the air. He dangled upside down over his teammates, squirming like the catch of the day.

"HEEEELLLLP!!!" The orange-clad genin screamed as he tried to get his foot out.

Kazemaru doubled over laughing. "Hahaha!! Looks like Ramen Breath fell for one of the simplest traps ever!"

"Whoever did this sure didn't have much creativity..." Hanzo said as he stared up at the dangling blonde.

Nataro pulled out a kunai knife from his thigh holster and cut the rope. He fell and landed on his feet in front of his teammates. "Thanks for all the help, _guys_!" He growled.

"You're welcome, Ramen Breath."

"Y'know, I oughta hang _you_ upside down and let the blood rush to _your_ head!! See if you're laughing _then_, ya Pyro Freak!"

"Well, a little blood rush would be good for you. It could stimulate all those _dead brain cells_ that fill your head!"

"Why, you...!"

Hanzo stared at his arguing teammates until he heard a rustling from a bush a few feet away. "Hey! Ssshhh! ...I heard something over there."

The red-haired genin gave the Uchiha a skeptical look. "Puh-lease! After what happened a while ago, you think we're stupid enough to fall for that again?"

"Yeah, if you want us to shut up, then just say it," the blonde genin added.

"I meant it--_seriously_! Something might be there!" The raven-haired boy hissed. He reached into his thigh holster and drew a kunai, making his teammates eyes bulge to the size of saucers.

"H-hey!! No need to resort to violence so quick--"

With a flick of his wrist, the Uchiha threw a kunai into the bushes. The thud of something dropping to the ground was heard.

"Er... What was _that_?" Kazemaru blinked.

Nataro gulped. "A...dead rabbit?"

Hanzo walked over to the bushes and looked over them. His face suddenly became pale and his eyes widened in surprise. The two other boys, wondering what their teammate was shocked about, walked over to the bush and looked at it.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Kazemaru jumped back and shouted, "Holy crap, it's a body!!"

The blonde genin shuddered. "Look at the hitai-ate..."

It was the body of a Konoha ninja. There was a kunai sticking out of his head, the one from Hanzo, apparently--but he looked a lot more beaten up with cuts on his body, a large gash in his stomach and a missing leg.

"Hanzo killed another Konoha ninja!"

"H-hey, it's not like I _meant_ to!"

"Eeewww...! I didn't think I'd have to see a body _this_ messed up after meeting that monster in Benzaiten! _Sick_...!" The team pyro held in the urge to hurl at the heavy scent of freshly spilled blood coming from the dead man. "Blech... I may not be able to _eat_ for a while..."

The raven-haired boy gulped before he went behind the shrubbery and began to search the body. After a while, he stood up and shook his head. "No scroll."

"Hey, you don't think that guy's teammates are here, do ya?" Nataro asked as he looked around frantically.

Hanzo looked at the body from the corner of his eye. "Considering the shape this guy's in...they might either be dead or not in the vicinity."

"So...we're safe?"

The Uchiha nodded. "As long as we keep moving."

Kaze narrowed his eyes. "You _said_ we could rest!" He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Oh?" Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "You were the one acting like you didn't want to stop going forward."

"Yeah, but...seeing that corpse made me wanna take a piss."

"Er, yeah... Me too," Nataro spoke, nodding his head.

Hanzo gave his teammates a half-lidded stare. "Didn't you two remember to do your business _before_ you left home?" They shook their heads, and he reacted by holding a hand to his head and sighing. "Oh, fine. Go in the bushes together."

The blonde and redheaded boys looked at each other, then at the bushes with the dead ninja, their cheeks tinted blue. "In _there_? With _the dead guy_? No way!"

"I didn't mean it like _that_! Get your minds out of the gutter..."

"Well...I'm peeing over _here_!" Kazemaru said as he darted behind a tree.

"Better not peek, Hanzo!" Nataro said as he ducked behind _another_ bush.

A vein began to throb on the dark-haired boy's forehead. "Once again: _get your minds out of the gutter..._" _'Honestly... Do they have to act like that?'_

As his teammates went to do their _'business,'_ Hanzo stood in the middle of the path, arms folded across his chest and wary of anything that seemed even remotely suspicious around him. He wasn't aware of the pair of green cat-like eyes staring down at him from the treetops.

"All alone..." The person whispered as they reached behind their back, fingers wrapping around the hilt of a sword. _'Here I go!'_ The person jumped out of the tree, a white blur that went racing towards the raven-haired boy. The Uchiha turned his head slightly and noticed the blur coming towards him. He jumped to the left, avoiding a dangerous downward slash that would've split his head down the middle.

"Guys!! Help!!"

_'Darn! I missed...'_ The boy thought as he spun on his heel and attempted to gut the raven-haired boy, but he managed to flip out of the way of danger. _'Missed again!'_

He was a 13-year old boy with short white hair that had been cut short in back and cat-like green eyes, asked. He wore a white shirt with long, open sleeves like a kimono's with tiger-like black stripes that hid his hands, the kanji for _'tenchu'_ (Heavenly justice/Heaven's Justice) emblazoned his back in black, white knee-length shorts, black sandals with knee-high shin guards, black elbow-length armguards, and a short-sword on his back with a broad rectangular case. Tied along with the strap was a hitai-ate depicting some shapes like clouds--the symbol of Kumogakure, the Hidden Cloud Village.

"You're pretty quick if you can dodge my attacks," the white-haired boy spoke with a smirk.

"Hmph!" Hanzo pulled out a set of shuriken and sent them flying towards the white-clad boy. The mysterious boy deflected the projectiles, but in that short time, Hanzo was already forming hand signs and taking a deep breath. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!'_ He blew out several fireballs, but they didn't hit the white-clad boy as he disappeared in a puff of clouds and landed a good distance away. _'Fast...or Shunshin (Body Flicker)?'_

"Hanzo!!" Kazemaru and Nataro stumbled out from their respective bathroom spots. "What is it, what is it?!" The pyromanic genin spoke quickly as he got into a fighting stance.

"A full audience? Then it's time!" The white-haired boy began to twirl his ninjato like a baton, an emotionless look on his face. "Behold! You stand against Asari Hotaru, hero of Kumogakure, and deliverer of tenchu from the gods living above the mountains! Fear my wrath!"

Kaze and Nataro looked at each other from the corner of their eye before looking at Hotaru with a half-lidded stare. "Never heard of ya."

"What?! _That's _how you react to my performance?!" Hotaru screamed, breaking out of his emotionless act as he pointed his sword at the Konoha genin.

"What's _'tenchu,'_ anyway?" Kazemaru asked Nataro.

"I think it means _'earthly justice'_," the kitsune-eyed blonde replied.

"_Heavenly_ justice, you jerks!!"

"You're from Kumogakure," Hanzo stated with an arched eyebrow.

Hotaru regained his cool. "Ah, so you've heard of me."

"Hm." The raven-haired boy's hand quickly pulled out a few shuriken from his holster and threw them at the white-haired boy. The Kumogakure genin disappeared in the blink of an eye, landing on a low branch a few feet away.

"How rude. For that, heaven's justice shall be swift upon you!"

As Hotaru said this, Kazemaru was already running up the tree. He jumped onto the branch and tried to punch the Cloud genin in the face, but he easily tilted his head to dodge the blow. The redhead tried to sweep Hotaru off of his feet, but he jumped up in time to dodge and made to slice Kaze's head in half at the same time. The Konoha genin fell off of the branch, but clung to the side of the tree trunk with chakra.

"I thought Konoha ninja were supposed to be nice guys!" Hotaru muttered with half-lidded eyes as a Nataro clone appeared behind him in mid-air. It grabbed him from behind and pulled him off of the branch. Upon landing on the ground, the kage bunshin dispelled from the impact, a gaggle of blonde kage bunshin landed on top of him in a dog pile. The white-haired boy appeared on top of the pile in a poof of smoke. "Or is it just _you_ guys who act like this?"

"Stop playing around and _fight_, damn it!!" Kazemaru shouted as he pulled out a few kunai and threw them at Hotaru. He merely dodged the projectiles and landed a few feet away from Hanzo.

The Uchiha began to form a few hand signs. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!'_ He took a deep breath and blew out several fireballs at Hotaru. The Kumo genin's eyes widened as the fireballs came close. In a few seconds, he disappeared in a poof of smoke, reappearing on a tree branch above Team 14. He was clasping his right shoulder in pain, the sleeve of his robe slightly singed. _'He actually...got me...'_ He looked down at the raven-haired boy, biting on his lower lip. He was so busy that he didn't seem to notice Nataro sneaking up the tree trunk until he jumped out at him and kicked him in the side of his head.

"Gotcha!!" When he landed, he realized something he hadn't seen before. "Huh?"

"Moron! What'd you do _that_ for?!" Kazemaru screamed as he held onto the side of his throbbing head.

"It...It's not my fault! I thought you were that guy!" The orange-clad genin stuttered as he looked around frantically. "Speaking of which, where'd he go?"

"How the hell am _I_ supposed to know?!" The pyromanic genin growled, still upset with the pain in his head. "Hell, I don't even know what the heck happened...!"

On the forest floor, Hanzo suddenly grasped his side in pain. "Uh!" He held up his hand and looked at it. It had blood on it, and there was more blood spreading like a blot on the side of his shirt. His eyes widened before he made a few quick hand signs.

Hotaru's sword pierced the genin's chest, causing blood to spill on the floor. However, it turned out to be the deceased shinobi that was in the bushes. "Huh? EEEEWWW!!! Corpse wastes on my sword!!" The Kumo genin kicked the corpse off of his blade and started to shake the blade about.

Kazemaru looked down at the corpse and cringed slightly. "Poor guy... Oh, wait, he was already dead. Never mind, then. BUT WHERE THE HECK'S HANZO?!" He screamed as he and Nataro began to look around frantically for their teammate.

Hotaru stopped spazzing out over his blade and breathed a sigh of relief. He began to glare at the other two Leaf genin. "You two are _so_ _dead_!" He exclaimed as he charged towards them, only to be hit in the upper left shoulder by a few shuriken from Nataro. The white-haired genin skidded to a halt and pulled out the ninja stars, cursing under his breath as Kazemaru sent a flurry of kunai with bomb notes tied to the hilt flying towards Hotaru. When the kunai seemed to make impact, Nataro and Kaze had to close their eyes to avoid having smoke and debris irritate them. As the smoke faded away, nothing was left in Hotaru's place but a charred spot on the ground.

"Did we get 'em...?" The redhead asked, blinking his eyes open.

"Yeah... I think we got him...." The blonde mumbled.

**X-X-X**

"OW!! What the hell, Seian?!" Hotaru screamed before he got conked on the head.

"Quiet," said the black-clad boy with the shoulder-length black hair and bang-hidden eyes known as Seian.

Hotaru pouted and poked his index fingers together. "Erm... Thank you."

"You're welcome. If you died...we'd fail the test," Seian spoke in an apathetic tone.

"You mean you wouldn't be upset if I died?" The white-haired boy asked as he looked up at the dark-haired teen with watery puppy-dog eyes. When his teammate said nothing, he sweatdropped. "Hey, _say somethin'_! ...Seian? SEIAN!!!"

"Let's find Iwanaga."

"Seiaaaaan! Tell me you love me!" Hotaru hiccupped, suddenly a chibi version of himself.

"No."

"SAY IT!!!" The sound of Seian's fist making contact with Hotaru's skull resounded through the area. "...Thank you," the sword-wielding boy sniffled as he held onto the large bump on his head.

Seian folded his arms across his chest and nodded. "Welcome."

**X-X-X**

"I guess he's gone." Kazemaru gave a sigh as he rubbed his back. "Damn it, Nataro, can't you tell the difference between your teammate and a freak from Kumogakure?"

"Hey, he used Kawarimi no Jutsu at the last minute before switching places with you!" The blonde said in his defense.

"Guys? ...A little help here!" Hanzo's voice called from a nearby bush. Both genin quickly walked over to the bush that once hid the dead shinobi's corpse. Their teammate was sitting down behind it, holding his bleeding wound and biting his lip.

"That looks pretty painful," Kaze said, wincing as Hanzo removed his hand, showing the spot of blood on the side of his stomach. "You okay?"

"Ugh... I'll live."

"Can you stand?" Nataro asked as he held a hand out to help him up. The Uchiha took hold of it with one hand, the other clutching his injury, and stood up. "Aw, man! This is gonna slow us down!" He shouted with squinted eyes.

Hanzo rolled up his shirt to look at the gash. "It's not _too_ bad. This'll probably heal in a day or two, give or take how long I rest...maybe if I had some bandages."

"Hmmm..." Kazemaru reached into his back pouch and pulled out a box of band-aids. "Will this do?"

"I doubt a little band-aid could help with a wound this big, Kaze."

"Wh-what if it gets infected? You could die, and then we'd fail the test for sure!" The orange-clad boy said. He quickly added, "And, of course, it be really, _really_ sad if you died so young!" The half-lidded stare on Hanzo's face didn't disappear.

"Let's just focus on finding a place we can hide in for a while..."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in another part of the Forest of Death...

"I can't believe this..." Kaoru groaned as he fell to his knees. "We must be _the_ lamest team in this exam..." He, Rie and Masamune were hiding behind a bush. The team had yet to find any opponents that they felt they stood a chance against, and they hadn't found any of their fellow graduates' squads.

"Hey, what's with the attitude?" Rie whispered to the redhead.

"It's only the first day. You can't expect results to come so quickly," said Masamune.

"Our plain to find the misfits has failed for today, and all these guys... A lot of them are tougher and have _way_ more experience than us!" Kaoru pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighed.

The purple-clad girl looked out of the corner of her eye. "That's a good point. There are people here who have been shinobi much longer than us. But..." She started to smirk. "I never knew _you_ were such a _coward_."

"Huh?" Kaoru blinked. "Coward? I'm no coward! I--" He stopped speaking all of a sudden. "Ssshhh! Someone's coming!"

Team 11 fell silent as they heard footsteps, followed by a yawn.

"Damn it, Mamoru, don't fall asleep on us now!" Otokaze spoke in a deadly tone as he glared at his teammate.

Mamoru's amber eyes held a tired look as he gave a yawn. "I'm not sleepy, Otokaze-kun. Just tired _exhausted_..."

"Hmmm, I wonder why. Maybe it's because of that _large object_ you're carrying on your back!" The spiky-haired genin muttered as he looked around. Yasha didn't do anything but look at her doll, running a finger through its string hair.

"When can we rest?" The brunette asked with a tone that was a cross between sleepy and whiny.

"Quit your whining! You want someone to come along and steal our scroll? We gotta keep moving!" With that said, the Suna genin jumped into the trees, leaving the area.

"...They're gone now," said Kaoru. He balled up a fist and punched the ground. "Damn it!! We should've stolen their scroll when we had the chance!"

"But I thought we were going after Nataro's squad," said Masamune. "What was the point of saying we'll steal their scroll if you don't keep good on your word?"

"Hm. Good point." The bespectacled redhead began to smirk. "Once we find those losers, beating them will be a cinch! Heh."

**X-X-X**

Nataro looked outside of the tree they were hiding in. It was a large, hollowed out tree almost covered in moss, with a hole at the base large enough for the three genin to enter through and hide in. "Okay... I think we're safe."

"Are you sure?" Hanzo asked as he sat on the ground, leaning against the tree trunk. "I'd hate to be the reason why we fail."

"Or get killed by an enemy team," Kazemaru, who sat next to the raven, added. The pyromanic ninja caught the look Hanzo was giving him and looked in the opposite direction. "What? It _could_ happen."

"Hey, don't talk like we can't do anything without you! We're shinobi, too!" The team's blonde loudmouth shouted, jabbing a thumb to his chest.

"I think what Fan Boy means is: he'd hate to be a sitting duck and get killed off by another team, costing us the opportunity to go up in the ranks."

"Er...that, too."

"Gee... Thanks for making me feel so much better, guys," the Uchiha spoke sarcastically.

"Nothing's gonna happen, anyway. Me an' Nataro here set a bunch of traps, just in case," Kaze said as he draped his arm over Nataro's shoulder with a grin on his face.

"Yup! Nothing's gonna get past those!" The blonde grinned.

A loud explosion suddenly occurred outside the tree, causing some dust to fly. Hanzo jumped at the sudden noise and grabbed his wound. Both the blonde and redheaded genin poked their heads out to survey the area. There was a small crater a few feet away from them with the carcass of a dead squirrel inside. They both sweatdropped and looked around, shifty-eyed.

"What was that?" The raven-haired genin asked as he got on his knees and crawled over to the opening, ignoring his injury in favor of curiosity. When he saw the crater, his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "What...the hell happened?"

Nataro looked at Kazemaru and pointed a finger at him. "You idiot!! You put too many bombs in one spot!"

"I didn't put those there! _You_ did!!" Kaze shouted, poking the orange-clad boy in the chest.

The Uchiha sweatdropped before narrowing his eyes. "I'm going to go back inside. You guys are gonna keep guard, okay?"

"Hey, you're not the boss of us!!" The two other genin spoke loudly as veins began to throb on their foreheads.

"I'm only saying this because that explosion could've alerted other ninja. I'm not in a state to fight, so...you two will have to take care of it." _'And God help me if something bad happens...'_ Hanzo went back inside while Kazemaru and Nataro stood straight as statues, staring out into space with slack-jawed expressions.

"And to think: we got four more days of this coming..." Kaze muttered as he glared at something in the distance.

"Yeah... _Great_." Nataro sighed.

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Nothing new to report here, aside from the fact that I added a team and removed the Kiri nin. That was a mistake. And like the Ame ninja in the series, they're a one-arc thing. …Maybe.**

**Kazemaru: Maybe? We killed two of them and the chick got killed by another team!**

**Blu: Or did she?**

**Hanzo: You're not…gonna put us through anymore trouble, are you?**

**Blu: Wait and see. Anyway, I hope that you'll review, for the sake of Blu!**

**Nataro: See you in the next chapter!**


	9. 2nd Exam, Day 3: Survival of the Fittest

**Blu: This is actually a new chapter in the arc. It was added for the sake of storyline expansion.**

**Hanzo: In other words, she finally realized what she needed to make sense of some things.**

**Blu: That, too. So I hope that you all will enjoy this chapter! ROLL THE FIC!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or its characters. She only owns her OCs and this story._

**X-X-X**

_#9: The Second Exam, Day 3: Survival of the Fittest!_

The sun was beginning to rise over Konohagakure, marking the third day of the Chunin Exams. Though the day had already begun, the more experienced teams that were still alive had already been up for hours. The rookies, on the other hand...

"Konjo. _Konjo_!" A voice whispered loudly.

"Hn...?" Konjo blinked his eyes open for a second before closing them again. "Just a few more minutes, Ina... We've hardly had any sleep these past couple of days..." He yawned.

"Konjo, I'm going to tell you something. _Don't panic_ when I tell you," he heard Ina speak again.

"Tell me...what?"

"There's a giant bug on you."

"Trying to scare me awake...? That won't work."

"D-don't move, Konjo!" He heard Shizuka whisper. "There really is a big bug on you!"

"What's the problem? It's just a bug..." The Hyuga boy blinked his eyes open and found himself looking into the face of the biggest grasshopper he had ever seen. Or at least, something that _looked_ like a grasshopper. It was bright red, half his height and wide as he was. The bug clicked its pincers and Konjo began to sweat. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

_Nataro blinked. He was wondering exactly how he slept the night before, because right now, he was upside down._

_'Okay...I know I'm not the type who stays still in his sleep, but it's never gotten like this,' he thought as his body turned over right side up on its own._

_"Ugh... What hit me? Where're Sakura-chan and that bastard Sasuke?" He heard himself say. Wait a minute...__**himself**__?_

_'This must be a dream. Good thing: I thought Kaze threw me out of the tree again,'_ _the young blonde thought as a huge shadow loomed over him. 'Huh?' Looking up, Nataro felt like his heart was going to stop._

_"Wha... What the...?! Huge...!" He heard himself say in terrified awe. "HUGE SNAKE!!"_

_A large snake slithered right in front of the orange-clad boy, yellow eyes focused on him. The intensity of the glare was so frightening that Nataro forgot it was a dream. 'HOLY CRAP!! THAT THING IS HUUUUGE!! And I don't like how it's looking at me!'_ _He thought as the snake stuck outs its tongue. 'Please don't let there be anything else like this in this crazy forest!'_

_Nataro and the snake entered a stare down after a few seconds. The genin gulped. A tail suddenly shot out of the ground and wrapped tightly around him. The snake hissed as it opened its mouth, aiming to bite off the genin's head. Nataro started to panic, all sense of reality and dreams flying out the window._

_'AAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I don't wanna die!! Sakura-chan, Sasuke, __**anybody**__--__**HELP!!!**__ ...Wait a minute...why I am calling for Sakura-san and Sasuke-san?'_

_Just as the snake swallowed him whole, Nataro heard a scream that wasn't his own._

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH--OOF!!"

Kazemaru stood over the awakened Nataro, who had a bruise on his face. "_Finally_! I've been trying to get you to wake up for forever!"

"And you wake me up by _punching_ me?!" The blonde screamed. His pyromanic teammate's hand flew to his mouth and covered it. "Mm?"

"Ssshhh! Somebody screamed a while ago. It sounded pretty close, but it could've just been one loud scream. Just in case, _keep quiet_."

Nataro gave a nod. "How's Hanzo?"

"He's fine...I _hope_..." The redhead mumbled as he stepped aside, letting Nataro see the raven-haired boy. "He said _'it'll heal in two days'_ right? Well, I checked and it looks bad."

"Well, what do you expect when we don't have anything to help fix it?" The blonde mumbled. He reached into his back pouch and pulled out a small scroll. He unrolled the scroll and began to read to himself. "Huh... In the _'Shinobi Survival Tips'_ guide, it says that when you have no access to a kit or medical support, use _'natural substitutions'_ like herbs and junk. We could find one of the herbs on the list and use it to help Hanzo heal faster!"

"Uh, Nataro. It doesn't sound like a good idea to look for _healing herbs_ in a place like this," said Kaze. "Man, I swear that last night, I saw a _plant_ choke a raccoon to death. Let's just let Hanzo heal on his own."

"But...what if he doesn't? What if it gets worse and worse until he--" Nataro started to fidget in place. He crawled out of the tree and straightened up his hitai-ate and goggles. "I'm gonna get us some food. I think I saw the river nearby a while back. Maybe we'll get fish." He walked away from the tree until Kaze ran out and grabbed his arm.

"Whoa, whoa! You're goin' _alone_? You can't do that!" Kazemaru hissed. "You'll be an easy target to whoever or whatever's up at this ungodly hour!"

"Well, if you come with me, Hanzo's gonna be the one alone! And he's _injured_, too! He'd be defenseless! Besides, with my Kage Bunshin, I can go from being one person to a thousand with only a hand sign and get things done faster!"

Kaze stared at his teammate with half-lidded eyes. "You... I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right." He shuddered from inner disgust. "Just don't get in trouble. If you died, all the trouble we went through surviving so far would be for nothing."

Nataro smiled. "Alright! Be back in a flash!" He ran off into the forest.

The redhead sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, what am I gonna do _now_? Sure as hell can't go back to sleep after hearing that scream..." He turned to go back into the tree when he heard something fall behind him. When he looked over his shoulder, Kaze saw that it was a dead crow. His stomach immediately started to growl and drool trailed down the corner of his mouth. "Ooohhh, _food_!! I'm gonna-- Wait a minute! I ain't desperate enough to eat some dead, diseased rat with wings! ..._Raw_, anyway. What the hell am I saying? This forest is driving me crazy!"

Meanwhile, in one of the trees surrounding the clearing, a pair of cat-like green eyes stared out through an opening in the leaves.

"His back is turned. Let us strike now!"

"Ssshhh. Have patience."

"I don't wanna have patience--I want _tenchu_!"

"Sounds more like _jinchu_ (earthly justice) to me."

"_Shut up_!"

Kazemaru held the crow up by its leg, observing it carefully for anything that would make it unacceptable to eat. "Hmmm... Don't see anything wrong with it...but television has taught me that it doesn't have to look nasty to kill you." He dropped the crow just as a transparent figure rose up from the ground behind him. The transparent figure suddenly became solid, revealing himself to be Seian. He wrapped his arms around the red-haired genin and gripped tightly. "H-hey!! What the hell?! Where the hell'd _you_ come from?!"

In a poof of smoke, Hotaru appeared a few feet away from them, posing in the crane stance. "Oho! We meet again!"

"Y..._you_?! Who's this weirdo? Your..._teammate_?!" Kazemaru struggled to break free of Seian's grip. _'Damn, this guy's strong!'_

"Seian!! Hold the heathen steady while I deliver tenchu upon him!" The white-haired Kumo genin exclaimed as he dashed towards them, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"_Heathen_?! Oh, _that _does it!" The Leaf genin brought his head back forcefully, hitting Seian in the face with the back of his head. The black-clad genin's grip relaxed, giving Kaze the chance to jump away just as Hotaru drew his sword and spun on the heel of his foot, slashing nothing but air. Kaze reached into his thigh holster and threw a flurry of shuriken at the Kumo genin, but Seian countered with some shuriken of his own. Hotaru suddenly appeared a few feet away from the redhead, sword drawn, and charged forward. Kazemaru just barely sidestepped in time to avoid having the blade slice into his upper left arm. _'Shit, shit, shit! Two on one ain't fair!'_ He suddenly felt a powerful force hit him in the face--it felt like a punch, really, but he hadn't seen Hotaru raise a hand to strike. The blow was followed by another to the back that made Kaze fall to his knees, and before he knew it, he was on the ground, face in the dirt while something pushed down on his back. "The hell?! What the heck's going on?!"

Seian became transparent once again. He was the one on Kazemaru, his knee digging into the Konoha genin's back. "Easier than I thought. I thought you said these guys gave you trouble, Hotaru."

Hotaru's eyes became the size of dots. "Yeah, well...that was when it was three-on-one! Plus, from the way he was acting a while ago, he's weak from not having a proper meal in days, so it was easier _now_!"

_'The sad thing is that he's got a point,'_ Kazemaru thought as he grit his teeth in irritation. He and his teammates only ate a few small fishes and some unripe fruit last night, and it wasn't enough to fill them entirely.

"Whatever..." Seian started to search through the redhead's back pouch. "No scroll in here." He looked at his teammate. "Go check the other guy."

"Other guy? _Riiiight_, the other guy," the white-clad Kumo genin stated as he walked towards the hollow tree where Hanzo was still lying. _'I'll make him suffer tenchu tenfold!'_

"HEY!! Get away from there, ya freak!!" Kaze screamed as he struggled underneath Seian's weight. The black-clad Kumo boy grabbed the back of his head and pushed his face into the dirt.

"Quiet. Wouldn't want to wake him up."

"Mmmph!!" The redhead struggled to turn his head, spat out some dirt, and resumed shouting, "I mean it!! You do anything to him and I'll rip your tongue out!!" He felt something cold and sharp pressed against the back of his neck.

"You're not in the position to make any threats..." Seian pressed the blade of his kunai further against the Konoha genin's neck, drawing blood.

"Screw that!! You hurt my friend and you'll pay for it!!"

Hotaru arrived at the tree, smiling like the Cheshire Cat as he held his sword out in front of him. "Well, I see that commotion woke you up."

Hanzo, who was lying down on his side, his bangs hiding his eyes as he mumbled things under his breath, seemed like such easy prey at the moment. The wound in his side was bleeding once more and blood spilled out onto the ground. The Uchiha boy shook every couple of seconds, twitching in pain.

"Don't you have anything to say? Won't you beg for your life like some pathetic weakling?" The white-haired boy asked with an arched eyebrow. "Hmph... You're no fun..." He raised his sword. "So long...!"

"DAMN IT, I SAID _STOP_!!!" Kazemaru screamed, making birds scatter away from the trees nearby. It was at that moment that he felt something. All the anger and rage that was building up inside of him as something within just _snapped_. Kaze didn't know what was going on, blinded by anger from being so useless, but he felt heat all around him. Before he knew it... "HOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!" His body suddenly exploded with a burst of flames! The sudden fiery explosion had enough force to push Seian off of him and into a tree, where he knocked his head and fell unconscious.

"Hm?" Hotaru looked over his shoulder at the flaming Leaf genin as he got to his feet. "What's this?"

"I told you...to stay away from him... Now you're gonna pay for it, you _freak_!!" The flaming genin screamed as he charged at the Kumo genin, pulling back a fist. But he was only halfway to him when the flames suddenly faded and he fell down in midstep.

"What the...? How lame! If this were a comic book, that'd be an _awful_ way to end the revelation of a character's secret ability!!" Hotaru screamed. "...Of course, what does that have to do with _me_?" He looked back down at Hanzo and smirked. "Nobody left to protect you now..."

Hanzo's head lolled over slightly and he whispered something Hotaru couldn't hear. His eyes snapped open behind his bangs and the white-haired boy stepped back from surprise. He could only stare as the Uchiha got on his knees, bangs hiding his eyes as some dark aura began to radiate from him. The raven-haired boy then gave an uncharacteristic wide, creepy smile, showing his teeth as red eyes stared out from behind the bangs. Hotaru felt his blood run cold and suddenly fell to his knees, shaking in pure fear.

In reality, Hanzo was still lying on his side, quietly mumbling, "Please...stop the pain... Someone stop the pain, please...please stop..."

**X-X-X**

In another part of the forest, Nataro and his clones were scouring for provisions near the riverside. The original blonde climbed up a tree and picked a green peach-shaped fruit. He took a small bite, but when he flinched, he immediately spat it out.

"Yuck! Bitter... Why is it that most of the fruit we find isn't ripe?! _'Nature's bounty'_ my ass!"

A clone ran up to the base of the tree, its arms filled with small orange berries. "But these taste great! Too bad we don't have a bucket!"

A trio of bunshin jumped out of the river nearby with wriggling fish in their arms. "These are bigger than yesterday's catch!"

Nataro jumped out of the tree, grinning. "I don't know why Kaze was so worried. This was easy!" He blinked. "Wait a sec... There was a fifth clone, wasn't there? Where is he?" Another Nataro clone came through the bushes, holding something in his arms. "There you are! Did you find anything?"

"Well..." He held up a handful of grass. "I found some aloe...I think"

"_Aloe_? Hanzo needs something to help him recover, not soft, smooth skin!"

"But the guide said that aloe can be used to fight infections."

"Oh, right..." The original took the aloe and slipped it into his back pouch. "Well, let's hit the road then!"

At that moment, something jumped out from the trees above and tried to smash something large and heavy on Nataro's head. The orange-clad genin just barely jumped back in time to avoid being hit and the weapon hit the ground before his feet instead, making a small crater. The weapon appeared to be a large metal ball three times as big as his head--maybe more!--attached to a long steel rod.

"Too slow. My mistake," the girl on the other end of the weapon spoke. She had light brown skin, chocolate brown eyes, and bleached blonde hair that reached her shoulders with three thin bangs hanging in front of her left eye. She wore a short-sleeved red top with a broad black stripe going around her chest that partially revealed the black undershirt underneath, fishnet elbow straps, black bicycle shorts and a Kumo hitai-ate tied around her waist.

Nataro jumped back as the girl lifted up her weapon once more. "Oh, well! So much for this being simple."

The blonde girl hoisted the large Chui onto her shoulder with a slight bit of difficulty and smirked. "I heard you were one of the guys who messed around with my teammate." At the look of confusion on the blonde boy's face, she added, "The guy who goes on about tenchu."

Nataro remained silent for a moment before realization hit. "Ohhhh, the weirdo that injured Hanzo in the first place!! Back to avenge your friend, huh? Well, I ain't going down without a fight!!"

"Damn right!!" His five bunshin called out as they dashed past him towards the Kumo kunoichi. However, they were easily taken out with a swing of her weapon, disappearing as soon as they were stuck by the metal sphere.

"Boring, boring." The dark-skinned girl slammed the sphere of her Chui on the ground and began to perform a handstand. "Watch _this_!!" She fell forward, raising her weapon over her head to slam it down on the Konoha genin's head. "Ha!!" Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Huh?"

"Looking for me?!" Nataro exclaimed as he fell from the sky and landed a kick on her head. He flipped away from her, landing near the edge of the river. He reached into his back pouch and pulled out a smoke bomb. He tossed it at the Kumo girl just as she had recovered from the kick, creating a large cloud of thick smoke. The blonde boy formed a hand sign and fifteen bunshin appeared around him. "Ready or not, here I come!!" He screamed as he and his clones charged into the smoke cloud.

Though the fight was unseen, the sounds of flesh being struck and bunshin being dispelled were heard until the smoke cleared, just as the girl took out two bunshin with a swing of her weapon. She had several bruises and cuts on her but the Kumo kunoichi still seemed to be going strong. Nataro and his remaining five bunshin were standing around her, muscles tense and prepared to move when she did.

"ORRAH!!" The Kumo girl spun around in an attempt to knock down the blonde boy and his clones, but they were quick enough to duck underneath her spin. During this time, one of the clones slid forward and sweep-kicked her off of her feet, followed up by two more clones that kicked her up into the air. The remaining two clones flipped up into the air and hammered her back down towards the original Nataro, who gave her a powerful punch to the gut that sent her flying. The Kumo girl landed in the river with a big splash.

"Huh. That was easier than I thought..." The blonde mumbled. "I thought for sure I was going to wind up with a couple of broken bones or something..."

"But...our fish...!" One of the clones pointed out. "They got away!!"

"You wanna climb in there and risk seeing that Amazon chick again?"

"Nuh-uh..."

"Good! Now, time to get back to Hanzo and Kaze. They must be starving by now."

Nataro and his clones jumped into the tree and began to travel back towards Team 14's current home base. Seconds later, bubbles began to float up to the surface of the river and the dark-skinned blonde came up to the surface flailing. She climbed onto the riverbed and fell down, spitting out water.

"Damn...! I lost my Chui...! Damn that guy!" The dark-skinned girl panted with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I swear that before the end of this exam, _I will get him_!" She muttered with a smirk.

**X-X-X**

When Nataro landed in the clearing where the hallowed tree was, what he saw made his jaw drop. Kazemaru was lying on the ground a few feet away, shuriken and kunai scattered about, and scorch marks on the ground. He ran over to his red-haired teammate and bent down beside him. "Kaze!! Are you alright? Say something!" The blonde boy started to pinch the redhead's cheek, which made him stir. "You're alive!"

"No, I'm a zombie..._idiot_," Kazemaru muttered as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"What happened here?"

"What do you _think_? We got attacked...by that Tenchu weirdo and his friend. Where...where are they, anyway?"

Nataro took a look around. "Nope."

Kaze's eyes suddenly widened. "Hanzo!" He struggled to stand up, but wound up falling down again. "Crap...!" He looked up at his teammate and narrowed his eyes. "What're you waiting for? Help me out here!"

"Wait, I don't get it. Is something wrong with Hanzo?" The blonde boy asked as he helped his teammate onto his feet.

"Before I was knocked out, the Tenchu freak was gonna hurt him!"

Nataro's eyes grew large. "Hanzo!!"

They walked to the hollowed tree and looked inside to find their raven-haired teammate lying on his side, fast asleep.

"Phew...! What a relief..." Kazemaru mumbled. "But...wait a minute, where'd those guys go?"

**X-X-X**

Seian and Hotaru were sitting in another part of the forest. The white-haired boy still seemed to be in shock, even after his teammate had carried him for minutes--something he hated. The black-clad boy snapped his fingers in front of his teammate. He didn't respond, so he pushed him lightly. He still didn't respond. Seian held up a balled up fist for, silently contemplating what he was about to do...but that only lasted for a few seconds before he punched Hotaru in the face with enough force to make the boy fall over.

"GYAAAHHH!!" The white-haired ninja cried as tears welled up in his eyes. Sitting up, he lightly touched the bruise on his face, and then glared at Seian. "What was that for?!"

"You weren't snapping out of it," the black-clad Kumo boy stated in a deadpan tone.

A vein popped up on the side of Hotaru's head. "That didn't mean you had to punch the living daylights outta me!! Sheesh...!" He calmed down and began to hug his legs to his chest. "H-hey... When I was gonna kill that guy, did you see him..._move_ in any way?"

"No. But then again, I never got to see him, period."

"Right..." The white-haired genin began to shift uncomfortably. "I thought that he was actually..." He gulped and started to shake a little. "Heh-heh-heh...! Never, never, _never_! That's just not possible."

Seian tilted his head slightly to the side. "What?"

Hotaru laughed nervously again. "Heh-heh... I...thought he was a monster."

"Monster...?" After a moment of silence, Seian stood up. "You're right, it's just not possible."

"Yup!" The shorter boy jumped onto his feet and folded his arms across his chest. "Let's find that brutish girl and get going!" _'For something that's not possible...the pain sure did feel real...'_

**X-X-X**

"Hey, Hanzo! Look what I've got for you!"

Hanzo blinked and stared down at the handful of aloe that Nataro was holding. "Hm? Aloe? You...got this for me?"

The blonde genin grinned. "Heh-heh! Of course! I wasn't gonna let you suffer like this, you know!"

For a brief moment, a cherry-red blush appeared on the Uchiha's face. "That's... Thanks, Nataro. But...do you know how you're supposed to use it?"

Nataro sweatdropped. "Uh... No."

"Here's another question: _where's our food_?" Kazemaru spoke flatly as he leaned against the inside of the tree.

Once again, the orange-clad boy sweatdropped and gave a sheepish smile. "I, um... I lost it all when some crazy chick attacked me!"

"You were attacked?!" Hanzo exclaimed.

"You _lost our food_?!" Kazemaru screamed as the air around him became hotter. "MORON!!! I'm so hungry, I can't even _walk_ an' _you_ were dumb enough to get ambushed and lose our breakfast?! I NEED FOOD!!!"

"Ssshhh!! Remember where we are!"

"FUG THAT!!! I'm gonna kill you for this, Nataro!!" Kaze's body was suddenly engulfed in flames once again. Nataro and Hanzo's eyes became large from shock before the redhead pounced on top of the blonde. "KILL YOU!!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The pyromanic genin's flames suddenly went out again and his stomach growled. Nataro was lying beneath him, slightly burnt with steam rising up from his body.

"Soooo hungryyyy...!" Kazemaru whined, his face tinged with blue.

"Owwww...!" Nataro cried as tears welled up in his eyes.

Hanzo sweatdropped as he continued to lay on his side. "Are you guys...okay?"

Both of his teammates shot a glare in the Uchiha's direction. "What do _you _think?!"

**X-X-X**

"So, how is it faring?"

"So far, so good. It's managed to survive three days in there, but it has yet to react."

"I thought that it was going to change again with the ordeals in there. It is more resilient than I thought. Maybe...it needs a _push_..."

"Say no more. I'll be on my way."

**X-X-X**

Hours later in the Forest of Death, Nataro and Kazemaru were walking down a path, their stomachs growling. The two genin were on an A-rank mission--well, that was how seriously they took the situation of finding breakfast. They had decided to leave Hanzo behind with a gang of camouflaged kage bunshin, if in case of enemy attacks, while they went in search of anything edible that wasn't related to plant life.

"Hmmm..." Nataro looked over his shoulder to stare at Kazemaru. He'd been doing it ever since they left their home base, and his red-haired teammate had noticed.

"Okay, quit staring at me, moron!!" Kaze snapped, pointing a finger at the blonde boy.

"How can you expect me _not_ to stare after you nearly _burned me alive_? What _was_ that, anyway?"

"Oh, _please_! I barely singed your clothes!" The pyromanic genin stared at the ground in thought for a few seconds. "And...I'm not so sure what it was." He started to smirk. "Maybe I've got some incredibly rare and unique kekkei genkai (bloodline trait)!"

Nataro snorted and looked forward, placing his hands behind his head. "Setting yourself on fire doesn't sound so _rare and unique_."

"Better than only knowing one special jutsu, _Ramen Breath_!"

"Hmph!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in a part of the forest not too far away from Nataro Kazemaru, a person walked the path. They wore a long, black zipped-up cloak with the hood up, hiding their face and sleeves long enough to hide their hands. The cloaked person made footprints of blood on the ground--a result of an awful incident that had occurred not to long ago when a squad of desperate genin tried to attack him.

_'Now, what could be enough to push it to the edge?'_ He thought as one of the Kusa genin's bodies fell from branches of a tree a few feet behind him, landing with a sickening crack. _'I'm not sure if anyone here is capable of making it break out.'_ The cloaked person stopped walking and shook his head. "Maybe..._I_ should be the one to give him a _tiny push_...over the edge."

He was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed the beast standing behind him. It was a tiger that was five times the size of an average tiger, easily towering over the cloaked man. When he looked over his shoulder at the beast, a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head. The tiger gave a loud roar that echoed through the entire forest and splattered the man's cloak with saliva. After a few seconds of waiting in silence, he took off, leaving behind a trail of dust that the tiger bounded after.

**X-X-X**

Back with Nataro and Kaze, the redhead on Nataro's shoulders, who was on the shoulders of his kage bunshin, forming a tower. The genin were trying to get their hands on some eggs in a nest on a high tree branch.

"Ah...! Got it!" Kazemaru whispered, holding the large egg in his hands with a perverse smile on his face.

At that moment, a black blur ran past them, the speed at which it was going creating some form of sonic boom. Needless to say, the kage bunshin were blown over by the force and fell over, disappearing in poofs of smoke while Nataro and Kazemaru landed on the ground.

"What was _that_?" The blonde genin asked, rubbing the side of his aching head.

"Beats me. I gave up trying to figure out things in this forest," the redhead muttered. He blinked upon realizing that he wasn't holding the large egg. The egg actually landed beside him, cracking upon and splattering its yolk on the floor. "YAAARRRRGHHHH!!! It was so close...then it just went away...! So long, dream omelet...!" Kaze sniffled with a waterfall of tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I've got a bad feeling that something's gonna happen..."

"With your fluffy whiteness and yellowy goodness...!"

Nataro gave his pyromanic teammate a skeptical look. "Would you stop crying over the damn egg?!"

"I'm not crying for the egg! I'm crying from _hunger_!! I need a decent meal or I'm gonna pass out!!"

"Fool!! Have you forgotten where we are?! In a forest filled with people just itching to kill us for a _scroll_!"

"Shut up!! I wouldn't be starving if you had remembered to bring back food!!"

At that moment, the genin heard a low growl. Looking over their shoulders, they saw a large tiger bounding towards them. A look of fear immediately appeared in Nataro's eyes, but Kazemaru's held a look of hunger instead.

"At last!! FOOD!!!" The pyromanic genin cried as he jumped to his feet, arms outstretched as if welcoming the approaching beast. "Come to Kaze, baby!!"

In a flash, Nataro was on his feet and holding Kaze back, gritting his teeth in effort. "KAZE!!! Are you _insane_?! To that thing _we're_ food!!"

"Who cares?! Survival of the fittest!! Eat or be eaten!!"

"Aw, you _have_ lost it!!" The blonde cried as the tiger leapt at them and landed on top of them, causing dust to rise. When it cleared, the large feline realized that it was on top of a pair of logs. The tiger sniffed the logs, curious before Kazemaru jumped out from the tree he was hiding in with a kunai in each hand.

"BANZAI!!"

In the next tree over, Nataro jumped out of the foliage and pushed Kaze aside before he could land on top of the tiger. They landed on the ground a few feet away from the large feline, rolling before coming to a stop. The blonde genin, who was on top of the taller one, immediately started screaming, "MORON!!! IDIOT!!! ARE YOU SO HUNGRY THAT YOUR _BRAIN_ IS EATING AWAY AT ITSELF?!?"

"Stop screaming so loud and help me catch our food, damn it!!"

They both jumped out of the way in time as the tiger attempted to swipe them aside with a swing of its paw. Nataro formed a familiar hand sign and over a dozen Kage Bunshin appeared in midair above the tiger. The clones landed on top of it, gripping onto the beast as it attempted to buck them off of its body, ramming its body against the trees when its former method wasn't working.

"Keep that thing still!!" Kazemaru yelled over the roaring tiger and the screaming bunshin, gripping his kunai anxiously in his hands.

"Have you seen the size of this thing?!" Nataro's clones screamed as the blonde genin formed a hand sign. Three more clones appeared in front of him in a poof of smoke before running to the tiger and leaping at it, landing on the large feline's head in an attempt to cover its eyes. This only seemed to make the tiger thrash about even more. In its blind fury, it managed to bite down on a bunshin's ankle and the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Another bunshin appeared beside the orange-clad blonde, then it transformed into a large shuriken.

"Here it goes!!" Nataro exclaimed as he jumped up into the air, throwing the shuriken down at the tiger. It hit the beast in the side of its neck, making it roar in pain. It started to thrash about, wildly tossing the Nataro bunshin off of its body with ease. Nataro landed behind the feline and grabbed hold of its tail for dear life.

Kaze ran up the side of a tree as he reached into his back pouch. He pulled out a piece of folded paper. Flapping the paper open, it was revealed to have been a bomb tag three times as big as a normal one. He jumped off of the tree and landed on top of the tiger, slapping the bomb note on its back as soon as he did. "Nataro!!"

"Way ahead of you!" The blonde released the tail and fell to the ground, rolling away as he did.

Kazemaru jumped off of the tiger and formed a hand sign. The bomb note exploded on a large scale, the power from the explosion actually pushing the boys back a bit as they covered their eyes from the flying dust and rubble. When the smoke cleared, they saw the tiger's corpse, blown apart into to halves by the waist.

"Whoo! What a blast! Ha ha ha!" The pyromanic genin cheered as he wiped the sweat off the brow of his forehead.

Nataro walked up to the upper half of the tiger's body. He licked his lips as the same feeling of intense hunger that welled up in Kaze was now starting to form in him. "Mmm...! This thing could feed us for _days_! But..." He looked back at Kazemaru, his eyes slitted like a kitsune's. "How are we gonna carry this back with all the other ninja around...?"

Kaze sweatdropped and scratched the back of his head. "I...don't know. I didn't actually think we'd survive, really..."

"Are you _serious_?!"

**X-X-X**

Somewhere else in the forest, Ina stood over an unconscious and bruised Leaf genin with a Heaven scroll in one hand and the other resting on her hip. "You should've just given me the scroll to begin with. Would've saved you a lot of trouble."

"This is great! We've already gotten both our scrolls and it's only the third day!" Shizuka exclaimed happily.

"Mm-hm." The raven-haired girl looked over her shoulder and Konjo, who was holding onto a wound on his arm. "Konjo. You know what to do."

"Right." Konjo gave a nod and he formed a hand sign. "Byakugan!" Veins appeared around his eyes as his kekkei genkai activated. In a few seconds, he could see just about everything in the forest--the animals stalking prey, ninja fighting each other, Nataro and Kazemaru of Team 14 dragging the severed corpse of a tiger along the ground, the ninja who was hidden by a camouflaging jutsu nearby--until he saw what he wanted. "The tower is 55 kilometers away, northwest. There are some other squads around the closest path, but it would take longer to reach the others."

Ina nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright... Everybody feeling okay? If so, we're going to go ahead to the tower."

"I wonder if Hanzo-kun and his team are okay..." Shizuka spoke out her thoughts, making Ina look at the blue-haired girl with an arched eyebrow.

"With _Nataro_ as his teammate, poor Hanzo may be dead already." At those words, the blue-haired girl's face turned blue from horror. "No need to think about such things. Let's get going."

"O...okay..."

The genin kunoichi jumped up into the trees and began to make their way across the treetops. Konjo turned around and waved at the spot where the camouflaged ninja had been hiding. "Bye, Kaoru!" The Hyuga boy then followed his teammates.

Seconds later, at the base of a tree, Kaoru suddenly became visible. He fixed his slightly askew glasses with a frown. "Crap...! Ina's team already has a pair! Maybe I should've..." He started to shake his head frantically. "No, no no! Definitely not! It'd be suicide just by taking Ina on _alone_! Konjo, maybe a little easier, and Shizuka _definitely_ beatable, but Ina is a whole other story!" The redheaded genin groaned as he banged the back of his head against the tree. "Where the hell are those misfits?!"

**X-X-X**

Back at Team 14's home base, Hanzo had been sleeping peacefully inside of the hollow tree. However, for the last couple of seconds, he felt like he was being watched.

"Rrrrr...!" The soft sound of growling made Hanzo open his eyes. Just as he feared, he found himself staring into the eyes of a beast--a tiger, to be exact.

"Ah!!" The raven-haired boy immediately sat up in fear, ignoring the slightly dull pain that was blossoming in his side.

"Hahahahaha!!" The tiger cackled in a familiar voice. "Gotcha!"

"Na..._Nataro_?!"

Nataro and the dozen bunshin that were holding the upper half of the tiger shifted it slightly so Hanzo could see them laughing. "The expression on your face was _priceless_! Hahaha!!"

Hanzo frowned, his cheeks tinged red from embarrassment. "Th-that wasn't funny! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that thing!" He blinked in confusion. "Where'd you get that thing, anyway?"

"What do you _think_?" Nataro mumbled. "We _killed _it."

"_I_ killed it, you liar!!" Kazemaru shouted from outside. Looking past Nataro and his clones, Hanzo saw Kazemaru attempting to light the bottom half of the tiger on fire with just a lighter. After a few failed tries, the pyromanic genin sucked his teeth in irritation. "Well, it looks like we're eating this thing _raw_. Nataro, help me skin it!"

"Hell no!!" The blonde loudmouth and his clones shouted, making the other two genin flinch. "We're not gonna eat it raw!! Right, Hanzo?!"

The Uchiha looked at his friend, his eyes reduced into little black dots. "But how do you expect us to...?" He trailed off once he noticed the look the blondes were giving him. "Oh. Right. I should've seen this coming..."

"_Hold it_! We don't need Fan Boy and his Katon jutsu!" Kaze exclaimed in an overdramatic manner. "Not when _Temashi Kazemaru, the Living Flame_ is on the scene!!"

Nataro and Hanzo both sweatdropped. "I keep telling you, catching on fire ain't impressive!"

"And making solid clones of yourself _is_?"

"Actually, making many solid bunshin is--" Hanzo began. He would've said that it was a jonin-level task to make as many kage bunshin as Nataro did, but Kaze interrupted.

"That was a _rhetorical_ question. Oh, and if you can't guess, Ramen Breath, that means a question that _isn't_ a question."

"I know what it is, damn it!!"

"Whatever." The redhead cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Step back and watch me work!" He formed a hand sign that was familiar to his teammates--the same one they used back in the Academy when they were learning how to concentrate on using their chakra. Kazemaru bent over, determined to burst into flames as he had before. "HAAAAAAAAAHHHH--ah?" He suddenly fell over.

Once again, Nataro and Hanzo sweatdropped. "Kaze? Are you okay?" The dark-haired boy asked in a worried tone. His worry quickly faded when he heard a loud growling sound.

"So...so hungry..."

The blonde boy stifled a laugh. "W-way to go, _Living Flame_! Hahaha!!"

"Shut it, you fuggin' hyena!!"

Unnoticed by the genin squad, the cloaked figure from before was sitting on a tree branch high above their heads. _'I should've known that some dumb cat wouldn't be able to push it over the edge... I've still got two more days before they leave. I should be able to get a tail out of it by then...'_

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**A Chui is a Chinese weapon, a long metal staff with a large iron ball connected to it from the end. Examples of chui would be Angol Fear's weapons (from Soul Calibur IV) and a female character's weapons in Dynasty Warriors.**

**Aloe has healing properties. It can sooth burns and fight infections. It can also work on acne and insect stings and bites.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Wasn't that a wonderful chapter?**

**Hanzo: Wonderful?! I was in pain for the majority of it! Couldn't you have suggested the aloe a little sooner?**

**Blu: Awww, but you know how people love Uchiha in pain!**

**Hanzo: That statement's some sort of awful foreshadowing, isn't it?**

**Blu: You're an Uchiha. Awful foreshadowings are a part of your life.**

**Naruto: I'd say that's a yes.**

**Nataro: Brace yourself, Hanzo!**

**Blu: (Ignoring the others) Here's hoping you guys review for the sake of Blu, and remember to stay tuned! The next chapter is the last day of the Second Exam! See you in the next chapter!**


	10. 2nd Exam, Final Day:Race for the Scrolls

**Blu: Here we are at the final part of the Second Exam! Nothing much to say except "enjoy"! Roll the fic!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this story._

**X-X-X**

_#10: The Second Exam, Final Day: Showdown for the Last Scroll!_

_"If it's our scroll you want, then come and get it! Take it and leave us alone!"_ _Sasuke told the snake-like shinobi in front of him as he held out his team's heaven scroll._

_"What?! Sasuke, what the __**hell**__ are you thinking?!" Nataro's dream self exclaimed as he pointed a finger down at the raven-haired boy. "You think we can win by handing over everything we've got?!"_

_"Heh. Well done..." The snake-like shinobi spoke as his legs uncurled from around the thick tree branch, allowing him to stand up. This guy's snake-like qualities seriously creeped Nataro out more than the giant snake. "You're obviously natural-born prey, knowing that your only hope for survival is to tempt the predator with tastier bait!"_

_Sasuke simply frowned and threw the scroll at the Kusa ninja. Nataro jumped off of the tree branch he was standing on and landed in front of the Uchiha, holding the scroll in his hands. "Stay out of this!! You have no idea what we're up against!!"_

_Before Nataro knew it, he had punched the raven-haired boy in the face. As much as he hated to admit it, doing so didn't give him the feeling of joy it did. All he felt was anger and disappointment as Sasuke recovered and landed on another branch nearby. "I may not remember that stupid password...but I know that __**you're not Sasuke**__!!"_

_Sakura, who was on another branch below them, blinked. "What?!"_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Naruto, you idiot...! Of course I'm me!"_

_"That's a load of crap, __**idiot**__! Because the Sasuke I know isn't a coward like you! So you're not him!" The blonde genin growled. "Besides, even if we __**did**__ give him the scroll, there's no guarantee that he'd just spare us and leave! So not only are you an idiot, you're a chicken, too!!"_

_The snakeish Kusa nin chuckled darkly. "Oh, Naruto... How right you are." He licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue and continued, "Why should I have to bargain with you...when I could simply kill you and take your scroll?" Pulling up his sleeve, the man revealed a tattoo that almost resembled a snake. Biting his thumb, he drew blood and smeared it across the tattoo before forming a hand sign._

_"I've had it with you!!" Nataro shouted as he ran towards him, ignoring Sasuke's screams of protest._

_'So much for trusting Sasuke...' Nataro thought as he leapt at the man with a kunai in his hand. In a poof of smoke, a large snake appeared beneath him, even bigger than the one from before. 'Not another one!!'_

_With a whip of its massive tail, the snake sent Nataro flying up through several tree branches before he finally hit a very thick branch, coughing up blood upon impact. Even though it was just a dream, he swore he could taste the blood in his mouth. As he started to fall, he heard the Kusa ninja speak._

_"Let's not take any chances. Eat him!"_

_'Eat?! __**Again**__?!'_

_As he fell close to the giant snake's face, the blonde boy narrowed his eyes and felt something rising inside of him. Whatever it was, it had enough influence to make him punch the snake in the nose. And the weird thing was that it actually seemed to __**hurt**__ it! "EAT __**THIS**__!!!" The snake crashed down through several branches before it landed on the ground, dazed by the force of the blow. His actions made his teammates and the snake man stare at him in shock. That didn't seem to last long for the latter, as he quickly retaliated by blowing a gust of wind powerful enough to push him into a tree._

_"Hmhmhm! Those eyes...! Very good, Naruto...!" The snake snapped out of its daze and raised its head. "Now how will __**Sasuke-kun**__ deal with it?!" The giant serpent quickly slithered towards Sasuke. The raven-haired boy was still frozen in shock._

_"Sasuke!!" Sakura cried out as the snake was seconds away from Sasuke..._

_Then it just stopped. The reason was because of Nataro, who had jumped in front of the giant snake in time to stop it. "H-hey... Are you...okay...?" He panted. He looked up at Sasuke, who was looking at him in shock. "You big scaredy cat?!"_

"WAKE UP, YA BONEHEAD!!!"

**X-X-X**

Nataro immediately sat up, holding onto the bump on his head. "OW!!" He glared at Kazemaru. "What'd you do _that_ for?!" He growled. After a few seconds, the blonde noticed that the redhead was staring at him with large eyes. "Huh? What're you lookin' at me like that for?"

"Uh..." Kaze rubbed his eyes and blinked. "I thought...your eyes were red for a moment. Anyway..." He grit his teeth and struck Nataro on the head once again. He was about to try a third time, but Hanzo immediately grabbed his arms and pulled him back. "Lemme at 'em!! _Lemme at 'em_!!"

"Taking out your pent up rage on Nataro isn't going to help us!" The raven-haired boy spoke through gritted teeth as he struggled to keep the redhead back.

"I'll feel a helluva lot better once I pound him a few times!!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he elbowed the Uchiha in the stomach, releasing him from his grasp.

"Hey!! What do you think you're doing?!" Nataro growled before pouncing onto Kazemaru. They both began to fight in the dirt, making dust rise and hiding them from sight as insults began to fly.

"Pyro Freak!"

"Ramen Breath!"

"Porno Addict!"

"Peanut Brain!"

"Pervert!!"

"Dunce!!"

As the two young ninja continued, their dark-haired teammate picked up two well-sized off the ground and threw them into the dust cloud that had formed.

"OW!!" The dust cleared to reveal both boys sitting on the ground with large bumps on their heads, caused by the rocks, and several fresh bruises and scratches added to the ones they had gotten these last five days. "What'd you _that_ for?!"

"Because you were being immature. Now stop fighting, or it won't _rocks_ I'll throw at you next time."

Kazemaru sucked his teeth and arched an eyebrow. "Who do you think you are? Tsuki-sensei?" He then turned to Nataro. "And what about _you_?"

"Huh?" The blonde asked as he dusted himself off.

"You kept talking in your sleep so loud about some crap or another--something about giant snakes and cowards or something that I could care less about! I just wanted you to _shut the hell up_!"

Nataro scratched his cheek, eyes slitted like a kitsune's._ 'Do I __**always**__ talk in my sleep?'_ "So what? That's no reason to beat up on Hanzo, you freak!"

"_You're_ the freak, you little blonde pest!"

"Don't mind Kazemaru, Nataro. He's still upset about what happened yesterday," Hanzo said calmly. The statement caused the pyro to glare at the raven-haired genin.

"You're damn right I'm still upset!! How many times have _you_ been attacked by some forest animal, nearly killed by traps set by other shinobi, and have had to _fight_ for you food?!" When he didn't get a reply, he shouted, "THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!!"

Nataro pounced on his redheaded teammate and clamped a hand on his mouth. "Shush! Someone might hear you!"

When the blonde removed his hand, Kazemaru gave him a skeptical look. "What _someone_? I bet nobody else is in this forest but _us_! I mean, we've been here for _four frickin' days_!"

"You have a point there..." Hanzo gave a sigh as he sat down next to his teammates. "So far, we've encountered six teams...and we've managed to beat all of them--even if some were a bit difficult, but--"

"None of them had Heaven scrolls!!" Nataro interrupted. "Does our luck suck so much that we only met up with teams that had the same scroll that we do?"

"At least Kaze had fun burning those scrolls at night when we needed a fire." The Uchiha looked at the pyro. "I doubt that's allowed, by the way."

"Hey, I needed something to take my aggression out on and those things burned just as good as wood. And you weren't exactly objecting to it, Fan Boy," Kazemaru muttered as he looked at Hanzo from the corner of his eye. "So, now what? We just gonna wait here until the exam's over and someone comes and gets us?"

The team's loudmouth blonde suddenly pumped a fist in the air, eyes squinted like a fox's once more. "No way! We can't just give up so easily! There's gotta be at least _one_ team left with a heaven scroll in this forest!"

"Ignorance really is bliss," Kaze mumbled, unheard by Nataro.

"It's nice that you're so enthusiastic about this, Nataro, but we don't even know if there are any Heaven scrolls left." Hanzo looked up at what little sky he could see between the leaves of the trees from the hole in their makeshift home base. "Don't forget, there were an odd number of scrolls when the exams began. People have probably died of starvation or fatal injury. And there are the people who have already passed. Who knows how many Heaven scrolls are left now?"

Nataro stared at the ground in thought for a moment before looking up at Hanzo. "Well, we won't know until we try, right?"

"Hmmm... I guess that's true. But we need a plan." The Uchiha gestured for his teammates to huddle together, which they did, and continued, "Since today's the last day, we can assume that all the teams who've gotten all their scrolls are going to be heading to the tower."

Kaze snorted and rolled his eyes. "No duh!"

"Oh, I get it! We just wait at the tower and then...BOOM!! We launch a sneak attack on one of the teams, steal their scroll, and make our way into the tower!" Nataro said as he nodded.

"Yes, but there are other complications." As his teammates gave him confused looks, the raven-haired genin sighed. "The problem is that the other remaining teams will get the same idea. There are probably other teams near the tower right now, setting traps for the teams going there or have the same idea as them."

"In other words, we've gotta be _way_ careful. When you're up against desperate people, one wrong move and it's all over," the team pyro spoke in a serious tone.

Silence fell over the group for a while before Nataro gulped. _'Gee, who knows what sort of maniacs we'll run into next?'_

Hanzo stood up. "Well, let's go." Kazemaru and Nataro stood up as well.

"Here's hoping we get through this alive..." The red-clad redhead stated.

"And with all our _limbs_ and _body parts_ still attached," the orange-clad blonde shuddered.

**X-X-X**

Moments later, Team 14 were walking on a path that led to the tower rather than jumping, so as not to draw attention to the other squads.

"The scent of death runs rampant in this area," Kaze spoke darkly as he narrowed his eyes.

"Gee, you think it could be because of all the _dead bodies_?" Nataro asked sarcastically.

The boys were a few feet away from the tower now, and as such, there were signs of other ninja--mainly the dead corpses that had been littered about. They had even scared off a wolf that had begun eating an Ame kunoichi's corpse a while ago.

"I'm starting to wonder if there really _is_ anyone left in here," Kazemaru thought out loud. "We haven't run into any traps or other teams...and it's so damn _quiet_ to boot!"

"Ninja are supposed to do that. Hiding in the shadows, waiting for just the right moment when their target lets down their guard to strike," said Hanzo as he scoped the surrounding area. Yup, they were still on a path that led straight to the tower.

"Yeah, well, I wish they'd come out already! A super-big final fight is just the thing we need to finish this exam," Nataro said in an all-knowing tone as he started nodding his head.

The team pyro gave his teammate a look and sucked his teeth as he walked ahead of the others. "Tch. Yeah, right. This is the _easiest_ way to get to the finish line. Any other ninja would expect you to take the most difficult path or go through the trees so you're harder to follow--but that's what they'd _expect_ you to do. I bet there aren't even any traps--"

Hanzo grabbed Kazemaru by the back of his jacket and pulled him backwards. "Stop." He pointed at something on the ground, a piece of wire.

The redhead stared at it for a good while. "What the hell? Is this supposed to be a _trap_?" He sweatdropped.

"Looks pretty lame to me," Nataro muttered, sweatdropping as well.

Hanzo picked up a stick and dropped it on the wire. A net dropped from the air, landing on the ground.

"I repeat: _pretty lame_."

That was when a log dropped on top of them from above. "GUH!!"

A poof of smoke appeared in front of the fallen Team 14. Three figures were visible within the smoke.

"Aha! I knew we'd catch someone eventually!" A familiar male voice exclaimed in a triumphant tone.

Woo-hoo! Kaoru, you _rule_!" A second voice, this one female, spoke up. "Nobody would expect something like _that_ to happen!"

"Y'know, I thought that plan wouldn't work for a second there. We've been out here since yesterday..." Said the third familiar voice, another young male.

The smoke cleared, revealing Kaoru, Rie and Masamune. The bespectacled redhead smirked, rubbing his chin smugly. "Well, well, look at what we've caught. A trio of _misfits_!"

"Ohhh, Hanzo-kun~!" The kunoichi of the group swooned as she held her hand to her forehead. "Are you hurt? I could kiss it and make you feel all better!"

In a poof of smoke, Team 14 disappeared from underneath the log. A collective "huh?!" was heard from Team 11 as the _real_ Team 14 jumped down from the tree tops and landed behind the log.

"You were right, Hanzo. Sending Kage Bunshin in as decoys was a smart move!" said Nataro.

Kaoru continued smirking. "So, how does it feel to be caught by someone with a higher intellect?"

Hanzo sweatdropped. "Uh, technically, we weren't caught."

"Wh-whatever!! Good luck has finally smiled down on us and allowed us an opportunity to make it to the final exam!" The redhead shouted, slightly red in the face.

"We've been searching the entire forest for an Earth scroll and haven't been able to find one. It's like they just popped out of existence," said Masamune as he scratched the back of his head.

"Earth scroll? That means you guys have a Heaven scroll!" Nataro exclaimed, pointing a finger at Team 11.

"No duh, _dunce_. So, if you _misfits_ will just hand over your scroll, we'll be on our way." Rie pinched Kaoru on his arm. "Ow! Hey!"

"Don't lump Hanzo-kun in the same category as those two losers! That's not right!!" The purple-clad brunette pinched the redhead again. "Got that?!"

"But he's--"

"Ah-ah-ah! _No_!"

Nataro and Kazemaru began to glare at Rie. _'Did she just call us __**losers**__?'_

Kaoru groaned as he stared at his female teammate from the corner of his eye. "Fine then! Just put a genjutsu on them."

"Hold it!!" Nataro exclaimed, holding up his hand to halt them. "Not so fast, _weirdoes_!"

"Only one of us has an Earth scroll," Hanzo continued. "Think you can find out who?" He looked at his teammates. "Nataro! Kaze! Split up!" He then ran off to the left.

"Right!!" The blonde and redhead exclaimed before running off themselves--the former running back down the path they came from and the latter running away to the right.

"Wh-wh-what the hell?!" Kaoru sputtered as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Never knew they'd do _that_~..." Masamune mumbled with a small smile, scratching his cheek.

"Oooohhh! I get Hanzo!" Rie exclaimed quickly, disappearing before either one of her teammates could open their mouths.

_'She's probably off to ravage that poor guy.'_ "I'll get Nataro! You focus on getting Kazemaru!" Kaoru told his silver-haired teammate as he took off down the path.

Masamune blinked. "Kazemaru? Ohhh, he's going to be difficult to deal with..." He ran off in the same direction as the pyromanic genin.

**X-X-X**

Hanzo easily jumped through the trees. _'This should be far enough.'_ He stopped jumping and landed on a branch to take a breather. He looked back and noticed no one there. _'Good. I think I've lost her.'_ He looked forward and found himself staring into the gaunt face of a woman wearing a long flowing white dress stained with dried blood, her eyes closed and seemingly bruised, stitches on the side of her cheek, and some bloody patches amongst her thin white hair. The sight almost made him stumble off of the tree in shock, but when he blinked, the woman was gone.

"Hanzo-kuuun~!" And from the voice and the arms wrapping around his chest, he knew that the girl in purple had arrived. "What are you doing running off like that? Silly boy!"

"Um..." He didn't try to question where she had come from. It was obvious to him that she used a genjutsu to disorient him while she snuck up on him.

Rie leaned forward, pushing herself deeper into Hanzo's back, much to Hanzo's dislike. "Mmm, your scent, your touch! Everything I thought it'd be!" The purple-clad kunoichi squealed, making Hanzo turn blue in the face.

"L-let me go! I don't like hitting girls, but if I have to, I will!"

"No way! You're way too nice...or _are_ you?" A mischievous look appeared in the brunette's yellow eyes. "I think I'll take a look into your head and see for myself."

Hanzo blinked. "Wait, what?" He didn't get to say anything else before his pupils shrank and fell silent, while Rie's chakra rose up from her body and began to wrap around him.

**X-X-X**

A spotlight shone down to reveal Rie, who looked around her new surroundings in confusion. She seemed to be standing on a metal floor, but all she could see was what the spotlight shone down on. Another spotlight suddenly came to life, shining down on a person a few feet away.

Rie approached the person and gasped when she saw who it was. "Hanzo-kun?" It looked like Hanzo, once he lolled his head over in her direction.

**"Did you think you could enter our mind and get away with it?"** Hanzo turned around so he could face the girl, swaying side to side a bit while slumped over. **"Get lost."**

"Huh?"

A faint shadowy figure appeared behind the dark-haired boy as a creepy smile spread across his face. **"I said...get...lost!"** Red eyes glowed behind the bangs hanging in front of them before dark tendrils shot out from the faint figure behind him and stabbed Rie's body. **"What's this...? What are you hiding...?"**

She could feel the tendrils pushing into her body, moving underneath her skin. Rie couldn't help but squeal as pain blossomed in her body. She attempted to break off the illusion and get out of Hanzo's head, but it was almost like the Uchiha was trying to keep her in.

"H-hanzo...-kun?"

**"You had your chance. Now suffer."**

**X-X-X**

In reality, Rie shook slightly as she held Hanzo, eyes wide in fright. Eventually, she opened her mouth. Seconds later, she let out a piercing scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" When she was done, she almost fell off of the tree, still in a daze, but Hanzo immediately regained consciousness and grabbed her hands, holding her close to his body.

The raven-haired boy cringed in guilt as he hoisted Rie onto his back. "I'm so sorry, Rie-san..."

**X-X-X**

Kazemaru and Masamune stood on the same thick winding branch, facing each other. The redhead gave a proud smirk as he folded his arms across his chest. "Well, who would've thunk it? Just a few months ago, we were classmates...and now, we're enemies."

"_Enemy_ is such a harsh word, don't you think?" The gray-haired boy asked with his usual broad smile. He slid his foot forward and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "I'd like to think of this match as a fight between equal Konoha shinobi, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, please! Don't dump your polite crap on me, Smiley!!" Kaze exclaimed as he dashed towards the sword-wielding genin, pulling back a fist to strike. Masamune drew his sword with one fluid swipe, but the pyromanic genin ducked and tried to punch him in the stomach. Masamune simply jumped back before the blow could hit and slid his sword back into its sheath. Kazemaru quickly reached into his thigh holster and sent some shuriken flying towards him, but the green-clad genin drew his sword once again and blocked the flying projectiles with the flat of her blade. Masamune blinked when he noticed that Kazemaru was no longer in front of him.

"Where'd he go?"

Kazemaru gave a short battle cry as he began to fall towards the gray-haired genin with the intent of landing a kick on his head. But before his leg could make impact, Masamune drew his sword once more and blocked the blow, Luckily for Kaze, his leg landed on the dull side of the blade and all he was left with was a slight pain that made him flinch. Masamune took that moment to push him back and strike him in the chest with the dull side of his sword once more before jumping back and sheathing his sword. Kazemaru doubled over, holding the area that had been struck as he sweated and panted. "Huh... What's the matter? Playing it safe?"

"Yes, I am. But only because you're better than you used to be."

The redhead arched an eyebrow as he slowly reached into his back pouch and began to search for something. "Better? I've _always_ been this good!" He said with a smirk. He then pulled out some kunai from his back pouch and threw them at the gray-haired boy, who was prepared to block them once again. "Think again!!" Kazemaru exclaimed when he formed a hand sign. The second the kunai made contact with the flat of Masamune's blade, they exploded, the force sending him flying back. _'Now!'_ Kazemaru immediately dashed through the smoke created by the explosion and jump kicked Masamune in the head, sending him flying back into the trunk of the tree with a sickening crack. "Oooh, I did _not_ mean for that to happen!"

"Uhhh...!" Masamune held onto his broken arm, clenching his teeth. Looking up, he saw Kazemaru standing a few feet away from him, his sword impaled on the branch behind the redhead. Masamune got to his feet, still a bit shaky from the impact. His usable hand twitched, his smile disappeared from his face and his eyes suddenly seemed sharper to Kaze.

"Hey... What's with that look? You tryin' to intimidate me?" The pyromanic genin asked with an arched eyebrow.

"No. But I have a feeling that the next blow will be the one to decide this match."

"What? Where'd you get _that_? Some cheesy samurai movie?"

"Think what you'd like, but that's what I believe!!" The gray-haired boy shouted as he charged forward, hand on his empty sheath. When he was close to the redhead, Kaze, upon sheer instinct, grabbed the hilt of the sword behind him and swung forward, just in time to block Masamune's blow. Unfortunately, he struck with the dull side of the blade, not the sharp side, and didn't cut through the sheath. What happened afterwards was a contest of strength between the two boys as they began to push each other back and forth every couple of seconds.

"Ugh, this is getting us _nowhere_!" Kazemaru growled, his eyebrow twitching in irritation. He kneed Masamune in the stomach, making him slacken his grip on his sheath and step back. The redhead took the opportunity to deliver an uppercut and released the sword in his hand before grabbing the top of Masamune's hair. Kaze gave the green-clad boy a grin before headbutting him.

When Masamune fell back onto the tree branch, his eyes were large and blank. There was a large red bruise in the middle of his forehead that was visible through his bangs.

"OWWW!!! Aw, _crap_! Why'd I have to do a dumb thing like _that_?! I'm gonna have such a _headache..._" Kazemaru cried as he held onto his forehead, carefully touching the bruise. He turned around to leave when he started to stare at his unconscious fellow Academy graduate. After a few seconds of staring, he frowned. _'Oh, crap! I can't just leave him out here in this freaky forest! No matter how much I hate 'em...'_ He lifted Masamune up with some difficulty and placed him on his back piggy back style, but not before sheathing the green-clad genin's sword and holding it in his mouth. _'Damn it! Being kind to the enemy...! That will __**not**__ look good in a soon-to-be chunin!'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, with Nataro and Kaoru, the blonde genin immediately rolled behind a tree, dodging a flurry of shuriken. He smirked to himself as he formed a hand sign. _'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'_

"Now where could he be...?" Kaoru said as he stared at the tree that Nataro had rolled behind. _'Like I don't know.'_ He walked up to the tree, channeling chakra into his feet to silence the sound of his footsteps. He reached into his back pouch and immediately jumped around to the other side of the tree to find...nothing. Nataro wasn't sitting behind the tree anymore.

"BANZAI!!!" The bespectacled redhead looked up to see over two dozen Nataros falling from above. "We've gotcha now!!" They all shouted as they began to ball up their fists.

_'That's where you're wrong, loser!'_ Kaoru thought as he placed the kunai in his mouth by the handle and formed a few hand signs. When he was done, he held out his open palms and clapped them together, creating a blast of sound that was far greater than what a normal clap should. _'Jaan no Jutsu (Boom Technique)!!'_

Nataro immediately held onto his ears, as did his clones. When the clones landed on the ground, they landed on top of each other, disappearing in puffs of smoke until the real Nataro landed on the top of the pile and fell to the ground in no less than a second. "Ugh...!" The blonde genin got to his feet, swaying a slight bit. His vision seemed a bit blurrier than usual, but he was able to make out Kaoru. He leapt at the redhead and tried to punch him, but Kaoru easily back-stepped his attacks with a smirk until the blonde genin tripped over a root and stumbled forward.

Kaoru chuckled softly to himself. "Heh-heh-heh! Now really, Nataro, I have to ask you...what the heck were you thinking when you signed up for these exams?" he asked with a smirk. "You're just a clown with only one fancy trick, not _chunin material_!"

Nataro frowned and narrowed his eyes, regaining some sense of his surroundings. "And _you_ are?!" He shouted as he pointed a finger at Kaoru.

"Naturally. I'm _far_ more suited for it than you are. I'll admit that you're a _tad_ bit smarter than you were in school, but I can actually think up a good strategy like this."

Nataro blinked. "Like _what_?"

"_This_!"

The blonde genin only had a chance to blink before he felt Kaoru's hand on his head. He wanted to move, but his body seemed to have frozen on the spot, like he was paralyzed. Then he felt something begin to tingle in the back of his head. _'Wh...what is this?'_

"My special ability is...kinda strange. I can't even remember how I got it, but...so long as I can touch you, I can take on all aspects of your physical form--your appearance, your DNA, even your annoying little verbal tics. But if I can touch your _head_, there's an additional bonus: I can see your memories and learn your jutsu as well!" _'If only for a short while.'_ Kaoru began to convulse, as did Nataro. _'Otherwise, I'll start wondering if I'm Kaoru or Nataro and __**snap**__!'_ "Now, I'm gonna use your own jutsu against you!!"

Nataro's memories began to speed through Kaoru's mind: his mission to Benzaiten, Team 14's training test, and the day he graduated from the Ninja Academy...but then, something happened. The memories changed and began to show a different, yet similar boy, fighting dangerous and sometimes freakish-looking guys, sitting alone, staring enviously at other kids. He knew he should've broken off the connection by now, but his curiosity won out over his common sense. Then something weirder happened. Before Kaoru knew what was going on, he was standing in front of a large red fox that was staring at him with its sharp red eyes, as if it was judging him. Speechless by the sight, the redhead simply stood there in awe.

**"Get out,"** said the Kyuubi no Kitsune before unleashed a loud roar that was enough to make Kaoru release Nataro's head and stumble back, holding onto his own and crying in pain.

Nataro flinched and held his head while tears streamed down his cheeks. The pain of...whatever the heck Kaoru had done to him was just that painful. Turning around, he looked down at Kaoru, who had fallen on the ground. When they made eye contact, the redhead started to shake. Nataro didn't know that his eyes had become red and the pupils were now slitted.

"Wh-what..._are_ you?" Kaoru stuttered softly, his glasses askew.

Nataro's eyes widened a bit and they changed back to their normal bright blue, once again unnoticed by the genin. "What do you mean?" He took a step forward, but that only seemed to increase the redhead's erratic behavior.

"Stay back!! I'll kill you if you don't, you...you monster!!"

Those words made the blonde narrow his eyes. "_Monster_? What the heck are you talking about?! I'm not a monster!!" _'Did that jutsu of his backfire or something?'_

"I can't handle this, I can't handle this!" Kaoru's breathing was heavy and tears were welling up in his eyes. The guy looked like he was suffering a total breakdown. He formed a hand sign that Nataro recognized as Kai (Release) before his eyes glazed over and he fell over, unconscious.

"Monster?" Nataro repeated slowly.

**"See? I **_**told**_** you that you were a beast. A demon in the guise of a child. That's all you ever have been, and all you'll ever be."** The Kyuubi spoke.

"That's...not true I'm nothing like that!" He spoke aloud, not worried about anyone hearing him.

**"Ah, but how you **_**wish**_** you were able to strip free from sense and control and just run wild, cause chaos. That's what you want deep down inside. You're only suppressing it and denying yourself of your true nature."**

"SHUT UP!!!" The blonde genin screamed, pounding his fists on his head in an attempt to silence the bijuu. "Shut up, you damn fox!! I'm nothing like you!!"

**"Ah, but you are. I should know because I'm you and you're..."**

"_Not_ you!!" Nataro screamed, striking himself upside the head with more strength than he intended and colliding headfirst into a tree. "Owww...!" He pushed himself away from the tree and sighed. "I'm not..." He looked over at Kaoru's unconscious form with half-lidded eyes.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, the boys began to regroup on the path they had encountered Team 11 on, each one carrying a member of the squad.

"What'd you do to her?" Kazemaru asked as he stared at Rie, who was being held in Hanzo's arms.

"Um...I made her genjutsu backfire on her," Hanzo answered, looking out of the corner of his eye. Technically, he had told the truth. He just didn't say how it occurred, that's all.

"Hey... She didn't..._try_ something, did she?" The pyromanic genin asked his teammate with an eyebrow raised.

"What?! _No_!"

"Because when we first met her, she acted kinda..." Kaze trailed off, not even noticing the look the Uchiha was giving him. Once he saw Nataro walking up the path, carrying Kaoru on his back, a smirk broke out across Kaze's face. "Heh! I wish I could've seen you beat down that yo-yo! So, how'd it feel?" Nataro simply walked past him with half-lidded eyes. "Huh? What the...? You didn't do anything to _your _enemy, either? Was I the only one who actually fought to kill? ...Sort of?"

"Nataro? Are you okay?" Hanzo asked.

The blonde genin dropped Kaoru on the ground, completely silent as he reached into his back pouch. After pausing for several seconds, he finally pulled out...a Heaven scroll. "Ha ha!! We're in the clear, guys!!"

"Good," the raven-haired boy replied, happy that his friend was alright. For a moment, he looked as if something serious had happened. "Our scroll's alright, right, Kaze?"

"In the same condition that it was yesterday. So..." The redhead looked down at Kaoru, then at Rie, "What're we gonna do about these guys? We can't just leave 'em out here, can we...?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll wake up before any harm comes to them," said Hanzo as he laid the brunette kunoichi down on the ground next to her teammate, followed by Kazemaru.

"Yeah, and besides, we've gotta go," Nataro said, pointing a finger at the tower, which was only a few feet away now. "These guys'll be fine, so let's just get going!!"

**X-X-X**

Team 14 stood in front of the door leading inside of the tower. Kazemaru looked like he was going to cry as tears welled up in his eyes and he sniffled.

"What's wrong with _you_?" Nataro asked the pyro with an arched eyebrow.

"I just...can't believe it...! We're finally outta that fuggin' forest!! HELL YEAH!!!" Kazemaru shouted triumphantly as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Don't get _too_ excited. There's still the third exam," Hanzo reminded his teammate. Kaze stopped celebrating and gave the raven-haired boy a glare.

"Gee, thanks for makin' it rain on my parade, _Fan Boy_."

"I'm just being honest..."

"Ah, enough of this stuff! Let's go inside, already!" Nataro spoke with fire in his eyes. He pushed the door open and rushed inside, Hanzo and Kazemaru running in after him. However, once he entered the area, he skidded to a halt upon realizing something. "NOBODY'S HERE!!!"

Kazemaru and Hanzo came running into the area as well. The red-haired boy drop-kicked his blonde teammate in the back of his head. "DUMBASS!!! Don't go runnin' off without us again!!" He shouted as Nataro fell to the ground with a steaming bump on his head.

Hanzo looked around the room in confusion. "No one's here? That's weird..." _'I was expecting to see some of the other people who had passed...'_

"Could it be...? Maybe _we're_ the only ones who made it!" The team pyro started to laugh happily.

The raven-haired boy sweatdropped. "That's highly unlikely..."

"Uh...what's _that_?" Nataro pointed up to a large sign that had faded kanji written on it. His teammates looked up at it as well.

"It's missing some words," Hanzo pointed out.

The blonde squinted his eyes. "Without...heaven?"

"What in the bloody hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow.

"_Heaven_... It's probably talking about the scrolls. You know: _Heaven_ scroll? There's probably something about the Earth scroll, too."

"So...do we open 'em?" Kaze asked as he pulled out the Earth scroll and Nataro pulled out the Heaven scroll.

The orange-clad boy gulped. "But...didn't that Yomi guy say something _bad_ would happen if we opened the scroll during the second exam?"

"Are we _in_ the Forest of Death anymore?"

"No."

"Then just shut and OPEN THE DAMN THING!!!"

Nataro winced and held a hand to his throbbing head. "Okay, okay! Sheesh..."

Nataro and Kazemaru began to open the scrolls as Hanzo watched. The two boys started to sweat a little as they did. Slowly they went, just in case something would pop out and kill them. After they fully opened them, the three boys looked at the scrolls. Well, one, actually. Kaze and Nataro had their eyes closed.

"...Did something come out yet?" Kaze asked.

"I don't think so..." The blonde genin mumbled as he cracked an eye open. "I don't _feel_ like something's killing me."

"M-maybe we should just read the scrolls and find out whatever-- Huh?" The young shinobi stared at the scrolls. They were starting to emit smoke.

"Um... Is that a _bad_ thing?" Kaze asked as the smoke started to get thicker. He looked at Nataro, who was looking at him from the corner of his eye. Both boys quickly threw away their respective scrolls away.

"What's going on?" Hanzo asked wide-eyed as he stared at the smoking scrolls.

"How the heck should _we_ know?!" His teammates shouted as veins throbbed on their heads. They suddenly heard the sound of someone coughing. "Huh?"

"_Man_, that stuff could kill somebody!" The person in the smoke coughed as they waved a hand to clear the smoke. When it did, they saw a young man standing in front of them, about 15 or 16 at least, with short, blue-tinted black hair with a long section of bangs hanging over his right green eye, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with the standard Konoha flak jacket and black pants.

The boys blinked at the guy who was standing in front of them, looking very upset.

"Uh...I'm not the only one who saw a guy pop out of the scroll, right?" Kazemaru asked his teammates.

"Nuh-uh..." Nataro answered, his eyes reduced to slits.

"Oh, man! I can't get that smell out of my system! What _is_ that smoke made from, anyway?" He continued to complain with half-lidded eyes.

"Sh...Shirochi?" Hanzo spoke up, surprising his teammates slightly.

"Hm?" The ninja, Shirochi, looked over his shoulder at the genin squad. "Hanzo. That you?"

Hanzo nodded his head reluctantly while Kazemaru and Nataro continued to look confused. "Hanzo, do you know this guy?"

"Cousin," was the only thing the raven-haired genin said.

"Should've noticed. They kinda look alike," Kazemaru muttered as he stared at Shirochi.

"Would you stop staring? It's freaking me out..." The older Uchiha muttered before clearing his throat and reciting, "Congratulations on completing the second exam, you should be very proud of yourselves, yada-yada-yada..."

"So are you here to help us out with _that_?" Nataro asked as he pointed up at the sign. "'Cuz we don't get it."

The chunin turned around and stared at it. "Oh. That thing. Basically, it's something about _balance_." When his answer was met with the confused looks of Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru, Shirochi continued, "It's like this: heaven is intelligence and cunning, earth is physical strength. You can't be a good ninja with only one of these traits. If you're an idiot, you've got to study and work hard on becoming smarter, more sly and cunning. If you're weak in body, you need to train and become stronger. Gotta balance your strengths and weaknesses. Got it?"

"Er...yeah, I...guess," Nataro muttered, scratching his cheek in thought.

"I think Nataro needs a _lot_ more 'heaven,' don'tcha think, Hanzo?" Kaze asked Hanzo with a cat-like smirk.

Hanzo looked out of the corner of his eye and gave a short laugh. "Well..."

A vein appeared on the orange-clad genin's head. "WHAT WAS THAT?!? YOU CALLIN' ME _DUMB_?!"

"N-no! We're not!"

"Of course we are! You're just too slow to realize it without anyone pointing it out."

"_YOU_--!"

Shirochi gave a sharp whistle that immediately silenced the genin. "Alright, enough fighting! I have to get you guys there on time and I wanna get the heck outta here--_fast_!" The Uchiha spoke very quickly as he turned around and began to walk through a door.

Nataro removed his hands from around Kazemaru's throat and vice-versa, and the genin trio walked after him. "On time for _what_?"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, outside of a cafe in Konoha...

"I am _soooo bored_...!" Aiko cried as she leaned back in her chair. She was dressed in the outfit she usually wore at her waitress job, a white-button-down blouse and a black skirt that was just a few inches below the knee. "My poor little Nataro... I wonder if he's still alive."

"Don't tell me you're _still_ worried about Nataro?" Kotoyo asked as she took up a small round pastry with a smile, despite the gloom that her friend was radiating. Sitting next to her was Kotaro, who was eating a large pastry with his cheeks red with delight.

"And you're not worried about Hanzo, Kotoyo?" The blonde woman said in a flat tone as a vein throbbed on her forehead. Sometimes it irked her just how calm the older woman got when her son was doing such dangerous things.

"Of course not. I know my Hanzo can take care of himself," Kotoyo stated simply. She looked down at Kotaro and smiled. "Isn't that right, Kotaro?" The little boy simply nodded, too focused on eating his pastry. "If you don't stop worrying, you're going to give yourself a heart attack. Or worse: you'll give yourself gray hairs!"

"I'm being _serious_ here, damn it!!" Aiko shouted, slamming her hand down on the table. "People can _die_ in those exams, so I have a _right_ to worry about my son _dying_ for the sake of getting a _stupid promotion_ where he'll get even _more_ dangerous missions, and...and...!" Her eyes got large and watery as she stopped ranting, which made the dark-haired Uchiha wife sweatdrop. Aiko fell back in her seat and started crying..._loudly_. "WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

_'Wow. And people say __**I**__ overreact sometimes...'_ "Now, now, dear! Don't get carried away now! I'm sure that Nataro is just fine!"

"No! No! No! He's not fine! For all I know, he's lying in the middle of that damn forest bleeding to deeeeeath!" Aiko cried through a waterfall of tears streaming down her cheeks.

As this went on, Kotaro paused in eating his pastry to say with closed, kitsune-like eyes, "Aiko-san's a major crybaby."

**X-X-X**

A couple of minutes later, the passing teams were gathered in one large area of the tower. They were all lined up, each team with a row of its own. There were 4 teams in all. 2 were from Konoha: Tsuki's Team 14 and Haseo's Team 4. One was from Suna: the squad of Mamoru, Yasha and Otokaze. And the last was from Kumo: made up of Hotaru, Seian and their female teammate Iwanaga. Standing in front of said genin teams were the proctors, their teachers and Naruto.

"Aw, man! Ina's still alive! I was hoping she would've gotten eaten or somethin'," Nataro mumbled as he folded his arms across his chest.

"You don't _really_ mean that, do you?" Hanzo said from his spot behind the blonde.

"Hmm... Maybe not so much _dead_, but...at least in traction or something." The orange-clad genin noticed Mamoru standing next to them, eyes half-lidded. _'And how did Sleepy Eyes over there pass, anyway?'_

_'Hanzo-kun and his team managed to pass...'_ Thought Shizuka as she glanced at Team 14 out of the corner of her eye.

"Kaoru and his teammates aren't here. Guess they didn't pass," Konjo thought as he looked around.

"That's good. Less competition for us," Ina spoke softly. _'I still can't believe __**Nataro's**__ still alive, though. I thought he would've been killed on the first day, at least.'_

"Hee-hee! I _knew_ my students would make it to the final exam," Tsuki whispered into Haseo's ear with a cat-like smirk.

The blonde man rolled his eyes. "Don't act so high and mighty. So did _my_ students. And while it was sad for Ninigi's team to have been disqualified...I look on the bright side, knowing that there's only one challenge left," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah? My boys are gonna turn your team to dust and throw them to the wind!" The kunoichi hissed.

Naruto cleared his throat and stepped forward, the genin's eyes falling on him. "Congratulations to all of you for making it this far! You must be very tired."

_'He doesn't know the half of it!'_ Kazemaru thought as he rubbed his shoulder.

"But before you can rest, I have to ask you: do you know what the chunin exams are for?"

The young ninja looked confused, save for Hotaru who shouted, "To pass and become chunin, of course! No duh!" The white-haired Kumo genin was quickly punched in the back of his head by Iwanaga.

"Quiet, you weirdo! Don't you realize you're speaking to a freaking _Kage_?!" She hissed as Hotaru rubbed the bump on his head.

After a few people in the room sweatdropped, Naruto continued, "Well, that _is_ true. The Chunin Exams allow a genin to move up in the ranks--"

"Told ya so!" Hotaru whispered as the bleached-blonde girl shot him a glare.

"--But they're also used as a substitute for war between the Hidden Villages."

"How the hell is _this_ a substitution for war?! That makes no fuggin' sense!!" Kaze shouted before Hanzo stepped on his foot. "Ow!!" Tsuki covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head slowly as Haseo snickered.

"When I think about it..." Otokaze began counting off on his fingers, "Stealing information was the goal of the first exam. Surviving in a forest full of enemies while trying to retrieve an important item was for the second exam... That's what ninja are supposed to do."

The pyromanic genin shrank back and looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "Oops. Sorry, Hokage-sama..."

"Your students sure are something, Tsuki!" Haseo snickered as he held a hand over his mouth.

_'And what that __**something**__ is, I may never know,'_ She thought as she continued hiding her eyes.

"The point is that each Hidden Village realized that with each war they had with each other, they lost valuable shinobi as a result of the constant fighting. These exams not only substitute for war, but hold up the friendship between the ninja villages. The pride of your villages rest on your shoulders."

"Whoa... We've got the pride of all of Konoha on us?" Nataro questioned, more to himself than to the Hokage. _'No pressure here, though.'_

"You should all be proud for making it this far. You've made your homelands proud!"

The orange-clad blonde started to grin broadly and began to bounce up and down. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!! Just start the third exam already! I wanna become a chunin!"

"We can't."

"Huh?! WHY NOT?!?"

"If you'd just _be quiet_, I'd get to that!" Naruto growled, making the blonde boy shrink back. "You see...before we can begin the third exam, we must have a preliminary fight round, where we'll separate possible chunin material from the rest of the group."

"SAY WHAT?!? YOU WANT US TO FIGHT?!? RIGHT NOW?!?" Nataro, Kazemaru, Iwanaga and Otokaze shouted at the top of their lungs, though the blonde boy came out as the loudest.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Ina muttered to herself as a vein appeared on the side of her head.

"But we just got out of that damn Forest of Death, for cryin' out loud!" Kaze whined. "Can't we do this _tomorrow_?!"

"You don't _have_ to if you don't want to. You could just _give up_. Quite frankly, I think that twelve is a good enough number for the finalists, but we want only the best of you to perform in the Third Exam," the Rokudaime explained.

"That's right. And to that end, we'll be holding a little tournament here, today," said a man of about 22 years with short dark blue hair and black eyes. He wore the traditional chunin uniform with his hitai-ate tied around his right arm. "It'll be a series of one-on-one fights. The six who win their fights are going to pass on to the final exam." The man started to grin. "Let's see who's going to be fighting first!!" He announced as he pointed a finger up at a large screen. The genin looked up at the screen in confusion as he continued, "Random opponents shall be shown on this screen, and they will have to fight each other in a one-on-one match. And I, Tsurugi Hikaru, will be the judge. The fighters will fight until one is unconscious or dead. But if I see there's a clear victor, I'll stop the match."

"They can _kill_ us? That ain't fair!" Kazemaru muttered to his teammates.

Hanzo shrugged. "Hey, that's war for you."

"Heck, that doesn't scare me on bit!" Nataro said as his eyes focused on the screen. "I can beat pretty much everyone here! I hope I get to go first!"

"Oh, brother! If anyone heard you say _that_, you'd be in the hospital faster than you could say _'dead meat'_!" The pyromanic genin said as he narrowed his eyes.

Two names then appeared on the screen in large yellow colors: Yasha vs. Temashi Kazemaru.

Needless to say, the color drained from the redhead's face. "Eh?! _Me_?! _I'm_ first?! There's gotta be some kinda mistake!!"

"Will everyone please go upstairs except for the chosen fighters?" Hikaru announced. The teachers rejoined their students and headed upstairs.

"Hey, Tsuki-sensei! Aren't you proud of us? We kicked _major_ ass in the second exam, heh-heh!" Nataro proudly told his sensei with a cocky grin as they walked up the stairs.

Tsuki nodded and smiled. "Yup. Now there's a better chance!"

"Huh? What do you mean? Better chance for what?" The blonde asked with an arched eyebrow as he and Hanzo stared at their sensei.

"Nothing."

"_Sensei_..." The raven-haired genin spoke in a suspicious tone of voice. "Are you _hiding_ something from us?"

Tsuki stopped walking and sweatdropped. "Heh-heh... Why, whatever do you mean, Hanzo? I'm not keeping any secrets from you. Not a thing..." She spoke calmly despite the pressure her students seemed to be placing on her.

Hanzo gave her a half-lidded look, unconvinced. "Uh-huh. Just admit it: there's something going on between you and the other rookie squads' teachers."

"No, there isn't. We only made a little bet to see which team could stay in the exam the longest. There is no money being made off of this whatsoever!" She then started walking away again, leaving her students staring at her back.

"...She's hiding something," Hanzo spoke flatly.

Nataro nodded slowly. "_Definitely_."

On the ground floor, Kazemaru had his arms folded across his chest with an upset look on his face. _'This is __**so**__ not fair! I never even got a break! Damn it, why couldn't it have been somebody else?'_

Yasha walked over to a nearby wall. "You stay here, Deku." She said softly to the doll before giving it a kiss and placing it down against the wall. The blonde Suna kunoichi walked over to Kaze and Hikaru.

_'I'm fighting a girl?'_ Kaze arched an eyebrow. _'Well...that might make things a __**little**__ easier.'_

"Alright, are you both ready?" Hikaru asked the genin.

"As I'll ever be," the pyromanic genin murmured with a nod while Yasha simply nodded.

"Okay then. The first match of the preliminaries is about to begin. Yasha vs. Kazemaru." The blue-haired chunin raised his hand. "And...begin!!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Deku means "doll" or "puppet."**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: At last, the semifinals shall begin in the next chapter! Aren't you all excited?**

**Hanzo: Not really. We've all been through this before.**

**Blu: I wasn't talking to you.**

**Nataro: Remember to tune in to the next chapter and review for the sake of Blu!!**

**Blu: Hey! That's _my _line!**

**Nataro: Heh-heh! Not anymore!**


	11. Preliminaries Begin: Flames and Illusion

**Blu: It's finally here! The beginning of the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams! First up is Kazemaru and Yasha!**

**Kazemaru: Alright!! I'm gonna win this fight!!**

**Yasha: (Playing with her rag doll Deku, ignoring Kazemaru.)**

**Otokaze: H-hey!! You've got a fight to participate in! At least **_**look**_** excited!**

**Yasha: (- . -) Uh-uh.**

**Kaze: I guess she's too afraid of me to be hopeful!**

**Yasha: (Looks at Kazemaru) …Uh-uh.**

**Kaze: Wh-what?!**

**Blu: Uhhh, let's roll the fic, shall we?**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters, just her OCs and this story._

**X-X-X**

_#11: The Preliminaries Begin! Flames, Lightning and Illusions_

"The first match of the preliminaries is about to begin. Yasha vs. Kazemaru. ...Begin!!"

Kazemaru jumped back and pulled out a few shuriken. "Here goes!!" He flung the shuriken at the blonde kunoichi. She easily dodged them and dashed towards Kazemaru with her kunai drawn. The red-haired genin drew a kunai in time to block her own. With his free hand, Kaze reached into his back pouch and pulled out another kunai. _'Heh-heh...!'_ He started twirling the kunai around his fingers a bit.

Yasha's eyes widened as Kaze stabbed her in the shoulder. Surprisingly, though, no blood spurted out. In fact, the Suna genin didn't scream in pain or react in any way. Instead she just stared at the Konoha genin, her eyes looking glassy and unreal. Not even burdened by her injury, Yasha pulled out a couple of smoke bombs with her free hand and threw them to the ground. The bombs exploded with black smoke that hid the two young shinobi from the bystanders' sight.

"Hey, what's going on?! I can't see a thing!" Hotaru shouted as he leaned over the railing and narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see something.

"That's kinda the _point_ of a smokescreen, Hotaru," said his sensei, a tall, muscular man with dark skin, short, shaggy bleach blonde hair and black eyes, dressed in the standard gray Kumo flak jacket with a sleeveless black shirt underneath, allowing his muscles to be seen, black metal armguards, black pants and the Kumo hitai-ate tied around his head.

"But, Raizuna-sensei! That's no fun for _us_!" The white-haired genin whined while his female teammate rolled her eyes.

"Damn it! Where'd she go?" Kaze cursed, looking around frantically in the smoke for the Suna kunoichi. His eyes widened as he felt a sharp knife stab him in his back. _'What the...?'_ He suddenly felt something slash across his right arm. The pyromanic ninja's eyes narrowed as he saw an unidentifiable figure throw something at him. Kazemaru ducked in time to avoid being struck. _'I gotta get out of here!'_ He started to jump back, just barely dodging a knife that managed to catch a glint of the lighting in the arena. He stopped jumping back when he backed into a wall, striking his head against it just as a knife hit said wall just a few inches away from his head. "Sonuvabitch!!"

As the smoke cleared, Kazemaru's opponent was revealed. A tall, wooden figure the size of an adult human. Its face was pale white with red circles for cheeks, an eerie-looking smile and eyes that seemed to be smiling as well. On its red-painted torso was the black kanji for "red". All in all, the sight of the thing scared the crap out of Kaze.

"What the hell is _that _thing?! Was she a doll in disguise?! That ain't fair!!" The pyro shouted at the proctor.

"Not really. Puppets are ninja tools, so they're allowed," Hikaru stated.

"No frickin' way...!" Kaze cursed under his breath. "She's not even here!"

"Of course she is." The proctor pointed over at the wall on the opposite side of the wall. Where Yasha's doll had been set down was now the blonde genin, holding her doll with one hand while the other was raised.

"Eh? So she was the _doll_?" Nataro asked, scratching his head in a confused manner.

"She must have transformed into it before the match," said Hanzo.

"But how can that thing move on its own? It's a puppet, for cryin' out loud!"

"Chakra strings. That's how puppeteers get them to move. They mold their chakra into strings and use it to control the puppet from a safe distance."

"So _that's_ how it's done, huh?" Konjo mumbled in realization while Nataro still looked a bit confused.

Kazemaru started cursing underneath his breath as he jumped over to the side, avoiding a fatal stab to the chest by the doll. With a movement of Yasha's left hand, the puppet moved as well, though ran in a strange and clunky manner towards the Leaf genin. "Hey, hey! Keep back or I'll turn you into wood shavings!"

"Damn it, Kaze! _Fight back_!!" Nataro shouted as he pounced on the railing.

"CRAAAAAP!!!" Kaze cursed as he pulled out a kunai with a bomb note tied around it and tried to throw it at the puppet that was currently throwing knives at him. By either some sort of miracle or cheap luck, the kunai actually managed to strike the ninja-puppet in the leg and blew off its wooden appendage.

Yasha's eyes widened as the puppet fell. "Akadeku..." She whispered as Kazemaru stood triumphantly before it. Her eye twitched slightly as her fingers made a movement. Akadeku's arms suddenly grabbed Kaze's legs and pulled him back, making him fall back onto the floor.

"H-hey!! Get off of me!!" The pyromanic shinobi stuttered slightly as the puppet started to climb on top of him, the weight of the puppet making it hard for him to move.

"Hee-hee-hee!" Yasha giggled evilly with an evil glint in her eyes.

Upstairs, Otokaze and his sensei, Saboten, a woman with long green hair set up into a high ponytail with several steel pins sticking out of it wearing the official Suna jonin outfit without the shoulder pads, observed the fight with sweatdrops.

"And she's at it again..." Saboten muttered with half-lidded eyes.

"It's like this every time: something happens to her dolls and puppets, she goes _berserk_! Well, maybe not berserk, just enraged," said Otokaze. "Aren't you gonna watch your cousin fight, Mamoru? ...Mamoru?" The spiky-haired genin turned his head to look at his other teammate, who was sitting down against a wall, sleeping. A vein throbbed on Otokaze's head as he clenched his teeth. "WAKE UP!!!"

"Zzzz--Huh? What happened?" The brunette boy said with an arm wrapped around his wrapped-up object lying beside him. "Did Yasha-chan win?"

The vein on Otokaze's head got bigger. "Why don't you actually _come and see_?!"

"AAAAHHHH!! Get this thing off of me!!" Kazemaru shouted as the puppet started staring at him with its creepy eyes. Akadeku wrapped its arms around the Leaf genin's throat. "Gack!!"

"Akadeku shall be avenged!" Yasha said with grim determination as she moved her index and ring fingers. The puppet's grip around Kaze's throat became tighter.

"She's going to avenge a _doll_..." Ina said with a sweatdrop.

"I can't stand to look...but I can't look away!" Shizuka said with wide eyes.

"I know. It's like watching a train wreck."

"Pyro Freak!! You can do it!! Turn that thing into firewood!!" Nataro shouted as he continued to lean over the railing.

_'Damn...!'_ Kaze thought as his hands gripped the puppet's arms. _'Get this thing off of me!'_ "Get this thing off of me!!"

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, DIE!!!" The Suna kunoichi chanted as her teammates and sensei sweatdropped.

"I have to tell that girl's parents to make her get more fresh air," said Saboten.

"C'mon, Kazemaru!! You can beat this chick!!" Nataro shouted. "Don't let her and that hunk of wood beat you!"

_'Does he think I __**want**__ to have this thing on me?'_ The redhead thought angrily as a vein appeared on his head.

"What're you waiting for, huh?! If you lose, you won't become a chunin!!"

Kaze's eye began to twitch. _'Tch! Like I care about that. There's always next year, right?'_

"YOU LOSER!!! You can't be _that_ pathetic! I bet I could beat that thing with one hand tied behind my back!"

Hanzo's eyes widened as he stared at his teammate down in the arena. The pyro was twitching and seemed to be gritting his teeth. "Uh...Nataro? I think you should stop--"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Kazemaru's hands suddenly caught on fire and began to burn through the puppet's arms. "TAKE THIS!!!" With one hand, he punched Akadeku in the face, setting its head on fire.

"Wh-what the heck is _that_?" Konjo asked as he stared down at the redhead.

"Are his hands...on fire?" Shizuka said with confusion.

"This definitely explains why he liked burning stuff on the floor of the boys' bathroom during lunch!" The Hyuuga boy exclaimed as he pounded his fist into his open palm. His female teammates sweatdropped, but decided not to comment.

"Since when could Kazemaru do _that_...?" Tsuki mumbled in awe as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

"We've learned a lot of things from staying 5 days in the Forest of Death," Nataro spoke in a knowledgeable tone, nodding his head. "For Kaze, it was learning how to become a human fireball."

Yasha stared in horror as the paint on her puppet's face began to peel off. She almost dropped her precious Deku from the shock of it. With a movement of her fingers, Akadeku jumped off of Kazemaru and landed a few feet away from him, its head still on fire. "How could you...?" She mumbled, biting on her bottom lip, bangs hiding her eyes. Her eyes suddenly became visible, pupils smaller than normal. "HOW COULD YOU?!?"

"Uh-oh. Yasha-chan's _very_ upset now," Mamoru spoke calmly while Otokaze and Saboten nodded in agreement.

Kaze flipped the bird at the Suna kunoichi, his hands still on fire. "Aw, shut up, ya nut job!! And as for _you_!" He then pointed a flaming finger at Nataro, the fire surrounding his hands seemingly increasing. "You think this is _easy_, moron?! How would _you_ like to be pinned by some giant wooden dull, huh?! WOULD YOU LIKE THAT?!?"

Hanzo sweatdropped. "I think you made him mad."

"Of course! Kaze's pretty much unstoppable when you piss him off! He's like a man possessed!" Nataro started laughing as he placed his hands behind his head. "And he can thank me for helping him release it and control it!"

"And once he's done with _her_, he'll come after _you_ with it."

The blonde stopped laughing and sweatdropped. "Ooh, you've got a point there."

Yasha bared her clenched teeth as her grip on Deku became tighter. Her fingers moved quickly, causing the still-burning puppet to dash towards the flaming genin. It started to throw knives at the genin, but he simply ducked most of them. He caught one with his hand, slicing his palm open.

"Damn it, just die!" The knife suddenly caught on fire and Kazemaru threw it at the puppet. It struck the puppet in its head as he jumped up into the air and started forming hand signs. _'Watching your teammates train isn't such a waste of time after all!'_ "Eat this!!" He took a deep breath and blew out several small fireballs. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!'_ A few fireballs almost hit Hikaru, but none hit Akadeku or Yasha. Kazemaru sweatdropped, as did his team.

"YOU _MISSED_?! How could you miss when you're so damn _close_, Pyro Freak?!" Nataro shouted as he pounded on the railing and a vein appeared on his head. "Your aim _SUCKS_!!"

Kaze flipped the bird at Nataro and mouthed a vulgarity. When he landed on the floor, he dashed towards Akadeku. The puppet started throwing knives at the young shinobi once again, but most of them missed with his dodging, and those that hit barely made scratches that Kazemaru didn't acknowledge. Channeling chakra into his feet, the red-haired genin dodged the seemingly endless barrage of knives and managed to get close to the puppet. He pulled back his fist and punched the puppet in the torso, now setting its _entire_ body on fire.

Yasha's eyes widened in horror and a sort of squeak escaped from her open mouth. Her hand began to shake, which caused Akadeku to move around in a jerky manner.

A vein throbbed on the pyromanic genin's forehead and pulled back his fist once again. "Damn it, why don't you just..._stay down_?!" He punched the puppet's torso once again, only this time, _he _was the one who had exploded in a burst of flames. The small explosion sent bits and pieces of Akadeku's wooden body flying. Its head managed to land just in front of Yasha, who stared down at the head in horror.

"Ah...! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Yasha fainted, dropping Deku in the process as she fell. She was frothing at the mouth slightly and her eyes were large and blank.

Kazemaru arched an eyebrow as the flames surrounding his hands faded away. "Gee, no need to go overboard. It's just a dumb doll..."

Hikaru, who had a slight burn on the shoulder of his shirt from Kaze's Housenka, stepped up and cleared his throat. "The winner of the first match is Temashi Kazemaru!"

"WHOO-HOO!! In your face, Ramen Breath! _In your face_!!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed as he jumped up and down, flashing the peace sign with a victorious grin. The medical ninja came in and placed Yasha on a stretcher. One placed Deku on top of her chest as the others began to pick up the remains of Akadeku. "Hey! Can I get come help over here?" Kaze called as he held up his splintered hand.

"Well...he won," said Ina, though she couldn't exactly believe it.

"Who knew the guy who peeped on girls at the hot springs would get so strong?" Konjo asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Woot! You go, Kazemaru!" Nataro cheered as his teammate came up the stairs and went back to his team.

"Grrr...! Shut up, Blondie! I haven't forgotten what you said!!" The pyromanic genin gave the blonde a glare as the air around him became hot.

"Hey, I help you to win, didn't I?"

"That doesn't mean I like being insulted, _dumbass_!"

"Well, Kazemaru, as immature as it was, Nataro did help you to win...sort of. But either way, I'm impressed with you," Tsuki told her student with a warm smile. "I'm proud of you!"

Kazemaru blushed and grinned, the air around him cooling down. "Gee, thanks, Tsuki-sensei!" _'Sensei said she was proud of me! That makes me so happy!'_ The pyromanic genin gave a sigh of ecstasy.

Hanzo looked up at the screen in time to see names flying across it. "Look. They're already choosing the next fighters."

"Oh! Let it be me, let it be me, let it be _me_!!" Nataro chanced as he crossed his fingers and squinted his eyes. The screen stopped on two names: Kaminari Iwanaga vs Uchiha Inahime. His face fell at the sight of the familiar name.

"Damn it!! That Weasel Girl got to go before me!"

Hanzo remained silent as he looked over in Ina's direction.

"Huh. My turn!" Ina smirked as she started to walk away from her teammate.

"Good luck!" Shizuka and Konjo cheered while Haseo continued to lean back against the railing.

"Okay, Devil Spawn! Go out there and kick her ass! And if you lose, I'll disown you!" Hotaru told Iwanaga, who glared at him with a twitching eyebrow.

"If anyone should disown anybody, _I_ should disown _you_!"

"Don't lose your temper, Iwanaga-chan! Remember: _just keep feeling it_!" Raizuna exclaimed, patting the platinum-blonde girl on her shoulders.

"Would you knock it off? I don't get what you say half the time!" Iwanaga felt a hand over her shoulder and turned around to find herself staring into...bangs. Seian's, to be exact.

"Don't lose your temper, Iwanaga."

Hotaru then popped up in-between his taller teammates and pushed the dark-skinned girl towards the stairs, shouting, "Knock 'er out, Iwanaga-kun!! She may be prettier than you, but you've got masculine tenacity!!" His comment got him a fist in the face that sent him flying back into his sensei's arms with an imprint on his face.

"Freak!! I told you not to call me masculine!!" Iwanaga fumed as she walked down the stairs and into the arena. Ina observed the dark-skinned girl, trying to find something out of the ordinary about her as the taller girl smirked. "Well, don't _you_ look cute?"

Ina arched an eyebrow. _'__**Cute**__?'_

"Okay, the second match of the preliminaries is about to begin," Hikaru announced. "Uchiha Ina vs. Kaminari Iwanaga. Ready...begin!"

Iwanaga reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out a small scroll just as Ina drew a few shuriken from her thigh holster. The raven-haired girl threw them at her opponent, who jumped up high into the air. Whipping the scroll open, the blonde touched a symbol on the sheet and a large ax with a lightning bolt-shaped blade and the kanji for thunder on both sides of the blade.

_'She can't honestly use that...!'_ Ina thought with narrowed eyes as she drew more kunai and shuriken. _'And if she can, I won't let her!'_ She threw the weapons at the Kumo kunoichi, who grabbed the hilt of her axe. With surprising ease, Iwanaga swung the axe and deflected the shuriken back at her. The Uchiha's eyes widened as she jumped to the side in time to avoid being hut by her own weapon. As she landed on the ground, Iwanaga slammed her axe down in front of her.

"Heh-heh...! Like it? Well, get ready to have a _CLOSE UP LOOK_!!" The Kumo kunoichi dashed towards the Konoha with a burst of chakra and swung her axe in a horizontal arc, but she just barely missed cutting Ina across the chest. When that failed, she spun on her foot and swept Ina off of her feet and attempted to slice her in half with her axe when the Uchiha rolled away at the last minute and jumped back several times.

Ina started to form hand signs, took a deep breath and blew out a large fireball that enveloped Iwanaga. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!'_

"Wow!! She just took it!! She didn't even _try_ to dodge!!" Nataro exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"That weapon of her's is so big that it hinders her speed, so unless she channels her chakra to her feet, she has a harder time of dodging," Haseo commented.

"Then Ina's got this one in the bag!" Konjo said with a grin.

_'That's what __**they**__ think,'_ Raizuna thought with a smirk as he folded his arms across his chest. _'These guys don't know just how tough those Kaminari can be!'_

When the flames cleared, Iwanaga was still standing there. Her clothes were burnt and her skin was singed, but she remained standing.

"THE HELL?!?" Nataro and Kazemaru screamed, their eyes comically large while everyone else, save the Kumo team, stared down in amazement.

"How could she still be standing after that?!" Konjo exclaimed.

_'If it's anything the Kaminari clan is famous for back home, it's their inhuman endurance,'_ Raizuna thought as he stroked his chin with a smirk when Hotaru started wooting and cheering. _'When they're old enough, they begin endurance training and chakra exercises that help them tap into their inherited strength.'_

"Go, Iwanaga-kun!! Show her the ferocity of your masculinity!!" Hotaru screamed, stamping his foot for every syllable spoken.

At that moment, Iwanaga stumbled forward, leaning on her axe for support. "Y-_you_...! Would you shut the hell up...?"

"Eh?" The white-haired boy blinked.

"Something's wrong," said Seian. "She hasn't fully recovered from the trip here yet."

"Hmmm... This may be trouble," said their sensei.

_'Chakra...running low...! Need to finish this once and for all!'_ The dark-skinned girl thought as beads of sweat trailed down her forehead.

Ina arched an eyebrow. "What's the matter? You feeling tired?"

"You...! You won't have anything to say once I'm done with you!"

"I'm waiting... Show me what you've got."

Iwanaga smiled in a wicked manner as she lifted up her axe. The blade began to grow bright blue as a humming sound radiated from it. _'Ninpo: Fureru no Raiden (Raiden's Touch)!' _"You asked for it, and now...YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!!!" She started to spin around like a top until she released her axe and sent it flying towards the raven-haired girl.

Ina smirked. "Is that it? Too easy!" She jumped to the side to avoid the spinning axe, but it lightly grazed her upper right leg. Before she knew it, she fell over, landing on one knee as the axe hit the end of the arena with a clatter. "What?" She tried to stand up, but found herself falling over again. _'What the hell did she do?'_

"Tch! How does it feel to witness the wrath of the thunder, _princess_?" The dark-skinned girl said as she imitated Ina's smirk, placing her fists on her hips. Despite her look of confidence, though, her chakra was close to being tapped out and she was starting to feel the effects. "Now you can just stay still while I punch your lights out!" She cracked her knuckles. "It'll only take _one strike_!" She bent over slightly before dashing towards the Uchiha, holding up a balled-up fist.

"Hmph!" Ina quickly formed a few hand signs before spitting out some oil. The oil covered Iwanaga and spilled onto the floor, making her slip and fall back, hitting her head hard against the pavement. "Now, for the finisher." She started to smirk as she began forming another set of hand signs quickly.

Haseo's eye twitched. "_Please_ don't tell me she's going to do _that_ one...!"

Konjo gave a nod and said, "It looks like it."

"I don't get it... What's she gonna do?" Nataro asked as a large sweatdrop ran down the side of his head.

As Iwanaga began to sit up, rubbing the bump on the back of her head, Ina finished making the last hand sign. The raven-haired girl spat out a small ember of fire onto the pool of oil that caused it to ignite and catch on fire. And because she was still covered in and sitting in the oil, the Kumo kunoichi caught on fire as well. And with her current state of exhaustion, she couldn't resist screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The blonde girl screamed, rolling about on the floor while the raven-haired girl watched in amusement.

Haseo folded his arms across his chest and nodded. "I knew it. Same damn jutsu she used on me during your team survival test."

Shizuka gave a weak smile as she sweatdropped. "Still upset about that, sensei?"

"Ooohhh...!" Kazemaru's eyes widened as he stared at the flaming kunoichi. "So beautiful! I think half of her torso burned off--hey, I can see her bra!! ...Oh, wait, it's not. I can't see anything. Never mind..."

Hotaru blinked. "Iwanaga-kun's on fire."

"Yes, she is," Raizuna said with a nod of his head.

Seian turned his head to look up at his sensei. "Isn't that a problem?"

"Yes, it is."

Hikaru stared at the roasting, rolling kunoichi. "I'm not sure whether or not to stop this fight..." After a few more seconds, Iwanaga stopped rolling about. She was now smoking, her skin charred and swirls spinning in her eyes. "Now it's over. The winner of this fight is Uchiha Ina."

"Dang!" Raizuna muttered, snapping his fingers in irritation.

"Damn it, Iwanaga-_kun_!! YOU _SUCK_!!!" Hotaru exclaimed, baring his teeth.

"Alright, Ina!" Konjo cheered as Nataro leaned against the railing with squinted eyes.

"That...wasn't very bad. Still, I kinda wish she came out of it with more than an injured leg..." The blonde muttered.

"Oh, so you wanted her to lose?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Hmmm... Of course not! It's just that _I_ wanted to fight her! _I_ wanted to beat her down a peg or two!"

Kaze snorted. "Yeah, right. If you two _did_ fight, _you'd_ be the one lookin' like a roasted chicken."

**"Now **_**there's**_** a nice thought," **said the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Nataro frowned. _'Nobody was talking to __**you**__, you stupid fox!'_ He snorted and looked away from Kaze. "I _sooo_ wouldn't! Ina would be on the ground before she knew what hit her!" A thought bubble formed above his head with an image of a chibi Nataro standing beside a chibi Ina--who was lying on the ground with X's replacing her eyes. The bubble popped as soon as Kaze spoke again.

"Yeah, and porno isn't X-rated material."

After the medical ninja carried Iwanaga away and healed Ina's injury, the raven-haired girl walked back upstairs to her team.

"Hey, you okay?" Konjo asked as he looked at her injured leg.

Ina gave him a look as she approached the group. "I'm fine! Just a slight limp."

As the screen began to choose the other two combatants, Nataro crossed his fingers again and resumed his chanting. "Let me be next, let me be next, let me be next..." On the screened appeared the names of the next to fighters: Uchiha Hanzo and Sekkei Shizuka. "_HANZO_?! NO FAIR!!!" The orange-clad loudmouth's slumped over as an air of gloom surrounded him. He suddenly snapped out of it when he realized something. "Wait a minute... _Shizuka_? You have to fight Shizuka, Han--" He looked beside him and found that his dark-haired friend was no longer beside him. "Hey, where'd he go?"

"He's already going." Tsuki pointed at the dark-haired boy as he walked down the stairs and into the arena below.

_'Oh, no, no, no, no...!'_ Shizuka stared at the ground in discomfort, biting her lower lip in anxiety. She felt something tap her on the shoulder and raised her head slightly. "Huh?" She found herself looking at Ina.

"Hey, get down there. If you don't, you'll automatically lose." Ina arched an eyebrow. "You don't want that, right?"

The blue-haired girl shook her head. "N-no."

"Good. So _go_, already!"

Shizuka nodded and walked away from her squad. Konjo stared at his teammate's back for a moment before turning to Ina. "Think she's gonna do okay?"

The Uchiha girl folded her arms across her chest. "We'll see in a little while."

"WHOO-HOO!! Hanzo!! Go win this fight!!" Nataro cheered loudly.

"Heh-heh! Yeah, Fan Boy!! Don't lose to a _girl_!" Kazemaru shouted with a smirk.

As Shizuka entered the ring and stood in front of Hanzo, Hikaru placed a hand behind his back. "The third match is about to start. Uchiha Hanzo vs. Sekkei Shizuka. Ready? ...Begin!"

The blue-haired girl immediately jumped back. She gulped as she looked at the Uchiha. _'Okay... Don't be afraid... You have to win this! Have to move up! Have to prove yourself!'_ She pulled out a few senbon from her thigh holster, making Hanzo's eyes widen a bit. "Hah!" She threw the needles at him, hoping to gain a strike.

Hanzo easily channeled some chakra into his feet and jumped into the air to avoid the senbon. He began to do several hand signs quickly and took a deep breath. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!'_ He blew out several fireballs towards the blue-haired kunoichi. She dodged most of the fireballs, but got burnt once on the arm.

"Ouch!" Shizuka touched her shoulder as a light green aura surrounded her hand.

The raven-haired boy drew some kunoichi and shuriken from his thigh holster and flung them at his opponent. Her lavender eyes widened as she ducked in time, only a few short strands of her hair being cut off by the flying projectiles. When he landed on the ground, Shizuka's hand began to glow light blue. She dashed towards him and tried to thrust her palm into his stomach. The Uchiha jumped to the side to avoid the attack and grabbed her arm.

_'Sorry, Shizuka-chan...'_ He flipped her over, making the blue-haired girl land on her back. Her head collided with the hard floor as she did. _'But it's time to finish this.'_ Hanzo made a hand sign and a gust of wind swirled around them. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

"Uh..." Shizuka's eyes slowly opened. "What...?" She jumped back onto her feet and looked around for the raven-haired boy. _'Where __**is**__ he?'_ Shizuka looked up, expecting to see him somewhere.

"Boo," she heard someone breathe into her ear, startling her. She felt something sharp pierce her back and she gasped in pain as it ran down. That was when something kicked her in the back of her legs and forced her down onto her knees. Hanzo was standing behind her, his hands slightly bloody and his eyes flashing red every few seconds. He smiled in a creepy manner as he fingers traced her exposed backbone. "Well, what do you know...? You _do_ have a backbone."

Shizuka's eyes watered from the unbearable pain as she felt something pulling hard on her backbone. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" The spine was suddenly brutally ripped out, blood splattering on ground and onto Hanzo's face. But in reality, Shizuka simply fell down, her eyes blank and her mouth open in fear, but there wasn't a scratch on her. Hanzo suddenly paled and looked like he was about to panic.

"Oh, no!! I...I didn't hurt her, did I?!" Sure, Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu) was only a _D-rank_ genjutsu, but he was sure that whatever happened to the girl in the illusion possible scared her to death.

"What just happened?" Kazemaru asked.

"Beats me. Looks like she just screamed and...fell," Nataro spoke in a flat tone, unimpressed by the end of the fight.

"Genjutsu," Ina stated simply.

The blonde genin glanced in her direction before looking back down into the arena. "Oh... Right."

Hikaru walked over to Shizuka and looked at the genin. "Hm. Looks like she's knocked out, so..." He held up a hand. "The winner of this match is Uchiha Hanzo."

"ALRIGHT!!!" Nataro and Kazemaru cheered as they flashed the peace sign. "GOOOOO, TEAM 14!!!"

As the medical ninja came and took Shizuka away, Konjo frowned. "She lost..."

Haseo closed his eyes and sighed. "Let's give her some credit. She lasted longer than _I_ expected, and, well...she didn't realize she was in a genjutsu until it was too late. But she did good." He opened his eyes and looked at Tsuki. The purple-haired jonin was sticking her tongue out at him. A vein popped up on the honey-haired man's forehead as Hanzo passed.

"Way to go, Fan Boy!! You won!" Kazemaru exclaimed, raising his hand for a high-five. But the raven-haired boy walked past him and started to lean against the railing. "Huh?"

"I...feel horrible..." Hanzo mumbled as an aura of gloom surrounded him.

"Aw, don't be sad, Hanzo! It was just an illusion, right?" Nataro asked as he held up a finger. "Soooo, she'll be alright. It's not like you maimed her or _set her on fire_." He glanced at Ina as he said this.

"Yeah, but--"

"Ah-ah-ah! Shush! They're choosing the next fighters!" The orange-clad boy shouted, crossing his fingers and closing his eyes again. "Pick me next, pick me next, pick me next," he chanted, which got him some weird looks from his teacher and teammates. He cracked an eye open and blanched at what he saw...

The next ones fighting were Asari Hotaru and Mamoru.

"DAMN IT!! Does my luck suck or what?" The blonde boy muttered as he sat down, mirroring the same gloomy aura that Hanzo had a few seconds ago.

"Maybe if you stopped that crossing your fingers and chanting thing, you'd get picked...?" Hanzo suggested with a sweatdrop trailing down the back of his head.

"Hey, Mamoru!! You're up!!" Otokaze shouted at his teammate, who was sleeping on his feet, arms folded across his chest.

Mamoru blinked his eyes open. "Huh? Oh, right. My turn..." The brunette walked towards the staircase, carrying his package on his back.

"My turn at last! Hahaha!" Hotaru exclaimed as he stretched and cracked his knuckles. "Yes! I vow to beat this guy up so badly, not even the howling winds of Kaze no Kuni could muffle the sounds of his cries!"

"Ah, you're gettin' the feeling, huh?" Raizuna ruffled the white-haired boy's hair. "Go out there and knock 'em dead! Avenge your fallen comrade!"

"Iwanaga was beaten up by a Konoha ninja, sensei. Not killed," Seian spoke up, but his teacher and teammate weren't paying attention to him.

"You bet! I'll kick his ass!!" Hotaru proclaimed as he made the Nice Guy pose--a thumbs-up and sparkling teeth that went _'ping!'_ like something from a toothpaste commercial--before walking downstairs.

Seian sweatdropped, though what could be seen of his face remained emotionless. "What was _that_...?"

Mamoru observed Hotaru out of the corner of his eye as he approached, humming lightly to himself with his usual sleepy-eyed look.

"Y'know, I _am_ kinda anxious to know how this Mamoru guy fights," said Nataro, arching an eyebrow. _'I wanna know how people like Sleepy there can become ninja!'_

"Prepare to lose, Sand Boy!" Hotaru told Mamoru as he placed his hands behind his head.

"I wouldn't be too sure of myself...if I were you..." The Suna genin replied.

"Alright, the fourth match is Asari Hotaru vs. Mamoru. Ready?" Hikaru let his hand drop. "Begin!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Kaminari means "Thunder" and Iwanaga is the name of a mythological Japanese princess goddess, a homely woman who blesses her husband with a long life.**

**Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu was used by Kakashi on Sakura during Team 7's bell test. Hanzo's is slightly different in that there are no leaves.**

**Maito Guy/Might Guy and Rock Lee (and at one time, Naruto) used the "Nice Guy" pose to seal promises.**

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	12. The Sand! The Sight! The Skill!

**Blu: The last round of the preliminaries!! Then we're on to the training montage!**

**Mamoru: Zzzz… (Suddenly wakes up) Training montage…? What's that?**

**Blu: That's one of those things you see on TV where you're shown random bits of someone's progression through training—usually accompanied by some popular song.**

**Mamoru: Oh… I hate those.**

**Blu: Just…go back to sleep while everyone enjoys the story… ROLL THE FIC!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#12: The Sand! The Sight! The Skill!_

"The fourth match, Asari Hotaru vs. Mamoru. Ready?" Hikaru let his hand drop. "Begin!"

"Heh." Hotaru disappeared in a puff of white smoke just as Mamoru began making hand signs. The white-haired boy then appeared in the air behind the boy from Suna, sword in hand. "Haaaah!"

Nataro's eyes widened. "Uh-oh!"

As he finished making the last hand sign, an earth-like wall jutted out of the ground behind him, blocking his opponent. Hotaru caught himself in time to jump off the wall and back onto the floor.

The white-haired boy took a deep breath as the wall of earth went back into the ground. Mamoru simply stood there with his arms across his chest, waiting for Hotaru to make the next move._ 'Okay... Didn't see that coming. But...next time for sure!'_ He disappeared in the blink of an eye just as Mamoru began making hand signs again.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Konjo said as he looked around frantically.

"So much for the all-seeing eye of the Hyuuga..." Ina muttered.

Hotaru suddenly appeared beside the Suna ninja. Mamoru looked at him from the corner of his eye just as the white-haired boy smirked.

"_Gotcha_." Before he could swing his sword, though, Hotaru felt the earth shift beneath him. He jumped into the air in time to avoid being hit by an earth-made spike that jutted out of the ground.

_'This is too easy.'_ Mamoru thought as he began to make more hand signs. _'I guess I won't be trying __**it**__ out...'_

"Okay, now I'm angry!" The Kumo genin shouted as his yellow eyes burned with irritation. He drew a few shuriken and kunai from his pouch and began throwing them at his opponent. Another wall of earth appeared beside him, the kunai and shuriken striking it with a dull thud. "Grrr...! Dammit, stop _doing that_!" Hotaru disappeared in a poof of smoke again and reappeared in front of Mamoru. "Kiiiiyaaaah!" He swung his sword downward and sliced the Suna genin in half.

"Whoa!" Nataro shouted as his eyes widened. "I can't believe it! He killed 'em!"

"Holy crap...!" Kaze whispered.

_'I got 'em! I-- Huh?'_ Hotaru's eyes widened slightly as he saw Mamoru turn into sand as both halves hit the ground. "Wh-what the _HELL?_!"

"He...turned into sand..." Hanzo muttered as the Cloud shinobi began to look around frantically. "Huh."

As Hotaru began to look around, he didn't notice how the sand began to move. It crept up until it tightened around the teen's ankle. He blinked as the sand tightened even more. "Uh... AH! WHAT THE FRICKIN' HELL?!" He jumped back in time to avoid being grabbed again.

The sand began to zigzag towards Hotaru, causing everyone to stare at it.

"The sand's moving on its own..." Ina said in amazement.

"How weird...!"

"He might not win." Raizuna mumbled, arching an eyebrow.

"He _won't_ win." Seian said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "No matter how much he wants to."

"Stupid sand...! Go away!" The white-haired genin swung the sword downwards in hopes of striking the sand, but it merely wrapped around the katana. "Ah!" He began to try and pull it away from the sand, making it look like some sort of tug-of-war. "I...got it!" He managed to pull the katana free and jumped back...only to make collision with a stone wall. "Huh?"

The sand then shot forward, wrapping itself around the genin. He dropped his sword as its grip began to tighten. The wall broke down into sand, which then started to take on a human shape. After a few moments, the sand turned into Mamoru.

"Ah... Much better. I can't stand staying like sand for so long." The Suna genin explained as he walked up to Hotaru, eyes half-lidded. He gave a yawn as he looked at the white-haired genin. "Now then, are you going to give up?"

"B...bite me!" Hotaru shouted as a vein appeared on his forehead.

"Oh, well..." Mamoru raised an arm. "I guess I'll just have to break a few bones, won't I?" He closed his fist and the sand began to constrict the young Kumo ninja even more.

"Now _that's_ stupid. He should've given up and saved himself the hurt." Otokaze told no one in particular.

"Yeouch!" Raizuna winced visibly.

"I was right." Seian said. Even though his teammate was being crushed by sand, the dark-haired teen didn't show much emotion.

"Ouch! I almost feel sorry for that guy." Kazemaru told Nataro.

"I can't believe it... That sleepy kid can control _earth_? And _sand_?" The blonde said in slight awe. _'Okay... So he's better than I thought...'_

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Mamoru asked Hotaru again as he heard a bone pop out of place.

"AAAAAHHHH! F...Fu... Uh..." Before the white-haired genin could curse at the boy from Sunagakure, he lost consciousness. Mamoru released his grip and the sand dispersed; Hotaru fell to the floor with a thud.

Hikaru scratched the back of his head as he walked over to Hotaru. "Well, we know who won _this_ match. The winner is Mamoru."

"Duh. He's the one who's still standing." Kazemaru said with a sweatdrop.

"Zzzz... Zzzzz..."

Hikaru sweatdropped at seeing Mamoru sleep right there on the floor. "Uh... Hey, kid. Wake up!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." The brown-haired genin stood up and yawned as he walked back upstairs to his team.

"What a weirdo..." Ina muttered as a drop of sweat rolled down the back of her head.

"Way to go. It was all fine before you went and fell asleep on the floor!" Otokaze told his teammate, his eye twitching slightly.

"I was tired from that match. I couldn't help it."

"Uh-huh. Say whatever you want, it doesn't save for the fact that you fell asleep."

"Let's see..." Kazemaru began to count the remaining fighters left. "Only four people are left: Nataro, Konjo, that guy from Sand, and that other guy from Cloud."

"And they're already choosing the next fighters." Hanzo said as he looked up at the screen. He looked at Nataro. "Aren't you going to chant or ask that you'll go next?"

"Forget it! I don't care whether or not I go next, now..." The blonde said as he squinted his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "Nope. Don't care."

Tsuki sweatdropped. _'Is he trying to sulk?'_

The next fighters were then chosen: Hyuuga Konjo vs. Otokaze.

"Hey, Konjo's fighting against the last genin from Suna." Hanzo pointed out.

Nataro's eye twitched slightly. "WHAT?! That's not fair!!"

The Uchiha sweatdropped. "...I thought you didn't care whether or not you got picked next."

"What are you, nuts?! Of course I am! I thought that if I acted like I didn't _want_ to fight, then I'd get picked next. But...it didn't work..." The demon vessel began to sulk for real, causing his sensei and his teammate to sweatdrop.

_'That doesn't make __**any**__ sense at all...'_ Tsuki thought.

_'The machine picks the opponents randomly...'_ Thought Hanzo.

"Yes, it's my turn!" The Hyuuga pumped a fist in the air.

"Try not to get killed." Ina told him.

"What was that?"

She gave a sigh. "Nothing..."

Otokaze began to stretch. "Okay. My turn, at last."

"Good luck!" Saboten said.

"Don't die." Mamoru said with a small smile.

Otokaze sweatdropped. "...Y'know. That doesn't make me feel good..." The spiky haired genin walked off, leaving his sensei and teammate behind him.

As both genin made it to the arena, Hikaru cleared his throat. "The fifth match is about to start. Hyuuga Konjo vs. Otokaze. Ready? ...Begin!"

"Hmph! Let's get one thing straight: when I fight, I fight _sharp_!" Otokaze said with a smirk as he took off the large, curved package from his back. After a few seconds, the object began to glow with chakra as wind surrounded it. The wrapping around it was shredded off by the swirling wind that surrounded the arm length, thick-bladed sword that Otokaze now held in his hands. Its blade was black with what appeared to be a drawing of a weasel on the weasel painted on the sides, a thin handle and a hilt that was a circle with a handle in the middle. "Even as far as Kaze no Kuni, the Hyuuga clan are known. You may be able to see my attacks, but you won't be able to lay a finger on me!"

"We'll see about that," said Konjo as he slid his foot forward and got into a fighting stance.

The Suna genin took a deep breath before he flipped backwards and made a slashing motion with his sword, swirling with wind chakra, in mid-jump. _'Kazeitachi no Yaiba _(Blade of the Wind Weasel)_!!'_ A gust of wind was blown towards the Konoha genin. Konjo braced himself for the force that would come and he was pushed back a bit...before something invisible grazed his arms and legs, drawing blood.

_'What?!'_ The indigo-haired boy thought as he stumbled back, the blood trailing down from their cuts. _'That was just a gust of wind, wasn't it?'_

"Kazeitachi no Yaiba!!" Otokaze exclaimed again as he sent another gust of wind towards the Hyuuga, but he was smart enough to dodge this time. His leg, unfortunately, got caught in the gust and a deep cut appeared, going down his leg. When Konjo landed, he winced slightly and seemed to falter for a moment before regaining his balance.

"I don't get it. How can _wind_ cut you?" Kazemaru asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It could...if there's chakra behind it," said Tsuki as she tugged on the hair that hung beside her cheek.

"Huh? Chakra behind wind?"

"Well, chakra _in_ wind. That boy's using Fuuton jutsu--the wind element. What less could you expect of a Suna ninja?"

Nataro squinted his eyes and Kazemaru imitated the blonde boy. "I still don't get it," they both spoke together.

"There are basically two types of wind element jutsu as far as I know: the kind that forces the enemy back and the kind capable of cutting through things."

"Cutting through...?" Nataro mumbled.

"That's where the chakra comes in. He uses it to make the wind sharper."

"Oh." He looked down at the arena, where Konjo was nimbly dodging the blasts of cutting wind. Another semi-visible blade of wind got him, slicing across his chest, between a set of ribs. "How long can he keep that up? He's been cut more times than a paper doll!"

"Konjo must have some sort of plan," said Hanzo.

"If his plan is to die of blood loss, he's getting it done," said Kazemaru.

_'While Otokaze has a good strategy with keeping him away, he needs to remember how much chakra it takes to perform that jutsu,'_ Saboten thought with narrowed eyes. _'He better not use his 'finishing move,' or he'll drain what's left.'_

"HYOOOOHHHH!!!" Otokaze roared as he swung his blade and sent a gust of wind blowing towards the Hyuga boy, who easily flipped out of the way, avoiding the attack. _'This is starting to be a waste of time. I need to finish this.'_ The Sand genin slashed the air with his sword, making Konjo tense up as he prepared to leap. However, instead of releasing a gust of wind, the sword seemed to unfold, revealing three additional blades in the form of a shuriken.

"It's a Fuuma shuriken?!" Nataro exclaimed in shock.

"I never knew there were other ways to use one of those aside from throwing it," Ina spoke with intrigue as she stared at the Fuuma shuriken.

Konjo gulped as Otokaze's grip around on the large shuriken's handle tightened. _'I have a bad feeling about this...'_

"Fuuton..." The Suna genin mumbled as his bangs hid his eyes. The shuriken began to glow with chakra before he spun on his heel and sent the Fuuma Shuriken flying towards the Hyuuga boy. "Tatsumaki no Kazeitachi (Wind Style: Wind Weasel's Tornado)!!"

"Easy!" The Hyuuga boy jumped over the shuriken, only to find himself caught in a vortex of cutting wind that was generated by the Fuuma shuriken. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Holy crap!!" Kazemaru exclaimed, stumbling back in shock. "No doubt about it: he's done for. Nice knowing you, White Eyes."

"I can't even watch..." Ina mumbled as she closed her eyes. "Just tell me when it's over."

When the tornado faded away, Otokaze pulled on the chakra string that had been attached to the shuriken and brought it back to him. He caught his weapon by the dull end of one of its blades and folded its blades in just as Konjo fell on the floor facedown. _'That wasn't so hard. Although that last one __**did**__ take a lot out of me...'_ The Suna genin thought with a smirk.

"Heh-heh..." Konjo chuckled weakly as he continued to lie on his stomach, bangs hiding his eyes. "That one...really hurt... But I can tell..." He raised his head slightly, allowing his opponent to see the bulging veins that were now beside his eyes and the smirk on his face. "You've got nothing left now. Nothing for any of your jutsu, anyway."

The wind user gave a wry smirk. "Riiiight... Your clan's kekkei genkai... The famous Byakugan. But just because I can't use any big jutsu, that doesn't mean you win my default! I'm sure you're starting to feel a bit woozy from blood loss by now, aren't you?"

The Leaf genin got to his feet, teetering for a moment before he gathered himself and slipped into a Jyuken stance. "Maybe... So this fight will end as a battle of wills!"

Upstairs, Ina cracked an eye open and groaned. "Not that nonsense again...!"

"Ssshhh!! Don't insult him when he's getting fired up! You'll jinx him!" Haseo hissed at the girl.

"Tch! _'Battle of wills'..._ Where does he think he is, a hero cartoon show?" Kaze snorted, folding his arms across his chest while his teammates watched the Hyuuga genin with interest.

"Ready or not...HERE I COME!!!" Konjo shouted as he dashed towards Otokaze, gaining a speed boost from the chakra channeled into his feet.

Otokaze held out his sword and got into a fighting stance as well. When the Hyuuga was close enough, he swung his blade with the intent of cutting off the boy's head, but Konjo bent back and kicked the Suna genin's hand, making him release the Fuuma Shuriken. Konjo propped a hand on the ground to catch himself before kicking Otokaze in the chest with a spring kick. The wind-user stumbled back as the Hyuuga landed in front of him and pulled back his palm.

_'Here it goes!!'_ He started to deal a series of rapid palm thrusts. Most were aimed at the stomach, but they slowly moved up the Suna genin's torso before Konjo struck him in the chest, pushing him back.

After skidding to a halt, Otokaze's eyes widened slightly as he felt something rise up in his throat. He immediately spat it out and to his shock, it was blood. _'Shit...!'_ Otokaze didn't have the chance to look up and dodge Konjo's uppercut.

"The final blow!!!"

Kazemaru sweatdropped. _'This feels like a familiar scene... Did he take that from a movie...?'_

When the boy from the Sand landed on the ground, he started to cough up blood violently. _'Gotta...get...up...!'_ He tried to sit up, but that only made him cough harder until finally, he fell back.

Konjo blinked, then sweatdropped. "Whoops! I...got a little too into it there..." He started to laugh nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

"And that is why _you're_ his practice dummy," Ina told Haseo in a flat tone, her eyes half-lidded.

"You know, I could make _you_ his practice dummy."

The raven-haired girl snorted and looked away from him. "As if."

"The winner of this match is obviously Hyuuga Konjo," Hikaru announced as the medic-nin entered the arena and began setting Otokaze onto a stretcher.

"Heh! How was that? I'm awesome, huh?" Konjo proclaimed as he stuck his tongue out at Ina. He obviously still feeling the hype of his victory, at least until he felt the cuts that were still fresh on his body and doubled over in pain. "Ow-ow-ow!"

The Uchiha girl rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath as the medics began treating her teammate. "Moron..."

Nataro slumped over the railing, depressed as Konjo came back up. "I can't believe this... I'm _last_!" Nataro moaned with an air of gloom surrounding him.

"Aw, don't be sad," Tsuki told her student as she patted him on the back. "Haven't you ever heard of saving the best for last?"

"I don't think that saying includes Nataro," Kazemaru whispered to Hanzo. Tsuki punched him in the back of his head while she continued patting Nataro's back. Kaze cursed under his breath while Hanzo sweatdropped.

"That doesn't make me feel any better, sensei..." The blonde genin sighed.

"Would you quit your whining?! At least you're finally up!" The redhead shouted when a small vein popped up on his forehead.

The orange-clad boy blinked before he gave a confident nod. "Hm!" He stepped away from the railing and started to stretch. "Yeah!! I'm gonna _fight_, and I'm gonna _win_, and I'm gonna become a _chunin_!"

_'It figures. He somehow always manages to go back to acting hyper so easily...'_ Hanzo mused. "Good luck!"

"Ha! I don't need luck! I was born with _mad ninja skills_!" Nataro said with a wide grin as he gave a thumbs-up. The raven-haired boy sweatdropped but said nothing.

Kaze smirked and folded his arms across his chest. "Is that so? Well, where were your '_mad ninja skills'_ back in the Academy, when Ina was beating you up?"

"SHUT UP!!" The blonde screeched. He started shaking a fist at his teammate, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "And who asked you, anyway?!" He walked away from his team and went downstairs fuming.

"Alright, Seian! I want you to go out there and do your best! _Avenge your teammates_!!" Raizuna exclaimed as he shook his remaining student by the shoulders. "Do it for Iwanaga-chan!! For Hotaru!!"

"Raizuna-sensei, _I get it_," Seian spoke in his usual monotone voice before swatting away the older shinobi's arms. He jumped off of the balcony and landed in front of Hikaru just as Nataro made it to the proctor.

Hikaru cleared his throat. "The final match is about to start. Kazaki Nataro vs. Aohara Seian."

"I have two words to tell you: give up," the dark-haired boy told his opponent.

"I have _three_ words to tell _you_: prepare to lose!" The blonde answered back as he tightened his hitai-ate.

"Ready? ...Begin!"

As Hikaru's hand dropped, Nataro dashed forward with his fist balled up, aiming to strike, but Seian grabbed his fist before it could make contact with his face. The blonde tried to sweep-kick his opponent, but the black-clad teen let go of his fist and jumped into the air, somersaulting over him.

Seian reached into his kunai pouch, just as Nataro jumped back and drew some shuriken from his thigh holster. The blonde threw the shuriken towards the Kumo genin, but he jumped into the air again. Seian pulled out two small balls while in the air and held them in his hands. As the black-clad teen landed he threw the balls down at the ground, enveloping him in a thick black smoke.

"Eh?" Nataro blinked.

"Uh, what is he...doing?" Kazemaru asked Hanzo and Tsuki.

"Maybe he thinks Nataro's stupid enough to come in there and fight him?" The purple-haired jonin suggested.

The Uchiha gave a sigh. "Thank goodness he's not _that_ stupid..." _'At least...I __**hope**__ he isn't.'_

Nataro simply stood there and waited, prepared to dodge almost any thing that would come his way. When the smoke cleared, Seian was nowhere to be found in the arena. "Wh-what the--! Where'd he go?" The blonde said as he looked around frantically. _It's like he vanished into thin air...!'_ Before he could say more, Nataro felt something punch him in the face.

Kazemaru blinked. "Huh?"

Hanzo stared. "Wha...?"

The blonde stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. He wiped the small trail of blood that was coming from his mouth off on his jacket sleeve and looked out of the corner of his eye. Nothing was there. So what had _punched_ him with such force a few seconds ago? _'Unless this guy moves too fast for me to see--'_ "ACK!" Nataro fell to his knees and clutched his head. "Dammit! Where _is_ this guy?" He muttered through gritted teeth. The orange-clad genin blinked as he saw something flicker into view for a moment. Something _black_.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The pyro of Team 14 shouted at his teammate and teacher. "What's going on here? Nataro's gettin' his ass kicked so badly, and he can't even see a _blur_!"

"Could he possibly move so fast that he's invisible to the naked eye...?" Hanzo muttered to himself.

_'Aw man! If I don't find a way to stop this guy, I'm done for!'_ Nataro thought as he felt something connect with his jaw. He landed on the floor, rising up dust. He spat out some blood before sitting up. He glared into space, but he hoped that he was glaring at Seian. _'Crap... I think I actually __**want**__ the damn fox's help this time.'_

**"You're not going to get it."** The Kyuubi spoke up, mildly startling the genin. **"If it's not a life-or-death situation, then you can forget my helping."**

_'What?! Whatever happened to me being too pathetic to do anything alone?!'_

**"Zzzz..."** The demonic vulpine snored falsely, causing a vein to appear on Nataro's forehead. He was suddenly punched in the face by Seian.

_'FINE, ya stupid fox! I'll just take care of this myself!'_ He blinked as something flickered into sight beside him. "Huh?" He thought he saw a fist coming his way and rolled off to the side on instinct. Upon impact, Seian's fist hit the wall, the Kumo genin clenching his teeth in slight pain.

"Ugh..." His hand fell limply to his side, knuckles bleeding slightly. Seian looked at the blonde through his bangs. _'I guess I haven't recovered as much as I thought from that second exam... I don't have as much chakra as I usually do when I use that jutsu, so it began to wear off a bit. So...'_

"Hmph!" Nataro made a familiar hand sign and five kage bunshin appeared--one on Nataro's left, one on his right, and three in front of them. Two of the blondes in front crouched down while the two clones in the back jumped onto their backs and into the air. They reached into their kunai holsters and drew several kunai, which they threw at the Kumo genin in a flurry.

Seian clenched his fist a bit as he began to dodge the projectiles. He stepped aside to avoid one, getting a thin cut on his shoulder, and back flipped in time to dodge two more. As the blonde's bunshins finally stopped and began to land, the ones still on the floor began to throw several kunai and shuriken at the Kumo genin, hoping to strike some sort of vital point by luck.

_'Just my luck. I fight someone who can make a sold bunshin.'_ The black-clad teen thought as he drew two kunai from his pouch and began to try and deflect the oncoming projectiles as best as he could. However, Seian's best wasn't good enough. He was starting to tire and his opponent just kept going. Several times over he was cut or scratched in several places.

"All right, Nataro! You're not a complete loser after all!" Kazemaru cheered as he leaned against the railing.

"Aw, shut the hell up!" One of the bunshins shouted at the Temashi. "When this is over, I'm gonna beat _you_ next!"

"Ooohhh! I'm shaking!" The pyro simply stuck his tongue out at his teammate before Hanzo elbowed him in the ribs. "Oof! What the hell, Fan Boy?!"

"Keep quiet, you're gonna distract him."

"He did it during _my_ fight! Why shouldn't I do it to _him_?!"

As he bit his lower lip, Seian then shot forward, ignoring the oncoming kunai and shuriken. He managed to deflect some of them, and ignored the few shuriken that had struck his body. The Nataro bunshins in the front simply kept throwing shuriken and kunai as quickly as they could towards the black-clad teen, but two soon had kunai in their chest, and the remaining one got a punch in the face.

Nataro and the two remaining bunshin charged forward, fists balled up. One Nataro jumped forward and tried to slug Seian in the face, but the older boy caught his fist in his hand and kneed the blonde clone in the stomach. As the Nataro clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, the second clone came falling out of the air, aiming to land a drop kick on Seian. The black-clad teen back flipped away from the oncoming attack as the blonde dropped from the air.

As the clone landed, it crouched and allowed himself to be jumped onto by Nataro. The blonde jumped into the air, holding three kunai in both hands. Each kunai had an explosion tag attached to it. He grinned as he flung the projectile weapons at his opponent.

Seian simply jumped back, trying to avoid the kunai as they landed one by one in front of him. A few seconds later, they exploded, just as the sixth kunai struck the ground. The Kumo genin found himself backed against the wall just as the fourth and sixth kunai exploded. The force pushed him back, causing him to hit the back of his head against the wall.

_'All right!'_ Nataro thought as he landed on the ground. _'That should've knocked him out!'_ He gave his clone a high-five. "Yeah!"

"Well, that was interesting," Hikaru said with an arched eyebrow. "But it looks like the match is over..."

"...Not quite..." Seian muttered as he slowly stood up. He placed a hand behind his head and winced slightly. _'I'm going to have a headache tomorrow morning...'_ Thought the Kumo genin.

Konjo whistled. "Wow, for you to not be knocked out by a force like that is impressive."

"Aaaah!" Both Nataros exclaimed as they pointed a finger at Seian. "How're you--!"

_'I can't let this fight drag on any longer.'_ Thought the black-clad teen as he made several hand signs. _'I have to finish this! Ninpo: Yuurei Ari (Ninja Art: Phantom Possession)!'_ As Seian finished making hand signs, he turned slightly transparent.

"Ah!" Raizuna said with a smirk. _'He's going to use __**that**__ jutsu. Smart move considering how things have been going.'_

"Ooh!" Tsuki gasped in awe.

"Big deal," said Kaze as he sucked his teeth. "So you can see through 'em."

The orange-clad Leaf blinked. "Huh? What the--?" Before he could finish his sentence, his black-clad opponent dashed forward and seemed to have went into his body. Nataro froze in place. He tried to move a part of his body, but found he could barely move it. "H-hey! What...gives...?" Against his own free will, his hand became a fist and punched his clone in the face. As it disappeared in a puff of smoke, Nataro gasped. "What the hell! I didn't wanna-- How did-- What the hell's going on?"

_"Are you surprised?"_ Spoke Seian's voice. _"I don't blame you."_

"Eh?" The blonde spun around, looking frantically for the Cloud genin. "What the--?"

_"Do you want to know where I am?"_ He spoke again.

"No way! You're just gonna trick me again and hit me when my back's turned!"

"...Why is Nataro talking to himself?" Konjo asked Ina.

"Maybe it was that weird jutsu that Seian guy did."

_"Must I explain it to you? I'm within you."_

Nataro's eyes widened. "YOU'RE INSIDE OF ME?!?" He shouted, a vein popping up in forehead.

"Uh...what did he say?" Hanzo asked, blinking in surprise. "Is Seian..._inside_ Nataro?"

"So not fair! And I thought those Yamanaka were the only ones who could do that sort of thing..." The team pyro pouted.

"This might turn out to be bad..." The raven-haired boy said as he looked down at his blonde-haired teammate.

"Oh, I know! Who could make Nataro beat himself up! Or worse!"

"Seian could probably make Nataro forfeit."

"Hmmm..." Tsuki rubbed her chin in an intellectual manner. "...Nataro might lose."

"What kind of motivation is _that?_!" Kaze and Hanzo shouted at their sensei.

"What? I said _might_..."

"Hey, no fair! At least fight me like a man!" Nataro shouted as he tried to move his arm with no avail.

_"All's fair in war, right? It's ninjutsu, after all. Now then, onto business..."_

The orange-clad genin's arm slowly began to rise. Nataro gritted his teeth as he glared at his shaking hand. "Wha... What are you doing?"

_"Since you don't seem to be the type who gives up very easily..."_ The Kumo genin spoke, _"I'm going to do it for you."_

"Eh?" Just then, the blonde's arm began to slowly rise. "St-stop it, damn it!" _'Damn, damn __**DAMN!**__!! I didn't think I'd lose like __**this**__...' _"Grrrrr...! Hey!" He shouted over to Hikaru. "This isn't...allowed...is it...?"

"Well, it's a ninjutsu skill so, yeah. It is allowed." The proctor answered.

"CRAP...!"

Ina gave a sigh. "I knew he'd lose..."

"Poor Nataro," Konjo said, shaking his head. "He's gonna be pretty upset once the fight's over."

"Aw, crap!" Nataro cursed as his hand was now all the way up. "Wait a minute. Ha! I can't forfeit if you can't make me speak! So take _that_, creep!"

_"I can't make you __**speak**__?"_

"Well...think again." Both Nataro and Seian's voices came from the blonde's mouth. "EH? WHAT THE HELL!" He yelled.

"Well, that's it..." Kaze sulked. "It's all over but Nataro's whining..."

"Okay. Let's get this over with," Nataro and Seian spoke again.

**"Who do you think you are, pathetic child?"** Kyuubi spoke.

Nataro gulped. "Uh-oh..."

_"What in the...?"_

**"I hate to repeat myself, but as I said before, I'm the only one who can play with this child's mind. So...GET OUT!!"** After the demonic kitsune barked loudly, Seian was pushed out of Nataro's body. He turned corporeal again as he hit the floor, making some dust rise.

"Oh!" Tsuki gasped.

"WHOA!" Kazemaru and Konjo exclaimed at the same time, their eyes wide in surprise.

"What...happened?" Hanzo asked no one in particular as he stared down at Nataro.

"Could Nataro...have pushed Seian out on his own?" Haseo mused aloud.

"...No way..." Ina whispered as her hands gripped the railing.

Down in the arena, Nataro tried to move his hand. It did just that. The blonde demon vessel smiled. _'Uh... Thanks, Kyuubi. You actually helped me out when I wasn't going to die!'_

He heard the bijuu snort. **"Don't take it the wrong way. I just can't stand anyone but me controlling you."**

_'...YOU BASTARD FOX! WHO THE HECK SAID YOU COULD CONTROL ME?!'_

**"Don't you have a fight to finish?"**

_'Huh? Oh, right!'_ "That Seian guy..." Nataro looked at Seian, who was on one knee. The black-clad boy wobbled slightly as he wiped off the dirt from his face.

"What...was _that_? Something... I thought I heard something..."

The orange-clad shinobi's eyes widened. _'Crap! He heard you! He knows you exist!'_

**"Oh, please. He'll probably think he was hallucinating. Or that **_**you**_** simply pushed him out with your own willpower. Now just finish this so I could get some rest..."**

A vein appeared on Nataro's forehead._ 'LIAR! I bet you can't even __**sleep**__!!'_ "Hmph! Whatever, I'm just gonna finish this with _style_!" The blonde declared as he made a familiar hand sign. Three Nataro bunshin appeared around Seian. "Alright, here goes!"

One of the clones dashed forward to punch Seian. The Cloud genin was still tired from the Yuurei Ari, and got punched in the face. The force of the punch sent him stumbling towards another Nataro, who kicked him up into the air.

"And now...!" As that happened, the real Nataro ran up to the last clone, who grabbed his arm and began to spin around until Nataro was off of the ground. "GO!" The clone let go of the original, who was sent flying towards Seian. The blonde head butted the Kumo genin in the stomach with a grin on his face. Both young shinobi landed on the ground with a thud. Nataro landed on top of Seian, who was semi-unconscious.

"Uhhh..."

"And he's _out_!" Konjo declared, crossing his hands like a referee. Haseo and Ina, who were standing beside him, sweatdropped.

Hikaru walked over to the two ninja as Nataro got off of the Kumo genin. He observed the dark-clad boy before raising one hand. "The winner is Kazaki Nataro!"

"Yeah!! IN YOUR FACE, KAZE!! _IN YOUR FACE_!!!" The orange-clad ninja shouted loudly.

"You won on a fluke, I bet!" His red-haired teammate yelled back as he stuck out his tongue.

Hanzo closed his eyes and gave a sigh. "He won...! I almost thought he would lose!"

"Now _who_ had little faith in Nataro?" Tsuki said with a giggle, causing the Uchiha's cheeks to turn a shade of cherry red.

"Okay, then... With that, the preliminaries of the third exam are now over! Congratulations to all who passed!" Proclaimed the blue-haired proctor. "Would the winners of the preliminaries please come down to listen to the explanation of the third exam?"

"Finally!" Nataro said as Hanzo, Kazemaru, Ina, Konjo, and Mamoru came down into the arena. A few seconds later, they were facing Naruto.

"Now then, for the final exam, you will show your skills to a group of judges. And as you are expected to battle to your full potential to honor your homelands, you will given one month to prepare for the final exam."

Kazemaru arched an eyebrow. "Eh? I thought we were gonna start _today_..."

"Think of it as a sort of...preparation period." When the red-haired boy looked confused, the Rokudaime continued. "We will need a month for us to send word of the results of the preliminaries to the rulers and shinobi leaders of each land, as well as summon them for the finals. It also serves as a time of training for you genin."

"And the reason is because...?" Ina paused, waiting for an answer.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. "I was _getting_ to that." The raven-haired girl flinched. "During the preliminaries, you have learned things about your opponents and they learned things about you, which you can use later on to your advantage."

_'Yeah, like learning that Kazemaru was a living fireball...'_ Thought Konjo. _'And that kid from Suna can control sand.'_

"But some of you probably gave it your all and used everything you had to win your preliminary matches, while some of you might have been seriously injured. So to make things fair you have a month to prepare--to train hard and learn new trick, and to rest up as well!"

_'Whoo-hoo! This is great! I'm sure that within a month, I'll have my new ability fully mastered!'_ Thought Kazemaru as he gave a grin and mentally gave a thumbs-up.

_'Let's see, so there's Hanzo, Kaze, Ina, Konjo, that Mamoru kid and...me!'_ Nataro counted in his mind. _'From the looks of things, I might have to train the entire month away!'_

"Now then, before you all go, there's one last thing you need to do..." Naruto waved a hand, signaling Tsuriko, who was holding a box, to step forward. "There are slips of paper inside of the box Tsuriko is holding. Each of you must take one."

Tsuriko stepped up to Mamoru and held out the box for him. The brown-haired boy reached in and pulled out a piece of paper with the number 4 on it. He stared at the paper as Tsuriko approached, Konjo. Then, Hanzo, Ina, Kazemaru, and lastly Nataro, who drew a piece of paper with the number 3 on it.

"Now then, does everyone have a paper? Okay then, starting from the left, read out the number written on your slip."

"4." Said Mamoru. Hikaru wrote it down on a clipboard.

"I have 5," said Konjo.

"2," said Hanzo.

"1," said Ina.

"Mine's 6!" Said Kazemaru.

"And I got 3!" Said Nataro.

"Mm-hm!" Hikaru nodded, as Naruto bowed his head.

"Well then...time to reveal the pairings for the tournament!" Proclaimed the Hokage.

"SAY WHAT? That was what these things were for?" Nataro asked with squinted eyes.

"It's a...tournament?" Mamoru asked, arching an eyebrow.

The Rokudaime ignored them and said to the proctor beside him, "Show them the pairings, Hikaru."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Hikaru held up the clipboard, revealing some sort of tree. The first match was Hanzo and Ina; the second was Mamoru and Nataro; the last match was Konjo and Kazemaru.

"NO FUGGIN' WAY!" Kaze cursed, a vein popping onto his head. He got strange looks from Ina and Nataro. _'It's no frickin' fair! Why did my opponent have to be that freak Konjo?! Now I __**really**__ gotta train!'_

Hanzo gave a sigh while Ina smirked. "Well, well ,well... Isn't this interesting?" The raven-haired girl looked at her cousin from the corner of her eye.

Hanzo's lips twitched into a fake smile. "Y-yeah..." _'Perfect... Just __**perfect**__...'_

_'Very weird. I gotta fight Kazemaru!'_ Thought Konjo as he looked at the pyromanic genin. _'And with that little trick of his...I might have to be careful!'_

"So I gotta fight Mamoru..." Nataro looked at the Suna genin, who happened to be staring at him. _'There's something __**really**__ familiar about that guy. Problem is...I don't know __**what**__!'_

"Now then, before we all leave here, do any of you have questions?" Naruto asked the genin.

Hanzo raised his hand. "Um, I do!"

"Then go ahead!"

"This is supposed to be a tournament...so does that mean the person who wins the tournament becomes a chunin?"

"Actually, no. There's still a sure chance that even the ones who lose their matches could become chunin. This is because many judges, consisting of myself and the Kazekage and Raikage, as well as the leaders of other shinobi villages and the Daimyos of other countries who will be requesting missions, will observe you. Depending on your performance, the judges will deem whether or not you are ready to become chunin."

"Aha!" Proclaimed Nataro. "That means that all of us can become chunin!"

"Yes. But it's also possible that _none_ of you will become chunin! The advantage to the tournament is that the more rounds you fight in, the more you can show your talents to the judges. Does that answer your question, Hanzo?"

"Y-yes, sir!" The Uchiha said, looking at Nataro.

"Well then, you are all dismissed until one month from now! Good luck with your training!"

As the Hokage began to leave, Mamoru went back up to his sensei, and Konjo started to talk to Ina, Nataro folded his arms across his chest as he and his teammates walked back to their sensei.

"So, in the second match I'll either fight Hanzo or Ina..." The blonde thought aloud.

"Ah, now _there's_ a fight I wanna see! Total _fan-damonium_!" Kazemaru chuckled as Hanzo looked down at the floor, adding nothing to the comment. "Hey, Nataro? You sure you can beat that Mamoru kid?"

"Of course! This fight just helps me get a little bit stronger!"

"And you're not nervous at all."

"Nope! Cuz I have _a secret weapon_."

**"You better not be talking about **_**me**_**, kit."**

_'Like hell I am!! If I let __**you**__ help me, I'll only give Konoha a bad reputation by killing someone!'_

"Ah, how wonderful! All three of you made it, and only _two_ of Haseo's kids made it to the finals!" Tsuki said cheerfully as she hugged her genin students. Hanzo and Nataro blushed, while Kaze had hearts in his eyes. When she let them go, you could've _sworn_ he had a nosebleed. "Ah, Nataro! Do you have a training regimen for the month?"

"Yup! Why are you asking, Tsuki-sensei?" The orange-clad blonde blinked as the purple-haired jonin rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, I know you don't come from a ninja family, and I was wondering if you had someone to, you know, help you for the month. Hanzo has his mother and Kazemaru has his family, but you..." _'Might jeopardize my chance at winning the bet!'_

"I'm set! For sure!" _'I'm so stoked! I can't wait for a month to pass!'_ Nataro flashed a fox-like grin. "I'm gonna show everyone what I'm made of, sensei!"

"Wait, sensei! Um..." Kazemaru scratched his head and started to blush under his teacher's gaze. "I...I may need some help from you...if I get stuck..."

Tsuki gave a nod. "Oh, sure, sure! I could help you in an area you don't understand or recommend you to another jonin."

"Recommend...?" The redhead blinked. "But I want _you_ to teach me, sensei!"

The purple-haired woman giggled behind her hand. "I'm glad for that, but if I know someone whose style is just perfect for you, it'd be wrong of me to not ask them to help you out."

Nataro arched an eyebrow. _'Recommend a teacher, huh?'_ "Y'know what? I think you should ask another jonin to help _me_ train, too, Tsuki-sensei!"

"Nataro, you..." She paused as she searched for the right words. "You're a..._unique_ kid. Therefore, you need a _unique_ teacher--someone who fights like you, only better..."

"Ah, so what you're saying is that I'm so tough that there are hardly any jonin like me, right?"

"Except for the tough part, yeah." Tsuki bent over and patted him on the head. "Tell you what: I'll try my best to find a good teacher for you, okay?"

A broad smile spread out across the blonde boy's face. "Yes!! Thank you, sensei!! I could kiss you!!" He shouted as he jumped onto Tsuki and made an attempt to kiss her face. Instead, he got a smack across his face that sent him flying back over to his friends.

"A simple hug would suffice, Nataro..."

"Y...yes, m'am."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**For the use of using large shuriken as a melee weapon, blame Final Fantasy 7. Damn you, Yuffie Kisaragi!!**

**Kazeitachi (Wind Weasel) is Blu's little take on f Kamaitachi (Scythe Weasel), a weasel wielding a scythe that creates powerful hurricanes in Japanese mythology.**

**X-X-X**

**Remember to read and review! And remember: another character will be revealed early in the next chapter! If you're anxious about it, I suggest you review for the sake of Blu!**


	13. Train Me, Mysterious Mentor!

**Blu: Once again, a new chapter has been added to the storyline! This one actually introduces a character far earlier than the original version of Naruto X. So, here's hoping that you all will enjoy it. ROLL THE FIC!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#13: Train Me, Mysterious Mentor!!_

"Hm-hm-hmmm! Asura hummed to herself as she laid down on a bed, watching the small television screen that showed some sort of live-action show. Since she had been kept in the hospital by word of the Hokage, whatever time she had that wasn't put into medical studies and examinations was put into either television shows and spending time with Nataro. The pink-haired girl had especially grown fond of these live-action shows.

_"Why don't you just give up? Death is all this world understands, so much so that they cry out for it. __**This**__ is what everyone wants,"_ said the tall, frightening man dressed in samurai armor wearing an Oni mask and holding a katana that was as tall as he was and almost as wide.

"Death is all anyone understands..." Asura mumbled, as if taking the words to heart.

_"Maybe we do tend to complain about our troubles... 'I hate her.' 'I wish he'd die.' 'I don't deserve to live...' But..."_ the young man on the television screen with the Leaf hitai-ate tied around his head dressed in normal jonin uniform clenched his teeth. _"But even though we pray for something to just end our pain, we suck it up and keep our heads up!!"_

Asura nodded. "We tend to complain about our troubles...but we keep our heads up."

_"Lies... Putting on a brave front may work at first, but it cannot work forever. Eventually, there will come a time when one feels the need to give up...just like your master,"_ said the armored man.

"Brave fronts can't work forever... Eventually, you'll want to give up..."

_"You're wrong!! Because..."_

As the ninja hero began his dramatic speech, the room's door opened. Naruto walked inside with a pleasant smile on his face. "Good morning, Asura-chan!"

"Ssshhh!! The best part is starting!" The pink-haired girl shushed the Rokudaime, making him stare at her in confusion as she turned around. "Oh, wait... I missed it!"

Now the Leaf ninja was pulling off the pieces of steel that made up his foe's armor--which looked like it had been cut apart. When he removed the mask, he revealed a young man close to his age.

_"Izanagi!! Say something!!"_

The injured young man clutched the gash on his chest. _"Guh! ...It looks like...the better man won... Usually, I'd be depressed about losing to you, but...I feel...relieved." He forced a smile on his face. "Thanks..."_ He closed his eyes, the smile still on his face.

_"Huh? Izanagi?" _The other young man didn't reply. Tears welled up in the Leaf ninja's eyes. _"No!! Don't go!! You can't!! IZANAGIIIIIII!!!"_

As the ending theme song played, Naruto stepped further into the room, arching an eyebrow up at the TV. "What is _that_?"

"Ooh-ooh! _'Shinobi Taizen'_ (Shinobi Wars)!! The #1: show on Hi -TV (Fire-TV), preceded by _'Locked Hearts'_ and _'Wide Wild World'_!" Asura said with a wide smile. "Ninja are soooo cool, Naruto-san!"

"Of course! But you _do_ realize that the ones you see on TV aren't like real ninja?"

The girl gave him a questioning look. "Hm? Really?"

The elderly Hokage sat down on the edge of her bed and smiled. "Hm-hm! The ninja on TV can only perform their tricks with fancy machines and special effects, but real ninja, like the ones here in Konoha, don't need that! We do it _naturally_. Not to mention...we do our own stunts! Heh-heh!"

"Hee-hee!"

"Now then..." Naruto shifted around slightly so he could look at the pink-haired girl. "How has the staff been treating you? Good?"

"Um..." Asura pouted before shaking her head. "They keep _poking_ me and _touching_ me...and they never say _'sorry'_ for it!"

"That's what they're supposed to do. It's how they find out how you're feeling."

"Oh."

"Have you told anyone else that you don't like being touched?" The pink-haired girl shook her head, prompting a sigh from the Rokudaime. "How do you expect anyone to figure out you don't like being touched when you don't speak up about it?"

The door opened again and Hikari walked into the room, staring down at the chart in her hand. "Okay, Asura-chan, time for your medica..." She looked up and jumped back when she saw Naruto. "H-hokage-sama! What are _you_ doing here?"

"Morning, Hikari-chan. I just came to check up on Asura-chan." He placed a hand on the pink-haired girl's head. "Now, isn't there something you wanted to say?"

The medical ninja arched an eyebrow as Asura sat up and placed her head on Naruto's shoulder. "Hikari-san...STOP POKING MEEEEE!!" She screamed, making the old man wince.

"W-watch it!! I'm right _here_!"

"Sorry. Stop poking me," she repeated at normal volume.

"Huh? Poking you...?" Hikari frowned. "Is anyone troubling you? Because if it's who I _think_ it is, I'm gonna--!"

"_Actually_...!" The Rokudaime cut in before the pink-haired woman could channel any murderous intent. "She just doesn't like the way you treat her. You know, with the needles and everything..."

She calmed down. "Oh. Well, I'm sorry, Asura-chan, but that's the way it is. If we don't _'poke'_ you, we won't find out what's wrong with you."

"But nothing's wrong with me...!" Asura whimpered. "Nataro-san said that anyone who could eat an entire Hagakure Special bowl without pausing isn't sick!"

"Yeah, well-- YOU DID WHAT NOW?!" Naruto shouted a little louder than he should have. His eyes were large and blank as he stared at the girl in shock. _'Being able to do that doesn't mean you're sick... It means you've either got an iron stomach or you're not human!'_

"Just because you can do that doesn't mean you're well. If anything, it just means you're a big eater," Hikari told the odd-eyed girl. "And by the way, you shouldn't eat such things. It'll mess up your body." When her village's leader opened his mouth to deny that, she gave him a look and repeated, "_It'll mess up your body_..." He immediately closed his mouth. "By the way, Hokage-sama, the results from Asura-chan's last test just came in. I think you may want to see it, sir."

The Rokudaime gave a nod before standing up with a grunt of effort. "Have a nice day, Akasha-chan."

"Mm-hm..." Asura mumbled as she turned her attention back to the TV, no longer minding him or the medic as they left the room.

Once she closed the door behind her and made sure no one else was in the hallway at the moment, Hikari pulled out some papers from behind her chart. "While Asura-chan _is_ in good health, her body composition is...different than what a normal child's should be, so her definition of good health is different than ours."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well... I think it would be best if you see the results yourself." The pink-haired woman handed him the papers.

"Mm-hm... Huh?" The Rokudaime's eyes widened. "This can't be true...! This would mean that she's..."

**X-X-X**

In a training field somewhere in Konoha stood Nataro. He was hunched over, panting with cuts and bruises all over his clothes and body. He narrowed his eyes and formed a hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" A dozen clones of himself appeared around him. "Well, what're you waiting for? Let's go!!" He reached into his thigh holster and drew some kunai and shuriken. He threw the projectiles at four of the bunshin, but they easily countered by throwing their own shuriken and deflecting them. Another clone grabbed him from behind, holding him back as two others started to punch him in the face and the stomach. The original blonde gritted his teeth and knocked the back of his head against the forehead of the bunshin behind him, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. He jumped up in time to avoid a sweep kick from one of the clones in front of him and kicked it upside the head, making it crash into the other and making them disappear in puffs of smoke upon contact.

"C'mon!! Let's get 'em!!" The remaining nine clones shouted as they jumped at the blonde genin. He grabbed the arm of one bunshin and spun around, knocking aside four of them as all five disappeared in puffs of smoke. Two more clones tackled Nataro to the ground and kept him pinned from the waist down. The other two clones jumped onto the genin's upper half, completely blocking him from view before they started to pound on him.

"Alright, I give!! I give!!" Nataro cried out. The bunshin dispersed in puffs of smoke, allowing him to sit up and rub his aching head. "Man, I don't know how much longer I could go like this...! Why hasn't Tsuki-sensei found anyone here who'll train me?"

**"Maybe they don't want to teach a troublesome brat like you,"** the Kyuubi spoke up. **"After all, you're a well-known troublemaker."**

"That doesn't mean anything!! I haven't been causing as much trouble lately!" The blonde shouted as he pounded his fist on the ground. "All I want is for someone to train me! Can't I get just that? It's not like I want a Kage-level ninja! ...Well, maybe. Okay, I'll take _anyone_ who'd be willing to help me out here!!" He shouted up at the sky.

His inner demon gave a snort. **"Do you expect for your dream mentor to just fall in your lap?"**

"Get back here, you criminal!!!" The sound of screaming drew Nataro's attention to the path that went through the nearby forest. Running down the path was what appeared to be a group of ninja bearing the Kusa hitai-ate chasing down a man.

"Once again, why exactly am I a criminal?" Asked the man who was in front of the group.

"Wh-what?!"

"You can't fool us, you good-for-nothing-vagabond!!"

"No, I'm pretty sure I can fool some guys like you!" The man kicked up his speed and ran in Nataro's direction. He skidded to a halt beside the blonde boy, but he didn't turn to acknowledge him. "In fact, I'm wondering why the hell I've been running for so long since I could take you all out with ease." He held a hand to his head and sucked his teeth. "Tch! What a pain...!"

Up close, the 30-something year old man's appearance was _definitely_ something that Nataro had never seen before. The left side of his disheveled, somewhat spiky hair was black while the right side was white, his left eye was white and his right one was black. He wore a black jacket that went past his waist, the left sleeve long enough to cover his entire arm down to the wrist while the right sleeve stopped at the elbow, a long white sleeve reaching his wrist instead. Underneath the jacket was a shirt that was black on the left side and white on the right, and a pair of black pants.

"Don't be ridiculous!! The last time you dared to show your face in our country, you ran away from the fight!" One of the Kusa nin screamed.

"The only reason _why_ I left was because that place was beginning to bug me. That _and_ your idiot boss," the black-and-white-clad man spoke nonchalantly as he scratched his neck.

"You dare to speak of our Daimyo that way?!" Another Grass ninja growled.

The black-and-white-clad man snorted as he began to form hand signs at such a speed that to Nataro, his hands were but a blur. "I'll talk about him as I please!! And you wanna know _why_?!" He took a deep breath and blew out a powerful gust of wind that was enough to blow the surprised Kusa ninja back into the forest and also uproot a few trees.

When the chaos was over and screams had faded away, Nataro stared at the fallen trees with slack-jawed awe. "W-wow...!"

"Huh. If I'm lucky, they'll think this damage was done by some ninja during training." The man smirked and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "Seriously, I am just too good sometimes..."

"THAT WAS _AWESOME_!!!" Nataro screamed, his presence only just now being noticed by the man with the bi-colored hair. His eyes sparkled with childlike innocence as he continued, "So _big_! So..._destructive_!! Mister! Could you show me how to do that jutsu?!"

The man narrowed his eyes. "_'Mister'_? I am _not_ a Mister! I am the legendary mad genius of the Leaf!!"

The genin stared up at him with fox-like eyes. "Who?"

"I'm _Kira_, you moron!! God, do children from this village not know greatness when they see it?" The self-proclaimed mad genius muttered.

Nataro started to smile and nod his head. "Oh...! Who?"

A vein popped up on Kira's forehead. "Ugh! That's what I get for trying to explain things to a mere kid," he muttered as he turned away from the genin.

"Ah! Wait a minute!!" The orange-clad boy immediate zipped in front of the man, his hands placed together. "Please, please, _PLEASE_!! I'm begging you to train me!!" He gave a squeak of surprise when Kira suddenly grabbed his head. "Huh?"

"Look, geniuses like myself don't waste time training stupid little kids."

"Who're you calling a stupid little kid?! I'm a ninja of Konoha!!" Nataro fumed while he struggled to get out of Kira's grip.

"Ninja, huh?" Kira stared at the hitai-ate. "Konoha..." He started to smirk. "So, you're a _ninja_? Well, I guess I could teach you a lesson..." He got an eerie look in his eye as his almost-hidden arm began to shake. "Stay outta my way!!" He screamed as he threw a shocked Nataro up into the air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH...!" The blonde genin's voice faded away as his figure disappeared from sight, resembling a star in the sky for the moment.

"Well, I think I deserve a reward for my giving a good lesson!" Kira told himself as he grinned from ear to ear. He climbed over a fallen tree and started to walk down the path that led to town.

**X-X-X**

"Thanks for finding me someone to train with, Tsuki-sensei," Kazemaru said as he stared down at the ground, his cheeks dark red. "But, um...a-are you sure you're not upset with me training with another teacher?"

"Now why would I? A good teacher would help their student any way they can. Even if it means letting another person teach them," Tsuki told the redhead as they walked down a street in town. _'As depressing as that __**is**__...'_ "Besides, I think the guy I have in mind for you is great choice for helping you hone your skills. Oh!" She suddenly stopped walking and looked up at the building they were standing in front of. "We're here!"

Kazemaru stopped walking as well and stared at the building. It looked like one of the classic dojos from long ago, although it wasn't as big. Still, the boy couldn't contain his excitement. "A real dojo! I knew that Konoha had its own taijutsu styles, but I never knew anything like this existed here!"

"Well, it isn't like taijutsu styles are secret jutsu--with the exception of a couple. Anyone can learn them so long as they're capable."

The pyromanic genin made a sounded that bordered between a squeak and a shout of joy. "I can't wait!!" He shouted as he ran towards the dojo doors, only to have someone thrown into him and fall back. "OWWWW!!! THE FUG?!?"

"Oh...!" The boy on top of Kaze moaned.

"Hey, you!! Get off of me, would ya?!"

"I think he's unconscious," said Tsuki as she approached her student and bent over. "Definitely unconscious."

A man in his early 30's ran out of the dojo panting. He wore a sleeveless white gi with black pants, his hair short and dark red with a single short strand sticking up to the front and black eyes. His muscled arms had scars and there appeared to be three slash-like scars on his right cheek. "Bao Zi!! Are you okay?!" He called out with signs of worry in his voice.

"You threw him through a _door_. I doubt he's okay," a voice from inside the dojo spoke.

The young man on top of Kazemaru jumped off of him and cracked his neck. "Ah! I'm fine, sensei!" He was a young boy around Kaze's age--maybe a year older--with short, disheveled black hair and black eyes, wearing a short-sleeved yellow shirt with a black stripe going down the front, yellow shorts with a black stripe going down the middle and black bandages tied around his hands up to his elbows.

"His thick head broke the fall," the voice from inside spoke again. "Or maybe it was that guy he fell on."

"Hm? That guy...?" The yellow-clad boy looked down at Kaze, who was glaring up at him. "Excuse me! I didn't mean to land on you."

"Doesn't change the fact that you _did_...!" The redhead growled, heat radiating from his body as he did.

"_Kaze_..." Tsuki warned her student. He immediately calmed down. The yellow-clad boy helped Kaze up. The pyro's glare withered away as his sensei motioned to the red-haired man, "Kazemaru, this is Senmusha Hakubo, one of the top taijutsu specialists of the Leaf."

"Top...specialist?"

"That's right! Hakubo-sensei is #2!!" The yellow-clad boy exclaimed as he held up two fingers. He didn't seem to notice the way his sensei had slumped over a bit.

Kazemaru's mouth twitched in the corner. "#2? Shouldn't I at least ask the #1 guy to help me out first before we go to the second string?"

"Despite what this child says, Hakubo is the #1 _living_ taijutsu specialist," Tsuki explained. "Well, I'll be leaving now. Train hard, Kazemaru." She disappeared in a puff of smoke before her student could say anything.

The pyromanic genin stared at the taijutsu specialist, feeling a bit awkward. Sensing the boy's awkwardness, Hakubo gave a small smile and folded his arms across his chest. "So, Kazemaru, right? Tsuki told me that you're interested in taijutsu."

"Um... Yeah... I _guess_. I mean, I watch a lot of kung-fu movies, so..." _'Not to mention that it's the only kind of jutsu I seem to be good at...'_

"Uh-huh... So you're a wannabe," the voice from inside the dojo spoke again.

"What was that?!" Kazemaru shouted, a vein popping up on his forehead as he held up a shaking fist. "You got something to say to me?! Step out here and face me like a man!!"

"Now, Kagura, whatever the reason is, you shouldn't be making fun of others."

Another boy of 13 or 14 years walked out of the dojo. He was very pale-skinned with a thin figure and looked about as short as Nataro, his black hair set up in a short ponytail with some golden bands and plum purple eyes, wearing a purple jumpsuit with blue cuffs that seemed three sizes too big with sleeves and legs short enough to show fishnet sleeves and black leggings. "He certainly sounds like a wannabe if his only taijutsu knowledge comes from movies."

"Call me a wannabe one more time and I'll punch your face in, Girly Boy!" The young redhead threatened the purple-clad boy, who simply ignored him.

"Sensei, what exactly is the point of taking on another jonin's student? Shouldn't they look after their own?" The pale-skinned boy, Kagura, asked. "Was he that awful a student that she had to send him to someone else?"

_'Awful...student?!'_ A pair of veins popped up on Kaze's forehead as he gritted his teeth. The air around him was starting to get warm. "_That does it..._!" He spoke softly through gritted teeth. He burst into flames, screaming, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"

"Whoa!!" Bao Zi stepped back, holding his hands in front of him as the flames from the redheaded genin grew every couple of seconds.

Kazemaru ran towards Kagura, who still had a look of surprise on his face. The flaming genin pulled his fist back and pounced, but in seconds, he found himself on the ground on his back once more. Hakubo sat on top of him, hands pinning the boy's arms to the ground and seemingly unaffected by his flames. "Cool it!"

"Huh? H-hey, get off of me!! You're gonna get burned!!"

"Not until you calm down," the taijutsu specialist spoke calmly, not even noticing how his clothes were starting to burn.

"How can I when you're on fire?!" The genin screamed. "Come on, just get off!!"

"Calm down."

"Why...you...! Ugh...!" Kazemaru held his breath and started to count in the back of his head. _'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...'_ He breathed out some hot air as the flames that generated from his body faded away. "There, I'm calm," he muttered in a flat tone, his eyes half-lidded. "Happy now?"

Hakubo gave a wide smile. "Very!" _'Now I know that what Tsuki said was true, even if it didn't turn out as I planned. His kekkei genkai is linked to his emotions...'_ "I think this is going to be an interesting month, don't you?"

"Um... Hakubo-sensei? Your clothes are still on fire," Bao Zi pointed out with wide eyes.

"Hm?" The red-haired man turned his head to look at a little flame that rested on his shoulder. "Whoa! I should've noticed _that_!!"

Kazemaru sweatdropped, his eyes reduced to a pair of thin lines as he gave a sigh. _'Yup... This is gonna be one interesting month alright...'_

**X-X-X**

Later, the black-and-white-clad man was strolling across a bridge with a stick of pocky in his mouth and a box of the sweet in his hand, the other hand in his pants pocket.

_'Boring, boring, BORING! How come nothing fun is going on?'_ "Hm?" He looked up at the Hokage's mountainside monument and stopped walking. "One...two...three...four...five...six... Huh. The old man's taking longer to die than I thought he would." Kira stumbled forward as something jumped onto his back, latching on tightly. "The hell?!"

"I finally found you!!" Kira looked over his shoulder to find a soggy Nataro clinging onto him with a mischievous grin on his face. "It wasn't _too_ hard, though, seeing as how you stick out like a sore thumb."

The black-and-white-clad man gave the genin a half-lidded gaze. "Oh, it's you. Hey, didn't I toss you into the stratosphere a while ago?"

"_I landed in a pond_!" Nataro growled in a dark tone.

"I see..." Kira suddenly slammed his back against the railing and Nataro fell off. The black-and-white-clad man's eyes began to shine with an eerie, sinister light as he towered over the genin. "How would you like to take _another_ dip, kiddo?" Kukuku...!" Dropping his box of pocky, he once again grabbed Nataro by the head and tossed him into the river below. "There. Problem solved!" He bent over and picked up his box with a satisfied smile.

"Aha! _You_!" Kira turned around to see a fair-skinned, attractive and scantily-clad woman behind him.

"Hm?" He noticed the Kumogakure hitai-ate she wore. His eyebrow twitched and rose as he gave an irritated groan. "Ah, crap! If it's not _one_ nuisance..." He placed his index finger on his forehead and closed his eyes in thought. "Wait, don't tell me... I...ruined your mission, right? I wound up helping a foreign Daimyo's son fall for his attendant and stop his false marriage to _you_ after months of planning with his uncle to take him out." He opened his eyes to see the look of hatred that burned in the kunoichi's eyes and gave a wide grin. "Ha ha! I was right, wasn't I?"

A vein popped up on the Kumo kunoichi's forehead as she bit her lower lip. "You...!" She jumped at him. "YAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Kira snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please..."

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Nataro came up to the surface, spitting out water. "Ptui!! Where'd that guy go now?" He pulled himself out of the water and jumped back onto the bridge's railing in time to see Kumo kunoichi being carried away, unconscious. "What happened _here_?"

"Can you believe that guy in the black and white?" A woman, who was standing nearby, told her friend. "He beat up a _girl_ without a second thought!"

"But she was a kunoichi, wasn't she? She had on a hitai-ate... And she did throw the first punch..." said the woman's friend.

"That doesn't matter!! He made her crash into a wall!! What a ruffian..."

Nataro arched an eyebrow and took a look around. He almost fell off of the railing when he saw the hole in a nearby wall. It was _big_, for lack of better words. The wall suddenly fell apart some more, reducing it to mere rubble. The genin stared at the pile with wide eyes. "Whoa...!" _'Did __**he**__ do that...?'_

**X-X-X**

Later, Kira was sitting outside of a dango shop, eating a stick of the sweet dumplings.

"Honestly, I feel like I'm being watched..." He spoke through a mouthful of his food. His gaze drifted back up to the Hokage monument, which was only a few miles away from the shop. He narrowed his eyes and groaned, "It's like...they're looking down on me...! Damn it, quit staring at me!!" Kira stood up and shook a fist at the mountains. "I mean it!! Why don't you go take a look at somebody else for a change, you relics?! Especially _you_, old man!!"

The other customers who were sitting outside of the shop stared at the seemingly insane man, wary of making eye contact. The waitresses hesitated in moving until Kira sat down and resumed eating his dango in silence.

"I can't enjoy _anything_ knowing those guys are looking me...! Somebody oughta just tear that thing down. Not like it's doing anyone any good..." The black-and-white-clad man muttered to himself, pouting.

"Aha!! I found you!" A familiar voice proclaimed cheerfully.

Look out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nataro standing right next to him with a victorious look on his face. Kira gave the kid a half-lidded stare. "Seriously, kid, why are you stalking me? Did I kill your parents? Your siblings? Your friends? Did I kick your dog?"

The genin squinted his eyes in confusion. "What? No! I want _you_ to train _me_!!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at the mad genius, then at himself.

Kira snorted as he looked the boy up and down. He suddenly gained an apathetic look as he spoke, "I can't train some...what rank are you?"

"Genin."

"Some _talentless genin_! That's a disgrace! I've got a reputation to uphold--even if it _is_ a bad one! No way in hell, _kiddo_!"

Nataro gritted his teeth as he started to growl. "Talentless?! We'll see who's talentless after I _kick your ass_!!" He screamed as he pounced at Kira, only to have the stick of dango stabbed in his shoulder. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Kira slipped the last dumpling off of the stick and popped it into his mouth, apathy still apparent on his face as he licked his lips. "Ah... The taste of anguish. Nice." He slapped on his stupid smile once again. "Lesson 2: _'anything can be used as a weapon'_. Laters." He disappeared in a puff of smoke just as Nataro removed the stick from his shoulder.

"Damn...! He got away _again_!" The orange-clad genin started to smile. "But I'll catch 'em and make him train me! Then I'll be as _awesome_ a ninja as I am in my dreams!" He dropped the blood dango stick and ran off down the road.

Seconds later, a hand popped up from the ground, frightening the customers--one lady shrieked and promptly fainted. The hand rose up from the ground, revealing that it was connected to an arm, and soon, Kira pulled himself up out of the ground. "Talk about a glutton for punishment. Kiddo's persistent," he muttered as the other customers and the waitresses attempted to help the semi-conscious woman.

"Thanks!" The black-and-white-clad man looked up to find the blonde genin sitting on the roof of the dango shop with a stupid grin similar to Kira's. "I'm told my persistence is one of my best traits!"

"I see... _Unfortunately_, I _hate it_ when persistent people pursue me!!" Kira exclaimed as he formed a single hand sign. He slammed his hand down on the ground and the earth beneath him opened up wide enough for him to fall through.

"Oh, no, you don't!! I'll chase you down to the ends of the earth!!" The genin screamed as he jumped off of the roof and fell down into the hole.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile at Hagakure, a pair of customers were being served. "Okay, two Hagakure specials for Nataro and his little friend," the shop owner said after placing a super-sized bowl of ramen in front of Nataro--or someone who looked like him.

"Thank you very much!" Asura chirped as she grabbed hold of the bowl.

"Yeah, thanks!" _'Nataro'_ said as he broke apart his chopsticks and grinned. "Are you _sure_ you meant it when you said you could eat a Hagakure special, Asura-chan?"

"Yes, Naruto-san~!" The pink-haired girl sang.

The shop owner blinked. "Naruto?"

"Sh-she means _'Nataro'!_ She always mixes up my name and Gramps' own! Ha ha ha!" The blonde sweatdropped as the owner gave him a strange look. When the man walked away to serve another customer, _'Nataro'_ looked the pink-haired girl. "Asura-chan, don't spill the beans!" He whispered. "This won't work if you call me _'Naruto-san'_ all the time." _'Although, I doubt anyone would think that the honorable Rokudaime would have to change into a genin to get some downtime from work...'_

"Mm sowwy," Asura spoke through a mouth full of noodles as she held her bowl with both hands.

"And use your chopsticks! You look awful when you eat like that," Naruto told her as he spun his noodles around in his bowl

The pink-haired girl swallowed her noodles and stared at the disguised old man in confusion. "Chopsticks? What's that?"

"...You're kidding. You use them to eat the noodles!"

Asura picked up the chopsticks and broke them apart. She attempted to use them, but wound up breaking them somehow. Naruto sweatdropped as the girl pouted. "I don't need these!" She lifted up the bowl and started eating the contents once more.

"Heh-heh! Well, to each their own, right?" The Rokudaime mumbled to himself before lifting up some noodles. "Either way, it's lunch time!"

**X-X-X**

Nataro's stomach growled as he walked by down the riverside. "Ugh...! I need..._food_!" He hadn't eaten anything since morning and the blonde genin was just now feeling his stomach gnawing at itself from the inside. He slumped over a bit as he thought about that mad man Kira, who was crazy enough to stab him in the arm with a stick of nice, sweet dango and--oh, crap, thinking about that freak was making him even _more_ hungry! _'What I wouldn't give for some dango...or a rice ball...or a bowl of ramen...!' _Nataro's stomach growled once again and he fell to his knees underneath a tree. "I can't take thiiiis!" He whined as his stomach growled even louder, sounding like some sort of beast.

"What was _that_?" Kira poked his head out of the tree's leaves, an animal cracker dangling from his mouth. When he noticed Nataro, a vein popped up on his head as he bit the dog apart. "It's the painfully bright ninja kid..._again_. Great."

"AHA!! Found ya! _Again_!!" Nataro exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and pointed a finger at the mad genius, completely forgetting his hunger pains.

The mad genius' response was to blow a strong wind at the boy. The force was enough to send him flying back until he landed in the river. Seconds later, Nataro crawled back up and stood on the water. Kira gave the genin a half-lidded stare along with an apathetic face. "Ugh, don't you have _better_ things to do than stalk me, kid?"

"Who's stalking?! I just want you to train me, ya weirdo!!"

"You expect me to train you after you insult me?"

Nataro blinked and shook his head. "No, no! I didn't mean it!! I _meant_ to say...you...you _genius_!"

Kira smiled. "Genius, huh?"

"Oh, sure, sure! _The_ Kira of Konohagakure! It would be an honor to be trained by you!" The blonde genin exclaimed, bowing his head in reverence.

"Of course it would! ...But it doesn't mean I'm gonna train you."

The blonde boy almost fell down from shock, but he maintained his balance to shoot a glare at the black-and-white-clad man. "WHAT?! I _need_ you to train me so I can pass the Chunin Exams!!"

"Chunin...Exams..." Kira shook his head. "No! I hold true to the fact that you're not special enough to be trained by a genius like me!"

A vein popped up on Nataro's forehead. "Quit callin' me talentless!! I'll show you the power of Kazaki Nataro!!" He formed a familiar hand sign and a hundred clones of himself appeared around him, jam-packed together as they surrounded the tree. "Behold my ultimate trump card--Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

Kira arched an eyebrow before jumping out of the tree, landing safely on the ground. "Kage Bunshin... Interesting. No _normal_ genin could do a move like _that_." He started to smirk and placed his hands in his hips. "Hey, you just may be worth my time, kiddo!" He formed the same hand sign and two bunshin of himself appeared behind him. "Let me give you one last lesson...before I run you _down_."

"You can _try_!!" The Nataros screamed as they leapt at the Kiras, who wore stupid grins on their faces as they slumped over slightly.

"Show me what you've got, kiddo!!"

Seconds later, one could hear the sounds of bunshin disappearing in puffs of smoke.

**X-X-X**

"I can't believe how long it's taking just to get it to show its true form."

"It's content with the life it's living now. There is no way that it'll want to abandon it."

"_Life_? That makes no sense. It's not even fully awakened yet, so it _has_ no life of its own, does it?"

"That's correct, but it _thinks_ its life is its own to live. In any case, we must keep trying to push it."

"It's bad enough the rebirth process only worked half-way... Now we've gotta babysit some little beast until it gets its tails?"

"Not us."

"Right. It's _my_ job to keep an eye on it.

**X-X-X**

Back at the riverside, Nataro was lying down in front of Kira, breathing heavily and occasionally twitching in pain. Whatever skin was visible on the blonde genin, there was at least two bruises on there. None of his clones were left, but Kira stood there with his clones intact and not a scratch on him.

"Oooohhh...!" _'Did he...have to hit me so __**hard**__?'_ Nataro thought as he got to his knees, ignoring the pain that went off in the parts of his body that he moved. _'I don't get it. I outnumbered him 100 to 3, but he still beat me! And I couldn't lay a single blow on him!'_

"Lots of chakra, lots of stamina, good endurance, but not very smart," Kira mused aloud as his bunshin dispersed in puffs of smoke. "Heh... You're pretty good, kiddo! There were a few times when you almost had me...but I'm impressed by you nonetheless. Normal genin shouldn't be able to make even _one_ shadow clone, but you can make a _hundred_. You're like some sort of freak of nature..." He started to nod and smile. "I like that! Consider yourself honored, because your new master shall be the _Mad Genius of the Leaf_!!"

The genin blinked for a moment before realization hit him. "Yes!!" He pumped a fist in the air and put it back down immediately.

"Don't just go _'yes'_! Dance around and scream your frickin' head off!" The mad genius told the boy with an arched eyebrow, his hands on his hips. "Hey, you better appreciate genius when you see it!!"

"I _would_, but no thanks to _you_, every part of my body's in pain!!" The blonde shouted as his eyes became comically large.

"Oh, boo-hoo. Suck it up! 'Cuz for the next month, I'm gonna run you down _10 times worse_!" Kira got that eerie gleam in his eye as he started to laugh evilly once more, "Kukukuku...!"

Nataro sweatdropped, rubbing his sore arm as he clenched his teeth. _'Maybe...I should've waited for Tsuki-sensei to help me get a teacher...'_

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Kira means "killer".**

**Hakubo means "Dusk", "Twilight" and "Nightfall", though it's most commonly used for "aunt". Senmusha means "Thousand" (Sen) "Warriors" (Musha).**

**Kagura is the name of Shinto theatrical dance. It means "god entertainment".**

**Bao Zi is a steamed, bun or bread filled with meat or other kinds of fillings.**

**Live-Action TV sentai shows like Voltron and Power Rangers are popular here in the U.S.**

**Pocky is a well-known Japanese sweet. Dango are sweetened dumplings.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Hooray for Kira!! Everyone's favorite mad genius has reappeared earlier!**

**Kira: What can I say? The fans love me.**

**Nataro: That makes one of us…**

**Blu: Next up is the training montage!**

**Kira: (Evil glint in his eyes) Kukukuku…! Excellent…!**

**Nataro: (Starts sweating) Awwww, crap…!**

**Blu: If it will make your pain less bearable, it's a short montage.**

**Nataro: Knowing you, you're gonna enjoy my pain as much as **_**that **_**(Points at Kira as he sharpens a katana in the corner) psycho!**

**Blu: …Yes. Yes, I will. (To the readers) See you in the next chapter! And remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	14. A Mad Genius's Training Regimen!

**Blu: I hope it doesn't offend anyone if this chapter goes by too quickly.**

**Nataro: I'm pretty sure they just wanna get back to reading Arashiden, Blu.**

**Blu: Don't you think I know that?! Why don't you just go back to your training?!**

**Nataro: Alright, alright...! Sheesh...!**

**Blu: Ugh...! Well, what're you waiting for? Start reading!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#14: A Big Mistake?! A Mad Genius's Training Regimen!_

"Sometimes meditation is great way to train," Kotoyo told Hanzo as they sat cross-legged on the floor of the family room. All the furniture that had once been in the middle of the room had been moved aside to make room for the mother and son. "Looking inside yourself and getting rid of all the wicked energies within you is a great way to start your training." She took a deep breath and breathed out slowly. "I am reliving myself of all my tension..."

Hanzo sweatdropped as he stared at his mother. "Uh... Mother. I don't _have_ any wicked energies..." _'Whatever __**those**__ are supposed to be...'_

"Of _course _you do, hun! Everyone does! Just look at your grandmother. You'd think _she_ was your stereotypical sweet, little old lady but she used to have a violent streak."

The raven-haired boy sweatdropped again as he gave his mother a skeptical look. _'Used to? She __**is**__ violent. It's just towards Grandfather and Hokage-sama. Everyone else is too afraid of her to upset her…'_

"Maybe you'd feel better if you drank some tea, honey," said Kotoyo as she picked up a little black teapot that she had placed in front of her alongside two teacups.

"Tea?" Hanzo turned slightly blue in the face. The last time he had tea his mother made to help him recover from a cold. Instead, he had a cold and a horrible case of constipation. The tea was a mixture of harmless store-bought tea powder and...something else. Hanzo wasn't sure _what_ his mother put in the tea--her little secret, she said--but it had to have been awful. "Um... I think I'll skip the tea."

"But it'll really clear you up!"

'_More like __**stop**__ me up.'_ He put on a fake smile and scratched his neck. "I...think I'm feeling it now! No more wicked energies!"

Kotoyo pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Drink the tea," she responded in a flat tone.

"But, Mother--GACK!!" His mother's hand had suddenly flown up to his throat and gripped it tightly.

"_Drink_ the tea!" She demanded as her eyes glowed in a fierce, almost inhuman manner. His grandmother's aura was simply murderous, but his mother's was downright _demonic_ sometimes! And she didn't even have Herculean strength.

Hanzo strained to nod his head, his eyes reduced to little dots and his mouth seemingly disappearing from his face. Kotoyo released him and gave her boy a sweet smile as he rubbed his throat, straining to take deep breaths.

"Good!" The dark-haired woman poured the black tea into a teacup and handed to Hanzo with her same sweet smile on her face. "Well? Drink up!"

'_Well...here goes.'_ With shaking hands, the young Uchiha raised the cup up to his face and gulped the black tea down as quickly as he could. He slammed the teacup down in front of him, breathing heavy and resisting the urge to spit. Whatever was in that tea, Hanzo was sure dirt was one of them.

"So, how do you feel?"

"I feel... I feel...a stomach ache."

"Huh?" Kotoyo blinked as her eldest son doubled over, holding onto his stomach while his face turned blue. "Are you okay, sweetie?" She didn't even get an answer. The raven-haired boy immediately shot out of the room and onto the engawa, where he started to throw up. Just as quickly as her son, the Uchiha wife was up and at his side. "Hanzo, are you okay?"

Once he had stopped throwing up, Hanzo opened his mouth to say something, but all he got out was, "No--HURRGH!!" He resumed throwing up, his mother holding him back by the waist.

The dark-haired woman sweatdropped. "This wasn't the cleansing that I had in mind..."

**X-X-X**

"Alright!! Your training officially begins today!" Hakubo exclaimed as he pointed a finger at Kazemaru.

"Yes, sir!!" The redhead proclaimed as he gave a salute. "So, what're we gonna do first? Meditate under a waterfall? Practice breaking blocks of wood? Catching a pebble out of your hand?"

Kagura and Bao Zi, who were sitting in a corner, sweatdropped. "He's joking, right?" The purple-clad boy asked with an arched eyebrow.

"You obviously weren't listening yesterday…" Hakubo mumbled. "Today, you're going to…attack a dummy!"

The redhead sweatdropped. "Huh?"

"You want to put Bao Zi in harm's way, sensei?" Kagura asked as he motioned towards his yellow-clad teammate.

"I meant _this_ dummy!" The older redhead patted the cloth dummy that seemed to be stuffed with cotton and had a face drawn on it. "I want you to attack this and set it on fire in one go."

"Is that all? I thought I was gonna do something harder…" The redhead bent over and formed a hand sign, making heat radiated from his body. "Here I go!!" He dashed forward and punched the dummy in the face, but all that it got was a scorch mark on the head. "Huh?!"

"No offense, but aren't you supposed to _burn things_?" Kagura's voice drifted out from the corner.

"I could try burning _you_, you lousy, no-good…!" The young redhead started to curse several times under his breath, the air around him beginning to warm up once more.

Hakubo inspected the scorched dummy and arched an eyebrow. "How odd. Tsuki said you made a puppet catch on fire just by touching it."

Kaze blinked and thought back to his preliminary match against Yasha. "Yeah… So technically, I should be able to set that dummy on fire."

"Hmmm, there must be a reason why you can't do that now…" The taijutsu specialist arched an eyebrow as he stroked his chin in thought. "I wonder… Kazemaru, what exactly happens before your kekkei genkai activates?"

'_I get my ass kicked?'_ He thought flatly in his mind. "Oh! I get pissed off!"

"Ah! That explains it! We need to figure out how to get you to activate your kekkei genkai without relying on anger."

"But I thought fire _was_ like anger in physical form…?" The pyromanic genin asked as a large question mark appeared over his head.

"WRONG!!!" Hakubo shouted, startling not only Kaze, but Kagura and Bao Zi. "Fire is _far_ more than a mindless destructive force or an embodiment of anger and rage! It's…it's…_unexplainable_, but it's far more! To truly control fire, you _must_ understand it!" The red-haired jonin exclaimed as flames burned in his eyes.

"W-wow…!" Kazemaru stuttered as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head.

"I don't care how many times he says that—that speech _never_ fails to awe me!" Bao Zi exclaimed as flames also burned in his eyes.

Kagura simply looked out of the corner of his eye, muttering, "And I have to endure a month of _this_?" _'I kinda wish I was with Jakki in traction…'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, a bandaged-up Nataro stood before Kira beside the riverside. Despite his appearance, the orange-clad boy was bouncing giddily and looking at his temporary master with bright eyes. The black-and-white clad man, on the other hand, looked a bit lost.

'_Okay... Never thought I'd find myself training a genin. This will be soooo much fun!'_ Kira thought with a crooked smile, his eyes glinting in a creepy manner.

Nataro stopped bouncing and stared at the man. For a second, he thought he was going to wind up in some body of water all over again. "Kira-sensei!! What am I gonna learn _first_?" The blonde exclaimed with a grin and a salute.

"Nothing."

"Huh?! B-but...!"

"Don't talk back to your master!! ...I didn't finish, anyway." Kira pointed out to the river behind his temporary student. "I wanna see how well your chakra control is. Step out onto the water."

Nataro flinched. "The...water?"

"Yes, the water. The big blue wet thing behind you where the fishes live and the dogs occasionally poop in..." The mad genius gave an overdramatic gasp and covered his hands with his mouth. "Oooh, don't tell me you haven't learned how to walk on water yet! You are _definitely_ a slow learner, kid!"

The blonde boy snorted and adjusted his goggles. "Of course I can walk on water!!" He formed a hand sign, channeling his chakra into his feet, jumped off the bank and onto the water as if it were land. "See?! I told you I could do it!!" He shouted as his hands remained in position. _'Thank goodness! If I fell in, I bet he'd laugh his ass off!'_

"It ain't like you killed a thousand men with your bare hands. Chill out, would ya?" Kira spoke as he stepped onto the water himself. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small scroll. Kira unrolled the scroll a bit and placed his fingers on a large symbol with some writing underneath it. In a poof of smoke, a white bead necklace was in his hands. "On to phase 2." With one swift toss, the bead necklace landed around his student's neck.

"Hm? What's this?" Nataro held the necklace up to his eyes and squinted a bit. He didn't notice that he sank ankle-deep into the river. There were kanji symbols written into each of the beads. "Some kind of prayer beads...?" The boy was so busy inspecting the necklace that he didn't notice his master forming a hand sign. All of a sudden, he felt a powerful force weighing him down. The strength behind whatever was doing this was so strong that Nataro lost concentration and stopped channeling chakra into his feet. As a result, he fell into the water, flailing to stay above the surface until he sank down.

Kira gave a short laugh and smiled. "I wonder if I should've told him to brace himself...?" He shook his head. "Nah!! Then it wouldn't have been as funny! Haha!"

**X-X-X**

After being rescued from the bottom of the river, Nataro, who had been stripped down to his boxers, glared at Kira as he sat on the bank. "You..._jerk_!!" The blonde boy screamed. "You could've _warned_ me that you were gonna do that!! Do you like seeing me make a fool of myself?!"

"Well...who _doesn't_ like seeing someone make a fool of themselves?" When he saw the frown on Nataro's face, Kira looked off to the side and pouted. "Sorry...kinda."

"Kinda?! You can't be _kinda_ sorry!! Only _sorry_ sorry counts!!" The genin calmed down a bit. "So...what did you do?"

"A simple weight-increasing ninjutsu that I learned during my travels." The mad genius walked up to his student and touched the beads around his neck. "If you can focus on moving on water while wearing these beads as they're affected by the jutsu, then we'll move on to phase 3 of your training regimen."

Nataro nodded. "Yuh-huh... And this training is gonna help me do...what now?"

"That's a seeecreeeet~!" Kira spoke in a sing-song tone with a smile on his face.

The blonde genin sighed. "Of course it is..." He started to stand up, only to fall and land face down in the dirt. "OOF!!"

"Sorry!! I just couldn't resist!" Kira shouted with his hands still in the hand sign position. "It's just _too _funny!"

'_If he keeps it up with the jokes, I'll be in traction before the month's over!'_ Nataro thought as he struggled to roll onto his back. _'I wonder if anyone else is having as much trouble as I am with training.'_

**X-X-X**

At a training field somewhere in Konoha, Konjo fell back onto his bottom with huff. His cheeks were slightly red and his arms and hands were scratched up. "Haseo-sensei, let's take a break! I'm beat...!"

Haseo, who was standing a few feet away from the Hyuuga boy, threw the kunai in his hand at his student. "One more go!!"

"Whoa!!" Konjo jumped to the side to avoid the flying projectile and rolled to a halt. "Ugh...! I can't move anymore...!"

"Don't tell me you've run out of chakra already."

"Chakra or no, I couldn't move even if I wanted to," Konjo mumbled. "I've run out of gas...!" His stomach began to growl loudly as he rolled onto his stomach. For a moment, it looked like the boy's spirit was rising up from his body.

Haseo folded his arms across his chest and gave a nod. "No problem. Shizuka."

Shizuka, who had been sitting against a rock behind her teacher, grabbed the basket next to her and stood up. "Right!" The blue-haired girl walked over to her teammate and reached inside the basket. "Hey, Konjo! Look what _I_ have..." She pulled out a chocolate rice ball and held it in front of Konjo's face.

"Ahhh...! Ch-ch-cho-_chocolate_...!" Konjo swooned as he suddenly became an SD-chibi version of himself. He got on his knees and held his hands out in front of him. "May I have some chocolate, pleeeeease?"

"Here you go." The medic-in-training dropped the rice ball into the Hyuuga's hands and in an instant, he shoved it all into his mouth. Shizuka sweatdropped as she stared down at her teammate. "H-hey! At least take your time to _chew_...!"

"Mmmmm...!" In the blink of an eye, Konjo was on his feet, grinning from ear to ear. "WOOOOOOOOT!!" He started to jump about, thrusting his palms forward, kicking, sweeping and performing all sorts of tricky martial arts fighting moves.

"Um... W-w-was it a good idea to give Konjo chocolate, Haseo-sensei?" The blue-haired girl asked with an arched eyebrow as she inched closer to her sensei.

"At least he's up and at it again. That's what matters," said Haseo. "Anybody else would've done."

"I don't think his _clan_ would've done it..." Shizuka mumbled with half-lidded eyes, a large drop of sweat running down the side of her head. "Now that I think about it, wouldn't it be better for Konjo if he trained with his clan?"

The blonde man rolled his eyes. "Nonsense! I could train him just as fine as they could! That, and most of the older members don't exactly love how Konjo fights like some kung-fu movie star."

"WADATAAAAH!!!" The sound of wood splintering followed the battle cry, immediately drawing the teacher and student's attention to Konjo. The Hyuuga boy was standing by a tree with a smashed-up trunk, holding onto his bleeding hand. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!!" He spoke quickly as his hyperactivity faded away.

"Konjo, what did you do?!" Haseo shouted, slackjawed.

"I-I m-may have ac-accidentally-ly tr-tried to copy Dojin's earth-moving strength from _'Wonton Warriors Strike Force'_ by channeling enough chakra to gain super strength and wound up hurting myself!!" Konjo cried once he fell to his knees, still clutching his hand. "By the way, I'm in intense pain, so if someone could help me, please...!"

"Eep!!" Shizuka was immediately at the indigo-haired boy's side, looking over his hand. "Oh, this looks awful...!"

Haseo sweatdropped and shook his head. "Oh, brother... I'm starting to see why his family didn't want us to have movie night..."

**X-X-X**

"Alright!! Kazekage-sama will be coming to Konohagakure for the Chunin Exams and will be expecting Mamoru to do his best!" Saboten told Otokaze and Yasha as they stood on top of a mountain in one of Konoha's training fields. "Therefore, you two have to help assist him in his training."

"Do we _have_ to?" Otokaze asked with an arched eyebrow as Yasha played with Deku's hair. "If he got to the finals on his own, he ought to train on his own."

The green-haired woman gave her dark-haired student a look. "Just because you're jealous of Mamoru's accomplishments, that doesn't mean you can throw a fit."

"Who's throwing a fit? Besides, I'm not jealous."

"You sound jealous," Yasha spoke up, her back to Otokaze as she continued playing with her rag doll.

The wind-user glared at the girl puppeteer from the corner of his eye. "Want me to _burn_ that thing so it'll match the other one?"

Yasha's pupils shrank and she turned her head slightly to give her teammate a soul-chilling glare. "What did you say...?"

"Stop!!" Saboten exclaimed as she held a hand up in the air, getting the genin's attention. "You must put aside all your petty problems and focus on the matter at hand: helping Mamoru become strong enough to crush the opposition! And with his special skill, he _can_!" The green-haired woman started to smile and tilt her head to the side. "The last person like that was the Godaime Kazekage!"

"Oh, please! If he's so great, explain his grades when we were in the Academy," Otokaze muttered as she shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "He probably only graduated because he's the Rokudaime Kazekage's kid." He was then thwacked on the head with Deku. "OUCH!!" The shuriken wielder looked at his female teammate and narrowed his eyes. "The hell'd you do _that_ for?!"

Yasha hit him on the head again with Deku. "Don't say things like that about Mamoru. What if he hears you?"

Saboten looked around as the tension between her students increased. "Where _is_ Mamoru, anyway? I could've sworn he was here a while ago..."

**X-X-X**

Back in the inn where the Suna team was staying, Mamoru slept in his bed with the blinds closed and the door locked. _'I'm so grateful for Bunshin no Jutsu...'_

**X-X-X**

At the riverside, Nataro was walking on top of the river with ease. "Heh-heh! This was too easy!" He looked at the bank, where Kira was sitting underneath the tree with a stick of pocky in his mouth. "Hey!! I'm ready for phase _2_ now!" The blonde exclaimed with a smile.

Kira pushed the rest of the pocky into his mouth. "Uh, no, you're not," he spoke with his mouth full.

"What're you talking about?! You said when I could move on water with the weight, we'd move on to the next part of my training!!" The black-and-white-clad man winced at the volume of his temporary student's voice. "I can already do it!"

"You can _walk_ on water...but can you dodge?"

Nataro blinked. "What do you mean?" When he blinked again, something hit him in the forehead hard enough to leave a bruise. The thing turned out to be a stone, which fell into the river as soon as Nataro saw it. Blue eyes looked up in time to see another rock flying towards him, but the blonde jumped to the side to avoid being hit. With the weight holding him down, it was difficult to maintain control, so when he set foot on the water, he fell right through.

On the bank, Kira gave a childish pout as he tossed a few rocks in the palm of his hand. "Awww, I was hoping that he would last longer..." He mumbled as bubbles floated up to the river's surface. "Huh. When's he gonna come back up? He hasn't _drowned_, has he?" A few more seconds and more bubbles came up. "What a _wimp_..." Nataro rose up from underwater and climbed back onto the surface of the water. "Oh, there he is!"

"Do you get some sick pleasure from seeing me in _pain_?" Nataro asked between breaths for air.

"Yeah, but what teacher _doesn't_?" The mad genius threw another stone at the blonde boy, but he fell back in order to dodge it. But once again, the weight combined with the strain of positioning his body in such a manner made him fall into the water once again. "If you don't get better at this before the end of the day, I'm dropping you as a student~!" Kira spoke in a sing-song tone as said student climbed back up to the surface, coughing.

"You're kidding...!"

A cat-like smirk appeared on Kira's face as he leaned back against the tree. "I kid you not, kiddo! If you're not as talented as I thought you were, I'm dropping you like a ton of bricks."

"You're kidding...!" Nataro repeated, rubbing the bruise on his forehead. "But you still haven't told me what's so special about this training of yours!"

"Geez, weren't you listening? I wanna see how well you can control your chakra! After all, how can I teach you any jutsu if you can't control your chakra well enough?"

The genin's eyes lit up at the word _'jutsu'_. "Y-you're serious, right? You'll teach me jutsu? _Really_?!" He resisted the urge to jump up and down, as he knew he would probably wind up falling through the water again. "Alright!! I'll finish this in _no time_! You better keep your promise, psycho!!"

A small vein appeared on Kira's forehead. In the blink of an eye, he threw a big rock at his student, hitting him square in the eye. "I prefer the term _'mad genius,'_ thank you very much!"

"Owwww!!"

**X-X-X**

Several hours later in the afternoon, Nataro was jumping along the riverbed, dodging rocks and the occasional tree branches alongside a dozen of his shadow clones, which he had summoned a while ago at Kira's command. Now the training had stepped up to making sure he _and _his bunshin wouldn't get hit. So far, it was easier than Nataro had expected.

"Heh-heh! Is that all you've got, you psycho?" The blonde and his bunshin asked altogether.

Kira stopped throwing the rocks and branches and reached into his jacket. "I keep telling him: _mad genius_..." He pulled out a scroll once again and unrolled it. The mad genius's fingers slid across the symbols on the parchment and in a poof of smoke hundreds of weapons had dropped down in front of him. These weren't just mere kunai, shuriken or swords. There were axes, spears, sais, kama, and other weapons that Nataro had never seen before. "Let's crank it up a notch, then! If you can dodge a rock, you can dodge one of _these_!!" He picked up a large axe in his right hand with some difficulty.

The eyes of Nataro and his clones bulged to comedic proportions. "Wh-_WHAT_?! Wait a sec!!"

"It's too late to object!!" Kira screamed as he threw the axe at the blondes in a spinning motion. They ducked in time to avoid being hit by the axe and it hit a tree on the other side of the river.

"Ugh...!" The real Nataro looked over his shoulder at the axe before he looked at his master, screaming, "Hey!! That nearly took my head off!!"

The mad genius took up a large folded-in shuriken and smirked. "So will _this_ if you don't move!!" He formed a hand sign with one hand and threw the shuriken. In a poof of smoke, the flying projectile became twice as large. _'Ninpo: Buki Hatsuiku (Ninja Art: Weapon Enlargement)!'_ "And that's not all!!" Kira formed another hand sign and two more giant shuriken appeared in puffs of smoke. _'Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ _(Art of the Shuriken Shadow Clone)!'_

"Aw, _hell no_!!" The real genin cried as he fell down to avoid the giant shuriken as they whizzed by. His clones either imitated him, jumped up into the air, or were taken out by the shuriken. When the extra shuriken disappeared in puffs of smoke and the original returned to its initial size, only eight clones remained.

"Hahaha! Let's play a game of _Human Target_!" Kira exclaimed with a devious smirk. "Guess who's it?" He picked up a handful of kunai and threw them at his student. Nataro easily jumped out of the way, but once a few kunai hit the water's surface, they exploded upon impact, disturbing the river. "Missed, huh? Maybe I should make 'em..._bigger_." The mad genius thought aloud with a smile as he snatched up some more kunai. He threw them at the boy as he made the one-handed sign once more. "Ninpo: Buki Hatsuiku!!" In puffs of smoke, the kunai became as large as broadswords.

"Not again!!" Nataro shouted with a determined look in his eyes. He jumped up into the air and landed on top of one of the large kunai, sending it plunging into the water. A few more of his bunshin managed to dodge the kunai as well, but two were sliced in the side, and one attempted to grab a kunai and hurl it back at the mad genius, but the bunshin sank into the river with it, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Siiiix leeeeft~! But they'll all be gone soooon~!" The black-and-white-haired man sang as he started to throw some random weapons at his student. Some swords, sais, and a spear or two went flying as the blondes jumped about, trying to dodge.

"What do you mean _'six'_?! Only _five_ are bunshin, you know!" The original Nataro shouted as a sword whizzed past his face, one of its points cutting him across the cheek. He held his cheek and managed to jump over a Fuuma shuriken.

One of the bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke once it was impaled in the chest with a spear. Kira's eyes glazed over as a creepy smile spread out across his face. "Now there's five left...!" His left hand started to twitch a bit. "But I'll get 'em!" He grabbed a katana and jumped onto the river's surface, his left arm twitching some more. He ran towards one of Nataro's clones and slashed it across the throat, making it disappear. "Four..."

"W-wait a minute!! Is this even part of the training anymore?!" Nataro screamed as the mad genius ran towards him. The genin dropped to his knees in time to avoid having his head cut off. One of his clones attempted to tackle the man, but it only got a blade shoved through its head for the effort.

"Now it's three," said Kira. He turned on his heel and stabbed an approaching bunshin right where its heart would've been. "And two..." As a shadow overcast him, the mad man looked up and saw the remaining bunshin in midair. With a swift motion, his sword went through the bunshin's neck before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "And one." Kira turned around in time to receive a kick to the face by Nataro. The mad genius stumbled back and held onto his face.

"Take _this_, you lunatic!!" The genin screamed as he tried to punch his master, but he only hit thin air. "Huh? Wh-where'd he go?" Something hard suddenly struck Nataro in the butt, making him stumble forward. "AAAAHHHH!!" He held onto his aching butt with one hand. "Awww, man..." When he heard the sound of snickering behind his back, the blonde genin looked over his shoulder. There was Kira, smiling as he held the katana against his shoulder.

"Pretty good, kiddo. I didn't think you'd try to fight back."

"Well, what the heck did you _think _I was gonna do once you started swinging that sword around?! Let you _kill me_?!" Nataro shouted with a small vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Oh, stop being such a wimp. I hit you with the _dull_ end of the blade," Kira pointed out as he held up the katana. Before Nataro could open his mouth, the mad genius continued, "And that concludes your training for the day." He turned around to leave when he felt something holding onto his arm. "What?" He asked his blonde student, who was tugging on his arm.

"You said you were going to teach me a jutsu!"

"I never said that."

"Yes, you did!"

"I _said_ that I couldn't teach you any jutsu until you could control your chakra better. Are you as deaf as you are colorblind?" The black-and-white-haired man asked with an arched eyebrow. "You've still got three more days of chakra training left before you can teach you a new jutsu."

Nataro slumped over slightly, groaning, "Three more days of your torture...?" After a few more seconds of groaning, he looked up at his teacher. "Do you promise that you'll teach me a jutsu after three days?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"I mean it! Promise me!! _Promise_!!" The blonde boy shouted as he shook his master's arm erratically.

"I promise already! Sheesh..." Kira sucked his teeth as he looked out of the corner of his eye. "Quit being such a crybaby, would you?"

"Three days?"

"Three days."

"Great! Then..." Nataro pointed at the bead necklace around his neck, "Get this thing off of me."

"Okay." Kira formed a familiar hand sign with a smile that made the blonde's eyes widened.

"No, WAIT--!!" The _added_ weight made the genin fall through the water's surface once again.

"Heh... I just couldn't resist!" The mad genius spoke as bubbles floated up to the surface.

**X-X-X**

Three days later, Nataro was at the riverfront, pacing around the tree with a pout on his face. "Where _is_ he?! It's been three days. He was supposed to teach me a jutsu! Don't tell me he just up and abandoned me... That jerk!" By the time he was saying this, the genin had walked around so many times that the tree had a circle around its trunk.

"Yo."

"Eh?" Nataro stopped walking and looked at Kira, who had a stick of dango in his mouth and a soda in his hand. "There you are!! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?!"

"Knowing you and your patience by now? ...A couple of minutes," the man told his student as he put his soda underneath his armpit. He used his free hand to take the stick of dango out of his mouth and eat the dumplings one by one. "Even we geniuses, insane or not, have to eat, kiddo," he said with an apathetic look on his face.

"Whatever, can we get on with my training now?" The blonde boy began to bounce impatiently on the balls of his feet. "Remember? You were gonna teach me a jutsu, Kira-sensei!"

"Yeah, yeah. I haven't forgotten." Kira aimed the dango stick at his student, acting like he would stab him again. When the boy flinched, he chuckled, ignoring Nataro's glare as he tossed the stick aside. "Now then... From what I've seen, you don't know that many jutsu, and yet you've got enough chakra for it. Why is that?"

"Um... Well, I don't have a clan, and I don't know where I could find any jutsu for me to learn that _isn't_ taught in the Academy," Nataro explained.

The mad genius nodded wisely as he opened his soda can. "Figures. The poor kids who have no ninja in their family are among the worst off..." He took a sip of the beverage and sighed. "I know how you feel..." Kira didn't notice the look of confusion his student gave him, so he continued, "I pity you soooo much, kiddo, that I feel it's mandatory that I teach you a jutsu or two."

"Yay!!" The blonde exclaimed, pumping his hands in the air. "What am I gonna learn first? Something cool and big and destructive?"

"Whoa, kiddo! First we gotta find out your type."

Nataro squinted his eyes. "My type of what?"

Kira sighed and rubbed his temples from irritation. "Type of _element_! Honestly, do I have to explain _everything_?" Once again, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a scroll. He unrolled it and there was a circle in the center made up of five different-colored kanji: a red '_ka'_, a green _'fuu'_, a yellow _'rai'_, a brown _'do'_ and a blue _'sui'_. "There are five elements of ninjutsu, basically: Katon--Fire, Fuuton--Wind, Raiton--Lighting, Doton--Earth, and Suiton--Water. Every person's chakra is attributed to a certain type of chakra, allowing them to perform a certain type of jutsu better than another. For example, a person whose chakra carries the fire attribute can learn Katon fast, but learns Suiton slowly. When we want to find out a person's chakra attribute, we use..." He pulled out little pieces of paper. "This! This special paper that changes depending on the attribute of the chakra channeled into it. For me..." He held up a square piece of paper and channeled some chakra into it. Within a few seconds, it ripped to shreds on its own. "I'm wind. For you..." He placed a piece of paper in Nataro's hand. "Well, you have to channel your chakra into it first."

The blonde gave a nod. He stared at the piece of paper into his hand and began to channel his chakra into it. In a few seconds, it ripped to shreds. "So, I'm a wind-type, too?"

"Looks like it. That's--"

The shreds of paper suddenly burned up. Kira and Nataro stared at the paper in confusion. "Is this supposed to happen?"

"Uh...no. No, it's not..." The mad genius mumbled as he arched an eyebrow. He handed the boy another piece of chakra paper. "Here. Try it again."

Nataro focused his chakra into the paper once more. It ripped to shreds, and then burned to ashes a few seconds later. His master handed him another piece of paper, which he channeled his chakra into _again_, and once again, it ripped to shreds. Kira immediately pulled the paper out of the boy's hands.

"Aha!" The piece of paper then burned away. "Doh!! Grrrr...!"

"So...what happened? Is something wrong?" Nataro asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Ah, I think this paper's defective..." The mad genius muttered. "_But_ I believe you're a fire type! Partially. Maybe. Who knows, but we may as well experiment, and it would be a lot less self-harmful than using fuuton. Now _that's_ destructive..." He flashed his young student a smile. "Oh, well! Chalk down another potential pyromanic arsonist for the Leaf! We'll begin with a few breathing exercises."

"Breathing exercises? But you said--!"

Kira held up a hand to silence the boy. "Commonly, Katon jutsu are used through breathing because it's the easiest means. When a ninja superheats their chakra, it becomes too hot to handle. People who've tried to use other means of using Katon jutsu other than breathing often wind up burning themselves severely." He rubbed his chin and looked up at the sky. "I know a guy who tried to do that and wound up burning most of his skin off! But for you, kiddo, you have to learn to breathe."

"I already know how to breathe!!" The blonde boy screamed, waving his arms in the air.

"Yeah, I can tell that by how _loud_ you scream, but if you don't think you need a master, I'll just leave--"

"Alright, alright! What do I have to do?" Nataro mumbled.

"First, spread your legs apart," Kira instructed. The boy did as he said. "Now make the sign for Tora and take a deep breath." Nataro did that as well, and took a deep breath, making sure to puff out his cheeks and push out his chest like he had seen Hanzo do. "Now...hold it," said Kira as he sat down on the ground and began to drink the rest of his soda. "Don't let go of that breath."

Minutes passed and Kira fell asleep on the ground. Nataro was still in position, his face blue from holding his breath for so long. A fly flew in front of his face and landed on the tip of his nose. The genin started to shake as the fly made its way up the bridge of his nose, its tiny legs tickling him. It soon got to be too much and he released his breath, shooing the fly away as he dropped to his knees, gasping for air. While he was still panting, the orange-clad blonde crawled over to the sleeping mad man with a sour expression on his face.

"HEY!!!" Nataro barely ducked in time to avoid a punch to the face.

Kira opened his eyes a bit. "What? Oh... I thought you'd have suffocated by now."

"You were expecting me to _die_?!"

"Or lose consciousness. I never thought you'd hold your breath for so long, though..." The mad man arched an eyebrow. "You're not _that_ gullible, are you?"

"Just show me how to do a Katon jutsu already!" The blonde shouted, pounding a fist on the ground as his master sat up.

"Okay...first you perform the needed hand signs..." Kira held up his hands and started to form signs. "Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger." Nataro nodded in understanding. "Then you take a deep breath, gathering chakra into your chest and..." He breathed in, expanding his chest outward, and then he breathed out a large fireball that was three times his size over the river. When the flames faded, steam rose up from the water. "You breathe out the chakra and it ignites, becoming a fireball."

"That looked like Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Nataro exclaimed, slightly impressed.

"Hm?" Kira frowned as he looked down at the boy. "I thought you said you didn't know any jutsu aside from Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"One of my teammates can use it. Anyway, what do I have to do again?" The genin spoke quickly as he made hand signs. "Snake, Rat, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger...gather chakra in your chest...deep breath...!" He breathed in deeply and blew out...a thick cloud of black smoke. Nataro started coughing immediately, pounding on his chest. "C-can't..._breathe_...!"

"Yeah... The second sign is _Ram_ not _Rat_," Kira spoke in a bored tone as he pulled some grass out of the ground.

After coughing a few more times, Nataro formed the respective hand signs, breathed in, and blew out...a tiny, pathetic stream of fire.

"And you didn't put enough chakra into it that time."

The orange-clad boy cracked his knuckles and dug his feet into the ground. "Third time's the charm!!" Once again, he formed the string of hand signs and took a deep breath. _**'This **__time, for sure!'_ He blew out another tiny, pathetic stream of fire. "Awww, come on!"

Kira stifled a laugh and laid back down. _'Well, that oughta keep him busy for a while...'_

**X-X-X**

"Um… I know that I shouldn't be asking this, but…is this _safe_?" Hanzo asked with a sweatdrop he stood in the middle of the training field that Kotoyo had set up in the forest. The reason why he asked was probably because of the several mechanisms set up around him filled with kunai.

"Of course it's safe, hun…so long as you don't get hit," said Kotoyo as she stood off to the side with Kotaro, who was smiling broadly.

'_That doesn't make it __**safe**__…'_ Her eldest son thought as he rolled his eyes. "And how'd you get this stuff, anyway? It looks like the stuff we used in the Academy for practice training…"

"Your mother has connections—just don't ask what they are or she'll kill you." She bent over and patted Kotaro on the head. "Okay, Kotaro. Ready?"

"GO!!" The young Uchiha suddenly shouted as he revealed the kunai that he had been hiding behind his back. The look on his face wasn't exactly friendly, either. With one slice, he cut a rope that was set up nearby and triggered the first mechanism, launching a flurry of kunai that seemed to trigger another pair.

Hanzo easily flipped out of the way of the in time and the kunai hit the ground. He drew a handful of shuriken and threw them at the next set of kunai as he jumped up, effectively stopping the kunai and dodging the next at once. In midair, he drew a pair of kunai and began to deflect the kunai that were still being shot at him as he twisted about in midair. When he landed, he took a deep breath.

"That…was…so cool!!" Kotaro shouted as he ran towards his big brother, waving his arms wildly in the air. "And you don't even have the Sharingan yet! I don't care what Ina says—you're cool to me!"

The raven-haired genin blushed and scratched his cheek lightly. "H-hey, cut that out… Wait, did you just say Ina called me uncool?"

"She called you a _dweeb_," his little brother replied.

Hanzo flinched. _'Dweeb?!'_ At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his buttocks. "OUCH!!! What the--?!" He looked over his shoulder and found Kotaro holding the kunai that had been stabbed in his butt. "Kotaro?! What the heck do you think you're doing?!"

"A sneak attack."

"Why'd you do _that_?"

"'Cuz it was a good opportunity."

Hanzo groaned and sweatdropped. "Who told you that?"

"Grandpa Sasuke!"

Hanzo sweatdropped once again and Kotoyo joined in. _'When's Grandfather going to learn that it's __**Mom's**__ job to corrupt us…?'_

**X-X-X**

"HEY!!!" Nataro was smart enough to duck to avoid a punch to the face by Kira as he was waking up. "Sensei!!"

"Okay, we need to cut it out with the _'sensei'_ thing, okay?" The black-and-white-clad man said as he sat up, yawning. "It's getting annoying."

"But sensei! I got the jutsu!"

"You got it, huh?" Kira inspected the blonde boy. There were scorch marks on the sides of his mouth--a sign of improper control in beginners. "Okay, then! Show me what you've got, kiddo. _Dazzle me_."

Nataro walked to the edge of the river bank and dug his feet into the ground. He started to make several hand signs and took a deep breath. When he blew, out came a large fireball over the river. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ When the flames faded away, leaving waves of steam, the blonde turned to Kira with a broad smile on his face. "See that? I told you I could do it!"

Kira looked up at the sky, which was now dark and dotted with stars. "And it took you the entire day to do it." He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I guess that's _something_. Good job."

"Hee-hee-hee!" The boy giggled happily behind his hands. "So, so! What're we gonna do next?"

"Kid, you've been spending your chakra all day trying to learn that jutsu. You have to be tired."

"Pssh! Tired? Not me! I could keep going and going and going!" Nataro proclaimed with a grin. In less than a second, he was down on the ground beside Kira. "Heh-heh... Well, maybe I'm a _little_ tired..." He gave a yawn and closed his eyes. "My mom'll be angry...if I'm late for dinner...but she won't mind if I just close my eyes...for a while..." After a few seconds, light snores came from the boy's mouth.

Kira stared down at the boy, blank-faced until he got a soft-eyed look and smiled.

**X-X-X**

Several days later, Nataro and Kira stood in front of a tall mountain in a training field in Konohagakure.

"Wow...! I didn't think you could train in places like _this_!" The genin spoke in awe of the mountain. "All Tsuki-sensei lets us train in are the forest areas."

"Yeah, well, this mountain is great for our next site of training. In order to build up chakra and stamina, you must train," said Kira as he pointed a wooden sword at the blonde boy. "_You_ will climb up that mountain, all the way to the top! If you fail, I'll deem you a lost cause and stop training you."

Nataro blinked. "Eh?!"

"You heard me. If you can't make it to the top of the mountain by the end of the day, you aren't worth training any further."

The blonde looked up at the mountain. Now that he got a good look at it, it must've been 6 stories tall at best. "I'm supposed to climb that?"

"Yup."

"Before sunset?"

"Yup. And you can't use chakra for help and you've gotta use those weights you've been using for the last couple of days."

"What?!" Nataro stumbled back from shock. "That's _overkill_!"

Kira smiled. "No, that's how I always train. It ain't called endurance training for nothing, kiddo."

"That's cool an' all, but I'm not inhumanly endurable like you, okay?!"

"But you _wanna_ be strong like me, don't you?" The mad genius asked as he poked his student in the forehead with his wood sword.

"Yeah..."

"Then stop complaining and get goin'!! The day's a-wasting!!" When Nataro seemed a bit hesitant, biting his lip all squinty-eyed, Kira added, "And did I mention that if you make it to the top, I'll teach you another Katon jutsu tomorrow?"

"Throw in some ramen and you've got yourself a deal!"

The mad genius arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Have you forgotten that you have nothing to offer me for a deal?"

"Uh, never mind then!" The orange-clad genin walked up to the foot of the mountain and smirked, pulling his goggles down over his eyes and tightening his hitai-ate. "Alright!! Just you watch, Kira-sensei! I'll make it up to the top in no time flat!!" He grabbed onto the rock of the mountain and started to climb up.

"Suuure, that's what you say _now_... And what did I say about calling me the _'s'_ word?!"

**X-X-X**

Several _more_ days later, Nataro looked around a corner and saw Kira walking down the street, humming to himself. The young ninja smirked in satisfaction before hiding in a dark corner of the alley he was in. When Kira walked past, the genin jumped out and tackled him, only to have the man disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Damn it!!" Nataro frowned and began to tap his foot impatiently. He was supposed to find Kira before a set time in a ninja version of hide and seek, and the orange-clad boy was _'It'_. But so far, he had searched just about everywhere in Konoha and had yet to find his crazy master--just the shadow clones he had scattered about to confuse him.

'_Now if I were a psychotic genius, where would I hide...?'_ The blonde thought as he rubbed his chin in an intellectual manner. A light bulb suddenly appeared over his head as realization hit him. "Don't tell me...!" He gave a growl before he ran off, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Nataro arrived at the riverside, skidding to a halt in front of the tree. He glared upward and shouted, "HEY!!! I know you're up there!!"

Kira poked his head out of the foliage with what appeared to be a red bean cake in his mouth. "Mmph?" He took the cake out of his mouth and gulped down the piece in his mouth. "So, you found me before the time limit was up. Though I guess your Kage Bunshin were a big help."

The genin picked up a stone from the ground and threw it up into the tree. "You said you were gonna hide in the town!! But you _never left_!! That's cheating!!"

"No, it's not. I hid and you couldn't find me. That's fair," the mad genius said as he gave his student an apathetic look.

"But you never moved!!"

"A ninja must look underneath the underneath."

"What the hell does _that_ have to do with not moving anywhere?!" The blonde boy screamed.

Kira jumped out of the tree and landed before him. "Uh... I dunno." His statement made Nataro fall over from shock. "Look, kid. You can't trust what anyone says at face value. Just because I _said _I was going into town didn't mean I really _was_." He bent over the genin, his apathetic look still on his face. "Lying is a key part to being a ninja, after all."

Nataro stared up at his master, frowning. "It doesn't count in games."

The man genius stood up straight and stretched, popping a few bones. "You shouldn't even be complaining. You've won. And now I can _finally_ get rid of you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" The boy asked as he sat up.

"I hereby deem your training done. Finished. _Over_." Kira turned his back to the boy as he threw his arms up into the air. "So rejoice!! We don't have to deal with each other anymore!! You got some new tricks out of it, I got a few laughs... Everybody won on this."

"It's _over_?!" The orange-clad blonde shouted, immediately jumping onto his feet. "So soon?! But the Chunin Exam Finals don't start for another two weeks!!"

"Look me in the eye. Does it _look_ like I care?" The mad genius asked as he placed his hands behind the back of his head.

"You're not even looking at me!!" Nataro screamed, stomping his food in irritation. "And _I_ care!! I still need more training!"

Kira looked at the boy and arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, well, I've got more important things to do than deal with a brat like you! I've got people to find, places to see and things to destroy in random acts of wanton violence, so good day to you, kiddo!!" The black-and-white-clad man attempted to walk past Nataro, but the blonde dropped to the ground and latched onto his foot.

"You can't leave me after all of this!! At least stick with me until the end of the month!" Kira's response was to step on the genin's face, making him let him go. The mad man continued to walk away, but in the blink of an eye, Nataro was clinging to his back. "Pretty please? I promise not to insult you anymore!"

"What the hell are you, an onbaa? Didn't you hear me say that I have more important things to do than hang around in this place?!"

"Please, please, _please_, Kira-sensei!!"

A small vein throbbed on the man's forehead. "What did I say about calling me that?!"

"I'm sorry, Master! I'll call you whatever you want! Just keep training me, _please_!"

"I said _'no,'_ damn it!!" After a few minutes of attempts to pry Nataro off of his back, Kira groaned and slumped over, bangs hiding his eyes. "Heh... You're as bad as _them_... Lousy nice guy bastards..." He mumbled to himself. "I won't train you anymore...so stop begging. It's...unbecoming."

As he heard the serious tone in his master's voice, Nataro blinked. He had heard him sound like a maniac and a cold-blooded killer during their time together, but he never heard him speak like _this_. Kira almost sounded..._normal_.

"It just...doesn't fit you. If I take you out to eat whatever you want, will you stop complaining and train on your own, starting tomorrow?"

'_He's never offered me food before... He usually just eats it in front of my face.'_ "What's the catch?" The blonde boy asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh, so you automatically assume that there's a catch?"

"Yeah, I do. So what's the catch?"

Kira sighed and blew the bangs out of his face, revealing sad-looking eyes that betrayed his happy tone. "No catch! Well, you've gotta fork over the money to pay for half the meal..."

"I knew it." Nataro slapped on a fox-like grin as he started to blush. "You've got a deal, psycho!" His grip on the man tightened as he kicked his ribs. "Giddyap!! To Hagakure!!"

"Do that again and I'll throw you into the river--and you _won't _come back up this time."

The genin sweatdropped and chuckled nervously. "Heh-heh... Right. Sorry." He jumped off of Kira's back and grabbed his arm, not even noticing how quickly the man looked away from him. "Come on, come on! You can buy me a Hagakure Special!"

'_This kid...he's gotten under my skin as badly as __**he**__ did...'_ The mad genius thought as his bangs hid his eyes. In a split second, he looked at Nataro. "Excuse me? Hagakure Special? Can you honestly eat that?!"

"I can eat _two_!"

"Well, I'll only pay for _one_, so tough luck, kiddo."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Onbaa** **are a species of animal seen only in the anime fillers. It looks like a cross between a bear and a monkey. Baby onbaa cling onto their mother's back (or what they think are their mothers).**

**I thank the Animerican series **_**Avatar**_** for the inspiration needed for the Katon training, with the breathing and whatnot. If that's not how it's done…just forget that part then!**

**Ninpo: Buki Hatsuiku (Ninja Art: Weapon Enlargement)** **was inspired by one of the finishing moves used by the Sandaime Hokage in the Narutimate Hero/Ultimate Ninja game series. The Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, on the other hand, is canonically used by the Sandaime Hokage.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: To me, this chapter seems very short. Or at least it didn't show off the other characters training that much…but we weren't given the honor of seeing that happen much during the Chunin Exam arc during the storyline…**

**Nataro: I **_**still**_** think that they only wanna reach Arashiden as quickly as possible.**

**Blu: Yeah, well, tough! You wanna be in a good story worth the wait or a bad one riddled with grammar errors that the damn computer keeps overlooking because it doesn't get modern language?!**

**Nataro: No…**

**Blu: Good! On a brighter note, with the release of the new Naruto art book, we know what the remaining bijuu are and who were their jinchuuriki, which makes it easier for fan fiction writers like me who have other (or all) jinchuuriki appearing and were following the fake Tale of the Bijuu online. Even if we don't know what their powers are, isn't it wonderful?**

**Hanzo: It is. Especially since that means there's no Hachibi.**

**Blu: (Sing-song) That doesn't mean you're not in for a crappy future~!**

**(Hanzo begins to mope in a corner)**

**Blu: Now that **_**that's**_** been taken care of, I would like to remind you guys to please review! And know that the Chunin Exam finals are up next...after another omake bonus chapter.**


	15. Omake 2: Ultimate Girl Distraction Jutsu

**Blu: Heh-heh...! I couldn't resist doing this one after rereading ****Little Naruto****.**

**Nataro: I'm not going to get eaten by a dog in this story or anything, am I?**

**Blu: Nope.**

**Nataro: Phew!**

**Blu: Now, on with the fic!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_Omake #2: The Ultimate Kunoichi Distraction Jutsu?!_

It all started one day, after Team 14's mission.

"Honestly, how could they allow a 12-year old kid to walk that behemoth of a dog...?" Kazemaru complained as they walked out of the administration building. Their last mission had been a simple one: walk some dogs for the Inuzuka clan. Unfortunately for Kaze, he wound up having to walk a pit bull that was almost as tall as a man when it was sitting down. "Those dog-faced jerks!"

"You didn't have to walk to walk _that_ dog, Kaze," said Tsuki.

"It was either that or those Akita triplets! And like hell would I take those monsters!" The red-haired genin sucked his teeth and looked off to the side. "I _hate_ animals..."

"Wimp," Nataro muttered with his hands behind his head.

"What'd you call me?! You had it easy, Ramen Breath--you got that chow-chow!! ...And what the _hell_ is the Inuzuka clan doing with such a wimpy-looking dog, anyway?!" Kazemaru exploded. He started to clench his teeth until his sexy sensei put her hand on his head.

"We cannot question the ways of the Inuzuka," she told the redhead calmly. _'Although, I kinda wanna know why they've got one myself.'_ Tsuki took her hand off of Kaze's head, ignoring how he swooned, and waved goodbye to her students. "I'll see you tomorrow, boys."

"Bye, sensei," said Nataro and Hanzo while Kaze held onto his head.

"W-wait, sensei...!" The pyromanic genin was too late as she disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Oh... She left... Well, I guess I'll have to get my kicks some other way." He turned to walk away, but Nataro grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.

"Hey, hey! Aren't you forgetting something?" The blonde genin asked his teammate with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh...nope." Kazemaru slapped Nataro's hand, making the shorter boy let go of his jacket.

"I was gonna show you guys my newest jutsu!! _Remember_?!"

Hanzo sighed. "Newest jutsu...? This wouldn't be anything like that Oiroke no Jutsu thing of yours, is it?"

"Ooohhh..." Kaze held his nose, remembering a naked girl version of Nataro that made his nose bleed. "If it is, I'm game!"

The Uchiha boy sweatdropped. "You're _both_ sick..."

"Aw, c'mon! It's nothing like that!" Nataro said as he waved his hands in defense. "This one's aimed towards _girls_ instead of _guys._ It's the _ultimate_ jutsu! It cannot fail!!" He suddenly screamed, his body burning with flames of determination.

"Let me guess: you're gonna transform into a naked _guy_ instead?" Hanzo guessed flatly, his eyes half-lidded as another sweatdrop ran down the back of his head.

Kazemaru instantly jumped back and pointed a finger at the orange-clad boy. "Hell no!! Don't you _dare_ do that, Ramen Breath!! That's just _sick_!!"

"How is that any different from transforming into a naked _girl_?"

"Man, how could you even ask?! With girls, it's...! But with _guys_, it's...! I can't even bring myself to say it!!"

A vein throbbed on Nataro's head. "Why the hell would I transform into a naked _guy_?! I'd never do such a disgusting thing!!"

Hanzo sweatdropped once again. _'I really should stop questioning their common sense...'_ "Okay, so what's your new jutsu?"

"Heh-heh!" The blonde formed a hand sign and in a puff of smoke, he was replaced with an SD-chibi plushie of himself that posed on the ground with its hands on his hips. "Behold!! The Plushie no Jutsu!!"

His teammates stared at the transformed genin with half-lidded eyes. "You're...joking..." The raven-haired boy muttered while the redhead remained silent.

"With its cute and cuddly appearance, no woman can resist--kunoichi or not!!" The plushie exclaimed, pumping a tiny hand in the air.

"Stop foolin' around!! Who'd wanna hug a doll of _you_?" Kazemaru snorted, looking away from the blonde.

"Kaze has a point. Have you even tested it out yet," Hanzo asked, bending over his friend. He stumbled back once Nataro turned back to normal.

"Eh...no..."

The raven-haired boy sighed. "Fine, we'll help you."

"Excuse me?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow. "Who is _'we'_?" After getting looks from his teammates, the pyromanic genin threw his arms up and groaned in defeat. "Fine, fine! I'll help--but only to see Nataro fall flat on his face when his jokey jutsu fails."

Hanzo rubbed his chin. "Now then, to find our first test subject..."

**X-X-X**

A few minutes later, we see Shizuka walking through the streets of Konoha, holding a book out in front of her. Her eyes were glued on the pages in front of her, which were explaining the pressure points of the human body. Just as she was about to turn the page, something small landed on top of the book, startling her.

"Oh!! Hm?" The medic-in-training picked up the object, which was a small plushie of her fellow Academy graduate, Kazaki Nataro. It wore his clothing and all of his accessories, including his hitai-ate and goggles, and had his usual fox-like grin. "A doll of Nataro?" She observed the doll a little longer before letting out a giggle. "Aw, it's so cute!" _'I wonder what a Hanzo version looks like...'_ She grabbed hold of her cheeks as she started to blush. "Wh-what am I saying?"

"Shizuka-chan!" A familiar voice called out. Shizuka turned around and saw Hanzo running over to her.

The light red blush on her cheeks became a dark scarlet as she held the Nataro plushie to her chest. "H-hanzo-kun!"

When the Uchiha boy came closer to her, he bent over, panting heavily. "Th-that...doll...!"

"Oh? Is this doll _yours_, Hanzo-kun?" _'I'd have never thought he was the type to make dolls.'_

"N-no..." Hanzo stood up straight and took a deep breath. "That doll belongs to Nataro. His mother gave it to him and he lost it, so I was trying to help him find it."

"Ohhh, I see. W-well then, here you go!" Shizuka held the doll out to her crush.

For a moment, he hesitated, but he reached his hand out and took the doll from the kunoichi, fingers brushing for a moment. His cheeks turned bright red as he stiffened up. "Th-thank you! I've gotta get going, see you, bye!" He spoke quickly before he turned around and ran away, leaving behind a blushing Shizuka. Once he rounded the corner and ducked in-between two houses, he dropped Nataro.

In a puff of smoke, Nataro returned to his normal form. "Hey, what was _that_ for?! It's not like I _wanted_ to have my face smushed against her chest!"

Kazemaru dropped down from the roof above and gave a cat-like smirk. "Sounds to _me_ like Fan Boy was _jealous_."

"I was not! T-take that back!" The Uchiha growled as he gave the pyromanic genin a glare.

"Uh...so, should we consider this mission a success?" Nataro asked.

"_Yes_, subject 1: _pass_!" Hanzo hissed, shaking slightly.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later at the Konoha Hospital, the door of the head medic's office opened. Your average medical ninja walked in, carrying a tall armful of reports, charts and other medical whatnot, followed by Sakura, who was carrying...nothing.

"Just put those down there," the old woman spoke as she pointed at her desk.

"Yes, m'am," the medic muttered as he approached the desk and dropped the folders onto it. With the weight off of his arms, he gave a breath of relief. "Happy to be of help, Sakura-sama." He bowed his head respectfully before exiting the room.

Sakura gave a sigh as she walked around the desk and sat down in her chair. She stared at the stacks of folders waiting to be read over. "It's time like this that I wish I'd listened to Sasuke's complaining and retired years ago." The head medic reached across the desk to pick up her pen when she noticed something. It was Plushie Nataro, who was praying for dear life that his cover wouldn't be blown in front of the frightening granny.

To his relief, the old woman smiled as she picked him up. "What's _this_? It's so cute! It looks_ just_ like Naruto!"

'_Are you kidding?! I look __**waaaay**__ better than Gramps!'_ An enraged Nataro thought, thankfully not blowing his cover.

"Hm..." Sakura further observed the doll and pouted. "Well, it _almost_ looks like Naruto, except..." She picked up a marker and drew three lines on both of his cheeks. "Perfect!"

The door to her office then opened and a nurse walked inside. "Excuse me, Sakura-sama? Hokage-sama is here to see you."

Sakura frowned. "Then why didn't he just come _here_? I swear that he's getting lazier as the years go by!" She rested the Nataro-turned-Naruto doll on her desk and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

In a puff of smoke, the doll transformed into Nataro, who still had the drawn lines on his cheeks. He walked over to the window, slid it up, and hopped out onto the fire escape where Hanzo and Kazemaru were waiting. "Awww, man! I look like Gramps now!" The blonde rubbed the marker whiskers off on the sleeve of his jacket. "So, was the test a success?"

"Yeah, but so far it's only been successful because our subjects like cute things to begin with," said Hanzo. "What we need is a tougher challenge. A battle-hardened kunoichi, maybe."

"Are you nuts?! If I got caught, a skilled kunoichi would _kill_ me and ask questions later!!"

Kazemaru gave a dark chuckle. "_I_ have a suggestion for the last subject..."

"Really?" Hanzo asked, arching an eyebrow. "Who?"

The pyromanic genin chuckled darkly once again. "The Princess of the Fan Clan...Uchiha Inahime!!"

"WHAT?!?" Nataro screamed, almost falling over the fire escape from shock. Several veins started to pop up on his forehead as he bared his teeth. "NEVER!! NEVER IN A MILLION, BILLION YEARS WILL YOU GET ME TO USE MY JUTSU ON _HER_!!!"

"But she's a perfect subject!" The Uchiha boy pointed out. "I mean...when have you ever seen Ina stop to look at cute things?"

"NO!!! I will NEVER, EVER, _EVER_ DO IT!!! That's..._FINAL!_!!"

**X-X-X**

Later, at a training field away from town, Ina fell back and sat down, panting heavily. She didn't notice the three figures sitting in the branches of a nearby tree, hidden by its branches.

'_I can't believe I'm doing this...!'_ Nataro thought as an aura of gloom radiated from his being. _'Damn you, Hanzo! How'd you get me to agree?!'_

"The target is in our sights," said the raven-haired boy. "She appears to be weak. She must have used up a lot of chakra."

"That's good! That means she won't burn you up with a fireball or something if she finds out it's you!" Kazemaru assured his blonde teammate, though he got a glare in return. _'Although I was hoping that would happen...'_

"Quick! While she's resting, transform!"

Nataro screwed up his mouth in a pout as made a hand sign. In a puff of smoke, he transformed into his plushie form, which Kaze snatched up. _'She better not hug me against that flat chest of hers!'_

"Okay! Test 3: commence!" The pyromanic genin hissed as he threw the plushie Nataro at Ina's head. However, she leaned back a bit to stretch and Nataro landed on her chest. Kaze and Hanzo sweatdropped. "Oops."

'_ARRRRGH!!'_ The blonde genin screamed mentally, resisting the urge to jump off of Ina and run away. He settled for pounding his tiny plushie arms on the raven-haired girl's chest, which seemed to get her attention.

"Huh?" Ina looked down in time to see the lifeless plushie lying on her chest, unaware of how it was blushing a bit. "What is _this_?" She picked it up and observed it. _'A Nataro doll?'_ She started to pull on its arms, stretching them out to test their elasticity.

'_Ow!!'_ Nataro thought as the Uchiha girl started to make him dance in the air with a little smile on her face. Of course, he mistook the happy smile for a smile of cruelty. _'Damn her...! She'll even beat up a doll-like effigy of me!'_ After a few seconds, she stopped smiling and looked around, as if trying to see if anyone was there. Ina stood up and slid Nataro into her pocket. _'Awww, crap!!'_

Hanzo and Kazemaru gulped. "Oh, _fug_..." The pyromanic genin mumbled as he slapped his forehead. The raven-haired boy simple remained speechless. "What're we gonna do? We can't just walk up to her and ask for the doll--she'd notice we're up to something!"

"I guess we'll have to wait for Nataro to get free on his own..."

**X-X-X**

The next day, Hanzo and Kazemaru waited at their usual team meeting spot. However, they weren't waiting for Tsuki, but Nataro. Neither one of the boys had seen their teammate since Ina took him away yesterday, and they were starting to get worried.

"Y-you don't think that something _happened_ to him, do you?" Kazemaru asked, breaking the silence. "Oh, God, if something's happened to him, it's all _my_ fault! I just had to suggest Ina for a joke! She probably roasted him over an open fire or fed him to vicious piranha poodles!!"

Hanzo sweatdropped. "_Piranha poodles_? ...Look, it's _both_ our faults if something happened to Nataro--_which hasn't_, because he's great at getting himself out of situations like this."

"Alright, since you're so confident about it, you can tell his mother that he's dead."

"Would you stop saying that? He's not gonna--" The Uchiha stopped speaking as soon as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Nataro!"

"Huh?" Kaze turned around and stared at the orange-clad blonde. "Ramen Breath!!" In less than a second, he was hugging his teammate. "You're alive!! And _dear God_ what happened to you?!" He pulled away from Nataro to further observe the blonde. He had several scratches and bite marks on his body, bandages wrapped around the more serious injuries, and a black eye.

"Ina found out? Did your henge wear off?" Hanzo asked as he observed the blonde. "Wait, did she honestly _bite you_?"

Nataro frowned, his eyebrow twitching. "When Ina took me home...she left me alone in her room. I was about to change back to normal and escape when this chubby cat suddenly appeared!!"

"Ohhh, Hime..." The raven-haired boy mumbled.

"It took me in its mouth and ran out of the room...then it dropped me into a koi pond after it spotted a bird nearby...and one of the carp tried to swallow me whole...!" Nataro sniffled as he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls. "Then it spat me out, and a crow picked me up and carried me over the village, and it dropped me, and a _dog_ found me and took me home, and I had to pee so badly that I wound up releasing the jutsu in front of its owner after she got out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and she gave me a black eye!!" He whined.

After a few seconds of staring at their teammate in disbelief, Kazemaru started to laugh. "AHAHAHAHA!!!"

"It's not funny!!"

Hanzo stifled a laugh and hid his mouth behind his hand. "Heh-heh...! It sounds like...like the jutsu is effective on _animals_, too! I-I mean, it's such a shame about what happened to you, Nataro...!"

"HAHAHA!! Not only is it the ultimate _female distraction_ jutsu, it's the ultimate _animal attraction_ jutsu!"

A vein throbbed on the blonde's forehead. "It's not funny!!"

An SD-chibi Hanzo suddenly popped up on the screen. "And the moral of this story is...be careful what you wish for."

"And never transform into a cute plush toy! Bwahaha" SD-chibi Kazemaru added.

SD-Chibi Nataro tackled the chibi redhead. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!"

**X-X-X**

**Nataro: LIAR!!! You said that I wouldn't get eaten by a dog and I _did_!!**

**Blu: No, you were _carried home_ by a dog.**

**Hanzo: You seem to be missing the fact that she pretty much made a lot of other things happen to you.**

**Nataro: I didn't forget about that!!**

**Blu: Yeah, well, you seem to be forgettng that this omake is done for the sake of comedy and for granting the gift of laughter to the readers.**

**Kaze: It sure made _me_ laugh!**

**Nataro: Damn it, no one was talking to you!!**

**Blu: See you all in the next chapter!**


	16. The Finals Begin: Uchiha vs Uchiha!

**Blu: We're finally here! The Chunin Exam finals! I know it's mostly the same thing as in the original, but I hope you'll read it, enjoy it, do not mind any grammar mistakes and review nonetheless.**

**Naruto: And roll the fic!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this story._

**X-X-X**

_#16: The Finals Begin: Uchiha vs Uchiha!_

"Ma!" Nataro bounced up. "Ma!" He bounced up again. "MA!!" His head almost hit the ceiling as he continued to jump up and down on his mother's bed. "C'mon, Mom! The Chunin Exam Finals are today! You gotta get up!!" He whined.

Aiko hid her head beneath her pillow and kept it there as her son kept bouncing up and down. _'Has it been a month already? Time sure does fly by...'_

"MOOOOOM!!"

The blonde woman growled under her breath. She took the pillow off of her head and threw it at her son, screaming, "Nataro, put a lid on it!!" The pillow hit him in the face and made him fall off of the bed. "See why I always told you not to jump on your bed?"

Nataro simply groaned from his spot on the floor, his hand twitching.

"Besides, the finals don't start until 10 o'clock. It's after..._4_," Aiko mumbled as she looked at her alarm clock. "Why don't you go back to bed already...?" She pulled her covers over her head with a sigh.

**X-X-X**

On the day of the beginning of the third Chunin Exam, the stands were packed with hundreds of people waiting anxiously to see the finalists compete. In one of the closest rows were Kotoyo and Kotaro. The dark-haired woman looked around for Aiko, who had promised to be here earlier.

"Where could Aiko be...? It's almost time to start," said Kotoyo as her son shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "She asked me to save two seats. Could it be...maybe...she has a _date_?!" She covered her mouth in an attempt to muffle her giggling.

Kotaro blinked and looked up at his laughing mother for a while. He sweatdropped and went back to looking down at the arena. "When's Hanzo going to come out? I wanna see him fight!"

Over in the booth exclusive to the Kage watching over the arena sat the Hokage, Kazekage and Raikage.

"Hmmm... Interesting..." The Raikage mumbled as he observed the arena. _'Even the arena they use for their exams is different than ours...'_ He was younger than his fellow Kage at the age of 25, with his dark hair partially hidden under his hat with the kanji for lightning and light brown eyes. The traditional white and yellow robes of the Raikage felt stuffy and uncomfortable since he only wore them for

"Something wrong, Raikage-sama?" Naruto asked the leader of Kumogakure, making him jump in his seat.

"Ah!! N-nothing's wrong! Nothing at all!" The Raikage spoke quickly. After a few seconds, he slumped over slightly, his hat hiding his features. _'How embarrassing...! To act like this in front of the elder Kage...'_ Truth be told, he had only been Raikage for three months, younger than the six months old alliance between Hi no Kuni and Rai no Kuni.

The Hokage stayed quiet before leaning over to the Kazekage, who was sitting on his right. "Is it just me or is that boy a bit tightly wound?"

"Seems a bit nervous to me," said the Kazekage, who was wearing blue and white robes and a hat with the kanji for wind written on it. He was in his early 40's with short, dusty brown hair and black eyes. "He was just given the title recently, wasn't he?"

"Ah, that's right." The eldest Kage looked back to the youngest with a smile. "So, Raikage-sama, how do you like what you've seen of Konoha?"

The Raikage snapped out of his daze. "Huh? Oh, I...I like it, I suppose, Hokage-sama."

"No, no! Tell me _what_ you like about it!"

"What I like...?"

As Naruto continued to push the younger Kage into a conversation, the Kazekage sighed. _'Sometimes, I can't believe that man's one of the strongest in the world...'_

Back amongst the villagers, Kotoyo continued to keep a sharp lookout for Aiko while Kotaro had moved on to drinking a large cup of soda. _'Where could that woman be...?'_ The dark-haired woman thought before someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked back and gasped. "Oh, Hikari!"

The pink-haired woman waved at her sister-in-law. "Hi, Kotoyo!" Sitting on her left was Sasuke, who had his head down and his arms folded across his chest.

Kotaro turned around in his chair to face his grandfather. "Hi, Grandpa! ...Grandpa?" The young Uchiha blinked and looked at his aunt. "Is Grandpa dead?"

"What's wrong with Sasuke-san?" Kotoyo asked the pink-haired medic.

"I'm being held here against my will," Sasuke spoke as he raised his head. He gave Hikaru a look of scorn from the corner of his eye.

His daughter frowned. "Oh, you know you're not. I asked you if you wanted to come and see the final part of the Chunin Exam."

"I never said _'yes'_..." Her father muttered. "Why don't you just admit it? Your mother put you up to this."

Hikari ignored him and continued, "Besides, the first match is Hanzo and Ina. I thought you would've wanted to see _that_! Seeing your grandchildren beat the crap out of each other and showing of the strength of the Uchiha clan! You like that, don't you?"

"I never said that."

The pink-haired woman smiled and held up a finger. "You don't have to _say _anything for us to know, Daddy."

"I'M HERE!!! I mean..._WE'RE _HERE!!!" Aiko shouted loudly as she ran down the steps with Asura behind her. Her face was slightly red, as if she had run a far distance, but the pink-haired girl behind her wasn't the same.

"_Who_ is _that_?" Sasuke asked as he arched an eyebrow at the approaching blonde.

"That's a friend of mine—Kazaki Aiko," Kotoyo answered. "She's the mother of Hanzo's teammate, Nataro."

"Oh, so that's Nataro's mother..." Hikari said with a sweatdrop. _'Well, she's almost as loud as he is...'_

"Nataro..." Sasuke muttered as an image of the blonde boy flashed through his mind. "Isn't that the little blonde fool who's on the same team as Hanzo?"

"That's...what Kotoyo just said, Dad. Is your hearing starting to go or—" She caught a look from her father. "Never mind."

Aiko skidded to a halt in front of the Uchiha and bent over, breathing deeply. "I'm...here...!" She gasped.

Kotoyo sweatdropped. "Aiko... You look awful."

"I'm not...in the condition...to yell about that...! I had to go across town and...pick _her_ up..." Without straightening up from her bent position, the blonde woman pointed over at Asura, who turned to the Uchiha clan and bowed.

"Hello!"

"A...Asura-chan?!" Hikari shrieked, standing up from her seat immediately. "Wh... What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the hospital!"

"Naruto-san said that I could to see Nataro-san in that Chunin test-thing since he might to something drastic."

_'This is the sort of thing he's supposed to announce to the medical division __**first**__!'_ The medical ninja thought as she hid her eyes behind her hand and sat down, muttering obscenities under her breath.

Kotoyo smiled and shook the pink-haired girl's hand. "Hello, Asura-chan. Hanzo's told me so little about you." She looked up at Aiko, who was still taking deep breaths. "You came just in time. It hasn't started yet."

"G...Good...!" Aiko breathed out.

"Um... Are you okay, Aiko?"

"I...woke up late... Couldn't find Nataro... Note said he went earlier... Had to run...from my place to...the hospital..." _'When I see that son of mine, I'm going to __**kill him**__!! How is it that he woke me up at the freakin' crack of dawn but not after 6?! He knows my alarm clock's broken!!'_ "My heart's beating like a humming bird's—maybe even faster...!" The blonde raised her head and just noticed Hikari and Sasuke. "And...who are these nice-looking people who are staring at me like I'm some sort of lunatic?"

"Hm? Oh, this is my sister-in-law, Uchiha Hikari, and my father-in-law, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hello," Hikari said with a wave. Sasuke simply eyed Aiko from the corner of his eye. When they made eye contact, the blonde woman's eyebrow twitched.

"Ah, so _you're_ Sasuke-san... Nataro once said you _pushed him out of a window _when he complained about cleaning the roof of your home..." She muttered as she forced a smile onto her face.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" The pink-haired woman screamed as she looked at her father. "Why would you do something like that?!"

"He was annoying," the retired shinobi spoke simply.

"Don't talk about it like it was nothing!! You pushed my _only son_ out of a window!! What if he was hurt or got brain damage from that fall?!"

"It wasn't _that_ high. And he's a ninja—he landed just fine. As for brain damage, I think he already has that."

A vein popped up on Aiko's forehead as she started to glare at Sasuke. "What did you say?!"

"Daddy, you know that's not right! You shouldn't insult other people's children and you sure as hell can't _push_ them out of windows, either!!" Hikari shouted at her father.

"Oooh, Auntie Hikari said a swear word!" Kotaro said with a mischievous smile, ignored by the adults.

Sasuke closed his eyes and bowed his head once more. "Hn."

"Are you even listening to— Oh, _forget it_!" Hikari groaned, falling back into her seat while holding her forehead. _'Goddamn, stubborn old bastard!! Not even Mom can change you fully!'_ She thought as she gave her father an angry look.

Meanwhile, Kotoyo was holding back Aiko in an attempt to stop her friend from trying to kill her father-in-law. "Calm down, Aiko! I'm sure Sasuke-san didn't mean it!" She told the shorter woman with a smile.

"The hell he _did_!! Who does he think he is, anyway?!" Aiko screamed as she clawed the air, baring her teeth.

Kotaro stared at the blonde woman for a while before saying, "Aiko-san's face looks like a tomato."

Asura stared at her for a while, too, before giving an overdramatic gasp. "Oooh, it _does_ look like a tomato!"

Moving our attention away from _that_ chaos, let us look at a certain genin team who was sitting in the crowd. Or at least, two-thirds of them were sitting.

"Yes!!" Rie shouted from where she stood, waving a pair of uchiwa fans with the kanji for _'good luck' _written on the sides in her hands, dressed in a dark purple buttoned-up blouse with a black skirt. "Go, Hanzo-kun, go!! Fight, fight, fight!! Show these losers who's the boss!!" The genjutsu user was suddenly pulled back down into her seat by a red-faced Kaoru.

"Will you please sit down?! You're embarrassing us!" The redhead hissed, trying to hide his face behind his head. He was wearing a high-collared, long-sleeved blue shirt with a black pants and his black glove. "People are staring at you like some kind of weirdo...!"

"Oh, please! You're just jealous because Hanzo-kun made it to the finals and you didn't!"

"News flash: you didn't make it either!" Kaoru released the brunette as he started to smirk. "Besides, I heard his first match is Ina, and she's as brutal as she is lovely. Let's face it, he's either going to leave the arena on a stretcher or in a _body bag_."

Rie narrowed her eyes and pouted. "Oh, yeah?!"

"Are you sure you aren't just saying that because you bet on Inahime?" Asked Masamune, who was wearing a long-sleeved green shirt with red pants.

"Huh?!" Rie's glare darkened as she bit her lip.

Kaoru looked at his male teammate with half-lidded eyes. "_Thank you_, _Momo_ for spilling the beans!!"

"You can't bet! You're only 13!!" The kunoichi shouted as she grabbed the redhead by the collar of his jacket and started to shake him.

"Well, if he can't bet, how could he bet on Ina, Konjo, and that kid from Sunagakure?" The gray-haired boy spoke, but his teammates ignored him.

"Hey, I need to pay for my ninja gear _somehow_!"

"You're a ninja, doesn't that pay enough money?!"

"It's easy for _you_ to say! You come from a clan of shinobi!"

Masamune simply sighed, then tilted his head to the side with a small smile. "Ah, well... Even if they lose, I'll have faith in all my comrades..."

By now, Aiko was sitting down in her seat next to Kotoyo, who had Kotaro move down just in case the blonde woman tried to hurt her father-in-law. She had her arms folded across her chest and kept muttering about evil old men while Asura and Kotaro shared a bag of popcorn.

"I can't believe you'd act like that to Aiko-san, Father," Hikari tried to chastise her father.

"I was being honest," Sasuke muttered flatly as he looked down at the arena.

"But that was—!"

"It's starting," the elder Uchiha said when he started to hear Naruto greet the people in the audience and wish participants good luck.

The six genin stood in the middle of the arena, staring up at the audience with nervousness and anxiety, though the only ones who didn't show it were Ina and Mamoru.

"Uh... Kaze?" Nataro asked his pyromanic teammate with squinted eyes. "I've been meaning to ask...what the hell happened to your _hair_?" As he said this, he took a strand of Kaze's hair, which was no longer red, but red-orange. "Why'd you dye it? And in such a weird color?"

Kazemaru slapped the blonde's hand away from his hand. "First of all: hands off of my hair! Second of all: I don't _know_ why my hair looks like this and I don't wanna talk about it! I just woke up one morning and it looked like this! So back the hell away from me!!" The redhead screamed with a small vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Okay, okay! Geez..."

In a poof of smoke, the instructor of the second exam, Asahara Yomi, appeared in front of them with a salute. "Yo."

Konjo blinked. "Huh? Hey, aren't you the proctor for the _second_ exam?"

"What the heck are _you_ doing here?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow, pointing a finger at the proctor.

"Oh... The guy who was supposed to do this got sick at the last minute, so _I'm_ being forced to fill in for him. Though I'm starting to think that vomit was self-induced..." The purple-haired man muttered a curse under his breath. "Anyway, don't think about me. In this exam, you guys are the main attraction, so you've gotta look good for the audience. I mean...there are Daimyo and other _very_ rich people who'd be happy to hire you if you do."

_'Greaaaat... No pressure there,'_ Kazemaru thought sarcastically in his head.

"Anyway, let's move on to the first match..." Yomi pulled a piece of paper out from his pants pocket. "Okay... Everyone except for Uchiha Ina and Uchiha Hanzo, please go upstairs for the fight to begin."

"Good luck, Hanzo!" Nataro gave his friend a wink and a thumbs-up. "Go kick that Weasel Girl's ass!"

"I'm right here, you moron," the Uchiha girl growled under her breath. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. It turned out to be Konjo. "What?"

"Good luck," the Hyuga told her as he passed.

Ina smirked. "Don't need it."

"Okie-dokie, Fan Boy!" Kazemaru pointed a finger at his raven-haired teammate. "You better not lose, or I'll disown you as my teammate!" _'And I'll lose all that money I bet on you!'_

Hanzo sweatdropped and arched an eyebrow. "You don't have the right to do that."

"Do too!" Nataro then grabbed the pyromanic genin's arm and began to drag him away. "Ow! Hey!"

"C'mon, c'mon! I wanna see how this all turns out!"

"Quit draggin' me, Ramen Breath! I can walk on my own!!"

Hanzo gave a sign as his teammates disappeared from sight, then turned around to face Ina.

"What's with that look?" The raven-haired girl folded her arms across her chest. "I hope you're not scared because I've been looking forward to this for an entire month." Her cousin's reply was a gulp.

Yomi cleared his throat. "Okay, since you kids took the preliminaries, you should know that the rules here are the same as back there. Fight with all you've got, and if a winner is clear, I'll stop the fight. Got it?"

Ina said "Yeah" while Hanzo muttered a "Yes".

The purple-haired jonin nodded. "Good. Now we can get on with this." He raised his arm. "The first match of the Final Exams: Uchiha Ina vs. Uchiha Hanzo. Ready...? Begin!"

Ina charged forward with a balled-up fist to strike Hanzo, but he sidestepped to avoid the blow. The raven-haired girl tried a roundhouse kick to the ribs, but the boy caught her leg. She tried to punch him in the stomach, but he caught her fist before it made contact.

Hanzo blinked when he saw Ina smirk. She somehow managed to pull him a little closer and headbutted her cousin in the forehead. Hanzo released Ina and stumbled back, clutching his bleeding forehead.

"Ouch. That must've _hurt_..." Kazemaru winced. "And the fact that Ina has her hitai-ate on her forehead makes it _worse_..."

"COME ON, HANZO!!!" Nataro screamed _very_ loudly as he leaned over the railing. "DON'T YOU LOSE TO _INA_ OF ALL PEOPLE!!!" Kaze's hands wrapped around his throat and began to choke him.

"DAMN IT, NATARO!! I'M STANDING THREE FUGGIN' INCHES FROM YOU, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!!"

Back in the arena, Hanzo winced slightly as he touched the bruise on his forehead. "Ugh..."

Ina jumped back and drew a pair of kunai knives from her back pouch, twirling them in her hands. She dashed towards him, kunai gripped in her hands. Hanzo blinked before drawing a couple of shuriken from his thigh holster and flung them at his cousin. She skidded to a halt and quickly deflected the ninja stars. Once the last two fell, they exploded, to Ina's surprise, and a thick black smoke came up.

_'Now!'_ Hanzo thought as he channeled chakra into his feet and jumped high up into the air. He made several hand signs and took a deep breath. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!'_ He blew a large fireball down at Ina.

As the smoke had finished clearing, Ina's eyes widened at the approaching attack before they narrowed. She growled under her breath as she formed the same hand signs that Hanzo had. "_Two_ can play it like that..." She took a deep breath and blew out a fireball that was the same size as Hanzo's.

The Uchiha boy's eyes widened. "What...?"

"Uh, what happens when two Gokakyu collide?" Konjo asked Nataro and Kazemaru. Mamoru looked at the speeding fireballs with as much interest as his half-lidded eyes could show.

"I...have _no idea_!" The orange-clad boy stated.

"But I do have a feeling that there's gonna be some intense heat," said Kaze with what appeared to be a hint of hint of giddiness in his voice. "I don't know _why_, but I wanna roast marshmallows all of a sudden." The indigo-haired boy and the blonde stared at the young pyro before they sweatdropped.

Up in the stands, Aiko stared in awe at the fireballs. "Oh...my..." Before she could say anymore, they collided. It wasn't exactly harmful, but it _did_ give off somewhat of a heat for those who were sitting closer to the arena.

"I think the air's gotten warmer," Asura stated the obvious, completely unfazed by what had happened.

"No, really? You think?" Sasuke muttered. _'She couldn't have just dodged it...or done something __**else**__. She had to counter it with the same type of technique...'_

As Hanzo began to fall, Ina drew several shuriken and flung them at the Uchiha boy. He gulped as he saw the oncoming projectiles. "Uh-oh! Gotta think...! Gotta _move_!" He tried to move his body around in mid-air as he fell, trying to dodge the shuriken. The raven-haired boy got only a few minor scratches and none of the shuriken had hit any vital points. Before landing, Hanzo started to form hand signs and took a deep breath once again. _'Please make this work!'_ He blew out several small fireballs, trying to hit his target. Ina simply kept jumping backwards or forwards or sidestepping his attacks with quick reflexes and grace. The raven-haired boy resisted the urge to curse aloud.

As he landed on his feet, a foot away from him, Ina's mouth twitched into a smirk. _'Okay... So he's gotten a little better. Big deal.'_

"Alright, Hanzo!!" Nataro cheered.

Kaze gave a thumbs-up as he grinned. "You da man, Fan Boy!!"

Ina stared at Hanzo, who was also staring at her. Neither one said a word until...

"How long are you going to fight me with kid-gloves?" Hanzo asked his cousin.

The raven-haired girl's mouth twitched into a smirk once again. "So, you noticed, huh?" She pushed a set of loose bangs behind her ear and continued, "I didn't want to embarrass you in front of all these people... We've gotta entertain them, after all, and it would make the Uchiha look bad if you couldn't keep up."

"I don't need your pity..." Hanzo muttered, bangs hiding his eyes. "If you really want to be a chunin, you have to fight me seriously and show that you've actually got some skill, right?" He got into a fighting stance. "Let's just get this over with."

"It's not _all_ because I pity your weakness, you know. I want to save my tricks for later on. You know...when it's _worth it_."

"So, you don't think I'm worth giving it your all... I'll prove you wrong."

"Hm..." Ina relaxed her stance a little, as though permitting Hanzo the chance at a blow. For a moment, she thought his eye twitched.

"You know...when I heard that two of the genin facing each other were both of the Uchiha clan, I expected something..._more_ from this fight," said the Raikage in a bored tone. "With their reputation, I thought the genin would give a splendid performance."

"This just goes to show that not every ninja with the name of a famous clan will be a prodigy," said the Kazekage.

"The fight isn't over yet. Give them a chance," Naruto told the

"Awww, when's the fighting gonna start again?" Konjo moaned as he leaned against the railing like Nataro. "Why are they talking, anyway?"

Hanzo drew something from his back pouch—a few smoke bombs. He threw them to the ground, causing thick, black smoke to enshroud him. A few seconds later, four Hanzos dashed out of the smoke.

"Oh, _please_," Ina muttered as she activated her Sharingan. The comma-like tomoe surrounding the pupil began to spin as her eyes focuses on the clones. "You're making this all too easy." She jumped forward and elbowed one bunshin in the face, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. When another came charging towards her, she spun on her heel and landed a roundhouse kick on its neck, performing another on the third clone before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ina ducked in time to avoid a jump kick to the head by her cousin. Hanzo's eyes widened as he slightly skidded across the ground, making dust rise. As he started to stand, Ina punched him in the back of the head, and then followed up with a kick to the back that pushed him into a wall.

"DAMN IT ALL!!!" Kazemaru cursed loudly. "Why didn't I bet on Ina?! I had to be a good friend and bet on at least _one_ of my teammates..."

His blonde teammate turned his head to glare at him. "What?! You're betting?! On _Hanzo_?!"

The pyromanic genin shrugged. "What're you yellin' for? Small tournaments like these are great for bets between people from different countries. Besides, you should be glad that I bet on Hanzo to win."

Nataro folded his arms across his chest. "Are you betting on _my_ fight?"

Kaze turned his back on him, eyes half-lidded. "I cannot and will not divulge such information."

"Damn you, Kaze!!"

Back in the arena, Hanzo rubbed the back of his sore head as he pushed himself off of the wall. "Uhhh..." He glanced at Ina from the corner of his eye as he made a few hand signs.

"Hm?" _'I've never seen __**that**__ technique before.'_ The raven-haired girl smirked as the wheels of her Sharingan began to spin. _'But I can learn it!'_

"HAAAAAH!!!" Her cousin dashed towards her, his fist raised. He thrust his hand forward as she blocked it. Hanzo delivered a kick to her ribs, causing Ina to wince slightly. The raven-haired boy used his free hand to slam Ina in the chest with the palm of his hand.

The Uchiha girl's arms and legs sudden fell to her side and stayed there, as if held by some invisible rope. "H-hey! What the heck is this?" She tried to move, but instead fell forward onto the ground. She struggled to get loose, but found that she couldn't. "What did you do to me?"

"Soutei no Jutsu (Art of Binding)," Hanzo spoke simply. "I learned it over the month break." He took a few steps back as he observed his cousin. "It temporarily paralyzes the target. But for how long, I don't know."

"Ah!! He used it! He actually used it! And in one try, too!" Kotoyo exclaimed from her seat, hugging Kotaro tightly. "I'm _so_ proud!"

Aiko sweatdropped as she looked at her friend. "What are you talking about, Kotoyo?"

The dark-haired woman pointed down at the arena. "You see that jutsu that Hanzo used on Ina? Well..."

"Well?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow, startling both women.

"I...sort of...taught it to him. Hee-hee!" Kotoyo began to blush as she held a hand to her chest.

Aiko lowered her head and sighed. "Lucky you. I can't even help my son with what he calls _'simple training'_..." She muttered.

"That's _awesome_!!" Nataro exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air. "Go, Hanzo!! You're the man!"

"You're the _Fan_, Hanzo!!" Kazemaru cheered.

The blonde glared at his teammate from the corner of his eye. "Oh, so now that he's winning, you've got hope in him, huh?"

The orange-haired genin's eye twitched before he plastered on a fake smile. "Heh. What are you _talking_ about, Nataro? I've _always_ had faith in Hanzo. Why do you think I bet on him in the first place?"

"Liar!"

"Now then... What am I going to do with you?" Hanzo thought as he looked at Ina try even harder to get back up.

"Just wait until I find a way out of this stupid thing...then your ass is _mine_!" The raven-haired girl hissed.

"You're not in the position to make threats, Ina. Especially when you can't get up." Her cousin folded his arms across his chest. "I need something impressive to finish this fight... But I don't think I have anything like that."

A vein throbbed on Ina's forehead as she gritted his teeth. "DAMN!!" She suddenly got up from the ground and gave Hanzo an uppercut. He tasted blood in his mouth as he landed on the ground on his back. Ina glared at him, the wheels of her Sharingan spinning slowly as she panted. "Man... That took a lot out of me..."

Kotoyo gasped. "Ina-chan must have very strong willpower if she can break the bind in less than a minute!"

"Or maybe the bind itself doesn't last very long..." Hikari suggested. "Are you _sure_ you don't know how long that jutsu lasts?"

"Oh, pretty sure. The amount of time it lasts depends on how much chakra is used. And I know Hanzo is good when it comes to his chakra control...so Ina either broke free on her own, or Hanzo purposely put too little chakra into it. Who knows?"

"_You_ are. At least, you're _supposed_ to!" Sasuke muttered as he glared at the back of Kotoyo's head.

Hanzo jumped back to his feet and glared at his cousin. She was bent over, gasping for breath.

"What...did you..._do_ to me?" Ina panted as she glared at the other Uchiha.

"Nothing. You wasted chakra by putting half of your power into breaking loose. A dire mistake." He began to make hand signs again. "Now you're too tired to dodge my next attack! So here goes!"

"I've never seen _that_ one before...I think," Kotoyo said, tapping her cheek thoughtfully.

Aiko, Hikari and Sasuke sweatdropped. "I thought you were the one who _taught_ him. Aren't you supposed to know?" The blonde woman asked with a sweatdrop while the Uchiha behind her shook their heads.

"What's he gonna do this time?" Konjo asked as he looked down at the arena with interest.

"All _I_ wanna know is where he learned such a neat jutsu!" Nataro exclaimed as his eyes became squinted and fox-like once again.

"And all _I_ wanna know is if that Daimyo's gonna keep his word about giving me my money if I win," the orange-haired genin muttered loud enough for the other two Leaf genin to hear.

Konjo's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You made a bet with a _Daimyo_?"

"How much did you bet, Kazemaru?" The blonde boy narrowed his eyes at his teammate. "If it's with a Daimyo, then..."

Kaze turned his back to Nataro. "That is _also_ information I cannot divulge."

"Some friend _you _are, you Pyro Freak!!"

"Are you ready...?" Hanzo muttered as he got into a fighting stance.

"Tch... Whatever. Just hurry up and use whatever you've got up your sleeve," Ina said with half-lidded eyes as she stood up tall again, though she still felt a bit winded. _'If I could make it through that last one, I can take whatever it is he's got next!'_

"Okay." Hanzo dashed forward quickly, causing his cousin's eyes to widen slightly. When he approached her, he began to throw a flurry of quick punches.

The raven-haired girl began to block his attacks, though there were a few that actually got through. _'His attacks have gotten stronger...! What did he...?'_ Before she could finish her thought, Hanzo punched her in the stomach, causing her to spit up a bit. Next came a powerful kick to the ribs that made Ina falter. She gritted her teeth and countered with a knee to the stomach, which he countered by biting her shoulder. "AH!!"

Hanzo suddenly jumped back and wiped his mouth, a sweatdrop rolling down the back of his head. "Sorry! I just...got a little too into it..."

"Well... I didn't expect _that_..." Konjo sweatdropped, as did Nataro and Kaze.

"I never thought he'd bite her..." The pyromanic genin spoke in a flat tone as he leaned away from the railing. "I'd expect _Nataro_, maybe, but not Hanzo."

"EWWWWW!!! No way! I wouldn't put my mouth on that weasel!" Nataro said as he flailed his arms about in the air. "It sounds so..._WRONG_!!"

A vein began to throb on Ina's forehead as she clenched her fist. "You little...! First you hit me, now you're _biting_ me! That's it!" Ina flipped up into the air as she began to make hand signs. _'Here goes! Katon: Goenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Art of the Blooming Great Flame)!!'_ The Uchiha girl spat out three large fireballs at Hanzo, only slightly smaller than the Gokakyu no Jutsu's.

"I wonder who taught her that one: Naota or Haruhi?" Sasuke pondered aloud.

"Wasn't there enough fireballs at the beginning of the fight?" Aiko asked with wide eyes.

"Crap!" Hanzo cursed as he began to form hand signs, completing the jutsu just before the fireballs made contact and caused a large explosion. When the light faded and the fire died down, the area that Hanzo was standing on now had scorch marks. As Ina landed, she blinked.

"Don't tell me I burned him up... I'm in trouble."

"Ah... Ah...!" Kotoyo stared down at the arena with wide eyes while Kotaro had dropped his popcorn from shock.

"Is something wrong with Kotoyo-san?" Asura asked.

"Uh, Kotoyo? You okay?" Aiko asked the dark-haired woman.

"Ah...!"

"I'll take that as a _'no'_."

"Holy crap, Ina killed Hanzo!" Nataro cried. "At least...I _hope_ she didn't kill him."

"If she did, I'm gonna be in _so_ much _trouble_..." Kazemaru whined as a cloud of gloom floated over his head.

Hanzo suddenly appeared in front of Ina, standing on the exact same spot he was on a few seconds before. He pointed a finger at his cousin, shouting, "ARE YOU NUTS?! How could you use something like _that_ on _me_?! Your own damn flesh and blood!!"

Ina's eyes narrowed. "_You're_ the one who said not to take it easy on you."

"Yeah, but I never said to try and burn me alive! Bitch!!"

The raven-haired girl arched an eyebrow. _'Okay... Never seen him act like __**this**__ before...'_

"He called her bitch." Nataro blinked, slightly confused before pumping a fist in the air. "Alright, Hanzo!! You're finally learning that you don't have to respect _all_ of your relatives!!"

"This is sort of a drastic change in personality, don'tcha think?" Kazemaru spoke.

"Eh?" The blonde genin turned his head to look at his teammate. "How come?"

"Well, usually, Hanzo is polite, and yells and curses very little unless he is _very_ pissed off."

"Ooooh! ...What's _that_ mean?"

Kaze narrowed his eyes. "Idiot. What I'm trying to say is that he's acting weird!"

Hanzo held up a fist. "That's it! One blow decides it all!! Come on!! No Sharingan, no tricks! What do you say to _that_?!"

"I say...you're a freak. But, okay." Ina smirked, her Sharingan deactivating. "It's your funeral. The way you are now, I don't even _need_ the Sharingan to beat you."

Five seconds later, the two Uchiha ran towards each other, determination burning in their eyes as they came closer to each other.

"Here it comes!! The final blow!!" Kaze cheered. "Come on, Fan Boy!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!"

"Go, Hanzo!! Take her down!!" Nataro screamed.

Just as Ina's fist was about to make contact with her cousin's face, Hanzo disappeared in the blink of an eye. "Huh?" She felt a hand on her shoulder, followed by a sudden pain in her back. Hanzo was behind her, his hand plunged into her back. "You...lied..."

Hanzo smirked. "Fooled ya." He pushed her to the ground, spilling blood onto the ground in the process. He forcefully rolled her over onto her back as he pulled out a kunai. "See this...? This will be the last thing you'll _ever_ see!!" Hanzo screamed as he plunged stabbed the tip of the kunai into Ina's eye, making her shriek and convulse in pain before the other eye was stabbed, causing blood to trail down her cheeks like tears. "But don't worry... I know how much Uchiha pride their sight. So much that they'd rather die than live without it..." He placed the bloody kunai against Ina's neck and quickly slit her throat. All the pain her pain suddenly faded away, save an ache in her stomach that she hadn't noticed before.

"Damn... That wasn't..." She mumbled with a pained look in her eyes.

"Real? Of course not," the real Hanzo spoke when the illusion faded away. "I would _never_ do something like _that_ to you, Ina." Hanzo leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "We're family, right?" He tilted her head up as she coughed up some blood and gave her a hard punch to the face, the force sending her falling down backwards as she coughed. "It's not the coup de grace that I wanted, but whatever works..."

"_Fuck_...!" Ina groaned as she got on her knees, shaking slightly. "This isn't...over..." She suddenly doubled over and threw up a mixture of bile and blood. Her cousin seemed a bit shocked, as if he didn't know the genjutsu would have _this_ sort of effect on her. Ina simply glared at him as her eyes glazed over. "I..._hate you_..." She then fell backwards, slipping into unconsciousness.

"Oh my God, I think he _killed _her," Kaze said with comically large eyes.

"N-no way!! I mean, Hanzo wouldn't try to _seriously_ hurt Ina. Not so much to kill her!" Nataro stuttered as he stared down at the ring with the same comically large eyes. "A-and Ina's too proud of a bitch to die from some genjutsu!"

The orange-haired genin looked at his teammate. "How would _you_ know? How do we not know that Hanzo is some sort of..._evil genius_? We both know that he's pretty smart, and this fight proves that he's skilled enough to take down Ina."

"Idiot!! That's a stupid idea!" The blonde shouted. "Hanzo? An evil genius?! You must be _joking_!!" He stopped screaming when Yomi began to inspect Ina.

"Er... She's alright, isn't she?" Hanzo asked the proctor, slightly nervous. If he had done something to _seriously_ hurt Ina...even if it was just an accident, it would weigh down on his conscience heavily. Not to mention that his mother would _kill him_.

"Hmmm..." Yomi stood up as the medical ninja arrived on the scene. "She's fine. Just unconscious. The throwing up must've been an effect of the genjutsu." The purple-haired jonin raised his hand and announced, "The winner of the first match is Uchiha Hanzo!!"

The crowd began to roar with cheers as a blushing Hanzo stared up at the stands, trying to find his family. He then spotted what looked like Kotaro jumping up and down in his seat and Kotoyo blowing kisses at him. He gave a shy smile and waved at the crowd. He swore he heard several girls scream his name, the loudest sounding like Rie, but he shook it off as he retreated upstairs.

"Haha!! What was that about Hanzo-kun _losing_?" Rie asked Kaoru with a cat-like smile as she thwacked her teammate on the head with her fan.

"Th...That was just luck!!" The redhead screamed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Impressive. He tricked the girl into turning off her Sharingan," the Kazekage spoke as he rubbed his chin. "He's clever."

"Yes, well...that's a good trait that he and his generation have inherited from their elders," Naruto said with a smile.

In the crowd, Shizuka, wearing her normal ninja clothing minus the gear, stared down at her feet sadly. _'Ina... I'm sorry you lost, but...'_ She gave a small smile. _'I'm glad that Hanzo-kun won.'_

"Now, the next fight is Kazaki Nataro vs. Mamoru!!" Yomi announced. "If the two genin could _please_ come down here quickly so we can get this over with, I'd appreciate it."

"Alright!! After seeing Hanzo fight, I'm _pumped_!" Nataro said as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Can't say the same for your opponent..." Konjo pointed at Mamoru, who was leaning against the wall sleeping, and sweatdropped.

A vein appeared on the blonde's forehead, throbbing quickly. He stomped over to the brown-haired boy and took a deep breath. "HEY!!! WE'RE FIGHTING NEXT, SO WAKE UP!!!"

"Zzz— Huh?" Mamoru blinked his eyes open and yawned. He looked at the orange-clad Leaf with his usual sleepy-eyed look "Oh, is it our turn to fight already?"

_'Don't tell me he __**slept**__ through that fight? I can't believe this guy's a ninja...!'_ Nataro turned his head as he noticed Hanzo approaching. "Hey, Hanzo! Great fight! I'm not gonna fall for some trick like that when _we_ fight!"

Hanzo flinched. "Right... When _we_ fight..."

Kazemaru leaned over to Konjo and began to whisper loudly, "He's _so_ confident that he can win..." The orange-haired genin said as he shook his head. "He's got some head problems. Must've been dropped on his head a lot when he was a baby or somethin'..."

Nataro turned his head to see Mamoru was already gone. "Eh? Where'd he go?"

"He's already down there." Konjo pointed down at the arena, where Mamoru was already standing in front of Yomi.

"Dang, he's fast for a guy who sleeps a lot," said Kaze.

"Half a minute ago, he was just snoozing away!" The blonde genin exclaimed as he climbed onto the railing and jumped down. He landed on his feet and ran over to where Yomi and Mamoru were standing. "Alright! Let's do this!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTE!!**

**Goenka no Jutsu is a technique used by Sasuke in the Naruto Ultimate Ninja game series. It isn't used canonically in the anime or manga.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Alright, next chapter is Nataro vs. Mamoru! Once again, the fight has barely been changed, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it and review! Please, for the sake of Blu?**

**Naruto: Also remember to review this chapter and tell Blu what you think of the story so far. See you guys in the next chapter!**


	17. The Second Bout: Mamoru vs Nataro!

**Blu: Here it is, the second round of the Chunin Exams! Nataro vs. Mamoru!**

**Nataro: Alright!! I am so stoked!**

**Mamoru: (Sleeping in a corner, holding a teddy bear) Zzz…!**

**Blu: Awwww, he's so cute!! (Takes a picture of him)**

**Nataro: Damn it, quit sleeping and let's get on to the chapter!!**

**Mamoru: (Still sleeping) Zzz… Roll…the fic… Zzz…**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#17: The Second Bout: Mamoru vs. Nataro!_

"Yay, Nataro-saaaan!! You can do it!! Go for the jugular!!" Asura cheered. "Fight, fight, fight!!" She waved a little orange flag with a crude image of Nataro's face painted on it.

Hikari sweatdropped at the rosé-haired girl's behavior. "Asura-chan... The fight hasn't even started yet."

"I hope Nataro-san will win!" The girl exclaimed, ignoring the pink-haired Uchiha's statement. "Because he is one of the best!"

"Asura-chan. Sweetie... Nataro tends to...embellish sometimes," Aiko told her as a sweatdrop rolled down the back of her head.

The Kazekage held his hands over his face and groaned while Naruto got a far-off look in his eyes. The Raikage noticed this and, against the judgment of his mind, decided to speak. "Is there something wrong, Kazekage-sama? Hokage-sama?"

The ruler of Sunagakure didn't seem to hear the younger Kage. _'Please, don't let him embarrass our village at a time like this...!'_

Seeing that he wasn't getting through to him, the Raikage looked at the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, if you don't mind my asking, do you know what is wrong with Kazekage-sama?"

Naruto snapped out of his daze and leaned back into his seat. "Oh! Uh... I don't have the slightest clue." _'I __**might**__ have an idea, though...'_ His eyes focused on Mamoru. _'After what he did in the preliminaries, he confuses me as much as Nataro...'_ His eyes went to Nataro. _'How'd he even manage to learn Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? He couldn't have broken in and looked at the scroll...so who would think to teach it to a child?'_

Down in the arena, Mamoru had begun to remove the wrappings from the object on his back. "There." The Suna genin tossed aside the wrapping bandages, revealing the item on the ground--a large gourd. Nataro stared at the gourd as Mamoru placed it on his back.

_'A gourd?'_ The blonde boy thought back to the preliminaries that had taken place a month before. _'Is __**that**__ where the sand came from?' _He remembered what had happened to Hotaru, the genin from Kumogakure. _'I gotta watch out for that!'_

"Kazekage-san... What is that thing your child is holding?" Naruto asked slowly as he pointed down at the arena.

The Kazekage removed his hands from his face. "What on earth?! When did he--? What does he think he's _doing_ with that?!"

_'That boy is Kazekage-sama's child?'_ The Raikage thought with an arched eyebrow.

"Okay..." Yomi raised his arm in the air. "The second match of the finals is about to begin!! Kazaki Nataro vs. Sabaku no Mamoru!! And...begin!!"

"Right!!" Nataro jumped back, creating distance between him and Mamoru. _'As long as __**I**__ keep away from him and his sand, I'm sure I can win this fight!!'_ "So here goes!" The blonde made a familiar hand sign, and a dozen Nataros suddenly appeared in front of him. "Behold the Kage Bunshin!" He didn't notice that several people in the crowd were now amazed by the technique he'd just used.

_'Okay, kiddo. You've wowed the crowd. Now show me what you've got,'_ thought Kira, who sat in the crowd with a pair of shades on. _'Don't make me regret sticking around to see you fight.'_

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit in shock. "It can't be..."

"It's amazing!" Hikari gasped. "For a genin to be able to do _that_ jutsu!"

Aiko looked confused. "What? What's amazing?"

Kotoyo looked at the blonde woman. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know _what_?"

"That jutsu Nataro just used--"

"What? _That_ clone thing?" Aiko closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "Whenever I came to drag him home for dinner when he stayed out lout training, I'd usually find him using _that_ thing... Why?" She opened her eyes. "Bunshin are normal ninjutsu, right?"

"But Kage Bunshin are _advanced_," Kotoyo explained. "Jutsu like _that_ take a lot of chakra! A ninja can't learn that sort of technique until they're on jonin level, or at least a highly skilled chunin!"

The blonde woman blinked, her mouth forming a small 'O'. "Oh?"

"The only genin _I've_ heard of who could make Kage Bunshin is Rokudaime-sama," said Hikari.

"Really? ...I didn't know _that_." _'Does this mean that Nataro really is a skilled ninja?'_ Aiko thought, biting her lip.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared at Nataro. _'That boy...'_ For a moment, he thought he saw Naruto instead.

_'There's no mistake now. I wasn't just seeing things,'_ thought Naruto as he saw the same thing as Sasuke.

"_That_ trick again..." Mamoru made a hand sign and closed his eyes. Sand began to pour out from the gourd and slithered in front of the brunete shinobi in a fluid motion. After a few seconds, it began to build up until it took a human form--like a sand-made version of Mamoru. "I call your jutsu with Suna Bunshin."

"A sand clone... Interesting," said Hanzo.

"Tch. Not really..." Kazemaru muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "That guy used sand as his main weapon, so it's no surprise here."

"Only one? No problem then!" The original Konoha genin pointed at the sand clone. "Attack!!" Half of the blonde's bunshins drew shuriken and kunai and threw them at the sand clone. The weapons simply went through the sand Mamoru's body. "Uh-oh..."

"What an _idiot_!" Kaze groaned as his left eye twitched. "It's not like it's a _real_ clone, right?"

"It's mad of _sand_, so it won't feel something like kunai and shuriken." Hanzo sighed.

The Suna Bunshin held out its hand and it stretched out, becoming deformed and formless, grabbing one of the Nataros. "Guh!" The sand covered the genin until nothing but his feet were seen. After a few seconds, the bunshin simply disappeared in a puff of smoke and the sand drifted back to the sand Mamoru.

"Er, alright. Time for plan B!" The remaining Nataros and the original jumped up into the air. The sand clone's arms stretched up into the air as they began o form hand signs. The sand managed to wrap around a few clones, cutting down the number to seven plus the _real_ Nataro, making it 8. "Here goes!" All 8 Nataros took a deep breath, but two were instantly gripped and tightened by sand until they disappeared. Those remaining blew out a stream of fire towards the suna bunshin. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_

"Wow. When did Nataro learn how to use Katon jutsu?" Konjo asked the blonde's teammates.

"Beats me. But he _does_ know it isn't real, right?" Kaze muttered. "Meaning it won't burn."

"You don't know what happens when you mix fire and sand, do you?" Hanzo asked his teammate as he kept his eyes on the arena.

"Uh...what?"

When the large stream of fire hit the sand clone, it was caught in a large sphere of flames. A minute after the fire had died down, the suna Mamoru had turned into..._glass_."

"_That_," Hanzo said as he pointed at the glass Mamoru.

"What...just happened?" The Hyuga boy asked with an eyebrow arched.

"What...just happened?"

"When sand and fire combine, it creates glass," the Uchiha explained.

"How'd Nataro figure _that_ out?"

"I don't know. Research?"

"Hmph..." Kazemaru folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "In my opinion, it was probably dumb luck."

"Here I come!!" Nataro shouted as his clones disappeared in puffs of smoke. He sped towards the glass clone and balled up a fist. When he was about to land, he punched it, shattering the glass and sending shards flying all over. Mamoru quickly made a hand sign and sand flew out of the gourd to form a barrier in front of him that blocked oncoming shards.

"That must hurt," Kotaro spoke with a mouthful of popcorn.

"Nataro-san must be in pain..." Asura said with a pout.

"CRAP!!!" Nataro hopped back. He looked at his bleeding hand and gave a small whimper. An especially _large_ piece of glass had stuck into the top of his hand. _'Man, this hurts!'_

**"Don't be such a baby..."** The Kyuubi mumbled. **"You know it's going to heal quickly."**

_'Still...it hurts a lot!'_

**"Ugh...!"**

As the sand wall lowered, Mamoru looked at the shattered remains of his suna bunshin. "Hm..."

_'Truth be told, I took a guess. I saw it on a cartoon one time, so...'_ The blonde ninja laughed mentally. _'Heh-heh_... _Still, I can't believe it actually worked! Am I lucky or what?'_

**"It's **_**always**_** been luck."**

"Hooraaaaay, Nataro-san!!" Asura shouted over the yells of the crowd.

"Good move," Sasuke muttered.

_'Not bad,'_ Naruto thought with a smile.

_'The Suna Bunshin didn't work...so...'_ Mamoru began to make hand signs and sand gathered around his feet.

"Oh, no, you don't!!" The orange-clad genin charged towards his opponent, but the Suna genin had already finished weaving the signs and slammed his palm on the ground, causing a wall of sand to jut out from the ground in front of Nataro's path...and ran smack dab into said wall.

"OOF!!"

Kazemaru sighed and muttered, "What a moron," while Hanzo and Konjo sweatdropped.

Naruto visibly flinched._ 'That had to hurt.'_

_'It's like I'm reliving my youth...'_ Sasuke thought as he rubbed his temples. "Idiot... He should've waited to see what the Sand boy would've done."

A vein throbbed on Aiko's forehead. _'Deep breaths, Aiko. Remember, you __**can't**__ beat up your elders unless they __**really**__ piss you off...! And you're in public to boot!'_

"I thought sand was supposed to be _soft_...?" Nataro muttered as he rubbed his face and Mamoru began to do more hand signs. The brown-haired genin slammed both of his hands on the ground, and a few seconds later, Nataro felt..._weird_. "Er... What the—?" He looked down and found that he was _sinking_ in sand. "AAAAAHHHH!! The _hell_?! I can't get out!!"

"_Quicksand_," Hanzo stated.

Kaze leaned against the rail as he looked down at his teammate with half-lidded eyes. "I repeat: what a _moron_..."

_'Crud! How am I gonna get out of this?'_ The blonde genin thought as he was almost waist deep in hole of quick sand. The gears in his mind turned until... _'I got it!'_ "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With the forming of a hand sign, six more Nataros appeared. One grabbed the original's hand, and the others wrapped their hands around another clone's waist. They all began to pull as they held on to each other tightly. "One...two...three!" With a final pull, the loudmouth ninja's clones managed to get him out of the hole of quicksand.

"Gee, I wonder why that Mamoru kid isn't moving?" Konjo blinked, looking down at the Suna ninja.

Kaze sweatdropped. "I think _I_ can tell why he's not moving from past experiences..."

"Zzzz..." Mamoru's head drooped slightly.

"Is he...?" Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Did that guy fall asleep?" Kaoru asked with an arched eyebrow.

The Kazekage bowed his head and sighed while his fellow Kage remained silent.

A vein throbbed on the heads of Nataro and his bunshin. "DAMN IT, WAKE UP!!!"

The brunete's eyes opened. "Stereo..." He muttered as he stood up. "Fine, then. I'll just have to give it a little more..."

Nataro blinked. "What the heck are you talkin' about?"

Mamoru didn't answer. He simply made a hand sign and closed his eyes. Sand began to rise up from out of the gourd on his back, turning into a large pair of hands. The blonde and his bunshin gulped and braced themselves to jump out of the way at any sign of movement. In a second, the hands shot forward and grasped a few of the clones, one hand holding two and the other gripping one. As Nataro and the other clones began to form several hand signs, the sand tightened around the other blondes until they disappeared in puffs of smoke. The sand hands then moved on to grip Nataro and another clone, squeezing tightly.

"And now he's _screwed_," Kazemaru muttered. "I'm sure glad I didn't bet on him."

"It's over," Sasuke spoke with his eyes closed.

Aiko turned around and glared up at him. "Don't say that, you...!"

"And _what_ exactly can your son do in that position?"

"Er...well..." The blonde woman fell silent as she began to rack her brain. Of course, being an ordinary civilian, she got nothing.

"I rest my case."

Aiko quickly turned around as a feeling of bloodlust rose up within her. _'Easy, Aiko... The __**last**__ ninja you threw a temper tantrum against made you fall for some stupid illusion trick!'_ She started to glare out into space.

"Um, Aiko? Are you okay?" Kotoyo asked while waving a hand in front of her friend's face. "You _are_ that your son is having the life squeezed out of him?"

_'Crap, crap, crap!'_ Nataro thought as he felt a bone break. Whether it was in his arm or leg, he didn't know--all he knew was that it _hurt like hell_. "D-do..._something_!" He managed to tell his two remaining clones.

The blondes, who had stopped the chain of hand signs after the original was caught, surrounded the sand and began to form the signs again. They took a deep breath and blew out a small burst of fire. Not only did it turn the sand hands into something that looked like a work of art, but it burned Nataro up and made the clone that was with him disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Er... Whoops?" The clones smiled sheepishly.

"_Great_... I've never been _burned alive_ before...!" The real blonde groaned as he licked his thumb and used it to put out a small flame on the shoulder of his jacket.

"HA!!" Aiko shouted as she spun around to point a finger at Sasuke's face. "He's gonna lose, huh? I don't think so!!"

"Aiko, people are starting to stare at you, just so you know," Kotoyo pointed out.

_'I'm starting to doubt bringing Dad...'_ Hikari thought with a sweatdrop as Aiko glared at Sasuke, who stared emotionlessly back at the blonde woman.

Mamoru as he opened his eyes, which, despite his feelings at the moment, maintained their half-lidded, sleepy-eyed look. _'This is getting ridiculous. Maybe I should have used the other sand in the gourd...'_ He looked up at the skybox where the Kage sat, at the Kazekage whose faced was hidden by the brim of his hat. Mamoru looked back at Nataro and narrowed his eyes. "That's it."

Nataro and his two clones blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

_'I can't look bad in front of him...'_ Sand began to surround Mamoru's body as he made a hand sign. "It's time...to start getting into this." _'To prove that I can be an excellent shinobi of Sunagakure, I must win this fight and become a chunin!'_ Despite this mental exclamation of determination, the tired look on Mamoru's face hadn't changed much. The sand that surrounded him then began to cover him completely as it began to form a large sphere.

Nataro and his two remained clones stared at the sand sphere. "What's _that_ supposed to be?!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. "That's..."

_'Gaara did that,' _Naruto thought, biting the inside of his cheek. _'How is it that __**that **__boy can do this?'_

_'This is starting to get interesting!'_ Kira thought with a smirk before taking a sip of his soda.

"I must admit, the sand that was inside the gourd _before_ was much easier to manipulate," said Mamoru to himself from inside the large ball of sand. "But Mother always said that I should try to use something else to practice..." _'And she kept saying how it smelled like dried blood.'_

"What's that guy going to try and do?" Masamune asked as he leaned forward to get a better view of the fight. "From what I've seen so far, Nataro could just use some Katon jutsu and trap him inside."

"Heh! Looks like he's starting to panic, trying to protect himself like that. But he's only sealing his fate," Kaoru said with a smirk. It soon faded and he slapped a hand on his forehead. "Gah!! What am I saying? I'm betting _on_ him, not against him!"

Spikes then jutted out of the sphere of sand, making Rie jump at the sight. "Ooh! What's that?" She asked, making Kaoru peek in-between his fingers to see.

"I think he's getting ready to attack," said Masamune.

A Nataro clone gulped. "For sand, those look they could _hurt_...!"

"Wouldn't wanna have those things sticking through us..." The other mumbled.

The real blonde turned to face them and raised a fist. "What're you getting worried for?! C'mon, he's not even _moving_!"

Unknown to Nataro, an eye appeared in a space between a few spikes. A golden yellow eye. _'Target seen. I just hope I don't kill him.'_ The ball then began to roll towards Nataro like a speeding boulder.

"Whoa!" Nataro managed to jump aside in time to cling to the arena wall by channeling chakra to his hands and feet. His clones, however, were instantly taken out by the attack. "Holy crap..." He gulped as the ball stopped rolling. "Even if I can manage to use a fire jutsu, that thing's gonna probably stick me then _squash_ me! But I can't just stick here forever..." _'Maybe if I try and jump from here, into the air, and just make the hand signs, I could launch a Gokakyu no Jutsu at that thing and stop it!'_ The blonde felt that his grip was beginning to loosen. "Uh-oh... Here goes!" Jumping into the air, Nataro began to make hand signs as quickly as he could.

An eye of sand floated besides the large sand sphere. "Another fire technique? How predictable..." Mamoru mumbled as he held his position in the ball's center. His eyes were closed and his hands held the same hand sign. "He's in for a big surprise."

_'Katon!'_ The blonde genin took a deep breath and blew out a large fireball. _'Gokakyu no Jutsu!'_ The fireball made a direct hit with the sand sphere. "Yeah!!" Nataro grinned as he began to fall to the ground.

"Yay!" Kotaro and Asura cheered with their arms up in the air.

Aiko gave a breath of relief. "That was too close... I'm not even fighting and _I_ almost got a hear attack... But at least it's over..."

"Uh... S-something's wrong here..." Nataro said as the ball just kept rolling forward. After landing, he sweatdropped and began to panic. "WHAT THE HELL?!? It should be glass by now!!" As it almost came rolling towards him, the sphere of sand seemingly rolled over him.

"AH!!" Kazemaru screamed. "He's dead! That sleepy-eyed bastard killed Nataro!"

Hanzo gave a sigh of relief and pointed at the wall that Nataro was currently sticking to like a fly. "No..."

"That was too close for comfort...!" The blonde spoke softly to himself.

"Is he...you know...?" Aiko whimpered, her eyes hidden behind her hands.

"No, he's alive," said Kotoyo.

The blonde woman mimicked Hanzo and gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness... I don't know how shinobi can take this sort of action!" She leaned back in her seat.

"Oh, it comes naturally--in due time."

"Man... I thought for sure I had him that time..." Nataro thought aloud as he saw the flames on the ball of sand die out. The ball seemed slightly burnt, but other than that, it looked the same as it had when it was formed. _'The last time I attacked with fire, the sand turned into glass! So why isn't it working __**now**__?!'_ He then noticed the eye of sand floating in front of the ball. "Eh?"

_'Despite the fact that it's gotten a little warmer in here...no serious damage,'_ Mamoru thought. _'I've been working on this for the past month. By concentrating and sending chakra into this shell, I can make the sand harden and become solid as long as I keep concentrating.'_ He started to frown. _'But...I won't be able to keep this up for very long. For something of __**this**__ size, I'm wasting a large amount of chakra, so...'_ The ball then began to speed towards Nataro.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Quickly channeling some chakra into his feet, he jumped into the air and dodged the ball as it crashed into the wall.

_'Let's see if this works...'_ thought Mamoru as he channeled a good amount of his chakra into the shell. A giant hand of sand stretched out from the back of the ball and stretched up to grab Nataro.

The blonde growled as he quickly began to form hand signs. He blew out a short stream of fire that turned the hand to glass before it made contact. Nataro began to run down the hand as he made a hand sign. _'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'_ About two dozen bunshin appeared in mid-air, surrounding the ball of sand as Nataro jumped up into the air. All the blondes began to do several hand signs and took deep breaths. _'Housenka no Jutsu!'_ They all blew mid-sized fireballs towards the ball of sand, all making contact.

"What? That won't do any good," said Hanzo. "If the Gokakyu no Jutsu didn't turn it into glass, I doubt that some smaller fireballs could."

"Then what the heck is Nataro trying to do?" Kazemaru mumbled.

As the fire died down, it revealed several shuriken and kunai that were now sticking out between the spikes of the ball of sand. They made small cracks that connected with ones that were nearby, forming a sort of web-like pattern. Small pieces of the sand broke off as the shuriken and kunai fell to the ground. The chunks of the shell turned back to sand as a single amber eye gazed out at the Leaf genin.

_'He wasn't trying to turn it into glass this time,'_ thought Kira. _'Instead, he wanted to harden the sand so he could break it down. Very nice. Probably just a stroke of luck.'_

_'Damn... I stopped channeling the chakra too soon. I put too little and it wasn't enough to deflect those heated weapons!'_ The ball of sand then began to crumble, turning back into ordinary sand. _'Now what...?'_ Mamoru thought as he stood in the middle of the sand, head bowed and eyes downcast. "I...can't take this..." He mumbled.

The twenty-five Nataros stood there, looking confused. "Isn't he gonna make a move?" one whispered to another.

"We should try and charge 'em There's no way he could stop _all_ of us!" Another clone spoke.

"But what about the _sand_? We could get crushed!"

"Ooh, you've got a point there."

"Hey, stop talking!!" Nataro shouted. He then pointed at Mamoru. "Now, ATTACK!!!"

"RIGHT!!!"

Nataro and his clones charged forward, looking very much like a stampede. Mamoru made a couple of hand signs as the sand rose up in front of him. It shot forward and grabbed several clones, gripping them and causing them to disappear in a poof of smoke. Some of the other clones drew kunai and threw them at the Suna genin, but with the forming of another hand sign, they were blocked by a wall of sand.

A dozen of the clones and Nataro began to make hand signs and took deep breaths. They each spat out a mid-sized fireball at the dark-haired genin. A much wider wall of sand jutted up from the ground and protected him from the balls of fire, but it turned into glass in the process. Another barrage of shuriken and kunai soon followed, shattering the wall completely. Mamoru raised his arms in front of his face to shield himself from the flying glass.

"YAAAAAHHHH!!" Two of the Nataros tackled Mamoru to the ground. "We got you now!!"

"Get...off of me...!" The Suna genin struggled to get throw the clones off of him.

"Too bad! Because I think I just figured something out!" One clone said with a smirk as he pinned down one of Mamoru's arms.

"You need to make hand signs to control your sand," said the other Nataro as he pinned down the other arm. "So if you can't use your hands, you can't attack!"

"CHAAAAARGE!!" The remaining Nataros jumped onto the Suna genin, forming some sort of dog pile.

"Now why does _this_ scene seem familiar...?" Kaze asked with half-lidded eyes as Hanzo sweatdropped.

The raven-haired boy laughed nervously. "Is he planning to feel Mamoru's butt?"

Konjo's eyes widened a bit. "Say what now?! Feel is _butt_? What're you guys talking about?"

"Nothing, nothing!" The Uchiha quickly covered.

"Aw, man! This is almost _too_ easy!" The Nataro clone on top of the pile stood up straight and scoured the crowd until he noticed Aiko. He started to grin and wave at her. "Hi, Mom!!"

Aiko shook her head and sighed. "Ah, that's my son..."

The pile of Nataros began to shake a little as the one on top of blinked. "Uh, what's goin' on?"

Before he could be given an answer, sand erupted from the bottom of the pile, launching the blondes into the air. To one of the clones, it seemed the now standing Mamoru was smirking as a large amount of sand suddenly shot up towards the clones and surrounded them. It then began to wrap around all the clones as Mamoru made a hand sign.

_'Sunakyu (Sand Coffin)!!'_ He then closed his hand and the sand tightened around the clones until they disappeared in a poof of smoke.

_'Crap!'_ Nataro thought as he made a hand sign. Five kage bunshins appeared in front of him. "Now, go!" They all channeled chakra into their feet and dashed towards the Suna genin. Sand stretched forward and grabbed one clone. It then tossed the clone into two others as the remaining Nataros threw shuriken at Mamoru. One managed to give him a small scratch on his cheek, but a wall of sand rose up in time to avoid the rest. It then shot forward and tried to wrap around the Nataros, but they all rolled out of the way. The sand slinked back into the gourd, shifting every once in a while.

"It's hopeless! Nataro's gonna _lose_!!" Rie exclaimed overdramatically as she covered her eyes.

"Would you knock it off, you drama queen?!" Kaoru shouted as he slapped his hand over the brunette's mouth.

"This is getting _boring_!" Kira exclaimed. The mad genius leaned forward and groaned, fixing up his shades. "Somebody better win this fight _soon_ before _I_ end it!"

The Nataros dashed forward quickly and managed to somehow surround the Sand ninja. As they made hand signs and took a deep breath, a wall of sand came up the last minute as they released a stream of fire at the boy. As the fire died down, the glass wall shattered again. A flurry of shuriken then came flying towards him, but when Mamoru tried to make a hand sign, he found his arms were being held down to his side.

"Huh? What?!"

"Heh-heh-heh...! I got ya!" Nataro had him in a bear hug as he stood behind the Suna genin, the gourd on his back gone.

"Where... Where is...?" Mamoru stuttered with wide eyes.

"Lookin' for _this_?!" One of the clones was grinning like a fox as he held the gourd. "Kawarimi _may_ be a basic trick--"

"But it gets the job done sometimes!!" Nataro finished.

"Alright, Ramen Breath!!" Kazemaru cheered. _'Ah, why didn't I bet on __**him**__ instead?!'_ He shouted mentally.

"I think he might win," his raven-haired teammate spoke, relieved.

"Shush! Don't say _that_! You'll jinx it!!"

"D-don't drop that!! It belonged to a relative of mine!!" Mamoru shouted with fear in his eyes. "Father would _kill_ me if something happened to it!"

The blonde Konoha genin gave the boy in his arms a funny look. "What're you talking about?"

Two clones dashed forward and gave the Suna genin a double punch to the gut. They jumped back and two other clones dropped down from the sky and delivered a drop-kick to each of Mamoru's shoulders. And finally, the remaining clone ran forward and jumped back. The two other clones dropped down from the sky and delivered a drop-kick to each of Mamoru's shoulders. And finally, the remaining clone ran forward and delivered a series of punches before performing a jaw-shattering uppercut just as Nataro let Mamoru go. The original blonde kicked the Sand shinobi up into the air before jumped up there himself.

"And here clones..." He drew his clenched fist back, trying to channel as much chakra as he could into his hand. "THE FINISHER!!!" He roared. With one powerful blow to the face, he sent the brunete falling down quickly. _'Wow. I didn't think it'd have __**that**__ much force!'_ Nataro thought as he landed next to the semi-conscious Mamoru and most of his clones disappeared. The one that was holding the gourd walked forward and handed it to Nataro before it was dispelled.

"I...can't..." Mamoru winced in pain.

"Lose to a great ninja? Sorry, you did!" Nataro gave a fox-like grin as he looked down at his defeated opponent. "You were tough, but not tough enough! By the way," he laid the gourd down beside him. "This is your--" Before he could finish his sentence, Mamoru sat up and grabbed the object away from him. "HEY!! You're supposed to be--" The blonde, yet again, couldn't finish his sentence as Mamoru fell backwards, already fast sleep. A vein throbbed on Nataro's forehead. "DAMN IT, DON'T DO THAT!!!"

"Zzzz..." Mamoru snored softly as the medic-nin came into the area.

Yomi suddenly appeared at Nataro's side and turned to the crowd. "And the winner of the second bout is Kazaki Nataro!!"

The crowd erupted with a roar of cheers as Aiko sighed. "Thank God he's okay..." She mumbled, holding a hand to her chest.

"Your son is incredible, Aiko!" Kotoyo told her friend exuberantly.

"Nataro's almost as cool as Hanzo!" Kotaro said with a smirk.

"Nuh-uh! Nataro-san is the _greatest_ ninja of them all!" Asura cheered, clapping her hands excitedly.

Hikari smiled. "He's definitely full of surprises."

"Yeah..." Sasuke mumbled as his hand clenched the head of his cane, unseen by his daughter. _'There is definitely something about this boy...'_ His eyes focused upon Nataro as he waved up to the crowd. _'Kazaki Nataro... I want to find out more about you...'_

The Kazekage sighed and rubbed his temples. _'I don't know whether I should be embarrassed, upset or proud...'_

"That blonde boy sure is something! And here I thought he was just fool!" The Raikage exclaimed. "I'm starting to feel bad that you two can't see my own shinobi perform."

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah... He's something, alright!" His smile faded. _'I just wish I knew what that something was...'_

"NATARO-SAAAAAAAAN!!!"

"ASURA-CHAAAAAAAN!!!"

The Rokudaime started to laugh. "Hahaha! And it looks like he has a #1 fan!"

"HI, MOM!!!" The blonde boy shouted as loudly as he could. "DID YA SEE THAT?!"

Aiko gave a small smile as he started to leave the arena. "I sure did..." _'My little boy's growing up...'_ She gave a sad sigh.

Kira pulled down his eyes to look at the small yellow and orange dot that was Nataro. _'You did it, kiddo... I might even stick around to catch your next fight.'_

Yomi then held up his hand, as if requesting silence. The crowd quieted down a bit. "Now, will the last fighters of the day, Temashi Kazemaru and Hyuga Konjo, please come down to the arena?"

Konjo looked at the orange-haired genin. "I guess it's _our_ turn, Kaze." He turned around and began to walk away just as Nataro walked by him. "Great match, Nataro!"

"Heh-heh! Thanks!"

Kazemaru held up a balled-up fist as fire seemed to burn in his eyes. "Alright!! I _know_ I'm gonna win this fight!!"

"Don't forget that Konjo is a Hyuga, meaning he could use his Byakugan and Jyuken to seal up your chakra points," Hanzo pointed out to the pyromanic genin.

"Ah, no sweat! What do you think I've been doing this past month? I've learned a few new _tricks_!" Kaze began to stretch as Hanzo stared at him in curiosity.

"Yeah, well, as much of a jerk you are, I hope win, Kaze," their blonde teammate stared as he walked over to them with his hands behind the back of his head.

"Heh! Just watch me!" The orange-haired boy walked away from his teammates and turned around to point a finger at them with a confident grin. "I'm gonna win this fight, then _you two_ are next!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**The whole sand being turned into glass thing...I read it once in a fanfic. What the name was, I can't remember but Naruto was adopted into the Uchiha clan. Anyway, it says that you can make glass with heat and sand. Kinda makes you wonder why Kishimoto didn't have Sasuke do that.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Second bout is over and the third and final is up! The next chapter may be a short one, but please don't be upset with it. I just hope you all will review for the sake of Blu, because she'd love to know how she's doing so far.**

**Mamoru: (Sleeping) Review…for Blu… Zzz…**

**Sakura: (Sweatdrop) Why's he still here?**

**Blu: Oh, he was just so cute, I couldn't move him!**

**Nataro: Cute?! He's almost a teenager and he's sleeping with a teddy bear!!**

**Blu: Did I also mention that if I wake him up, he'll likely go apeshit crazy on us?**

**Nataro: …Then again, let 'em sleep. Sleep-deprived maniacs are the worst to deal with…**

**Blu: Remember to review!! Or else I'll sic Mamoru on you!!**


	18. Blazing Kazemaru vs Determined Konjo

**Blu: The third match of the finals! Kazemaru vs. Konjo! Unfortunately, it's short and not as long compared to the others, but please grin and bear it for the spectacular that is the semifinals!**

**Kazemaru: Let's just hope he doesn't remember the video incident. Don't wanna add anymore fire to his flame.**

**Konjo: What video incident?**

**Kaze: Nothing, nothing!!**

**Blu: And roll the fic!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#18: The Flames of Battle! Blazing Kazemaru vs. Determined Konjo!_

"Isn't that that Temashi kid? The one that set fire to that one book shop?"

"Little fire-starter... How'd _he _get to be a ninja anyway?"

"It's that pervy little boy that took a peep at us at the hot springs a couple of months ago!"

"But what's with this _hair_? Did he dye it or something?"

A vein throbbed on Kazemaru's forehead as he stood in the arena. "..._Asses_. The whole lot of 'em!" He muttered.

Yomi stared at the orange-haired genin for a while. "...Aren't you--?"

"Don't ask any damn questions!!" Kaze shouted. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Sheesh, bad mood, kid?" Yomi raised his hand in the air. "The final fight of the day is about to commence! Hyuga Konjo vs. Temashi Kazemaru."

Kazemaru dropped into a boxing stance. "I'm gonna win, White Eyes."

Konjo got into the Jyuken stance. "Sorry to disappoint you, but _I'm_ gonna win."

"In your dreams."

"Ready? ...Begin!!"

Kaze jumped back in time to avoid a palm thrust from Konjo, whose Byakugan had yet to be activated. He clenched a fist and tried to punch the Hyuga in the face, but he managed to block it and pushed it aside before aiming to deliver a blow to the ribs. The orange-haired genin jumped into the air and began to make several hand signs.

_'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!'_ He took a deep breath and spat out several mid-sized fireballs. Konjo managed to jump back and dodge the fireballs. "Damn...!" Kaze cursed as he landed on the ground.

"DAMN IT, KAZEMARU!! DIDN'T YOU WORK ON YOUR _AIM_ OVER THE SUMMER?!" Nataro shouted. His orange-haired teammate looked up at him, a vein throbbing on his forehead, and flipped him the bird before turning his glare on Konjo.

"I don't think he's in the mood to take your criticism, Nataro," Hanzo told the blonde.

"But it's true!"

"Damn...! I wanted to leave any _big, flashy tricks_ for later on in the fight..." The pyro-manic genin pouted. _'But if he closes off my chakra, I wouldn't be able to use it... I got no choice!'_

Konjo stayed in his Jyuken stance, ready to counter any attack his opponent would make when Kazemaru gave a grin. "Huh?" _'What's he smiling for?'_

"Congratulations, Konjo! You're the first to feel the force of my Houka no Seirei (Soul of Fire)!" He suddenly stood up straight and rubbed his chin in thought. "Or is that _second_, after that doll chick from Suna?"

The indigo-haired genin blinked. "Houka no Seirei...?"

"Hanzo, what's Houka no Seirei?" Nataro asked the raven-haired boy. "Is it that kekkei genkai of his where he bursts into flames?"

"I guess so..."

"Heh-heh... You're going to feel the burn of the kekkei genkai I've been working on all month!" The pyromanic genin made the tiger hand sign and began closed his eyes in concentration. The air in the arena was beginning to get warm. When he opened his eyes, a powerful flame began to radiate from the taller boy's body. The jacket he was wearing began to burn from the fire that came from his body. "AAAHHH!!! Crap!! Why didn't I fire-proof this thing?!" He took off the blue jacket and tossed it aside before it began to burn away. Kazemaru sighed. _'And that was my favorite jacket, too!'_ Regaining his cool, he started to smirk "I spent all summer trying to get the hang of this...!"

"That's...so _cool_!!" Kotaro exclaimed as he threw his popcorn up in the air. "He's like a comic book character!" It landed on top of someone a few seats forward and his mother gave him a chiding look.

"He's on _fire_!!" Aiko and Asura exclaimed, though the girl sounded more amazed than the blonde woman, who was in shock.

Hanzo's eyes widened a bit. "I think... I think I know what Kaze's trying to do."

"Eh?" Nataro turned his head to look at the raven-haired boy. "What are you talking about, Hanzo?"

"I think that Kazemaru is trying...to keep Konjo away from him. If he has some distance, Konjo won't be able to harm him."

The blonde looked confused for a moment before blinking. "...Oh, I get it! Konjo can't _seal_ his chakra points if he can't get near him. Kaze actually thought about this!"

"Uh-huh."

"So, whatcha gonna do _now_, Konjo? Can't touch me when I'm like _this_!" The Temashi grinned as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Hmph!" The indigo-haired Hyuga got a look of determination in his eyes. "Do you think that's going to stop me? I said _I'm_ winning, remember?"

The grin on Kazemaru's face got bigger. "Suit yourself!" He began to form hand signs quickly as he said, "But if you wind up in the infirmary with a ton of burns, don't blame me!!" The orange-haired genin took a deep breath and blew out a stream of fire. Konjo channeled chakra into his feet and jumped into the air in time to dodge the attack. _'Bingo!'_ Kazemaru drew a couple of shuriken from his thigh-holster and threw them at Konjo. His white eyes widened a bit as he bent his head back in time to get only a bit of his hair cut off. Most of them missed a bit, but one gave him a tear in his pants while another cut him on his face. But the worst thing was that it felt scorching hot.

As the Hyuga landed on the ground, he held a hand to his cheek. It was bleeding a bit and there was a scorch mark on it. _'What just...?'_

Meanwhile, his opponent arched an eyebrow. "Huh. Never knew _that_ would happen... Let's try something else." He held out a fist and clenched it. A few seconds later, the flames surrounding it increased. The orange-haired boy dashed forward as Konjo had just gotten over the pain.

The Hyuga quickly braced himself for attack as Kazemaru gave a punch, but he swatted it aside with his hand. He felt a surge of pain from the burn and flinched. "Guh!" This gave Kaze the opportunity to punch Konjo in the stomach. He smirked before delivering another punch to the white-eyed boy, this time in his chest. He sent Konjo flying backwards and into the wall of the arena.

"GO, KAZEMARU!! WAY TO USE YOUR ELEMENT, BUD!!" Nataro shouted as he leaned over the railing.

"Well, Konjo can't touch Kazemaru with risking getting burned. Also, all of his weapons seem to become heated as a result of him activating his bloodline. But..."

"Huh?" The orange-clad shinobi looked at Hanzo. "But what?! What is it?"

"Maybe...there could still be a risky way of beating him."

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"Huh?" The Uchiha then noticed his teammate was staring at him. "Oh! D-don't mind me! I'm just...thinking out loud!"

"Riiiight..."

Kaze jumped back to view his handiwork. "Hmmm... This is _way_ better than I thought!" _'I'm sure I could beat Konjo--__**no sweat**__!! Who knew all that taijutsu training would work?' _"So, White Eyes. Care to give up yet?"

Konjo managed to stand up and lean against the wall, ignoring the burning pain that came from his chest and stomach, and smirked. "No...way..." He panted, which caused his orange-haired opponent to blink.

"Geez! You _are_ glutton for pain." Kazemaru drew a few kunai from his back pouch and threw them at the Hyuga. He managed to jump aside to dodge the attack and dashed towards Kaze. "Eh?!" The pyromanic genin began to make several signs as he jumped into the air, dodging Konjo's attack. The flames around his body grew in height and width, making him look like some sort of living fireball.

"Oooohh," Rie and Momotaro spoke in awe of the living flame that was Kaze.

"It figures. A pyromanic misfit's best weapon is fire," said Kaoru.

"Hah!" Kaze crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. _'Concentrate! __**Concentrate**__!! There!'_ "Houka no Seirei: Nenshou Hoshi (Soul of Fire: Burning Star)!!!" He shot down towards Konjo, falling at a great speed! "KYAAAAAAAHHH!!"

The Hyuga's eyes widened as the living fireball came speeding towards him. "Aw, man...!" He began to channel chakra to prepare himself to move quickly.

Kazemaru pulled back a burning fist, gritting his teeth. "Take...THIS!!!" Just before he could throw the punch, Konjo disappeared. _'What?!'_ He skidded across the ground, dust rising up until he stopped a few inches away from the wall. The flame surrounding him shrank. He then felt something strike him in the back--it turned out to be Konjo kicking him.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!" The Hyuga jumped back and grasped his burnt leg. He bit down on his lip as he touched the burns and flinched. _'Maybe that wasn't such a smart thing to do...'_

"Ow..." The pyromanic ninja rubbed his back. "_Man_, that hurt!" He spun on his heel to face Konjo. The Hyuga began to rise again, ignoring the pain in his leg.

"That must _hurt_. Why doesn't he just give up?" Aiko said as she looked down at the arena.

"Most boys have a tendency of being stubborn. They deny any pain...even though it's practically _killing _him," Kotoyo spoke softly. The blonde woman looked at her and noticed she was staring at the ground sadly.

"Kotoyo?"

"Hm." The dark-haired woman shook her head. "I'm just speaking out of experience. Don't take it seriously, though."

"Konjo...just give up!" The orange-haired pyromaniac shouted, flailing his arms about in the air. "Seriously, you're starting to get as annoying as _Nataro_!"

"HEY!!" The blonde started to shake a fist at his teammate while Hanzo sweatdropped.

Kazemaru folded his arms across his chest and pouted. "Are you trying to make yourself look good in front of your family or something? Or show off your determination and persistence to the judges? I never took you for a showoff!"

"...I...wanna _win_...!" Konjo gave a deep breath, Byakugan activating. His burnt leg shook as he got into a fighting stance. "On the honor of the Hyuga...this I swear!!"

Kaze rolled his eyes. "Now you're starting to sound like some anime character. ...But what the heck?" He got into a boxing stance. "On my honor as a member of the Temashi clan _and_ a Konoha ninja, I won't lose!!"

"This is starting to sound like something from a TV show..." Kotaro stated flatly as he gazed down at the fight with half-lidded eyes.

_'Now, if I could just move my leg quickly enough,'_ thought the Hyuga. His burnt leg twitched slightly before he began to run towards Kazemaru, chakra stored in the palms of his hands. The Temashi grinned as he came closer, and clenched his fists tightly. When the indigo-haired boy was close enough, he made a forward punch, only to have it swatted aside by Konjo. The other hand punched him in the shoulder, which Konjo then countered with a palm to the chest.

"Uh..." The orange-haired boy felt a strange sensation through his entire body. The flames that came from him lessened. _'What the...?'_

_'Here goes!'_ Konjo drew back a palm and began to quickly strike Kaze several times. It was so fast that no average person could keep count. With each strike, the flame around Kazemaru decreased a bit, like the fire was dying down. _'And here's the __**last**__!'_ A strike to the chest with his middle and index finger, the flame was gone.

Kazemaru blinked. "...That's it? Other than the last few minutes of pain, that was _nothing_!"

"Huh?" The Hyuga stared at his burnt hand. "I don't get it... Didn't it work?"

"What just happened here? That Kazemaru boy's not on fire anymore," Aiko said.

"He must have sealed his chakra points," said Sasuke, looking down at the arena with half-lidded eyes.

"Huh?"

"The Jyuken taijutsu style and Byakugan of the Hyuga clan allows them to completely seal off chakra points," Hikari explained. "If the chakra points are closed, then you can't channel chakra, meaning you can't use chakra for jutsu or anything else."

Aiko blinked. "Oh."

"If the boy was more skilled, he probably could've done more damage," Sasuke added. "Either that, or he took it easy on him."

"Even _if_ you stopped my Houka no Seirei, I can still fight you," said Kazemaru. "I mean, you're hands are still burnt, right? And your leg's injured, too."

Konjo got an upset look on his face as his Byakugan deactivated, the veins beside his eyes disappearing. "Man..."

"Heh-heh..." The orange-haired genin got back into his fighting stance. "Sorry, Konjo. But I'm gonna--" He stopped talking as his eyes widened. The Hyuga arched an eyebrow, wondering why he stopped. After a few moments, Kaze coughed up a good amount of blood, which startled Konjo a bit.

"Whoa! It _worked_!! I can't believe it actually worked!" Konjo began to grin as Kazemaru continued to cough. "I've never tried it out on a _living_ object before!"

"You mean...!" Kaze stopped talking to cough up more blood. "You struck one of my organs?! YOU BASTARD!!!" He then fell to his knees.

"Geez... Don't get so upset. My Hyaku Retsu Sho (100 Violent Palms) isn't supposed to have such an effect..." The Hyuga's orange-haired opponent then fell to the side, twitching slightly. "...Uh-oh." Konjo sweatdropped. "_That_ looks bad...!"

Nataro blinked. "Did Konjo kill Kaze?"

"I _hope _not..." Hanzo mumbled.

The medical ninja came into the arena as Konjo began to panic. "I didn't mean to _seriously_ harm him!! He's not gonna die, is he?"

"What an exciting way to end a fight..." The Uchiha sweatdropped.

"I'm glad _I_ wasn't on the end of that thing!" The Kazaki added.

"Aw, that was all? That wasn't as impressive as the last two..." The Raikage mumbled.

"They can't _all_ be," said Naruto.

"Well, that was amazing..." Yomi said as he walked over to Konjo. He raised the Hyuga's hand into the air. "The winner is Hyuga Konjo!"

"Owww!! Injured hand, _INJURED HAND!!_" The indigo-haired boy shouted before a medic-nins came over to him and began to look at his burns.

The purple-haired jonin sweatdropped. "Sorry. Anyways, since there have only been an odd number of fights today, there will only be one fight tomorrow to determine who will fight Konjo in the final part of the exam." _'And I'm going to go and take a well-deserved nap.'_ In a poof of smoke, Yomi disappeared before Konjo left the arena, hand slightly bandaged.

"Hee-hee-hee! Nataro or Hanzo, I'm sure _either one_ of them is going to take Konjo _down_!" Tsuki giggled evilly as a she leaned against the railing in the crowd. A shadow then loomed over the kunoichi, but she was too busy talking to herself to notice. "Now what am I going to do with all that money...?"

"Ahem."

"Eh?" Tsuki turned around and found herself face-to-face with Haseo. "Oh, it's just you." She then gave a cat-like smirk. "What's wrong? Do you want to give in now and just give me my money now?"

Haseo gave her a 'Yeah, right' look before folding his arms across his chest. "I was just wondering if _you_ have the money to pay off our bet--for when _Konjo_ wins the final fight."

The purple-haired woman looked upset and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except, "Ur... Um..."

"_Please_ tell me you have the money, Tsuki. I know you don't have _that_ many tabs at the local bar, do you?"

A vein began to throb on Tsuki's head. "Hey, hold on! I need to check first!!"

"I can't _wait_ for tomorrow!" Nataro said as he Hanzo headed for the exit. "You an' me, Hanzo! It's gonna be great!"

"Yeah..." Hanzo mumbled. _'I can barely __**contain**__ my excitement...'_

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**Hyaku Retsu Sho is used by Hyuga Hinata in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja video game. It's not seen to be used in the original Naruto anime or manga.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Don't be upset because this chapter's so short. Originally, it wasn't so long to begin with.**

**Kazemaru: (Whining in a corner) I lost…!**

**Nataro: Suck it up!!**

**Kaze: Easy for _you_ to say! You won _your_ match!!**

**Nataro: And I'm _proud_ of it! Hahaha!**

**Hanzo: Be sure to review for the sake of Blu!**


	19. The Semifinals: Nataro vs Hanzo!

**Blu: Here it is!! The final chapter of the Chunin Exam Arc!! Some of us are stoked—**

**Nataro: You'd better believe it!**

**Blu: And some of us are…not so stoked.**

**Hanzo: (Blue in the face) Eh…**

**Blu: Nevertheless, the end is near! So let's get on with the show!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does no own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#18: The Semifinals: Nataro vs. Hanzo!_

"TODAY IS THE DAY!!" Nataro shouted from his spot next to his mother's bed.

"KYAAAAAHHHH!" Aiko fell out of her bed and landed on the floor with a thud. She looked up at her son, who was fully dressed, with a vein throbbing on her head. "...Nataro... What the _hell_ are you doing?!"

"It's the day of the semi-finals! Don't you wanna see me fight, Mom?" The blonde genin asked, his eyes slanted and squinted.

Aiko stood up and looked at the clock. She gave a low growl before looking at Nataro again. "It's _5 AM_, Nataro. We don't have to go for _hours_..."

"But I'm too excited!! I just woke and I can't go back to sleep!" Nataro pouted. "Besides, the early bird catches the worm..."

"I don't want a worm. I want _sleep_." The blonde woman fell backwards onto her bed and gave a content sigh. "If you're so _'excited'_, then why not go burn off all that extra energy?"

"That's a good idea. But how?" The orange-clad boy sat on the floor and crossed his arms over his chest. ". . ."

"How about meditating?" Aiko suggested. _'That way I could have some peace and quiet.'_

"Yeah! I'll go do that..."

As her son walked out of the room, Aiko mumbled, "Find your center...and button your lip..." _'Sometimes I wonder why the Gods gave me such an energetic child...'_

**X-X-X**

About 4 hours later, at Hanzo's house...

"Hanzo! Aren't you ready yet?" Kotoyo called out as she stood at the door of her son's room. When no response came, she knocked on it. "Hanzo!!"

"Is Hanzo still asleep?" Kotaro asked as he stood behind his mother.

"If he is, then he's going to be _late_ at this rate...!" Kotoyo muttered before knocking on the wall with a balled-up fist. "HANZO!!" She ignored her son's reaction to her actions and rubbed her chin in an intellectual manner. "...Hanzo, sweetie. Is something wrong, hun?" She called out, her voice dripping with as much sweetness as she could muster. When no response came again, Kotoyo's eye twitched and she began to bang on the door multiple times. "Hanzo!! Come!! Out!! NOW!!!"

Kotaro took a few steps back to the wall, away from his mother. _'Mom's mad now.'_

"...I don't want to." Hanzo's voice spoke. "I don't want to go to the arena.

"Well, why not, Hanzo?" Kotoyo asked, returning to normal. "Are you sick, hun? I always tell you that you should spend less time reading and eat more at dinner!"

"I'm not sick. I just...don't want to."

Kotaro blinked, confused at his brother's words. Kotoyo sighed and rubbed her temples. _'This is yesterday all over again.'_ "Hanzo, if you don't come out, I'll be forced to use a more _forceful_ method..." No response came. Only the sound of footsteps and muttered unintelligible words were heard from behind the door. The dark-haired woman gave a sigh while her son looked even more confused than before. "Kotaro-chan...why don't you go and play _outside_ for a while?"

"No! I wanna stay _inside_!" The little Uchiha boy pouted as he folded his arms across his chest. His mother gave him a look out of the corner of her eye and Kotaro sweatdropped. "Yes, Mom..." He trudged towards the stairways.

In his room, Hanzo sat on his bed, staring at the door. "What's the worst that she could do...?"

**X-X-X**

"Welcome to the semi-finals of the Chunin Exams!!" Yomi announced to the crowd. In response, they gave a cheerful roar. Nataro waved up to his mother and Asura. The pink-haired girl was waving the little flag with a slightly better drawing of Nataro's face on it.

"Go, Nataro-san, GOOOO!!" Asura cheered.

Aiko looked at the empty seats that were reserved for Kotoyo and Kotaro. _'Where could Kotoyo be?'_ She thought. She then turned around to look at Hikari and Sasuke. "Um, you live in the same district as Kotoyo, right Hikari-san?"

"I live in the city, but when I went to get my dad, I stopped by their house." The pink-haired woman told the blonde. "I heard these...loud noises."

"Huh?" Aiko blinked. "_Noises_?"

"I always knew Kotoyo was an unfit mother..." Sasuke muttered as he looked off to the side.

"Father!! That's not nice—she's your daughter-in-law!" Hikari chided her father. "Especially when _you're_ not exactly Father of the Year material yourself."

"Hn."

The pink-haired Uchiha gave a sigh as her shoulders slumped. _'Why do I bother? He just ignores anything I say!'_

Down in the arena, Yomi looked at the watch on his wrist. "Huh. Unless that Hanzo kid gets here in time, you'll win the match by default."

"What? But I was looking forward to this!" The blonde said.

"**Does it even **_**matter**_**? If you win by default, you won't **_**have**_** to bother with fighting."** The Kyuubi spoke, slightly annoyed by his vessel's whining.

'_But I wanted to fight Hanzo!'_

Up in the Kage's balcony, the Raikage and Kazekage looked down expectantly at the arena.

"I'm looking forward to this fight," said the Raikage. "Both those boys are quite impressive. I wonder who'll win?"

"Hmph. Obviously the Uchiha will win. He has warrior blood in him," said the Kazekage.

"I would prefer the Kazaki boy. He's..._tricky_. Like a fox." The youngest Kage looked at the Hokage. "By the way, Hokage-sama, I've been meaning to ask you something. I've noticed something of a resemblance between you and that boy. Is he your grandson?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm afraid not." _'If anything, he's more like a __**clone**__ of me...!'_ He thought with a mental groan.

"I'm here, I'm here!!" A familiar voice shouted. Yomi and Nataro turned their heads to see Hanzo enter the arena, looking slightly upset. "I had slight _problems_ a while ago..."

"About time, kid." _'Though I was kinda hoping you wouldn't come so we could skip to the Final Exam.'_ Thought the jonin.

Hanzo approached Nataro and stood a foot away from him. "It's about time you got here!" The blonde shouted, pointing a finger at his teammate. "You were almost late!"

"Sorry, sorry. Family problems..." The Uchiha apologized.

"I'm so happy he's going through with this after all!" Kotoyo said with a fond sigh.

"When did you get here?!" Aiko shouted, jumping in surprise. She hadn't noticed the other woman was sitting next to her until she spoke.

"Oh, a while ago."

'_That __**doesn't**__ explain things too clearly...'_ "By the way, why were you late?"

"Hanzo locked himself in his room. And Mommy got _maaad_." Kotaro said. "Then she told me to go outside. And _then_ she started yelling and screaming and—MMPH!" The young Uchiha's mouth was then clamped shut by his mother's hand.

"What does Mommy tell you about telling people about our home life...?"

"Um... Don't?"

Aiko sweatdropped. "On second though, forget about it. I don't wanna know..."

"Oh, it's nothing serious, Aiko. I just had to threaten Hanzo to make him come out of his room is all." Kotoyo shrugged it off, as though it were a normal thing.

"Oh, okay— Wait a minute, _what_?!"

"Oh, it wasn't like he was afraid. We do it all the time when he pulls stunts like that!"

"My mother just _kicked_ down the door of my room, holding a kitchen knife, and pushed me against the wall." Hanzo said with a sigh. "Then she demanded to know what was wrong with me."

Ignoring the _odd_ methods of his friend's mother, Nataro asked, "Why didn't wanna come? Don't you want to fight?"

"Mm-mm..." The raven-haired boy stared at the ground.

"Kotoyo...what have you been told about threatening your children with _lethal objects_...?" Hikari asked her sister-in-law with a sweatdrop.

"I told you." Sasuke whispered to her, making his daughter's sweatdrop bigger.

"Anyway, today's semi-final match is Kazaki Nataro vs. Uchiha Hanzo. Ready?" Yomi raised his hand in the air. Nataro immediately got into a fighting stance while Hanzo simply stood there. "...Begin!" As soon as the jonin let his arm drop, one would've expected for either boy to just charge forward and attack each other. But neither one seemed to make a move.

"...What gives? Why aren't they beating the _crud_ out of each other?!" Kaoru shouted as he shook a fist in the air.

"Man...is _this_ boring," a familiar voice said beside them.

"Eh?" The bespectacled redhead turned his head to find Kazemaru sitting next to him, donning a dark green hoodie shirt and black pants.

"I'm glad I decided not to bet on either one of them. They'd _both_ try an' kill me." The orange-haired genin said with half-lidded eyes before taking a sip of soda.

"Why are _you_ here, Kaze?" Masamune asked him with an arched eyebrow. "Are you betting on Nataro or Hanzo?"

"Neither." Kaze folded his arms across his chest. "The two of them have...well, they're tougher than I thought. What they did yesterday...it changed my thoughts about them."

Team 6 began to stare at the pyromanic genin with wide eyes and open mouths. Finally, the silence was broken by Kaoru. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Kazemaru?"

Kazemaru glared at the redhead. "What the _hell_ is _your_ problem?"

"The _real_ Kazemaru wouldn't say a compliment like _that_ about his own teammates! Especially that moron Nataro!!"

"Geez! This is why I don't like saying anything nice about people..."

"What are you waiting for?" Hanzo asked the blonde, startling him. "Attack. Do it, or the crowd could get upset."

"No way. You probably have something in mind for me!" The blonde said. "You go first."

'_His loss.'_ The raven-haired boy dashed forward and pulled back a fist. Nataro prepared himself to jump to the side, but Hanzo jumped over his head, making hand signs all the while, and skidded behind him. The Uchiha took a deep breath and spun around. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!'_ Hanzo blew out several small fireballs at the blonde, but he jumped into the air. Hanzo ran up the wall next to him and jumped off of it, heading towards Nataro.

Nataro punched Hanzo in the stomach, which he followed up with an elbow to the face. The blonde gritted his teeth before catching one of Hanzo's punches in his hand. The Uchiha then kneed him in the stomach. _'Crap!'_ Nataro took the opportunity to headbutt his opponent, causing him to clench his forehead. When both boys landed, they jumped away from each other.

'_I'm so stupid to fall for the same thing with a different person...'_ Hanzo thought, rubbing his forehead in pain. He gave a low growl as he drew a handful of kunai and threw them at the blonde. He easily dodged them and began to make a familiar hand sign. Nine more Nataros appeared around the Uchiha, surrounding him.

"I gotcha now!" The Nataros shouted as they began to form hand signs and took deep breaths. They then threw their heads forward and blew out a great burst of flames.

"Oooooh!!" In the stands, Kazemaru had stars in his eyes. "What a beautiful technique! Such a powerful burning flame!"

"Oookay... _Now _he's starting to sound like Kaze again," Masamune nodded.

As the flame died down, nothing was left. Nataro blinked, as did his clones. He quickly looked around, and up, and down, trying to find the Uchiha. But he simply vanished. "Where the heck could he be? Unless..." He then pointed at one of his clones. "One of you guys is Hanzo!"

"It's not me!" Said one Nataro.

"How do we know you're tellin' the truth?" Another asked.

"Yeah, for all we know, _he_ could be Hanzo!" One clone then pointed at the real Nataro. "Or it could be him!"

"Eh?! What the heck are you talking about! I'm the _real_ Nataro!" _'Aw, forget it!!'_ The original Kazaki made a hand sign, causing all the bunshins but one to disappear. "Nice try, Hanzo."

"Heh-heh..." In a poof of smoke, the blonde then turned back into the raven-haired Uchiha. "If being a ninja doesn't work out, I could always be an actor."

"Very funny!!" Nataro dashed forward and pulled back a fist. Hanzo dodged the attack by stepping to the side and followed up by delivering a side-kick to the blonde's head. "Gah!" The orange-clad blonde then gave the Uchiha a hard side-kick to the ribs before he fell to the ground.

"Ahhh..." Hanzo stepped back and held the side of his stomach. His grip tightened a bit and he winced in pain. _'Pretty good hit.'_

"Craaaap..." The Kazaki groaned before getting on one knee. He rubbed his head in pain, trying to ignore the throbbing going on in his head. "Man, did _that_ hurt..." He stood up and dusted himself off. "Well, it's time for me to seriously get you, Hanzo! It's payback time!!" He formed a hand sign and about two dozen more Nataros appeared. "Aha!"

'_Not another Katon jutsu...! But there's too many... Could it be something else?'_ Thought the Uchiha.

"BEHOLD!!!" The Nataros all made a certain hand sign and were suddenly hidden by smoke. When the smoke cleared...two dozen...naked bunshins of...Shizuka were standing around Hanzo. "Sexy Jutsu: Shizuka Style!!"

The jaws of almost everyone in the crowd dropped down. Kaoru and Rie were included, and their eyes were as wide as saucers. Masamune held a hand over his eyes.

"My God..." The red-haired boy cringed. "Not _this_ again."

"AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Kazemaru almost coughed up his soda. "Man, that's hilarious! Nice to see Nataro's putting that jutsu to good use!"

Shizuka's face became as red as a tomato and she shook uncontrollably. "Th-that's..._that's_...!" Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted.

"...That is so...so..." Hikari tried to find words to describe it, but found nothing. Kotoyo couldn't comment as she had her hands over Kotaro's eyes, and the raven-haired boy was trying to resist.

"Disgusting. Simply disgusting." Sasuke stated as a sweatdrop rolled down the back of his head. _'Not only does he __**look**__ like him and __**act**__ like him, he's as perverse as him.'_

"NATARO!!! I TOLD YOU TO _NEVER_ DO THAT AGAIN!!" Aiko shouted from the stands.

"You mean he's done this more than _once_?"

"Unfortunately..." _'When this fight's over, I'm going to have a little __**talk**__ with that son of mine...'_

"That's...um..." The Raikage didn't know what to say as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. The Kazekage was slightly blue in the face with the disgust.

Oddly enough, Naruto was silent, though the way his hand gripped the armrest of his seat and the small vein that popped up on his forehead showed he was _not_ happy. _'That little brat!! Doesn't he know how embarrassing that is?!'_

"_Nataro..._" Hanzo shook with silent rage. As one naked Shizuka suddenly held onto him, his face turned cherry-red.

"Hanzo-kun, are you ashamed to look at me?" She spoke as she looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"N-no— STOP IT!!"

"But Hanzo-kun...I thought you liked me...!" Another clone said as he/she clamped onto him.

"Stop..."

"But, Hanzo—"

"DAMMIT, NATAROOOOO!!!" Channeling chakra into his feet, the young Uchiha jumped into the air and began to make hand signs quickly. He took a deep breath and breathed out a large amount of fire, which managed to fill the entire arena.

"Awww... Show's over." Kazemaru pouted as the flames died down. "At least it ended _big_."

Hanzo landed on the ground and began to pant. His cheeks were still red and his face looked flushed. "That was...the most embarrassing moment I've ever had..."

"Aw...It's done already! I didn't know you'd get _that_ mad!" Nataro's voice called out.

"Hm?" The raven-haired genin's eyes landed on the handle of a kunai that was sticking out of the ground. In a poof of smoke, the kunai turned into Nataro, who was beginning to pull his foot out of the ground.

"Heh-heh... I _thought_ that would have an effect on you, Hanzo!" The blonde then saw a flurry of shuriken headed towards him and fell backwards. "I never knew I could _bend_ like this...!" He said with large, blank eyes.

"WHAT THE _HELL_ DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Hanzo shouted as flailing his arms about in the air with a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"What are you talking about— Oh, that. Well, it's not like my normal Sexy no Jutsu would work on you. That was a modified version made _just_ for you!" Nataro gave a fox-like grin as the vein continued to throb on Hanzo's forehead.

"..._Jerk_! If Shizuka-chan never talks to me again because of this, I'm going to...to...!"

The blonde looked at his friend with half-lidded eyes. "Get over it!"

Hanzo got into a fighting stance. "That does it! I am _seriously_ going to kick your ass!!"

"_Finally_! Now you've got some fire!" Nataro got into a fighting stance as well. "Don't hold back, now!"

"I should say the same to you... _Jerk_! I'm going to _kill you_!" Hanzo spoke through gritted teeth.

"So stop saying it and do it!" Nataro shouted before he dashed forward. He pulled back a fist and tried to punch the raven-haired boy, but he managed to block the attack with his arm. Hanzo growled and kicked the blonde in the stomach, sending him back a few feet. He drew some kunai and threw them at Nataro, but he regained his balance in time to avoid the weapons.

The blonde began to form a very familiar hand sign and a dozen more Nataros appeared around him. They all smirked as they each drew a kunai knife. Their muscles tensed up before the clones and the original jumped into the air and formed a ninja dog pile on the young Uchiha, plunging in, kunai first.

"Now _that's_ brutal!" Kaze winced as though _he_ had a dozen blades shoved into him. "Isn't Nataro taking this a _wee_ bit too far...?"

After a few seconds, the clones jumped off of Hanzo to reveal that nothing was there. "Uh-oh..." The thirteen blondes were suddenly taken out by a massive fireball.

"Ooooh!!" Kazemaru's eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Now _that_ is brutal...!" Mitsuki said.

Asura blinked as the flames began to die down. "Nataro-san must be very hot right now."

"I think he's been _barbequed_." Said Kotaro.

When the flames disappeared, Hanzo landed on the ground and looked around. "Where could he...?" He tensed up and then back flipped, dodging a barrage of shuriken and kunai. The raven-haired boy quickly drew a kunai from his back pouch and threw it into the sky. Nataro managed to move aside in time to avoid being hit and landed on the ground a few feet away from Hanzo.

Both boys remained silent as they looked at each other, as if trying to predict what move the other would make. The crowd tensed up from all the waiting, expecting one of them to move.

In his seat, Kira began to fidget. Then he started to growl in irritation. Finally, he snapped. "Damn it, someone MOVE!!!" He screamed, breaking the silence. This caused a few people who were sitting nearby to glare at the black-and-white-clad man.

Hanzo quickly began to form hand signs as Nataro dashed forward. His dark brown eyes focused on the charging blonde as he came closer. When the last sign was formed, his eyes widened before he jumped back, just barely avoiding a swing from the orange-clad genin. The Uchiha boy delivered a sidekick to the blonde's ribs, but he ignored the pain developing in his side and elbowed the dark-haired ninja in the chest. Hanzo jumped back as he drew a kunai and threw it at the blonde.

Nataro jumped into the air in time to avoid the weapon and drew a few shuriken from his pouch. As he threw the ninja stars at his opponent, they were blocked by some kunai, causing both weapons to fall to the ground. Hanzo finished making the right hand signs and three Hanzos appeared. "Heh! Why are you using _that_ trick on me?" The blonde made a familiar hand sign and two more Nataros appeared beside him.

The three raven-haired boys didn't seem discouraged and simply charged forward. The three blondes did the same and punched each of the Hanzos in the face. They all disappeared in a poof of smoke as Nataro began to look around.

"Now where could he be...?"

"So far, it looks like Hanzo's just hiding and waiting for the opportunity." Hikari said.

Kotoyo sighed. "At this rate, it's going to take a long time for this fight to finish..."

As Nataro looked up into the sky, thinking that Hanzo would try to attack from the air, he then felt something strike him in the face. The force of the blow sent him flying into the kage bunshin on his left, causing the clone to disappear in a poof of smoke. "Ugh..." The blonde sat up and rubbed his sore cheek. He jumped back to his feet and glared at the remaining Nataro clone that, in a poof of smoke, changed into Hanzo.

"He fell for a trick like _that_? Nataro is _such_ a loser!" Kaoru said with a smirk.

Kazemaru glanced at the brunette kunoichi from the corner of his eye. "Well, seeing as how you _lost_ to Nataro, doesn't that make you an even _bigger_ loser?" He grinned as the redhead twitched at his statement.

The Uchiha quickly began to form hand signs, which caused Nataro to prepare himself for some sort of attack. _'He's probably gonna use that same technique he used on Ina.'_ When he finished, he dashed towards the Kazaki with a balled-up fist. The blonde jumped back, expecting a right-hand punch, but found Hanzo's foot in his face. Nataro stumbled backwards a bit before punching Hanzo in the face. The two exchanged blows for a while to the point where Kyuubi had gotten bored.

"**Okay, it's, it's time to let me out."**

'_What the hell makes you think I'm gonna let you out in front of all these people?!'_ Nataro mentally shouted as he caught one of Hanzo's punches with his hand and delivered a blow to his chest. The Uchiha gasped a bit before growling and giving the blonde a karate chop in the neck, causing him to let go of his hand. Both jumped back a good distance from each other and began to pant, Nataro rubbing his neck and Hanzo holding a hand to his chest. _'Besides...'_ Nataro looked at the boy in front of him and grinned for a short second. _'It's not like my life's on the line.'_

"**No, but my **_**sanity**_** is."** The demon fox snorted. **"This appears to be going nowhere, anyway. The only way it'd end is if you **_**let me out**_**."**

The young demon vessel frowned and gave a low growl. _'No means __**no**__, damn fox!!'_

'_He's not letting down,'_ Thought Hanzo. _'But it figures...Nataro's practically a bundle of energy. I gotta find some way to slow him down.'_ As Nataro mentally argued with Kyuubi, Hanzo began to form hand signs quickly. He dashed forward and raised his fist and was about to strike Nataro in the face when the blonde blocked it with his arm. However, Hanzo expected something like this and kneed him in the stomach, causing the orange-clad genin to kneel over a bit. The Uchiha pulled back his palm and slammed it into Nataro's chest. _'Soutei no Jutsu!!'_

'_Uh-oh!'_ Nataro thought a second before his arms were stuck to his side and his legs were stuck together. Despite the fact that this thing seemed unbreakable unless you put half your chakra into getting free, he tried break out of the invisible bind. After a few seconds of trying, he fell forward, landing in the dirt and causing a bit of dust to rise. He looked up at Hanzo, who didn't have the triumphant look that he expected him to have, and grimaced. "_Crap_..."

"Well, that was fun while it lasted..." Sasuke said with half-lidded eyes. _'And here I thought there was something special about him.'_

"Poor Nataro. He's going to be disappointed once this fight ends," Masamune said with a sigh.

Kazemaru stared at his fallen teammate with half-lidded eyes as he sipped on his soda. _'He's probably gonna be moping about the loss when we start going on missions again.'_

Hanzo stared down at his teammate and made a hand sign. The wind kicked up and dust flew, causing Nataro to close his eyes. When he opened them, Hanzo was still standing there, but something was..._different_. In a _bad_ way. There was nobody in the stands, or the entire arena except for Nataro and Hanzo. It was completely silent. The Uchiha standing in front of him had a smirk on his face, but that wasn't what freaked him out. No, what freaked him out were the Sharingan eyes that were staring down at him, wheels spinning slowly around the pupils as they focused on him.

Nataro knew it was only a genjutsu. It had to be, because Hanzo showed no signs of having the Sharingan the day before and couldn't have obtained it overnight—even _with_ the way Hanzo's mother acted. Plus, common sense told him that a crowd doesn't just up and disappear. His body, however, refused to move—partly because the effects of the Soutei no Jutsu was still in effect, and also because he was never very good at resisting illusionary techniques, even low-ranking ones like this.

"So, _Na-ta-ro_," The Sharingan Hanzo pronounced, that sick smirk still on his face as he drew something from his back pouch, "How do you feel? I hope you're not uncomfortable." His voice sounded much darker than the Hanzo Nataro knew. As the raven-haired illusion pulled out a kunai knife, he bent down on one knee and looked him in the eye. "Well...maybe you _are_ uncomfortable in that position and all." The smirk got wider before he cut the blonde's shoulder. Crimson liquid came flowing out of him and to Nataro it felt so _warm_, so real.

'_I __**really**__ hate Genjutsu,'_ He thought as another cut appeared, this time on his cheek. Hanzo raised the blade up to his face and stared at it.

"You know, Nataro... I always thought you were such an amazing person."

This got the blonde's attention and caused him to look up. _'Huh?'_ However, the Uchiha said no more. Instead, Nataro got a kunai slashed down his back deeply, revealing his spine. Nataro resisted the urge to cry out in pain as tears began to sting his eyes. _'Don't cry... Don't cry... Don't cry...!!'_ He flinched in pain as the kunai cut him yet again, this time across his back near his shoulders.

"My, my, you must be feeling a _lot_ of _pain_, right now, _Na-ta-ro_!" Hanzo spoke through gritted teeth as he stabbed the kunai into his friend's flesh. Nataro wondered for a second if this fake Hanzo was exactly what Hanzo wanted for this illusion—what Hanzo wanted in reality. He pushed the thought of out his mind when he heard a voice he _really_ didn't want to hear right now.

"**Well, if it isn't the one who doesn't **_**need**_** my help? Your little friend is about to 'kill' you and you're about to lose the fight."** It almost sounded like the demonic vulpine was going to laugh.

'_Your damn voice is that last thing I wanna hear right now!'_

"**You know...I could always **_**help**_** you." **Kyuubi told him.

'_Help?'_ As the kunai was pulled out of his back and Hanzo smirked. He mouthed words, but at the moment, all Nataro could hear was himself and Kyuubi.

"**Ah, yes... It **_**pays**_** to have a second consciousness within you. And all I'd have to do is send you a bit of my power."**

'_...I don't trust you.'_

"**You hardly ever do."**

'_So why start now?'_

"**You want to become a chunin, don't you? Imagine how **_**impressed**_** those people will be at the sight of our power..."**

In the real world, Hanzo was still staring down at Nataro. A part of him hoped his blonde friend wouldn't be mentally scarred from this event—but then again, Nataro hardly ever let things get to him. Nataro's eyes were wide and glassy, making him look like a deer in the headlights.

"Nataro..." Aiko spoke softly as she bit down on her lip. Only a few seconds had passed in reality, but she didn't know how genjutsu worked and this made her all the more nervous. The blonde woman's hands clenched and unclenched as her eyes focused on her only child.

After a few more seconds, Nataro blinked. Hanzo looked slightly surprised, though he felt completely surprised. Nataro couldn't have been smart enough to fight off the genjutsu, could he? As soon as he was sure the world was back to normal, Nataro growled as a small bit of red chakra glowed around him. To the normal eye, it was virtually unseen since it came in such a small amount. The blonde ninja mentally thanked God for that before he broke out of the bindings.

"Whoa!" Kazemaru almost dropped his soda as Nataro quickly got onto his feet and tackled Hanzo to the ground. Before that last bit of the Kyuubi's chakra faded, the blonde managed to slam his arm down on the Uchiha's chest. Hanzo coughed up some blood and Kaze winced from his seat. "That's gotta _hurt_..."

"Hanzo..." Kotaro whimpered as he bit his bottom lip. His mother patted him on the head and ensured that his big brother was fine.

Nataro jumped away from the raven-haired youth as he began to sit up straight. Hanzo wiped off the blood that was dribbling down his lip and stood up, shaking a bit. _'Damn... What a hit! I don't think I could take much of this any longer.'_

The blonde began to pant heavily. Like Hanzo, he was starting to get tired. Kyuubi or not, it only mattered if his life was on the line for that bastard fox to help him out... The amount of chakra the demon fox had given to him had already run out as a result of breaking free from that bind. _'On what's left of my own chakra, I could probably get in one last hit, I think.'_

"**You **_**think**_**?"**

'_It'd be __**more**__ than one if you'd give me some more chakra!'_

"**Hmph... How rude, Naruto. I thought that with time, you'd learn some manners. Just for that, I won't give you one **_**bit**_** of my chakra."**

Nataro clenched his fist and prepared himself to run forward. He noticed Hanzo had tensed up a bit and thought that maybe he was in the same situation as him. _'Heh-heh... One blow decides the winner.'_

After a few seconds, both boys dashed towards each other, gritting their teeth as they balled up their fists. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

"Finally!! It looks like the last attack!" Kazemaru shouted as a huge grin spread out on his face. "About time, too!"

"Go, Nataro-san!! GOOOOOO!!!" Asura shouted, attracting attention from the crowd.

"_Finally_. About damn time they finished." Sasuke muttered beneath his breath.

Nataro and Hanzo's fists met their target. Nataro had punched Hanzo in the stomach, as did Hanzo to Nataro. The crowd remained silent as the stared at each other. A few seconds of silence passed and both genin jumped back and stood up straight. They stared at each other and began to form hand signs, albeit slower than they had been doing it before.

"What? They're _still_ not done?" Rie groaned.

Kazemaru frowned and fell back in his seat. "Aw, man. They may _never_ finish!"

Both boys stopped forming hand signs and simply stared at each other. Not a word was spoken before both of their eyes glazed over and they collapsed.

"...What the _hell_...?" The pyromanic genin rubbed his eyes and blinked. "What just happened?"

"They both...fell down." Said Hikari as she looked at the two unconscious boys. "They must not have had any chakra left to finish their jutsu and they fainted...I hope."

"You _hope_? Are you saying my son could be _dead_?!" Aiko shrieked.

"Oh, I'm sure they're just fine, Aiko-san! They're probably just tired!"

Asura and Kotaro pouted at the same time. "Nataro-san lost..."

"So did Hanzo..."

"No..." They both looked at Kotoyo. "They didn't lose...and they didn't win... It was a draw."

The rosé-haired girl blinked. "Draw...?"

Sasuke said nothing and simply stared down at his unconscious grandson and his friend.

"A draw... There goes my money..." The Raikage mumbled to himself.

The Kazekage, who had heard him, looked at the younger man with a frown. "Did you _bet_ on the fights, Raikage-san? I'd never expect _that _from the likes of you..."

"Huh? What's wrong with betting?"

Naruto ignored the younger Kage and leaned back in his seat with a smile. "He did better than I thought he would."

'_Damn...'_ Nataro thought as he felt himself fully slipping into unconsciousness. _'I was so sure...that I'd...'_

**X-X-X**

"Nataro-san... Are you awake?" Nataro felt a heavy weight on his chest and something poking him in the face. He then felt something pull both his cheeks and stretch them out. "Nataro-san...!"

"Ugh... I'm awake, I'm awake!" His azure eyes opened slowly to find Asura lying on top of him. The young ninja blinked before he suddenly realized that Asura was _on top of him_. And it _hurt_! "Asura-chan, you're hurting me!!"

"Sorry."

"Wow, I never knew it would happen." Kazemaru, who was leaning against the doorway, smirked as a perverted look came into his orange eyes. "Nataro finally has himself a girlfriend, but it would figure that it'd be Asura-chan."

"Hello, Kazemaru-san!" The pink-haired girl said as she jumped off of Nataro, not noticing the blonde's blush. "What are you doing here?"

Nataro looked around and noticed that he was in bed in a hospital room, wearing a dark blue shirt with the Konoha spiral on it and a pair of dark green shorts. "How the heck did I get here…? Oh, man!" He fell backwards as the realization hit him. The Chunin Exams—the fight with Hanzo. He must've lost! _'If I'm a chunin, I guess it doesn't matter if I lost. They did say we could lose and still become chunin...'_ "Yo, Kaze! What happened?"

"Oh, you mean the fight, right?" The orange-haired genin walked up to the blonde's bedside and picked up a get-well card. "You and Hanzo had a draw. You both fell at the same time, so neither one of you won. And..._Konjo_ won the tournament. Tch!" His hand, and the card that hand was holding, was suddenly beginning to burn. Kaze realized this and dropped the card, stomping on it in an attempt to put the fire out.

"Just because you lost doesn't mean you have to take it out on my stuff!!" Nataro shouted.

"It was an accident! Honestly!!"

Asura picked up the slightly charred card and read what was legible. "Aw, this is the card from Naruto-san! It's all burnt up now..." She pouted while the boys' eyes became wide.

"The— Gramps…sent that?"

"Gee, thanks a lot, _Kazemaru_! He was probably about to tell me that I was a chunin now!"

"Yeah, right! I doubt _you're_ smart enough for that ranking yet!!"

"You're not a chunin, yet, Nataro-san. But you were very close. Maybe next year, you will, though." Asura told the blonde.

Nataro blinked and stared at the rosé-haired girl. "Wha...? Asura-chan, did you read my cards?"

"Uh-huh. Naruto-san sends his best wishes and hopes you will get well soon, because with how you and Hanzo-san and Kazemaru-san performed in the exams, you may get more C-rank mission thingies!"

"No...fuggin'...way!" Kazemaru grinned as he pumped a fist in the air. "More C-rank missions equal more money than those lame D-ranks!"

Nataro gave a big grin. "Ah, that's _almost_ as good as becoming a chunin! ...Wait a minute, was he being serious or was it some sort of joke?! It better not!!" He noticed two other cards on the table beside his bed. One from his mother and the other from Asura, which appeared to be hand-made. "...Hey, Kaze? How's Hanzo doing?"

"Hm? Oh, he's fine. He woke up the day after the exams, which is more than I could say for _you_. You slept for three days straight!" The pyromaniac told his teammate. He grinned when he saw the surprised look on his face. "Ah, well, I guess I'll let you off because you did _such_ a good job getting your ass whipped."

"Ha! You're one to talk, Pyro Freak! At least Hanzo and I _tied_! You _lost_ your fight!"

Kaze's left eye twitched a bit. "...Be glad that you're already in a hospital. Otherwise, I'd _so_ beat you up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I doubt you could!" Nataro stuck his tongue out at him as Kazemaru flipped the bird at his teammate.

"Shut up, Ramen Breath! As soon as you get out of here, you're gonna know how it feels to be barbequed!" And with that, the pyro-manic boy walked out the room.

"Heh-heh..." Nataro then looked at Asura, who was simply standing there with her hands behind her back. "What exactly were you doing reading my cards while I was asleep?"

"Well, I wanted to wait until you wake up, so I just read those till you did."

"...What? You read those for three days?"

"Silly Nataro-san! I didn't stay in here for three days!" The pink-haired girl stated. "I was waiting to tell Aiko-san when you were awake!"

"My...mom?" The blonde blinked.

"She was worried about you, and since you didn't seem to be waking up any time soon, she told me to tell her when you woke up."

The door suddenly opened and in walked Aiko. "Ah! Nataro, you're alive!"

"Huh? Of course I'm a— ACK!" Nataro soon found himself being hugged by his mother, and having his air supply cut off. "M-mom... Can't...breath...!"

"Eh? O-oh, sorry..." The blonde woman let go of her son and laughed nervously.

After regaining his breath, the young ninja grinned and looked at his mother. "So, Mom, did ya see my fight? I was awesome, wasn't I?"

Aiko smiled. "Yeah, you were _great_! And I took the liberty of bringing you something," She held out a thermos and handed it to Nataro. When he gave her a confused look, complete with squinted, fox-line eyes, she said, "It's pork-flavored ramen. I didn't know if you were going to wake up, but I took the liberty of bringing it for you anyway."

Nataro's eyes suddenly became wide like a little kid's. "Oooh! Thank you, Mom! You're the best mom in the entire world!!" He immediately began to open the thermos and down the ramen straight from it, saying something about wishing he had something to eat it with between gulps.

"Oh, and, Nataro...?"

"Hm?" The blonde paused in his eating and looked at Aiko. "What is it?" His face suddenly turned blue as she gave him a scary look.

"What have I told you about you using that damn technique?!!"

"Aaaah! I'm sorry, Mom! But I had no choice!"

"Yeah, right! Do you know what people were _saying_ about that after the fight?"

"I'm _really_ sorry! I didn't think they'd talk about it—it was a diversionary tactic!"

"That wasn't a tactic! That was sick and perverted!"

In the background Asura gave a fond sigh while Aiko shouted at Nataro and drew the attention of people outside. "Ah, motherly love...such a beautiful thing..."

**X-X-X**

**Notes:**

**Nataro's "Sexy no Jutsu: Shizuka Style" is similar to something I read Naruto did to Rock Lee in a filler episode. He used the Kage Bunshin and Henge no jutsu to transform into a large amount of Sakura's—though they were all clothed. I don't know if this is true or not, though.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: And that's the end of the Chunin Exam arc! Up next are a few arcs revealing some character backstories. First up is our favorite pyromaniac, Kazemaru! **

**Naruto: And remember to review!**

**Nataro: For the sake of Blu!**

**Blu: See you in the next chapter!**


	20. The Flames of Remembrance

**Blu: The first in the character backstory arcs is the History of Kazemaru™!**

**Nataro: What's the "™", Blu?**

**Blu: I dunno. Every time I write it a certain way, it comes out like that. Besides, isn't that what **_**all**_** official copyrights look like?**

**Hanzo: Yeah, but do you actually **_**own**_** him, considering that he was based from information from the Naruto series?**

**Blu: Uh… Stop trying to confuse me!! Everyone, just sit back and enjoy the show!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this story._

**X-X-X**

_#20: The Flames of Remembrance_

_A young boy stood on top of a hill, watching a building that was burning in the distance. A small crowd had already surrounded the house as the flames grew higher and higher. His bangs hid his eyes, but tears streamed down the boy's cheeks..._

**X-X-X**

"KAZEMARU!!!" A woman shouted loudly somewhere in downtown Konoha.

Kazemaru sat up in his bed and covered his ears. While trying to block out the woman's screams and her banging on the door, he looked around his room--clothes, erotic books and graphic novels, discarded ninja tools, a couple of old kung-fu movies and burnt out matches and empty matchboxes were lying all over the room. _'Get a grip on yourself, Kaze...'_

"Temashi Kazemaru, you will open up this door, NOW!!!" The woman shouted again, her banging becoming more and more furious.

Kaze glared at the door and stuck his tongue out at it. The shouting stopped, and so did the banging, which caused the young pyromaniac to get a little worried. After a few seconds, the door was kicked open and he gulped. "Morning?"

"Nice try," The woman in the doorway growled. She was 23 years old with brownish-blonde hair with bangs brushed in such a way that it covered one of her forest green eyes. The woman was gritting her teeth as she glared at Kazemaru. "You little brat... You're gonna pay, y'know!"

The orange-haired genin blinked. "Pay? For _what_?"

"For _this_!!" She held out a bra--or what _used_ to be a bra. It was all burnt up and charred, now--no longer the lacey, comfortable lingerie it had been before.

"...Oh, I remember now! I tried reenacting a scene from that book _'Sin Spot'_. You know, the one where the girl gets drunk and in an act of drunken feminism takes off her bra and burns it?"

"I don't care if she burned her Goddamn _panties_!! I told you if you don't stop burning my stuff for your little pyromanic fantasies, you'd get in trouble! So guess what?!" The blonde woman shouted, a vein throbbing on her forehead. "You are _banned_ from the store for a _month_!"

Kazemaru suddenly turned to stone, his eyes reduced to little dots and his mouth nonexistent. After a few seconds a shrill cry of "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" could be heard in a thirty-foot radius. The pyromanic genin was now on his knees, hugging the woman's waist. "Oh, please, Natsume!! Don't be so cruel and take away one of my favorite passions!!" He cried, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The Temashi family ran a bookstore, believe it or not. Though the family was not a ninja clan like the Yamanaka or the Inuzuka, there were a few who didn't want a lifetime surrounded by books. Coincidentally, Natsume was one of them. Also coincidentally, the store the Temashi family ran was the same place where Kaze got his books.

"I warned you, you little arsonist! You should be glad I'm not taking your matches!" Natsume grinned evilly.

"You cold-hearted bitch!! It's not like I burned those sappy love novels of yours!" Kaze paused for a moment. "...Again!"

"Ah, quit your whining! I don't mind it when you burn Yutaro's stuff, but _mine's_ off limits!!" The blonde kunoichi said sternly. "Oh, and get dressed. You're supposed to meet your team in a little while."

"Eh?" He looked at the clock and cursed, "Shit! This is all your damn fault, Natsume!!" He began to run around and pick out his clothes for the day as Natsume grinned by the doorway.

"In my opinion, it's _exactly_ what you deserve."

"Get outta my room!" The orange-haired genin shouted at his sister. _'Ya bitch!'_

**X-X-X**

Later that morning, Team 14 stood before Naruto, waiting to be assigned to a mission. Nataro, who had been resisting the urge to speak up, finally broke the silence. "Hey, Gramps! Remember your promise! You better give us a _C-rank_ mission!!"

"Yeah! We did a _kickass_ job during the exams and deserve to get more money!" Kazemaru added.

_'It __**would**__ be nice if something __**good**__ came out of all of that trouble...'_ Hanzo thought with a small smile as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

"Um... Please don't mind them, sir," Tsuki told her ruler with a smile. "Their egos have gotten surprisingly big even though none of them are skilled enough to become chunin."

"Those people were biased!! They don't like the thought of rookies fresh out of the academy becoming chunin in less than a year!"

"No, I'm pretty sure it's because you guys weren't skilled enough. Although they _did_ give Hanzo some good scores and said it was his temper that dragged him down."

At this, the orange-haired and blonde genin looked at the raven. Hanzo simply sweatdropped and looked out of the corner of his half-lidded eyes. _'That was for the sake of strategy! I mean...aside from the sexy no jutsu thing with Shizuka. I kind of lost it accidentally then.'_

"Mm-hm," Naruto hummed absentmindedly until he spotted the scroll he wanted. "Ah, this one's good." He cleared his throat and began to scan the scroll. "There have been some vandals causing trouble in Kazan Village as of late. Initially, it was just forcing the village leader to pay money in exchange for protection, but when the leader refused to pay anymore, they began daily pillages. It's been going on for months now, but they haven't had a casualty until recently."

_'Kazan Village...?'_ Kazemaru thought with half-lidded eyes. _'Great... Just...__**great**__...!'_ He groaned and buried his face in his hands, but the only one who noticed was Hanzo.

"If they've been having trouble for so long, why didn't they ask _earlier_?" Tsuki asked with an arched eyebrow.

Nataro grinned. "So, we're gonna go and stop some criminals, huh? No sweat!"

"Have you forgotten the disaster that was our last C-rank mission...?" Hanzo muttered out of the corner of his mouth, unnoticed by his team.

"By the way, Tsuki, you _do_ remember that you have another team to look after temporarily, right?" The Rokudaime asked the female jonin. "They're going to join you on your missions for the next few days."

"Of course, sir. I was going to report to them after we were done here."

The boys gave a collective "Huh?" and began to stare at their teacher.

"What do you mean _'another team'_? _We're_ your students!" Nataro exclaimed.

"What for, sensei?" Hanzo inquired.

Tsuki stifled a laugh and the upper corners of her mouth twitched for a moment. The boys stared at their teacher in confusion as she looked away from them. "Their current sensei isn't..._capable_ of teaching them at the moment...so he asked for another jonin to look over them for the next couple of days."

"And he chose you?"

_'That's taking a risk, considering her __**'executions'**__,' _Nataro thought as a shudder ran down his spine.

"I volunteered myself. Because I...I felt so sorry for him!" Tsuki stifled a laugh once again, almost doubling over in her attempt. The three genin sweatdropped in confusion.

_'She's enjoying this...'_ Naruto thought with half-lidded eyes as he saw the jonin kunoichi smile for the moment. _'Who knew she could be so cruel?'_

"I hope we aren't stuck with any _freaks_..." Kazemaru spoke up. "I hope God likes me enough for there to at least be _one_ cute girl on that team!"

"So long as it's not Kaoru and his team, I'll be happy!" Nataro said with a smile.

"Tell me about it. The last thing I wanna do is face Rie..." Hanzo mumbled, looking down. _'And not just because of what happened in the Forest of Death...' _When he looked back up, he noticed thatNataro suddenly got a cat-like grin on his face, as did Kazemaru. "What's with you guys?"

"Hee-hee-hee...! We know how you feel..." The blonde began.

The orange-haired boy finished, "...Seeing as how you've got a crush on _Shi-zu-ka_!"

The Uchiha flinched and started to look down again, a cherry-red blush on his cheeks. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Aw, c'mon! After Nataro pulled that stunt at the Chunin Exams, I'd have thought for _sure_ you were gonna ask her out!" Kazemaru said with a grin.

"I mean, it's pretty obvious how much you like her! I bet you didn't want to leave the hospital after your wounds from our match healed because _Shizuka_ was there! Heh-heh!" Nataro snickered.

Hanzo frowned. "You guys are so...!"

The blonde and orange-haired genin gave each other a look from the corner of their eyes. With a nod and a simple hand sign, they were enveloped in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Nataro had transformed into Shizuka and Kaze into Hanzo.

"Shizuka-chan, there's...there's something I want to tell you," said Kaze/Hanzo. This got the _real_ Hanzo's attention, as well as Tsuki and Naruto's, and made the raven-haired teen look at his teammates with wide eyes.

"Wh-what is it, Hanzo-kun?" Nataro/Shizuka asked as a blush appeared on his/her cheeks. A vein popped up on their teammate's forehead and began to throb, but the other two ignored this and continued with their fun. "You could tell me anything--I promise not to tell."

"I know that. And..." Kaze/Hanzo got a blush on his cheeks as well. "That's one of the things I really like about you. And...I really like _you_, Shizuka-chan. You might say that I...I..._love you_."

Nataro/Shizuka's eyes widened as Hanzo's jaw dropped, Tsuki almost snorted and Naruto had to hide his smirk behind his hand. "Oh...Hanzo-kun...! I-I don't know what to say!"

"Maybe that you like me back...?"

"Stop it...!" Hanzo said as he bit his bottom lip. Those two were embarrassing him in front of their teacher _and_ the leader of their village! Had they no shame?!

"Y-yes, Hanzo-kun! I love you with all my heart and soul!" Nataro/Shizuka cried, on the verge of crying tears of joy white the real Uchiha was clenching his teeth.

"Um...boys? Funny as this is, I think you should stop now," said Tsuki as a sweatdrop ran down the side of her head.

"Ohhh, don't do that! Let the boys have their fun!" The Rokudaime said with a nonchalant wave of his hand and a grin, because he was wondering how long it would take for Hanzo to snap and beat up his teammates.

Tsuki's sweatdrop became bigger. "Say what now?"

Kazemaru/Hanzo wrapped his arm around his/her waist. "Shizuka-chan..."

"Oh, Hanzo-kun..." As their faces came close, only inches apart from kissing, a kunai was thrown at them, missing only by an inch. "AH!!!" Nataro/Shizuka screamed, stumbling back. "What the hell'd you do _that_ for?!"

"I told you _idiots_ to _stop it_...!" The Uchiha growled darkly as he spoke through his gritted teeth.

Kaze/Hanzo sweatdropped and changed back into his normal self. "_Geez_! No need to resort to violence, Fan Boy!"

"It's partially your fault, too. You obviously don't remember what Sakura-san did to her husband and Hokage-sama," Tsuki informed her pyromanic student with an arched eyebrow, not noticing the glare Naruto was giving her.

"Ah!" Nataro/Shizuka smiled and clapped his/her hands together. "When you yell at us like that, Hanzo, I'm instantly reminded of Sasuke-san!" In a poof of smoke, he changed back to normal as well, grinning with his hands behind his head.

Hanzo began to sulk. "Great... Just _great_. He's the _last_ person I want to be like..."

**X-X-X**

Later, Team 14 was by the village gates, waiting for the other squad to show up. Not being able to keep still as he thought about the cool things he would do during the mission, Nataro whirled around to face his teacher and began to speak loudly, "Sensei, sensei!! When are those other guys gonna get here?! Why can't we just go on without 'em?"

Tsuki frowned and gave her student a look that made him flinch. "_Nataro_...that isn't nice! We're expected to wait right here, so stand still and keep quit!" At this, the blonde genin immediately stood up straight with his mouth forming a small 'x' and eyes squinting. "Very funny. Just for spite, I should make you keep that face all the way to Kazan."

"By the way, sensei...you _still_ haven't told us who the guys on that team are," said Kazemaru as he leaned against the lookout booth. "It seems kinda weird to let some guys we don't even know into our group--especially since we've become so tightly knit and everything."

_'Who's tightly knit? Not us,'_ Nataro thought as he kept on his stupid face.

_'I doubt we're __**that**__ close...'_ Hanzo thought as he looked at pyro from the corner of his eye.

"Hm?" Tsuki blinked and then started to smile. "Ah, it looks like they've arrived!"

"Huh? _Really_?" Kaze pushed himself off of the booth as Nataro broke out of his stupid face.

"Hm! It's about time!" _'Let's get a look at these guys...'_

The first person they saw running up to them was none other than Hyuga Konjo. He was red-faced and sweating. "Yo!!"

Nataro's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Huh?! _Konjo_?! But...but...does that mean...?!"

"Your _girlfriend's_ coming, Hanzo-_kun_!" The orange-haired genin looked at his raven-haired teammate and grinned perversely. "I hope you'll take our advice and at _least_ ask her out by the end of this mission!"

Hanzo's cheeks became cherry red as he glared at the pyromaniac. "What advice? All you did was embarrass me!" He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Embarrass, give advice... Same difference."

"_No, it isn't_!"

Meanwhile, a vein was throbbing on Nataro's forehead as Shizuka and Ina came into view. _'Damn...! I'd prefer Kaoru over Ina!!'_

"We're sorry we're late!" Shizuka apologized with a bow of her head. "Konjo got up late, and the other Hyuga wouldn't let us on the grounds, so we had to wait."

"Don't you have an _alarm clock_?" Ina deadpanned in the Hyuga's direction.

Konjo yawned behind his hand, stating, "I slept through it..."

"Oh, brother..."

"TSUKI-SENSEI!!!" Nataro screamed, making the purple-haired jonin wince before looking down at her loudest student.

"What is it, Nataro?" Tsuki asked him as she tried to see if she retained her hearing.

"Why are _they_ here?! Don't tell me we're gonna have to look after them for a while!! I have no problems with Konjo or Shizuka-chan, but," he pointed a finger at Ina, who was staring at him with half-lidded eyes, "I don't wanna be in the same area as _this bitch_!!"

Ina folded her arms across her chest. "Tsk... Think I want to spend the next days with you, _dumbass_? I'd rather have my _tongue_ cut out."

"Weasel Girl, I _swear_ that if you try anything, I'm gonna kick your ass three ways to Sunday!"

She smirked. "Like you can."

The blonde's eye started to twitch. "CRAAAAAP!!!" He jumped at the raven-haired girl, hoping to land a right hook on her, but his sensei pulled him back by the collar of his jacket and held him back.

"Nataro, calm down! Like it or not, Ina-chan and her teammates are going to be going on missions with us until their sensei gets out of the hospital!" The purple-haired kunoichi said with a suspicious grin.

"Why is she smiling like that...?" Konjo asked Hanzo and Kaze.

Both boys sweatdropped and mumbled, "We don't know."

"These next few days should be...interesting," Shizuka said with her eyes reduced to little lavender dots while Ina cursed under her breath in the background.

"Well now!" Tsuki released Nataro, who had also settled for cursing under his breath while giving Ina dirty looks. "Everybody's got everything they need, right? So let's move out, team!"

**X-X-X**

After several hours of walking down the path to Kazan no Sato...

"Bitch!"

"Moron."

"Bitch!"

"Loser."

"Bitch!!"

"Can't you come up with something a _little_ more intelligent?" Ina asked pointedly with her arms folded across her chest.

"Uh...WEASEL!!!" Nataro suddenly shouted. "Big, ugly, _flat-chested_ weasel!!!" He was then knocked out from a blow to the back of the head by Tsuki, and was now lying on the ground semiconscious.

"That's enough," the jonin muttered with her hand still up in the air and a vein throbbing on her forehead.

Ina smirked. "Hmph! What a loser..." In less than a second, she was lying on the ground next to Nataro. She looked up at the female jonin with a vein throbbing on her forehead. "What the heck did _I_ do?!" Ina shouted.

"You had a part in bringing down my happy mood!" Tsuki growled with a dark look in her eyes. "I was oh-so happy when I found out that Haseo got food poisoning after buying food with the money I had bet. Faith has given me my revenge--without getting my hands dirty!" Tsuki had stars in her eyes as the raven-haired kunoichi and blonde ninja sweatdropped.

"I thought you said you _weren't_ betting with betting on us, Tsuki-sensei!" Hanzo exclaimed. "How could you lie?"

"Does this mean that Haseo-sensei was betting on us, too?" Shizuka asked.

"Most likely," Ina muttered darkly.

"Um..." Tsuki sweatdropped before turning on her heel and quickly walking away from the genin. "Now, now, children! We have to get to Kazan Village quickly, don't we?"

"Huh? It's a 2-day walk just to get there!! Sensei!!" Kazemaru shouted.

Konjo sweatdropped. "And I thought Haseo-sensei was odd..."

**X-X-X**

"It's wrong!"

"What's so wrong with it?"

"It's sick and it's wrong and it's..._sick_!"

"You already said that!"

"Well, it's _true_"

Kazemaru sucked his teeth as he continued to kneel on his sleeping bag. "You are _such_ a scaredy cat!" Kazemaru told Konjo as he pointed a finger at him. The sun had already set and stars had begun to dot the night sky. The group of Konoha ninja had already set camp with two tents: one with Tsuki and the girls, the other with the boys.

"You _do_ remember what happened the last time you tried to sneak a peek at Tsuki-sensei, don't you?" Hanzo asked as he rolled over to face the orange-haired pyro. He saw Kaze wince slightly and rub his cheek. "I thought so. Besides, Ina and Shizuka are in there, too. Imagine how badly you'll be beaten when there are _three_ girls trying to beat you up."

"I can endure Shizuka and Ina--so long as they don't try to scalpel me or fry me with fire jutsu, I'm in the clear. It's sensei that I have to worry about." He looked down at Konjo again and placed his hands on his hips. "Well, Konjo? Are you gonna be a boy...or are you gonna be a _man_?"

Konjo stared at him for a while, his pearl white eyes half-lidded. "I'd rather be a living boy than a dead man."

"Alright, fine! Nataro! Hanzo! Wanna come?"

"Being hit _once_ by Tsuki-sensei is enough for one day," the blonde boy yawned as he pulled his goggles down in front of his eyes. "I'm going to bed."

"I don't want to see her angry," the Uchiha rolled over and showed his back to the pyromanic genin. "But go ahead and kill yourself."

Kazemaru pouted. "Okay... But if I happen to see something _interesting_ with Shizuka, don't get upset, because I asked you!" Kazemaru crawled out of the boys' tent and tiptoed as silently as he could towards the girls' own.

_'Let's see...'_ Nataro thought as he laid his head down. _'One more day until we reach Kazan Village...and two more to get to Konoha...that means three days with that bitch Ina. Plus, we've gotta wait until their sensei gets better!'_ "Great... That's just great... Something awesome better happen tomorrow when we get there to make up for this, Gods!" The blonde whispered.

"Did you say something, Nataro?" Konjo asked.

"N-nothing!!"

A few moments later, after the three boys had fallen asleep, they were woken up by a shrill cry of "PERVERT!!!" was heard, which frightened several sleeping birds to fly away and snoozing animals to stir. The shout was soon followed by cries of pain and agony that soon faded into the night...

**X-X-X**

The next day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Kazemaru was still feeling the pain from last night's beating. He had a bandage on his slightly swollen cheek--a result of Ina's powerful right hook. The Uchiha girl kept throwing him hostile glares and the Temashi simply looked away.

_'That punch was unreal! Nataro was right--she probably isn't all that __**human**__!!'_ Kazemaru thought as they packed up camp.

Nataro laughed at his teammate's mission failure. "Hahaha! Serves you right, you pervert!"

"Shut up, moron...!" The orange-haired genin spoke through gritted teeth. He started to glare at Ina's back. "That punch hurt like hell!"

Konjo chuckled nervously as he looked at Kaze. "I tried to warn you! Ina isn't pretty when she's angry."

"Boy, you can say _that_ again."

"Well, it looks like today is going to be a marvelous day, wouldn't you say, kids?" Tsuki smiled as she finished packing her bag.

"It'd be even _more_ marvelous if this _pain_ went away...!" Her orange-haired student whined as waterfall-like tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Be glad that a swollen cheek's all you've gotten, you freak!" Ina hissed, narrowing her eyes.

Hanzo sighed. "I doubt it's going to be a _marvelous_ day..."

**X-X-X**

A few hours later, after Team 14 and Team 4 arrived at Kazan Village, Nataro, Konjo and Kazemaru were standing in front of a large building with a large sign that read _'Kazan Mountain Spa'_ in big red letters.

"I wonder what the hot springs here are like..." The Hyuga pondered as they all stared up at the building.

"Oh, not bad. Lots of old ladies like to go there because the water is supposed to _'rejuvenate the skin'_. Though, in my opinion, it doesn't do _jack_ to get rid of their wrinkles." Nataro and Konjo blinked, and then they started to stare at Kaze. The pyromanic boy's eyes narrowed. "What? I read it in a visitors' pamphlet!" He exclaimed as he held up a small pamphlet with a volcano on it.

"Even the part about the wrinkles?" Nataro asked, his eyes squinted and fox-like.

Kazemaru began to sweat. "Er...yeah! Even that!"

"Come on, boys! We have to go and see the village leader!" Tsuki called out to the boys. "You guys are gonna have to sightsee later."

Kazemaru looked out of the corner of his eye and scratched the back of his head. "Tsu... Tsuki-sensei, I think I should stay behind."

The jonin arched an eyebrow. "Stay behind? What for?"

"Er, well, uh--"

"It doesn't matter, anyway, because you're still going."

"Okay-- Wait a minute, WHAT?! But...but... You can't! _I_ can't!!" The orange-haired genin's eyes were now the size of saucers as he flailed his arms about wildly in the air.

"What the heck's _his_ problem?" Ina muttered to Shizuka, who simply shrugged.

Tsuki folded her arms across her buxom chest and frowned. "Too bad! I don't know _what's_ going on with you, Kazemaru, but unless you tell me _why_ you have to stay behind, you're coming with us." _'Besides, I don't want to be held responsible if he winds up burning down a house or peeking on girls at the hot springs...'_

"C'mon, Kaze!" Nataro hooked his arms around his teammate's shoulders. Don't you wanna go take on some bad guys? It'll be _great_!" Kazemaru started to tug violently on the blonde's hair. "OW, OW, OW!!"

"Listen, ya moron!! If I don't wanna go, I _don't_ wanna go!!"

"Well, you didn't have to act like _that_, Pyro Freak!!"

"Ramen Breath, you're pissin' me off!!" The two genin began to fight and a cloud of dust arose, hiding them from sight.

"Geez, what's up with Kazemaru?" Konjo asked with an arched eyebrow.

Ina turned to Hanzo. "He's _your_ teammate."

_'Unfortunately,'_ thought the raven-haired boy as he sweatdropped.

"Okay, that's enough!" Tsuki drew a couple of kunai and other genin's eyes widened.

"What is she going to do...?" Shizuka spoke, her mouth in the shape of an 'O'.

"I hope it's not what I think it is..." Hanzo mumbled. The jonin fluidly threw the kunai into the dust cloud. _'Guess it was.'_

The sounds of Nataro and Kazemaru's arguing died down, and as the dust cleared, Hanzo, Ina, Konjo and Shizuka blinked. Both boys had been cut somewhere by a kunai--Kaze had one in his arm, Nataro had one in his leg. The rest had managed to hit the wall of a building behind them, though a few strands of orange and blonde hair were strewn on the dirt road. Both genin's eyes were the size of saucers as they spun on their heels, hands at their sides, and remained quiet.

"Your sensei is..." Konjo paused to find the right word to describe Tsuki.

Ina beat him to the punch, though. "_Weird_."

_'I'd have gone with __**brutal**__.'_ The raven-haired boy sighed and mumbled, "I know," shaking his head slowly as Shizuka simply sweatdropped.

"_Kazemaru_...!" Tsuki spoke in such a tone that the pyromanic ninja was starting to sweat.

"S-sorry, Tsuki-sensei!!" He said it quickly, eyes wide in horror. Before he knew it, she had grabbed his ear, and the jonin proceeded to drag him in the direction of the village leader's abode. "Come along, children!!"

"Why is she talking to us like we're preschoolers?" Ina muttered as she began to curse under her breath.

Nataro and Hanzo simply shrugged and said, "Because she's Tsuki-sensei."

**X-X-X**

"Thank you so very much for coming to help us in our time of need, kunoichi-san!" The wizened old leader of Kazan Village spoke as he shook Hanzo's hand. As you can probably tell, one of the leader's negative traits was his bad eyesight, which was getting worse as the years rolled on.

"Ummm..." Hanzo stared at the old man as he continued to shake his hand. A sweatdrop ran down the back of his head. "Er, Kaibun-san?" Tsuki said, raising her hand slightly as a sweatdrop ran down the side of her head as well. "_I_ am Asahara Tsuki. You're shaking hands with one of my students..."

"Hm?" Kaibun blinked and stared at Hanzo for a while before he smiled. "Ah, I'm sorry, young lady."

"Young--young lady?!" The Uchiha exclaimed as his left eye twitched.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Nataro, Konjo and Kazemaru started to laugh and point at Hanzo. Ina and Shizuka had to stifle their laughs when Hanzo's cheeks turned bright red.

"Well, I can't blame him. You have such pretty, long hair, after all, Hanzo!" Nataro said between laughs.

"Shut up!!"

"So, Kaibun-san, we'll need to know about these crooks who are constantly stealing from your village." Said Tsuki, ignoring how the boys were teasing Hanzo.

"It's not just much _stealing_. There's also _pillaging_." A new voice said.

"Eh?" Kazemaru turned his head towards the door and his eyes widened a bit.

A young man of about 19 or so walked in. His hair was shoulder-length and dark green and his eyes a dark shade of violet. All it took was the sound of his voice to remember who this boy was, but it seemed _he_ didn't remember the pyromanic boy as he walked past him and towards the old man.

"Ah, Kemuri-kun! I didn't expect you to be back so soon! How was your trip out of town?"

"Just fine, Grandfather."

"Excuse me, Kemuri-san, but what did you mean by _pillaging_?" Hanzo asked the older boy.

"Ah, you didn't know? They tend to just stomp in here whenever they want--they wreck the shops and random houses of people whom they never even met..." Kemuri clenched his fist. "There have been several deaths, already--some are brutal killings, but the majority is by arson."

Kazemaru gulped as he took a few steps back. Nataro noticed the orange-haired boy was shaking and stared at him. _'Kazemaru...?'_

"Do you at least know the name of the person who's doing this?" Konjo asked.

The green-haired teen glared at him, causing the Hyuga to recoil. "Of course!" He spat. "It's a big group of thugs; they're all led by one man. A man by the name of...Tatsujin Hitsuke."

And at those words, Kazemaru froze and his eyes widened in shock. "No..." He mumbled.

"Tatsujin Hitsuke..." Tsuki repeated. "Where have I heard that name before?" Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! I remember now! He's a nukenin from Kirigakure! After he left his country, he became something of an arsonist, setting fires and causing deaths wherever he went." The jonin pulled out a small BINGO book from her back pouch and started to skim through it. "He was last seen in Hi no Kuni _years_ ago, but the reports said he left the country and out of Konoha's jurisdiction before he could be caught..."

"So we're looking for some arsonist of a nukenin?" Nataro asked.

"Not just any arsonist. Rumors from Kirigakure say that he once burned down an entire village that was being held hostage by nukenin back in Mizu no Kuni. Another said he burnt his girlfriend to a crisp when she said he wanted to break up with him, and when he realized what he had done, he burned down an entire block of houses in Kirigakure out of sorrow!" Tsuki rubbed her chin in thought. "It couldn't _possibly_ be him... According to the BINGO book, when Hitsuke strikes a village, he causes chaos and leaves. Why would he resort to acting like some petty bandit...? It must be an imposter."

"Imposter? Of course not! I've seen him with my own two eyes, that awful man!" Kemuri exclaimed. "With one swing, he--he set an entire house on fire! Thank goodness it was empty, but still...!"

"_I'll_ be the judge of that." Tsuki looked at Kaibun. "Would you happen to know _where_ Hitsuke and his men are at the moment?"

"Well, no. They just tend to appear every couple of days. Some times they just strike at random." The old man rubbed his temples. "It's all too much..."

Kemuri placed a hand on his grandfather's shoulder. "Why don't you go rest, Grandfather? I can deal with our guest." Kaibun looked at his grandson and nodded before walking out of the room. "If it'll help, you can stay in the town inn for free for as long as you want. We don't know _when_ Hitsuke's men will strike."

"Thank you, Kemuri-san. Your kindness is very much appreciated." Tsuki bowed to the green-haired young man and the genin followed in suit. The only one who hadn't, though, was Kazemaru, who was simply glaring at Kemuri. For a moment, their eyes met.

"Does this mean we can check out the town? Including the hot springs?!" Nataro blurted out, ending the glaring contest between Kaze and Kemuri.

"Are you _still_ thinking about the onsen, Nataro? For shame! Have some self-control!" The purple-haired kunoichi chided her student, even though she was having the same thoughts. "But if it will get you children to stop begging, I suppose we could go," she added quickly.

"Yeah, right. You probably want to soak in the _nice...hot...steaming_ spring waters, too, Tsuki-sensei!" The orange-clad genin folded his arms across his chest as he looked at his squad master with disdain. "Shame on _you_!"

"Ohhhhh! Nataro, you're getting me excited!" Tsuki exclaimed, hugging herself as a light red blush appeared on her ivory cheeks.

Kemuri sweatdropped as he turned his back to the group. _'These people are ninja...? I doubt they'll be any trouble, but just in case...'_

"I guess that means we're having a spa day..." Shizuka gave a small smile.

"I thought we were on a mission," Ina spoke in a flat tone.

"You heard Kemuri-san! Who knows when this Hitsuke guy will show up? May as well relax for a _little_ while!" Konjo said with a grin.

**X-X-X**

Over half an hour later, the boys were relaxing in the Kazan village's onsen. On the other side of a rock wall was the girls' spring. "Man... This is _soooo good_!" Nataro sighed pleasantly as he sank down into the water with only half his face visible. A wet rag was placed on his soaked, sunshine blonde hair and his eyes were squinted and narrowed.

"I wish we could stay here forever," Said Konjo as he leaned against the edge of the pool. "This...is..._great_!"

"Hey, hey! Konjo! Use your Byakugan to see what the girls are doing!"

"No way!! I won't abuse my eyes like that!"

"Come on! Just one peek. What do ya say?"

"I'd never peg you for the perverted type, Nataro. I'd think that of Kazemaru, but not of you." Hanzo spoke as he came into the area

"I'm no pervert!! I just wanna see what they're doin'!"

"Uh-huh..." The raven-haired boy spoke sarcastically as he gave a small smile and got into the water.

The blonde genin glared at his friend before disappearing into the water. A few seconds later, Nataro popped up beside Hanzo and dragged him underwater. The two boys began to fight and splash about as Konjo laughed at the two of them.

The only one who wasn't doing anything was Kazemaru, who was sitting away from his teammates, shoulder-deep in the spring water. His orange eyes gazed out into space. He was still haunted by the memory of the Kazan Village's troubles. _'Hitsuke...'_

**X-X-X**

_Tears stream down the young redhead's face. In his hands was a box of matches. In front of him were the bodies of men. He didn't know __**who**__ they were, but he __**what**__ they were: ninja. Hunter ninja to be exact. They were unmasked and stripped of their clothing, lying in a pile as someone finished pouring oil all over their corpses._

_"...There. The deed is done." The man spoke as he walked over to Kazemaru and stood behind him. He placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and whispered into his ears, "Go on, Kaze. Do it. They were going to do it to me, anyway. It's only right that this is how they go."_

_The boy bit his lower lip as he pulled out a match. He struck the head against the matchbox's side and stared at the pretty flame-lit head, occasionally glancing at the dead and oil-soaked ninjas._

_"What are you waiting for? Do it!" The man's grip on Kazemaru's shoulders became tighter, his voice sounding anxious. Hitsuke was probably a bigger fire addict than Kazemaru. To the point of burning just about __**anything**__--be it an object or an animal or even a living being...or a __**dead**__ being, in this case._

_The young redhead tossed the match and watched as the glorious flame overtook the corpses. He stared at it for a while. The fire was so __**big**__! It was a thing of beauty to the young pyromaniac. Like a __**'living, breathing work of art'**__ as Hitsuke had once described it._

_"Isn't it __**beautiful**__, Kaze? It's so magnificent!" Hitsuke chuckled like a madman as he patted Kazemaru's head._

_And as he felt that hand patting his head, Kaze gave a small smile. He ignored how his stomach was tossing and turning by the odor of burning flesh. It almost made him want to throw up. The closest thing he'd come to the scent before was when he burned a living animal--a bird, he thinks, with a broken wing. The noise it made was so horrible--it kept crying and trying to fly. It finally fell into the river that was nearby. Whether it died because of being drowned or because it had been burned intensely, the redhead didn't know. It didn't give him the pleasure he usually had, that's for sure._

_But __**this**__... This was different. He saw the flames lick at their naked bodies and burn off their hair and melt away their skin. The smell was the worse part. He couldn't help it. He fell to his knees and threw up what had been his lunch. The scent of burning flesh was so powerful, it made him choke and puke more._

_"Geez... You're pathetic." Hitsuke grabbed Kazemaru's hair and pulled it up, forcing the boy to look at the fire. "Why would you get sick over people you don't even know? People who tried to kill me?" His voice sounded so nice to Kazemaru. Much nicer than any person's voice had ever been when speaking about or to the child. "Look at it, Kazemaru... Isn't it beautiful?"_

_Kaze stared at the burning corpses. Their bodies were as black as charcoal now. He almost swore that one's eyes were open, and that they were looking at him. "Y-yeah... It's beautiful..." And it was frightening. So very frightening. After their bodies had been reduced to ash, the boy never wanted to experience something like that ever again. __**Never ever**__..._

**X-X-X**

"BANZAI!!!" Nataro landed nearby Kazemaru, causing a huge splash, which in turn caused water to splash onto the orange-haired genin.

"WHAT THE HELL, NATARO?!?" He cursed as he glared at his blonde teammate.

"Well I had to do _something_ to bring you back to reality! You were just sitting there, and you weren't trying to peep at the girls, so we thought something was wrong!" Nataro explained with squinted, fox-like eyes as he swam a few inches away from Kaze.

"Something bugging you, Kaze? It looked like you were in deep thought." Konjo said as he swam over to the two.

Just as the pyromanic boy was about to open his mouth, Nataro interrupted by saying, "That's not possible--Kazemaru's not the type who thinks so much that he spaces out! That only happens when he's looking at a pretty girl or something..."

A vein began to throb on Kazemaru's forehead as he glared at his teammate. "And you don't think _at all_, Ramen Breath!!"

"Hey, I think!!"

"Yeah, right! I bet the only things going through your head are the different kinds of ramen!" The orange-haired boy suddenly got a sly look on his face. "Or maybe...you're thinking about _'Asura-chan'_!" He spoke, imitating Nataro--or _trying_ to, at least.

"Wh-what?! What the hell are you talking about, Pyro-Freak?!"

"Or maybe you're thinking about how Ina looks naked!"

It was that line that made him snap. "THAT'S IT!!" As soon as Nataro said those words, he was jumping on top of Kazemaru and the two began to fight.

On the sidelines, Hanzo sighed. "Aren't hot springs supposed to be relaxing...?" He said, though his words were unheard because of his teammate's shouts and curses.

On the girl's side of the wall, Tsuki and Shizuka were staring at the wall, both kunoichi sweatdropping.

"What are they _doing_?" Shizuka asked with wide eyes.

"We probably don't wanna know." Said Ina as she combed out her long, raven hair.

**X-X-X**

"So, if we don't know where Hitsuke and his men are, how are gonna catch them?" Konjo asked. Tsuki and the genin were standing around in a room at the local inn after enjoying a trip to the Kazan Village's onsen.

"Are we going to wait for them to come out of hiding? Or maybe try to find where they're hiding." Ina suggested as she shrugged.

"We don't know _when_ Hitsuke will strike." Tsuki folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes. "Hmmm... Our best option would be to guard whatever entrances to the village there are and wait until they attack."

Shizuka blinked. "So...we're just gonna stand around and wait? For who knows how long?"

Konjo's shoulders slumped as he said "Aw, man, we may be here for _days_!"

"Look at this way--at least we can go to the hot springs whenever we want."

"I'm afraid not. As Hitsuke or his men could sneak in at any time, no breaks. Meaning no onsen." Tsuki told the blue-haired girl.

"...Great. We're on _guard duty_..." Nataro muttered as folded his arms across his chest and plopped down on the bed.

"Hm?" The purple-haired jonin began to look around quickly. "Where's Kazemaru?"

Nataro blinked as he began to look around. "Eh? I dunno."

"I could've sworn he was here a while ago..." Hanzo said. "Maybe he went outside for a walk or something."

The orange-clad genin quickly added, "_Or _peeking at girls at the hot springs."

For a short moment, a somewhat eerie silence filled the room. The genin all eyed each other with the same thought in mind. A large drop of sweat ran down the back of Tsuki's head as she mumbled something unintelligible under her breath, followed by, "...Er, let's...go back to the onsen. Just to see..."

**X-X-X**

Actually, Hanzo's guess was right--sort of. Kazemaru was walking around Kazan Village with his arms behind his head. There wasn't a certain place he'd been planning to go to. The pyromanic genin was just...walking around in a semi-daze, snapping out only to glance at a pretty girl or two or when he almost bumped into people.

_'This place doesn't seem the same to me...'_ He thought as he walked past a group of young girls that were crowded around a kitten. Sounds of "Aw, it's so cute!" and "Can I pet him?" soon faded out as Kaze realized something. He'd walked on this road before. The orange-haired genin soon found himself walking quickly, a destination now planned, even though his brain kept telling him to turn around and go back to his team before he got in trouble. The young ninja ignored the way people looked at him when he bumped into them and never apologized.

All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind as his pace quickened a bit more. Was it still there? Or was it just built over and replaced? Kazemaru honestly didn't know what he wanted to believe. Really, why should he even care? He had never thought about this village since the day he left--especially _that_ place...

**X-X-X**

_This was wrong. It had to be wrong. This shouldn't be happening. A young Kazemaru of only 8 years old was standing in the door of his house, staring at his parents' bodies. He could care less about his bastard of a 'father', but did his timid, loving mother __**really**__ deserve something like this? She had never harmed him--never laid a hand on him without a good reason. She wanted to protect him..._

_As tears began to well up in his orange eyes, a voice from behind spoke, "Do you like it?"_

_Kaze slowly turned around to look at Hitsuke, his scarlet-colored bangs hiding his eyes "What did you do...?"_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"WHAT DID YOU __**DO**__?! YOU SICK FREAK!!" The red-haired boy shouted as tears began to well up in his orange orbs. "Why would you do this, Hitsuke...?"_

_". . ." Hitsuke stared at the young child with a blank face. "I gave you what you've always wanted, Kazemaru."_

_"I didn't want __**this**__!!" Kazemaru cried as tears streamed down his cheeks and snot traveled from one nostril. "I didn't want __**her**__ to die!!"_

_"SHUT UP!!" The scarlet-haired young man slapped the red-haired boy so hard that it sent him sprawling to the floor. His hand was lying in the pool of blood that had formed from his father's slit throat and that got the child to quickly scramble away from the blood to lean against the wall. Hitsuke stared at the child as he tried to wipe the blood off onto his shirt, but it only made it seem as thought __**he**__ was the one who had ripped through his mother's chest and slit his father's throat. "You're such a crybaby."_

_"Sh-shut up!! Wh-what are you gonna d-do to me?!" Kazemaru stuttered as he stared at Hitsuke with wide, fear-filled eyes--wary of letting the man out of his sight for even a second._

_"It's not so much about me. It's more about what __**you're**__ gonna do. Or what you want to do, actually."_

_"H-huh?" The child stopped shaking and looked at the elder; though a part of him was still sure that'd Hitsuke would kill him. Any second now..._

_"Why do you think...I would go through the trouble of killing two people who I've never met before? Definitely not for my own pleasure." A smile appeared on Hitsuke's face, that blank face disappearing. "It was for you, Kaze-kun. It was all for you."_

_"No..." Kazemaru felt numb all over._

_"You said that if it weren't for your mother being so afraid about the world and its many ways of killing a man, you'd be able to go outside of the village more and your curfew wouldn't be so early."_

_"No."_

_"She was the one that didn't want you playing with fire, right?"_

_"No..."_

_"Oh, yes she was. And if it wasn't for your father, she wouldn't have been like that in the first place. Besides, you never liked that man and he certainly never loved you--all because you weren't related by blood."_

_"No...!"_

_"So, in some weird, twisted way, you had a part in killing them. In fact, it's practically because of you that they're dead!"_

_"UWAAAAAHHH!!!" Kazemaru cried loudly as he stared up at the ceiling. The scent of blood was getting to be too much for him. 'It's not my fault! It's not my fault! It's not my fault...!'_

_Hitsuke nonchalantly walked into the house and came to Kaze's side. He began to pat the red-haired boy on his head as he plastered on a sympathetic look. "There, there, Kaze. You should be happy! You don't have to live in this closed-off place anymore. You can come with me and see the world, just like you've always wanted! Won't that be fun?"_

_"...Okay..."_

_A wide grin appeared on the scarlet-haired young man's face. "Okay! Now, all we have to do is get rid of the evidence." He reached behind him, about to touch something on his back, when Kaze jumped up and pushed him back. "Hey, what's the big deal?!"_

_"Don't burn them!! Why can't we just...bury 'em or something?!"_

_"But I'm being traditional. If we burn their bodies and this house, your parents will become scattered across the winds and see the world--just as you will soon. Besides, if the people in town see their bodies and not yours the next day, they'll probably think you had something to do with their deaths."_

_"...Okay... You can burn it."_

_Another false sympathetic look from Hitsuke was followed by, "Aw, I feel bad. Tell you what: __**you **__can burn this place down." He reached into his pockets and handed Kazemaru a box of matches. "It's the least I can do, right?"_

_He didn't know what the word 'arson' meant, but on that day, Kazemaru became an arsonist at the tender age of 8..._

**X-X-X**

It was only after he tripped and fell flat on his face that Kazemaru came off from autopilot and zoned back into the real world. "Ouch..." He spat out some dirt and scrunched his face up. The orange-haired genin stood up and dusted himself off as he looked around the area. The houses around the area appeared to be different--and the spot where his old house once stood was now replaced by several trees and a flower bush or two.

Kaze felt a little disappointed, but quickly got over it when he felt something pinch his ear. "Kazemaaaruuu~!" A female voice spoke in a sweet, yet scary, tone.

"Eh-heh... Tsuki-sensei..." The orange-haired boy felt goosebumps rise on his body as his sensei's hand grasped the back of his neck. "Wha... What are you doing here?"

"The question _is_ Kazemaru, why are _you_ here?"

"I thought we all agreed he was looking at girls." Nataro whispered to Konjo, who nodded in agreement.

Kazemaru heard the blonde and glared at him. "What?! Unbelievable! You guys think I _always_ have girls on the brain?"

"Yeah." Ina and Nataro answered at the same time.

"...You guys are _really_ unbelievable. So you think of me like _that_, huh, Ramen Breath? Fan-Girl?"

"Now, now, Kazemaru, you can argue with Ina and Nataro _later_. Right now, we have to go on watch." Tsuki told him as she patted his head.

Kaze blinked. "...On watch? For _what_?"

"For Hitsuke. If you were there, you would've known that." Hanzo told his teammate as he folded his arms across his chest.

"...Huh? B-but...! But we don't know when and where he'll strike!"

"Which is why we will be on guard at all entrances leading into Kazan Village. Hitsuke was listed as a jonin-ranked ninja in the BINGO book, but we're unsure of what level this imposter is on. He may just be on the level of a chunin or maybe a genin!"

"But that's _if_ it's an imposter, right? Wh-what if it's the _real_ Hitsuke and we have to fight him?" Shizuka asked nervously. "Like you said, we don't know _where_ Hitsuke will strike, so if we separated into groups and you're at one entrance while the other is attacked by Hitsuke..." She stopped there and let out a small squeak of fear.

Kazemaru turned his back on the group and growled. _'He could take out hunter ninja with ease back then... Just imagine how he is __**now**__...!'_ "We're boned..."

The purple-haired jonin, not hearing her student's unintelligible statement, placed her hands on her hips and said, "Well, that's the great part of having _six_ genin instead of _three_! A group of four will guard one entrance while a group of three--including myself--stands at the other. Besides, you kids are talented! Five of you made it to the finals of the Chunin Exams!" Tsuki noticed a cloud of gloom floating above Shizuka's head and added, "Oh. No offense to you, Shizuka-chan."

The blue-haired kunoichi sighed and said, "None taken..."

"Well, now! Let's get started! Ina-chan, Konjo, Kazemaru and Nataro--you'll be at the entrance in the west. Hanzo, Shizuka and I will be at the east entrance. Any questions?"

Nataro raised his arm and began to wave it about in the air. "I got a question, sensei. Can we switch group members? Like, say: I go with you and Hanzo while Shizuka goes with Ina and the others..."

"I agree. Let's switch," Ina said.

Tsuki gave an exasperated sigh as she shook her head. "What have I said before about working with people you don't really like on a mission? Think of this as...teamwork training. And if you don't trust each other, you may wind up getting yourselves _and_ your teammates killed." She waited for them to make some form of protest, but when all she got were glares from both the blonde loudmouth and the raven-haired girl, she smiled as said, "That's _not_ what I was expecting, but it will do!"

**X-X-X**

"What're _you_ doing here?" Tatsujin Hitsuke was man of 28 years, with shoulder-length scarlet hair and orange eyes. He wore a black shirt that had long sleeves that almost hid his hands, a pair of loose, black pants with white bandages wrapped around the ankles and a waist-length jacket that was the same color as his hair. The left side of his face was hidden by said hair, which was grown out on that side alone, till it reached his shoulder. If this were months ago, before his hair had changed color, one would think that Kazemaru and Hitsuke were related in some way.

Kemuri took a step towards the redhead that was sitting on a large flat rock. "There are some ninja from Konoha here looking for you."

"Is that so?" Hitsuke took a swig from the saké bottle in his hand. "Hunter-nin?"

"No. Just a jonin woman and a couple of kids."

The scarlet-haired man arched an eyebrow. "A genin squad? Are the people running Konoha foolish enough to send some weaklings after a Swordsman of the Mist?"

"They don't seem to think you are who you say you are..." Kemuri arched an eyebrow. "Quite frankly, after hearing about what you've done in the past, I'm beginning to wonder, too..." A stream of fire flew past his head, slightly singing his hair. "Ah!!"

"Are you _questioning_ my validity?" Hitsuke asked as he slumped over, wisps of smoke floating out of his mouth. "I could kill you where you stand right now if I didn't need your money... Weapons don't come cheap, right, boys?"

The green-haired young man flinched as one of the men standing behind him held a knife with a jagged, rusty blade to his neck.

"Besides, you're in no position to be complaining. I've been doing _my_ side of the fugging job, but you've yet to fulfill all your promises..." Hitsuke looked up at Kemuri with a look of murderous intent. "Well...?!"

Kemuri let out a small squeak of fear. Hitsuke gave a nod and the man behind the village leader's grandson removed the knife. "Sorry...! I'm so sorry! I-I swear that as soon as my grandfather can't take his job and grants me the title of village leader, I'll give you all the money you want!"

The scarlet-haired man smirked. "Much better. Now get the hell outta here." Kemuri walked quickly out of the cave as Hitsuke took another sip of saké. "All this waiting...really _pisses_ me off..."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**Many fire-related words are used in this chapter. Kazan (volcano), kaibun (ash), kemuri (smoke) and hitsuke(arson). Tatsujin means "master".**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: In honor of the beginning of the Kazemaru arc, I will light a glorious flame that will keep burning until the end of the arc! And to start the fire, I will burn these items…the entire Icha-Icha series set—including the final novel! (Tosses book set into the fire.)**

**Kakashi: (O.o) NOOOO!!! (Is held back by Sakura when he tries to jump into the fire.)**

**Blu: One drawing of semi-naked Naruto from Sai's sketchbook. (Tosses paper into fire)**

**Naruto: HUH?!?**

**Sai: I drew you while you were training to pass the time. I have a lot more.**

**Naruto: (O.o)**

**Blu: And a photo of…Sasuke and Sai naked?! This actually **_**deserves**_** to be burnt!! (Throws the photo into the fire)**

**Sakura: NOOOO!!! (Is held back by Kakashi and Naruto when she tries to jump into the fire.)**

**Sai: Wait a moment, why didn't you throw anything of Naruto's into the fire?**

**Blu: Oh, you're right! I almost forgot! The illustration of Sakura in a bathing suit from the second Naruto artbook. (Tosses picture into the fire)**

**Naruto: NOOOOO!!! (Jumps into the fire before Sakura and Kakashi can stop him) OW! OW! OW! OW!**

**Blu: (-_-) What a loser… I'd throw something of Sasuke's in, but I doubt he has any precious material objects at all… So I'll just tell you guys to stay tuned and please review! See you in the next chapter!**

**(Kakashi begins to put Naruto out with a fire extinguisher as he rolls along the floor.)**


	21. The Tragic History of Kazemaru

**Blu: Here it is: the final chapter of the Kazemaru Arc! Yes, I know it was only two chapters long, but do you want to get to Arashiden faster or not?**

**Readers: We do!!**

**Blu; Good! But just so I can apologize to those of you who were expecting it to last longer, we'll go on burning things in commemoration of Kazemaru's awesomeness! And to do it, we have the star of the arc, Temashi Kazemaru!! (Claps)**

**Kazemaru: Alright!! Seeing as how last chapter, we tortured Team 7, we're gonna torture Sasuke and his team Taka! First things first…month-long packs of Suigetsu's favorite yogurts and jellos! (Tosses desert packs into the fire)**

**Suigetsu: (Drops on his knees) NOOOOO!!!**

**Juugo: You're not going to jump into the fire?**

**Suigetsu: I'm not dumb! If I jump in there, I'll evaporate!**

**Karin: (Snaps her fingers) Damn!!**

**Kaze: Next: a sweaty shirt of Sasuke's that crazy stalker girl Karin's been sleeping with! (Tosses shirt into the fire)**

**Karin: WHAT?!? NO!!! I'll KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE--!!! (Juugo holds her back)**

**Kaze: Uh… We're gonna skip Juugo because we don't want him going crazy and trying to kill us. So we'll just go on to **_**Sasuke's**_** most prized possession… (Pulls out an Itachi plushie that looks like it's falling apart)**

**Suigetsu: What is **_**that**_**?**

**Kaze: According to Blu, this is the Itachi doll that Sasuke takes his aggression out on when he's not onscreen. (Tosses doll into the fire and has Sasuke's sword pressed against his throat) *Gulp!***

**Sasuke: (Mangekyo Sharingan activates) What did you do…?!**

**Kaze: (O.o) Oh, fug.**

_***We are not able to show anymore images on account of images too gory even for fan fiction (and yes, that is possible). Please sit back and enjoy the fic.***_

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#21: The Tragic History of Kazemaru_

"Man, I have to give the guys who guard the gates back home credit. I can't _stand_ waiting this long!" Kazemaru groaned as he leaned against the white stone wall that circled Kazan Village. Konjo was sitting on the ground, drawing crude pictures with a stick and Nataro was leaning against the wall as well on Kaze's right.

"How long have we been here?" The Hyuga asked as he stared at the ground.

"I dunno. Hey, Nataro, how long have we been sitting here? ...Nataro?" The orange-haired genin turned his head to see the blonde was sleeping, a bit of drool coming out of the side of his mouth. Kazemaru and Konjo sweatdropped as they stared at him. "...You see? _This_ is how boring guard duty is!"

"Um, shouldn't we wake him?"

"Ah, let 'em rest. We'll just...wake him when we're under attack or something."

"_Idiots_!" A female voice hissed, and a few seconds later, all three boys had been struck in their heads and had large, red bumps throbbing on them.

"Wha-what?! What's going on?! Are we being attacked?! Are the nukenin here?!" Nataro asked as he jumped to his feet. He drew a kunai and looked around for the attackers, only to find an upset-looking Ina.

"If you were _awake_, you would know." The Uchiha told him in a flat tone.

"What the heck was that _for_, Fan Girl?!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pointed a finger at her.

"For not doing your jobs, you pyromaniac!" Ina folded her arms across her chest and looked down at down at the three boys. "We're supposed to be standing guard and looking out for Hitsuke. So far, I'm the only goddamn one who's doing what Tsuki-sensei said!"

"So _why_ don't we just use Konjo? Those eyes of his are supposed to see around 360 degrees or something, right? So _he's_ the one who should be standing on guard!" Said the pyromanic ninja as he jerked a thumb towards the indigo-haired genin.

"There's a limit to how long and how far Konjo can see." Ina explained, "Due to his...er, head condition, there's a time limit to how long he can use his Byakugan. If he uses it for _too_ long, he gets a headache and he'll pass out."

"That was only one time..." Konjo muttered as an air of gloom surrounded him.

"Ah, don't listen to her, White Eyes!" Kaze grinned as he patted the Hyuga on the back. "Aren't you the one who says _'if you believe that you can do it, there are no limitations to what you can achieve'_? Or...something like that?"

Konjo blinked. "I do? I mean, yeah, I do!"

"So just believe in yourself, and you can probably see well over 10 miles!"

'_Oh, brother...'_ Ina thought.

'_Is he actually gonna believe this?' _Nataro thought with squinted eyes.

"Yes, I can!!" Konjo exclaimed as he jumped up to his feet, flames burning in those lavender-colored eyes of his.

"...What a moron..." The raven-haired girl muttered as a sweatdrop ran down the back of her head.

"Don't worry, guys! I'll be the eyes while you guys sit back as backup!"

As the Hyuga scurried past Ina and stood in front of the entrance to Kazan Village, she looked at Kazemaru. "...You know...I don't take kindly to guys tricking my teammates." She told the orange-haired genin.

"Then why didn't you stop me?" Kaze asked with an eyebrow arched.

In reply, she shrugged and said, "I wanted to see if he was gullible enough to believe you. I should've known..."

**X-X-X**

On the eastern end of Kazan Village, Shizuka yawned as she stared off into the distance, at the setting sun in the multicolored sky. "We've been here for hours. This is really boring..."

"Tell me about it," mumbled Hanzo. "And Tsuki-sensei went and left us all alone...just to get something to _eat_!" _'She better bring us back something!'_

"Isn't she worried that if that nukenin shows up on _this_ end, we'd have to fight him by ourselves? I-I mean... It's nice to see that she believes in us, but does she _honestly_ think we can take on a group of who-knows-how-many ninja?"

Hanzo looked down at the ground and kicked a stone aside. "I think she was just saying that to make us feel better. A genin can beat a chunin or a jonin if they have enough skill. She thinks we're talented enough to take on more C-rank missions, too, but..."

The blue-haired kunoichi blinked. "But, what?"

"I think she's just doing it to make herself look good."

Shizuka gave a small gasp, which caused the Uchiha to look in her direction. "How could you say that, Hanzo-kun? Your sensei believes in you, and you're contradicting it!"

He turned around to look at her directly. "Do you remember that the teachers for this year's graduating squads _bet on us_ during the Chunin Exams, Shizuka-chan?"

The blue-haired girl began to sulk. _'Oh... How could I forget?! And Haseo-sensei swore that he wouldn't do such a thing with us...!'_"Still...I don't think Tsuki-sensei would use you and your teammates to make herself look good..."

"I guess you've got a point. She was a well-known kunoichi even _before_ she got us as students." The raven-haired boy blinked. "Um... Shizuka-chan... Were you there during the second-to-last match for the Chunin Exams? When Nataro and I fought?"

Shizuka looked away from him, her face dark red. _'O-of course I remember! I've never felt so embarrassed in all my life...!'_ "N-no... I was visiting Ina at the hospital that day."

Hanzo gave a mental sigh of relief. _'Thank goodness... That means she wasn't there to see Nataro's little stunt!'_ An image of several naked Shizukas appeared in his mind and he found his face was now a dark shade of red.

Shizuka noticed this when her face returned to normal and stared at him. "Hanzo-kun...? Are you okay? You look a little—" Before she could finish her sentence, the young Uchiha turned on his heel and banged his head on the wall he was standing in front of. "EH?! H-hanzo-kun!! What are you _doing_?!"

'_Damn Nataro... Damn Kazemaru... Being on the same team with those two has tainted my mind...'_ The raven-haired teen thought as he rubbed his forehead.

"Why did you hit your head on purpose? I-if it was because you wanted me to be at your fight..."

"N-no! No, no! I didn't want you there! I mean, I _did_ want you, but I didn't and... Never mind. Just..._forget _we talked about this, Shizuka-chan."

"Talked about what?" Both genin spun around to see Tsuki, holding a paper bag in one hand and a magazine under her arm. "What were you two talking about while I was gone?"

"Wh-where were you?!" Hanzo shouted at the purple-haired jonin. "Do you know how long you've been gone? We might've been _killed_ by Hitsuke and his men!"

"Geez, I was only gone for...15 minutes. ...And what is that on your forehead, Hanzo?" Tsuki asked as she walked between Hanzo and Shizuka and handed the blue-haired girl the bag and magazine. She stared at the bruise before poking it.

"Ow!"

"What exactly happened while I was gone?"

As soon as she said that, the two genin chimed, "Nothing!"

The jonin kunoichi arched an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hips. "_Riiiight_... Well, so long as neither of you were severely injured during your _love quarrel_, I won't pry any further."

"L-love quarrel?!? There was no such thing!!" Shizuka shouted as she blushed. Hanzo was simply struck speechless, as his eyes had been reduced to dots, his mouth disappeared, and he stood straight like a statue.

"Oh, come now! No need to hide these things, Shizuka-chan! I'm a girl, too, you know!"

"B-but there wasn't anything between us, I swear! W-we just talked about...st-stuff!"

"That's what they _always_ say!" Tsuki laughed as clouds of gloom floated over Shizuka and Hanzo.

"Is it too late to be put on another team?" The raven-haired boy muttered to himself.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, back with Ina and the boys about an hour later...

"I _told_ you he'd get tired." Ina told Kazemaru as Nataro stood by a semi-conscious Konjo, whose lavender-tinted white eyes twitched every once in a while.

The orange-haired genin frowned as he folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, I _said _I was sorry for leading him on like that! Besides, it's not like he's seriously hurt, right? It's just a headache."

"Maybe. _Or_ Konjo could have _serious _mental trauma."

"Let's just...hope for the best, okay?"

Konjo mumbled something unintelligible that made Nataro arch an eyebrow. "What was that, Konjo?"

"Hope for the best? If something bad happens to Konjo, know that _you_ are the one taking the blame!" The Uchiha said as she poked the pyromanic genin's chest.

"M-me? But... But you _knew_ I was leading him on, but _you_ wanted to see where it would lead! So, you're just as much to blame as I am!!"

"Tch. Hell no. You caused it to happen, so it is your fault! End of discussion."

The blonde genin leaned forward to listen to the Hyuga. "What is it, Konjo? You want something? Food? Water?"

"_Aspirin_..." The indigo-haired boy groaned as he rubbed his temples. "I feel like I've been banging my head against a cement wall..."

"Yeah, well...that'll teach you that there are _some _hurdles in this world that you can't get over with faith and determination alone," Kaze said as he wagged a finger at him.

"But you're the one who—"

"Hey, don't go blaming this on others! It's your own fault for being so _gullible_, White Eyes!"

The indigo-haired boy lowered his head and stared at the ground.

"Er, that _is_ kinda true..." Nataro mumbled as he scratched his neck. "But, you didn't have to trick him to get the message clear. ...If he got hurt, you would've had to deal with his family."

The orange-haired pyromaniac began to sweat. _'The moron's got a point...'_

Ina folded her arms across her chest. "Hmph... There _was_ no lesson, you dope. He just didn't want to do any work."

"Hey, what's up with you two double-teaming me?! I _said_ I was sorry, okay? Geez..." He turned his back on the three other genin and mumbled something under his breath.

A couple of minutes later, Nataro and Kazemaru were each standing on one side of the entrance with the blonde on the right, and the pyromaniac on the left. Ina was sitting next to Konjo as they leaned against the wall, with the Hyuga sleeping, though occasionally whining at every pounding throb in his head and his teammate telling him that he deserved the pain.

"Hey... I just remembered something." Nataro looked at his teammate with narrowed, fox-like eyes. "Tsuki-sensei never showed us a picture of this Hitsuke guy."

"Hm? She didn't?" Kaze blinked as he tapped scratched his cheek. "That's a problem..." _'But I should remember what Hitsuke looks like, so...'_ "Eh, no problem."

The orange-clad blonde blinked. "Whaddaya mean, _'no problem'_? That nukenin could just waltz in here and we wouldn't know about it!!"

"D-didn't Tsuki-sensei say that whenever they come into town, Hitsuke and his gang are always lookin' to cause trouble?"

"Uh, yeah... What's your point?"

The orange-haired pyromaniac's arm was now wrapped around his teammate's shoulders. "So, we'll just keep an eye out for anyone who seems to be the trouble-causing type. Simple."

'_Not to me.'_ Nataro thought as he glanced at Kazemaru. "That's dumb! I can't tell the difference between trouble-making people and good people..."

"Just...look 'em in the eye, okay?!"

"Excuse me." Both genin turned their heads to see a beautiful-looking woman standing before the entrance, holding the hands of two small boys. "This is the Kazan Village, right?"

"Yup! It sure is!" Nataro said energetically.

"Great! Then would you mind letting me and my sons through? We really need to find a place to stay for the night..." As if on cue, one of the boys yawned as the other rubbed his eye. "We've been traveling since morning."

Kazemaru blinked as he stared at the woman. _'She looks kinda...familiar...'_ He didn't remember meeting anyone like her for the past few days, though. Or even somewhere in Konoha before. And he usually remembered seeing such a pretty lady.

The blonde genin stared at the woman for a while and looked into her eyes. _'It's true that a person's eyes can tell you everything about them. ...Well, that's what I saw on TV that one time...'_ After a little while, Nataro found that the woman was staring at him, now. The way she looked at him frightened him a bit, so he broke it off.

Nearby, Ina arched an eyebrow at the blonde's actions. _'What's up with __**him**__?'_ She stood up and walked over to the entrance. "What's going on?"

"Just...checking out somebody," said Nataro as he finally regained his senses and was able to look the woman in the eye.

"So, may I pass? Since you're ninja and everything, this must be something important. And I would hate to be a pest with your work or whatever it is."

The raven-haired girl stared at the woman for a while. "...Okay." She stepped aside and Nataro did the same, commenting that it would probably take forever for Hitsuke to come.

As the woman passed by the three genin, Kaze's eyes widened slightly. _'I...remember her now...!'_ Acting upon instinct, his hand moved to his thigh holster and drew a few shuriken. He threw them at the woman's back, as Ina and Nataro watched with widened eyes.

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Hmph." She let go of her sons' hands and disappeared in the blink of an eye, reappearing on the roof of a nearby building.

"K-kazemaru!! What the _hell_ were you _thinking_?!" Nataro shouted. He then realized that the woman was now on top of the roof, glaring down at them. Her sons grinned evilly as smoke soon developed them. When the smoke cleared, the boys were replaced by two fierce-looking men. One had ice blue hair that was kept in a long ponytail and dark blue eyes, holding a spear with a large blade. The other was much taller, probably over 6 feet, with spiky brown hair and tan-skinned with pupilless yellow eyes, a large cleaver-like sword on his back.

Nataro, Ina, and Kazemaru immediately got into their fighting stances. "Crap! One of these guys must be Hitsuke! I can't believe we got tricked so easily...!" The Uchiha hissed.

"Actually, what you see before are Hitsuke's henchmen," said the woman as she jumped off of the roof and landed in front of the two men. "Kohaku" she pointed to the blue-haired man, "And Akahito." Then she pointed at the spiky-haired man. "And I..." In a poof of smoke, the woman disappeared, and in her spot was Hitsuke "Am Tatsujin Hitsuke."

"...That's Hitsuke?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow. _'He doesn't look so tough.'_

'_Bastard!'_ Kazemaru thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, kid!! Don't you know it's not polite to strike a woman! And from the back! How dishonorable!!!" Hitsuke shouted loudly as he flipped the bird at Kazemaru.

"I'm a damn ninja! It's what I do, ya asshole!!" The pyromanic genin shouted back. "Besides, you're the one who should be dishonored! Taking on the form of a girl you killed long ago!"

"Wha?" Nataro blinked.

'_Oh, crap!'_ Kaze thought as he covered his mouth with his hands. _'Me and my big mouth!'_

Hitsuke frowned and placed a hand on his hip. "Listen, kid. I don't know _who_ the hell you are or _how _you know about my precious Chiaki, but no one soils her name like that!" With his free hand, the nukenin reached in his pocket and pulled a small, black ball. "Not even a _brat_ like you!" He threw the balls at the three genin as a smirk came onto his face.

Yet again acting on instinct, Kazemaru ducked and landed on the ground. And though they weren't sure _what_ the things Hitsuke had thrown at them were, Ina and Nataro ducked as well, since Kazemaru seemed to be on a roll tonight. As the ball hit a post can behind them, it exploded. The three genin jumped out of the way in time to avoid the falling post as it collapsed in front of them.

"I've killed children before," said Hitsuke as he began to make hand signs. "Don't think I'll take it easy on you!" He suddenly stopped forming hand signs and let his hands fall down to his sides. "...Actually, fighting you kids would just be a waste of my time and chakra. So, I'll let my boys take care of things for me."

"Huh?" Nataro blinked. "H-hey, wait a minute! Who do you think you are?! We're _way_ stronger than you think!" The orange-clad blonde shouted as he made a familiar hand sign and a half-dozen shadow clones came into existence. "Behold the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" All 7 Nataros shouted as they charged at Hitsuke, kunai in hand.

The arsonist stared at the approaching blonde clones with a blank look. He backflipped into the air and avoided being cut by two of the clones, only to meet a barrage of shuriken and kunai by the other Nataros. A couple grazed his cheek while a shuriken had become embedded in his shoulder. "Grrrr...!" Hitsuke immediately began to form several hand signs.

'_Uh-oh! I know what __**that**__ is!'_

The scarlet-haired nukenin took a deep breath and blew out a large amount of fire down at Nataro. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!'_ His eyes glowed with joy as he saw the flames burn.

"HEY!!! I'm up here, you pyromaniac!!"

"Eh?" Hitsuke looked up to see Nataro standing on top of the roof, along with two kage bunshins that appeared to have survived the attack.

"Check this out!" The three blondes began to form several hand signs as they all took a deep breath.

"STOP!!" Ina shouted at the blonde. "In case you've forgotten, we're in a _town_!! You could start a fire or something, you idiot!!"

Nataro paused in his Gokakyu and painfully swallowed the fire down...somehow. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I burnt my tongue!!" He shouted as his clones disappeared in poofs of smoke.

The raven-haired girl sweatdropped before turning to face Hitsuke. "So that means no fire jutsu... Fine with me. I have _other_ means of fighting, anyway." And with those words, she activated her Sharingan.

"Those eyes... The touted Sharingan of the Uchiha clan." Hitsuke waved nonchalantly at Ina. "As much fun as it would be to kill one of your kind, _I_ am a gentleman. Harming a pretty young lady such as yourself is _out_ of the question."

Ina frowned as she got into a fighting stance. "Liar! You can burn a woman in her house, but you can't fight a little girl? You must be a coward."

"Heh-heh... You know, you should be grateful I'm a gentleman, or else I'd rip out those pretty eyes of yours and burn you to the _ground_!" The scarlet-haired arsonist frowned, but after a while, he started to smile again. "But, I suppose one of my friends could play with you...and that _kid_ who's sleeping over there."

"Huh?" Ina turned around and noticed that the man called Akahito was approaching Konjo, who was still knocked out. _'Crap!'_ She dashed towards the tall man and jumped onto his back, latching on to him.

"What the—? G-get off of me, you little brat!" Akahito growled as the Uchiha's nail dug deeper into his skin. She released one hand from his shoulder, and reached into her kunai pouch. A few seconds later, the man had a kunai sticking out of his upper-arm. "Little girl, you're starting to _piss me off_!!"

A vein throbbed on the Uchiha girl's forehead. "Is that so...?" She suddenly did something _very_ unlike herself and _bit_ the spiky-haired man on his neck.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!"

Kohaku approached Nataro, who was still standing on the rooftop. "Come down and fight if you're a real ninja, kid!" He lunged the spear upwards at the young shinobi, but he stepped back in time to dodge the blade.

The blonde genin jumped up high into the air and made a familiar hand sign. A dozen other Nataros appeared in the air with him, and they all began to draw kunai and shuriken. Their eyes narrowed slightly as all the Nataros threw the projectile weapons at the blue-haired man. Several of the kunai hit him in vital spots. "Yes!" Then Kohaku disappeared in a poof of smoke, replacing himself with a log. "Crap!"

"Hmhmhm! I've got you _now_!" The blue-haired man smirked as he appeared over one of the Nataros and sliced them in half, causing it to disappear in a poof of smoke. As what remained of the blondes and Kohaku landed, the genin and his clones began to whisper to each other.

"Okay?" Nataro whispered to his clones. As they nodded, he grinned evilly. "Good!" He then spun on his heel and pointed a finger at the spear-wielding man. "All right, listen up! You better give up now, before I gotta use one of my strongest techniques on you!"

"Do you honestly think I'd be afraid of something made up by a runt?" The blue-haired henchman snorted.

The orange-clad shinobi, along with his kage bunshin doppelgangers, growled lowly as veins throbbed on their foreheads. "That's it! I tried to warn you, but now you're going to feel the wrath of the future Nanadaime Hokage!" The Nataros formed a hand sign, and were all soon enveloped in thick smoke. When the smoke cleared, standing there were a dozen, naked blonde girls, and having nothing but wisps of smoke hide their chests and loins.

And, as Nataro had expected all along, Kohaku fainted. In a poof of smoke, all the clones had disappeared and the young blonde changed back into himself. "That was _easy_! I didn't have to tackle him or _nothing_!"

Meanwhile, Akahito managed to grab Ina's ponytail and started to yank on it hard. With each tug at her hair, the raven-haired kunoichi's teeth dug deeper into his skin, causing the spiky-haired man to give a cry of pain every few seconds or so.

'_I thought she'd need my help, but I guess she's got everything under control...'_ Nataro thought with a sweatdrop. _'I never thought she'd bite at him, though...'_

In front of the fighting Akahito and Ina, Konjo began to stir and blink. "Someone...turn off the TV, please." He said with sleepy, half-lidded eyes.

"DAMMIT, KONJO! If you don't wake up, I _swear_ I'll scream your damn head off!!!" Ina screamed as she stopped biting Akahito's neck, causing the tall man to wince.

"Huh?" The Hyuga blinked as he started to stare at the sight before him. "...Huh?! What's going on?!"

"What does it _look_ like, you moron?! We're under attack!" Akahito finally managed to give one powerful yank of the Uchiha girl's ponytail, which caused her to let go and jump back, landing next to Nataro.

"How long were you doing that for?" The orange-clad genin asked her as she spat on the ground.

"Blech! I don't know and I don't _want_ to know!" The raven-haired kunoichi growled as she wiped her mouth.

"Heh-heh-heh! I've got you now!" Akahito growled as he placed his hand on the hilt of the sword on his back. A smirk came on to his face as Ina and Nataro's muscles tensed up, ready to either charge forward and jump back.

"HAAAAAAAAH!!!" Konjo charged from behind, his Byakugan activated as he lunged his palm forward to strike the tall man in the back. The indigo-haired boy attacked him several times—the exact number, the onlooking genin didn't know. One who had watched him in the Chunin Exams before would've remembered this certain technique. "Hyaku...Retsu Sho!!" The last blow was to the spot where his heart was. A couple of seconds later...nothing happened. "Um... That...wasn't supposed to happen..." Konjo sweatdropped as he looked at his hands.

"Konjo! Look out!" Nataro shouted.

Akahito drew his sword and raised it up in the air with both hands, a devilish grin on his face. "Say, good night, kid!" He started to laugh, but stopped all of a sudden. The genin stared at the man for a while, confused about what he hadn't tried to slash Konjo in half yet. A few seconds later, Akahito released his sword and fell backwards, coughing up blood. The broad sword landed only a few inches in front of Konjo's face.

"...That was a close one." Nataro spoke with squinted, fox-like eyes. "Next time, make up a move that'll work faster!"

"I-it's not my fault! I must've pushed the wrong chakra point at the wrong time, maybe!" The Hyuga shouted back as he walked around the sword. "It wouldn't have mattered, anyway. These guys were _way_ too easy!"

"Tch... Big talk coming from someone who slept through the first half." Ina told him, folding her arms across her chest.

"That...that doesn't matter!! What matters is that we take down Hitsuke, right now!"

Nataro turned around and started to look around. "Ack! How could we let this happen?! That Hitsuke bastard ran away while we were fighting!!"

"What? Ugh..." Ina groaned as she glared at the ground.

"Kaze's gone, too!!"

The Hyuga of the group turned to look at the other two. "Uh, guys? You don't think something _bad_ happened to Kazemaru, do you?"

All three genin remained silent. An unnerving silence seemed to fill the area until Nataro said, "Of course not! Kaze's may have bad aim, but he wouldn't allow himself to get beaten by some criminal!"

"Then what are we waiting for? We should be looking for both him _and_ Hitsuke. It's likely that Kazemaru followed Hitsuke when we were busy fighting those other guys," Ina told the boys.

"Speaking of those guys..."

"Well, well! It looks like you four had a good time!" A familiar female voice spoke.

Nataro blinked and turned around. "Tsu... Tsuki-sensei?" He looked up and saw the purple-haired kunoichi standing on a rooftop with Hanzo and Shizuka with her.

"What happened here?" Shizuka asked as the three of them jumped down.

"Hitsuke and his _'boys'_." Ina answered the blue-haired girl simply.

"But we took care of them! Heck, they weren't all that tough, anyway!" The blonde exclaimed.

"So, where is Hitsuke?" Tsuki asked the genin. She blinked as she stared at the three of them. "...And Kazemaru?"

"Er...that's kinda hard to explain..."

**X-X-X**

Somewhere in the Kazan Village, Kazemaru coughed up blood. "Crap... Why...? Why can't I _move_?!" He whispered to himself as he grasped his chest. Hitsuke stared at him with a blank face. "What're _you_ lookin' at, you no-good bastard?! You starting to remember the _crap_ you put me through?!"

Hitsuke arched an eyebrow. "If I did, I don't remember. Shows how important _you_ were, kid."

"BASTARD!! Of course you don't remember me! You _killed _me! ...Well, you _tried _to!" The orange-haired genin shouted at the scarlet-haired man. He suddenly found himself being lifted off the ground by the front of his shirt. Kaze stared into eyes the same color as his own and suddenly felt cold all over.

Hitsuke stared at Kaze for a while as he tilted his head to side slightly. "...Hm. Nope. Can't remember a thing." A smile graced his face. "But if you what you say is true, I guess I'm gonna have to kill you _again_."

_I want to yell at him. I want to curse him for what he did to me!! But, I can't...!'_ Kazemaru thought as he stared into Hitsuke's eyes. _'Why does he frighten me, even after all these years...?'_ After a few seconds, Kazemaru finally found his voice and began to speak, "I'm Kazemaru, you bastard!! The one you dragged along with you against my will!!"

As if a light was suddenly switched on, Hitsuke blinked, and then smirked. "Kazemaru... Heh! My, how _you've_ grown! And you're a _Konoha ninja_ now... That's amazing! I didn't think you'd have the guts to become a shinobi after all you've seen."

At those words, Kaze flinched. The quick kills and even quicker burnings that he'd seen Hitsuke do... Those were things that, while he could forget them, would always come back after a while. Unable to say the insults and curses that were on his mind at the moment for some reason, the genin settled for glaring at the older shinobi.

"What's the matter, Kaze-kun? Aren't you glad to see your dear old big brother after so long?"

The orange-haired boy lowered his head a bit, his bands hiding his eyes. "_You_... You aren't a brother! A real brother wouldn't sacrifice his little brother to save his own ass!! What you are...is a guy who needs to be placed in the crack—!" Before he could finish speaking, Hitsuke threw Kazemaru into a wall headfirst.

"Shut up!!" The scarlet-haired man growled as he glared at Kazemaru. The young ninja held his head as a small trail of blood ran down the side of his head, dripping onto the ground.

"Ugh... You bas...bastard!! I trusted you and you almost got me killed!"

Hitsuke arched an eyebrow as he placed a hand on his hip. "Are you _still_ holding a grudge? It's been what, 3 or 4 years? And now you're going to tell me that you've wanted to kill me for years, I suppose?"

"You wanna know the truth? I never even gave a _single thought to you_—not until I came back to this place! I never even knew _you_ were the one who was causing all those problems in town. So, why'd you stoop so low as to pillage and plunder like some sort of common criminal?" Imitating Hitsuke, Kaze placed a hand on his hip, "I thought that the _great Hitsuke_ wouldn't stoop to the level of a common criminal. Or was that just another lie?!"

"So, you wanna get me to drop the dime? Hmmmm... I think not!" As he said those words, the scarlet-haired man dashed forward and punched the genin in the face. Kazemaru stumbled back, but Hitsuke continued to land punches on him, despite the fact that there was enough time between strikes to dodge them. "What's the...matter...Kaze?! Are you that...bad a...ninja?" The older ninja spoke between blows. He then grabbed a chunk of Kazemaru's hair, helping him to stand up straight. "You know, if you said you were sorry, I would forgive you and welcome you back with open arms. And then, we can leave this place just as soon as we find out how to get rid of those other little kids and that jonin..."

Kaze's eyes widened as he stared at Hitsuke. _'Huh?'_

"The jonin will be the hardest, but the children should be _easy_ for me to take care of—" The arsonist stopped talking as he felt something digging into his arm. "...Kazemaru. What _are_ you doing?"

"I won't...let you..." The orange-haired genin spoke through gritted teeth. "I will never let you hurt...my...friends...!"

Hitsuke arched an eyebrow as he stared at Kaze. "_Friends_? Are you kidding? Don't tell me that you've become one of those 'all Leaf ninja are a part of the same tree' types. I wonder, do they even _know _what you've done while you were with me, Kaze-kun?"

The boy narrowed his eyes as a growl escaped from his mouth. "I won't let you hurt them!"

"HA!! They _don't_ know, do they?! I bet if they knew you once assisted a nukenin in grand arson, they'd see you as a criminal!"

The orange-haired shinobi released the older man's arm, and he let go of his hair, causing Kazemaru to stand on his own two feet.

"Are you going to try to _stop me_, Kaze-kun?" The scarlet-haired shinobi asked as he took a few steps back. "Or...do I have to do to _you _what I did to your _beloved parents_?"

Kaze remained silent. The Kiri nukenin smirked.

"KAZEMARU!!" A loud, familiar voice spoke, causing both pyromanic ninja to look up. Hitsuke probably shouldn't have looked up, though, as a foot came crashing into his face. "Take that, ya bastard!" Nataro shouted as he jumped off of Hitsuke's face and landed next to Kazemaru.

"Nataro?!"

"You alright, Kaze?" The blonde asked as he turned to look at his teammate.

"Uh...yeah."

"Good, so now I can say: WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! Going off all on your own! And without telling us!!"

"Would you prefer it if Hitsuke ran away?" Kaze said as he glared at him. "And you're one to talk! Where's sensei and the others, you moron?!"

"They'll catch up! But until then, we gotta keep Hitsuke from getting away!" Nataro told him as he drew a kunai and got into a fighting stance.

"So, is this one of those _friends_ you were talking about, Kazemaru? He looks like an imbecile. I mean, really! What sort of idiot ninja wears orange?" Hitsuke laughed and leaned against a house.

Kazemaru looked at Nataro with half-lidded eyes as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head. _'That __**is **__kinda true...'_

A vein started to throb on the orange-clad genin's head. "Grrrrrrrrr!!!"

"What're you getting angry for, kid? It's the truth, ain't it?" The nukenin pushed himself off of the wall as he spoke and looked at Kaze. "You have a bad taste in friends, Kaze-kun."

"Huh?" Nataro blinked and looked back at his orange-haired teammate, who was gritting his teeth. "Kaze...?"

"That's true. I guess you'd know about that, seeing as how you _were _one of those bad choices."

"Hey, what're you doing?! This is the part where we both charge forward and kick this guy's ass!! Stop _acting _as though you know him!!" The blonde waited for the orange-haired boy to do something—draw a weapon, start making hand signs, or even stubbornly charge at the man in front of them. But Kazemaru just stood there. Growling under his breath, Nataro made a hand sign and several shadow clones of himself came into existence.

"Bunshin? Tsk, tsk, tsk! What a kid trick!" Hitsuke spoke in a gleeful tone as he jumped backwards. One of the kage bunshins dashed forward, channeling chakra into his feet as he tackled the older man. The clone jumped off of him as three more clones, wielding shuriken and kunai, jumped high into the air and threw the projectile weapons down at the arsonist ninja. Hitsuke rolled to the side, avoiding being hit and began to make several hand signs of his own. He took a deep breath as his flame-orange eyes glared at the three blonde clones.

"Uh-oh...!" Mumbled the clones, which were still in mid-air as Hitsuke breathed out a stream of fire towards them, taking them out. The scarlet-haired man jumped to his feet and dashed towards the clone that tackled him. He kneed the Nataro clone in the stomach and finished it off with a punch to the face.

"Kazemaru! Hey, hey!! Snap out of it, man!" Nataro grabbed the orange-haired genin's jacket and began to shake it as Hitsuke fought the remaining kage bunshin.

"I'm _here_, Nataro!!" Kaze shouted loudly.

"Then why aren't you _doing_ anything?! Aw, forget it!!" The blonde genin released his teammate's jacket and made a familiar hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A dozen Nataros appeared around the original and they all quickly began to circle around the arsonist nukenin.

Kazemaru looked down at the ground, clenching and unclenching his fist. _'He's right... Why aren't I __**doing**__ anything?!'_

The 13 Nataros kept their gaze on Hitsuke, who was simply standing there with a blank look on his face. "YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The blondes charged, each one balling up a fist before pouncing the scarlet-haired man.

"Kazemaru, are you alright?!" Konjo shouted as Tsuki and the other genin ran into the area.

"Nataro, why did you have to run off like that...?" Hanzo asked at blonde. "It was hard enough looking for Kaze alone!"

"It looks like he caught Hitsuke, though." Tsuki said as she walked up to the ninja dog pile. "You _do_ have him, right, Nataro?"

One of the clones stuck their head out of the pile. "Yup! He's right he—" Before the clone could finish, something—or rather someone—shot up from underneath the pile and into the air. Hitsuke grinned as he threw something in his hand down at the Nataros. A few seconds later, they exploded and gave off an intense flash of light that woke up everyone in the village. The Konoha ninja shielded eyes until the light faded. Hitsuke had disappeared.

"He can't have gone _too_ far! Split up into groups of two and find him!" Tsuki ordered the genin as the Nataro clones disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Yes, sensei!" Hanzo, Ina, Konjo and Shizuka shouted as they each went a different direction.

"I don't think Kaze can do this, sensei. He's been acting funny all day, and he wouldn't help me fight Hitsuke!" Nataro told the jonin as he folded his arms across his chest.

The orange-haired genin frowned. "I fought Hitsuke! It was _before_ you came. I-I was just tired."

"Kazemaru, I can't let you take part in this mission unless you tell me what's wrong with you." Tsuki said.

"Nothing's wrong. I don't know what Ramen Breath's talking about, but I'm fine!"

"Kazemaru. You're lying." The purple-haired kunoichi spoke in a stern tone of voice. "Now, tell the truth."

"...I... He..." Kaze took a deep breath and sighed. He bowed his head, eyes hidden by his bangs. "I might...know Hitsuke."

"Huh? You mean...you _know_ that psycho?!" Nataro shouted loudly before Tsuki placed a hand on his mouth. "Mmmph!!"

"Continue."

"I wasn't born in Konohagakure. I was born here in Kazan Village. I had a...meek, overprotective mother who was easily taken advantage by people, and a father who wasn't even my blood father and treated me like _I_ was the one who raped my mother just months after their marriage. My mom kept me inside a lot and almost never let me near anything sharp or dangerous. And as a result, I didn't have that many friends.

"But then...I met Hitsuke..."

**X-X-X**

_On one of those rare days that Kazemaru got to spend outside, the young redhead was walking around the forest and enjoying what little time outside he got. As the seven-year old continued to walk, he soon tripped over something and fell flat on his face in the dirt._

"_Oof! ...Ow..." The boy whined as he looked down at his slightly scrapped knee. He stood up and dusted himself off, then started to look around for whatever it was that tripped him._

_That was when he spotted it. A leg. A **bloody leg** was sticking out of a bush... So, at that moment, Kazemaru did what most curious children did: poke it with a stick. It was the best way to see if there was anything connected to it._

"_Who the **fuck** is poking me...?" Someone slurred from behind the bush, pulling the leg back in. The person behind the foliage stood up and started to scratch his head and yawn. He was definitely **not** the cleanest person that Kaze ever met. His clothes were dirty, with splotches of blood on them. There were several bandages on his arms and legs, most of which were dirty and also stained with blood. But what made the boy stare at him was the large burn that was on the left side of his face, the left eye covered up a bit by his scarlet-red hair._

_Kaze stared at the man with wide eyes for a while. He opened his mouth to speak, but in a flash, the bandaged-up man grabbed hold of something and swung it down beside the boy, bringing an air of heat. It was a large sword made up of a short cylindrical bronze hilt and a long black blade whose shape reminded the boy of a flame and was easily as tall as the man and as wide as Kaze._

"_Don't scream...!" The scarlet-haired man growled, narrowing his eyes._

"_I-I wasn't gonna scream!!" Kazemaru shouted, causing the man to wince. Of course, that was a lie. For a second, he thought the man was a mummy from those horror movies on TV. "I was gonna ask...what happened to you. You look like someone who got attacked or somethin'..."_

_The man snorted as he raised his sword again, revealing the scorch marks on the ground and grass it landed on. "Duh, that's because I **was**! I was attacked by some very bad men who wanted to kill me."_

_The boy blinked. "Kill you? For what?"_

"_Them and that entire village are all bent outta shape just because I left home. What's the loss of one shinobi, I ask you?" The scarlet-haired man asked as he placed a hand on his hip._

_That was when Kazemaru's eyes widened even more. "Shi-shinobi? As in a ninja?! You're a ninja?!"_

_The man smirked. "Yup! I am Tatsujin Hitsuke, one of the 7 Swordsmen of Kirigakure!"_

**X-X-X**

"After that, I followed Hitsuke around like a puppy. I told him all the best hiding places I knew of, I got him food and new clothes and helped him change his bandages. And, in return, he taught me some simple jutsu—like the type they thought in the Ninja Academy. I _idolized_ Hitsuke—to the point where I imitated things he did. He made me love fire. He made me come to appreciate the taste of saké. He was...the brother I never had." Kazemaru spoke as he stared at the ground. "He was weird...but I loved him. But after a while, some hunter-nin from Konoha came and Hitsuke killed them...and burned their bodies... And I watched the skin burn off of their bodies and their flesh turn into ashes."

Nataro felt a shiver go down his spine as he stared at the orange-haired genin while Tsuki looked at him with a blank face.

"After that, he...killed both of my parents and burned down my house because..." Kaze stopped, feeling something well up in his throat. He swallowed the feeling down before saying, "Because I said I'd have more freedom if it wasn't for them. I didn't mean to kill them...! I-I really _didn't_...!" He sniffled and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket. "So, I traveled with him for a while and we went to places all over Hi no Kuni. And even though I got my freedom, I was afraid that Hitsuke would snap and kill me if I did anything wrong! But, some hunter-nin found us, and we were trapped..."

**X-X-X**

_Hitsuke and Kazemaru stood in front of a group of hunter-ninja, all wielding weapons. The boy was shaking as the scarlet-haired man cursed under his breath. One of the oinin drew a few kunai and threw them at Hitsuke. The scarlet-haired man smirked as he grabbed the back of Kaze's shirt and pulled the boy in front of him. The kunai struck the boy, but thankfully, no vital spots were hit._

"_Hit...su..." Kazemaru sounded out before coughing out blood._

"_Sorry, Kaze-kun. But one of us has to go today." Hitsuke threw the boy at a hunter-ninja before disappearing in the blink of an eye._

_Without receiving a command, the hunter-nin that was holding Kazemaru immediately began to carefully pull out the kunai and heal him as the others chased after the arsonist ninja. As the shinobi's hands, surrounded by a light green aura, touched the boy's wounds, the child's vision began to get fuzzy as tears welled up in his eyes,_

"_Wh-why...? Hit...suke...?"_

**X-X-X**

"He used you as a shield?! He almost got you _killed _and you won't try to beat the crap out of him?! Why the hell not?!" Nataro shouted at Kazemaru.

"Now that I think about it, there was a report that Hitsuke _kidnapped_ a child, whom after being rescued by Konoha hunter-nin said that if he hadn't cooperated, Hitsuke would've killed him. So that _was _you, Kazemaru! I thought your file was a bit _odd_." Tsuki told the orange-haired genin. "But that still doesn't explain why you're acting the way you are. You should be trying to _kill_ Hitsuke, right?"

"I _want_ to kick the crap of Hitsuke! Believe me, I really do!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he pumped a fist in the air. His hand soon fell back to his side. "But...when I look in his eyes, I feel..."

The purple-haired jonin folded her arms across her chest. "Ah, mental trauma. What Hitsuke's done to you has scarred you so deeply that it's left you feeling scared whenever you see the man!"

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "Huh? It's not that!" _'I think.'_

"Uh-huh..." Nataro mumbled with squinted eyes.

"But, don't worry, Kazemaru. If you can catch Hitsuke and maybe pound on him a bit, your fear of him should disappear!"

"Um, are you sure, Tsuki-sensei?" The orange-haired genin asked as a drop of sweat ran down the back of his head.

Tsuki turned her back on him and looked up at a building. "Why don't you guys just come out of hiding? The story's over already."

"It is?" Konjo's voice sounded somewhat depressed from on the rooftop. Konjo, Hanzo, Ina, and Shizuka jumped off of the roof they were hiding on and landed down in front of the jonin.

'_It all makes sense now.'_ Hanzo thought as he stared at his orange-haired teammate.

" No _wonder _you're such a pyromaniac..." Ina muttered.

"Did any of you find Hitsuke?" Tsuki asked the four genin.

"Um, n-no..." Shizuka said.

"I saw him with my Byakugan for a while before he got out of my range of sight." Said Konjo.

"So...we're gonna have to do this _again_?" The tone of voice in the blue-haired kunoichi's voice sounded almost like she was whining.

"Yeah, but you forgot something: we have those guys that were with Hitsuke!" Nataro exclaimed. "We can get _them_ to tell us where Hitsuke's hiding out." He then started to grin evilly. "They weren't so hard to beat, so maybe if we torture them or something, they'll tell us what we wanna know..."

**X-X-X**

Several hours later, late into the night, Tsuki stood over the battered and bruised bodies of Kohaku and Akahito. The two thugs both spotted black eyes, several cuts, scorch marks and bruises on their bodies, but they wouldn't make a peep. "They haven't made a peep... Usually, guys like them squeal as soon as they face torture." _'It's times like these that I wish I was a Yamanaka.'_

"Maybe you should've...given 'em execution..." Nataro mumbled as his head drooped occasionally every few seconds. All the genin were starting to fall asleep, as it was getting close to midnight.

"Obviously, it's too late to do anything right now. We'll head back to the inn and search for him in the morning."

"What about _those_ guys?" Konjo asked, rubbing his eye as he pointed at the unconscious thugs.

Tsuki gave a wicked smirk that made shivers run down the genin's spines. "You just leave that to _me_..."

**X-X-X**

Early the next morning in the room that Nataro, Hanzo, Kazemaru and Konjo shared at the inn, the boys were still fast asleep. Or at least, that's what it seemed. Kazemaru sat up straight and opened his eyes, revealing a determined look. He got out of his bed, showing that he was still dressed in his ninja gear. The orange-haired genin looked at the other boys for a moment before making his way towards the window, opening it and setting his foot on the ledge.

'_I've gotta do this... Just me...'_ Kaze thought before disappearing into the night.

**X-X-X**

In a cave outside of Kazan Village, Hitsuke laid on the stone floor, having just woken up. "Ohhh...! I can't believe that little orange dipstick knocked out one of my teeth! Wait a minute..." He moved his tongue around his mouth and spat out a small tooth that had once been in the back of his mouth. "Make that _two_! When I see that kid again, he'll pay!!" He leaned against the wall of his hideout cave and sighed, wishing he had a bottle of saké to make him feel better right about now. "When this is all done and over with and I've gotten my money, I'm gonna kill off Kemuri for making me go through this crap...!"

"Kemuri, huh? I never _did_ like that guy... That's good to know."

"Eh?" The scarlet-haired man looked up to find Kazemaru standing in front of the cave entrance, his arms folded across his chest as he stared at Hitsuke. "Lemme guess: Akahito and Kohaku squealed."

"Nope. I thought you'd be here..." Kaze mumbled as he stepped forward. "I showed you this place, remember? You hid out here, so no one from the village could find you."

The nukenin arched an eyebrow. "What's this? You're all alone." Hitsuke stood up and stared at the genin. "Are you so _retarded_ that you would rush off to fight me a _second_ time?"

Kaze smirked. "Oh, don't worry. Because...I think Tsuki-sensei was right about you."

"And what was she right about? Me being a threat to society?"

"Nope. That you're not the real Hitsuke. And y'know...after cooling off for a bit, I realize that, too! 'Cuz for _one_ thing, Hitsuke's girlfriend's name was Chi_dori_, not Chiaki. Another thing, the _real_ Hitsuke's always got his sword on him! You don't even have a blade on ya!" Hitsuke's eye twitched.

'_Hitsuke's'_ eye twitched. _'Aw, crap...! I forgot about the sword!'_

"But, I will admit...you knew about me...so you must've known Hitsuke in some way..." Kaze muttered with a dark look in his eyes. "I've got _no love_ for that bastard, and the fact that you were running around, committing crimes and hurting people with _his_ face _really_ pisses me off!!" He held up a balled up fist as the air in the cave became warmer. "You wanna be like Hitsuke so much?! I'm gonna give you just as many burns as he does, if not _more_!!" He quickly dashed forward, flames burning in his eyes.

The imposter growled. He was already backed up against the end of the cave wall, and if he'd dared to use any of his jutsu or explosives, he'd wind up injuring himself as well as the kid. _'Looks like I'm gonna have to go hand-to-hand with him!'_ He dashed forward as well, a blank look on his face before he grabbed Kaze's hand. "Heh! Not good enough, kid!" Kazemaru suddenly caught on fire, flames of chakra radiating from his body. The scarlet-haired man stared at the boy as he started to feel the heat, and soon, his hand was starting to burn just from touching the boy. _'What the hell __**is**__ this?!'_ "UGH!!" He released Kaze's hand and jumped back to the back of the cave. "What...is _that_?!"

"_This_ is my Houka no Seirei—my Soul of Fire! It's my kekkei genkai, don't ya know?" The pyromanic genin gave a wicked grin as he held up a flaming fist. "Do ya see now, _'Hitsuke'_? Like I said, I'm gonna give you even more burns than the original!!" He quickly formed hand signs and took a deep breath.

"W-wait!! If you use a Katon jutsu, you'll wind up hurting yourself, too!" The imposter screamed.

'_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ Kaze breathed out a large ball of fire, causing flames to fill the entire cave! The imposter gave a painful cry as he felt the burning flames, but Kazemaru made no noise at all. When the fire died out, the orange-haired genin stood looking unfazed by the attack and recently fire-proofed clothes unaffected. The imposter, on the other hand, was leaning against the cave wall with his clothes mostly burnt up and several burns visible on parts of his body. Even the hair that once hid the burn injury had been burnt off. The genin gave a low whistle. "Wow... That's not a pretty sight... But, I'm surprised you're still standing."

"You...little...wretch...!" The scarlet-haired man panted out as he took staggering steps towards the young ninja. "I swear that I'll kill you...!"

"Aw, what's the matter, _'Hitsuke'_? Can't stand the pain?" Kazemaru cooed with a pout. He got serious once more and held up a fist as his body began to radiate heat once more. He ran towards the man with flames burning in his eyes. "I'll give you something that'll help you SLEEP!!!" He delivered a hard right to the imposter's face and he fell to the ground, the right side of his face now burnt. "Night-night, Hitsuke..." He grabbed the imposter by the ankles and began to drag him out of the cave with a victorious smirk on his face. "We're gonna go see Tsuki-sensei so you can meet up with your boys...and _then_ we're gonna go see that jerk Kemuri, so I can put 'em to sleep myself so he can join you in La-La Land..."

**X-X-X**

Several days after the mission to Kazan Village, Kazemaru was lying in his room, watching some..._graphic_ content on his little TV. As the pyromanic genin found himself leaning forward, someone knocked on the door. Snapping out of his naughty daytime fantasy, Kazemaru grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

"Kazemaru? It's Yutaro." A male voice spoke. "Can I come in?"

"S-sure!" Kaze quickly hid the case for the movie he was watching beneath his pillow as he said this. The door opened, and a 23-year old man with white-blonde hair and forest-green eyes walked in. "Um, what's up?"

"I heard you and your squad had a mission concerning Hitsuke." Yutaro spoke in a quiet voice as he sat down on Kaze's bed. "How'd it go?"

"Actually...it wasn't the _real_ Hitsuke...just some wuss nukenin from his village who knew the guy and pretended to be him." The young shinobi began to smile evilly. "But that still didn't stop me from beating the crap out of him!! I don't care if Tsuki-sensei's gonna punish me with an execution! It felt _good_! Hahaha!"

"I _meant_ how'd it feel? Seeing Hitsuke again after so long."

Kaze looked out of the corner of his eye. "Eh...it was nothing... Even if it _was_ the real Hitsuke, I wouldn't have felt anything," he lied. It still sort of pissed him off that Hitsuke was still out there, but so long as he wasn't harming anyone he cared for, the boy wouldn't think about him.

"...Okay." Yutaro stood up and began to walk out the room.

"...Uh, Yutaro?"

"Hm?" The elder turned his head slightly to look at Kazemaru.

"I don't know if I ever told you this, but...thanks."

Yutaro gave a small smile, but said nothing as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Kaze stared at the door for a while. _'I really do mean it... Thanks for...what you did for me.'_

**X-X-X**

"_Do you know who I am?"_

_Kazemaru arched an eyebrow. "No."_

_The man with the white-blonde hair gave a small smile. "It's probably because I'm not wearing the mask, but I was one of the ninja that were hunting Hitsuke. I was the one who healed you, remember?"_

"_...I don't know where he is."_

"_It's not about that... It's about you, Kazemaru." He smiled as he bent down to the child's size. "You've been through a lot...and you say you have no other family, so...would you like to come home with me?"_

_The child arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"_

"_I mean, would you like it if I adopted you?"_

_The young Kaze's orange eyes became large and puppy dog-like. "YES, YES, YES!! I THOUSAND TIMES YES!!!"_ _He shouted as he clutched onto the man's leg. "I'll be grateful if you can get me out of here! ...Wait a minute, what's the catch?"_

"_No catch. I just feel sorry for you. I...want to make you feel better. No one should live in this world all alone."_

'_What a guy...' The boy thought sarcastically. 'But, he doesn't look so bad...and I wanna get out of this stupid place, so...' Kazemaru suddenly glomped the ninja. "Daddy!"_

"_D-daddy?! I don't think I'm the father type... But, I could be your big brother."_

_Kaze let go of him and took a step back. "Big brother... Hmph! That's cool, I guess. You're not old enough to be a dad, anyway."_

"_Heh." The man with the white-blonde smiled again. "Oh, I almost forgot: I'm Temashi Yutaro. I've already got the papers. All I need to do is sign it, so you should pack up anything you have, okay?"_

_The red-haired child nodded and gave a small smile. "Okay." 'Maybe Konoha isn't such a bad place after all...'_

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Gee, Kaze. Are you okay?**

**Kazemaru: (Lying in a bed wearing a full body cast) Do I _look_ okay?! That psychopath beat me up!!**

**Blu: I don't even know why he still has that thing… Maybe he has guilt issues or something.**

**Kaze: The only issues that bastard has are _mental_ issues!! Somebody oughta sic Sakura on that guy and let her bitch slap and nag him to death!!**

**Blu: (Sweatdrop) You really wouldn't want to do that…considering that _she's_ your nurse…**

**Kaze: (O.o) Eh?**

**Sakura: (Cracks her knuckles) Ready for your medication…?!**

**Kaze: (T.T) I just can't win…!**

**Blu: (Turns away from the scene of brutal violence taking place offscreen) Anyway…next up is Hanzo's backstory arc! Stay tuned for some good ol' Uchiha emoness!**

**Hanzo: I'm not emo.**

**Blu: Sorry. I meant angst. Uchiha angst—the angst that makes all other angst seem inferior before its feet!**

**Hanzo: Have you been watching that arc again…?**

**Blu: Quiet you, or you'll have to deal with all of your insane ancestors in the next chapter. (To the readers) And you guys remember to review! See you next time!**


	22. Journey to Doukutsu no Kuni

**Blu: Here we are at the beginning of the Hanzo arc!! Is everybody excited?!**

**Hanzo: No. I've been through this arc before and I know the horrors that await me…**

**Blu: Ohhh… Well, would it make you feel better if I went and made someone else miserable?**

**Hanzo: No! I'm not some sort of sadist!**

**Blu: But **_**I**_** am!! Now, let me go run off and get something of Sasuke's!! (Runs offscreen)**

**Hanzo: HEY!! Wait a second! You're gonna get me in trouble!! Ugh…! (Sweatdrops) Well…I guess since Blu's not here, I've gotta say "roll the fic". **

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#22: The Journey to Doukutsu no Kuni_

If there was any reason why Hanzo thought his family was not only the oddest part of the Uchiha clan, but one of the weirdest families in Konoha, it would be—

"HANZOOOO!! BREAKFAST IS READY!!"

…His mother. Mainly because of her unusual parenting skills. In all honesty, how many parents threaten their children then revert back to a happy, bubbly personality and act as though the recent stunt pulled was nothing harmful or dangerous? Hanzo didn't know, but he was sure his mother was there somewhere in the count.

The raven-haired boy tightened his closed eyes in a semi-desperate attempt to fall back to sleep. He didn't want to face the day. He much preferred his bed over his ninja duties today.

Kotoyo stood outside of his bedroom, banging on the door. "Hanzo, wake up, hun!"

"Go awaaaayyyy..." Hanzo moaned and placed his pillow over his head. "I wanna sleep..."

"You have to meet your team! You don't want to be late, do you?"

"I don't _want_ to go." His words came out muffled, but somehow, his mother understood him. Just as he was suddenly going back to sleep, the Uchiha boy was suddenly grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled up. "Huh...? M-mom?! How'd you get in here? The door's locked!"

Kotoyo stuck her tongue out cutely as she said, "I'm a ninja, remember?"

"Let me _go_, damn it!"

The dark-haired woman pouted as she stared at her son—who was glaring at her—with half-lidded eyes. "My, you're so cranky! Have you been neglecting your you-know-what?"

Hanzo stopped glaring as a look of confusion appeared on his face. "My..." He blinked as realization broke in. "Oh... No, I haven't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm sure."

"...Okay." Kotoyo let go of Hanzo's shirt, letting him sit on the bed cross-legged. She started to smile as she started to pat him on the head.

The raven-haired boy sweatdropped, his eyes reduced to little brown dots. _'Was it __**really **__that easy?'_ "So, um, you believe me?"

"Hmhmhmhmhm... Of course I don't!" She quickly grabbed his ponytail and began to pull on it.

"Ouch!! M-mom, cut it out! It's starting to hurt!"

"Not until you tell me the _truth_! Now, did you take any of your medication this week?" The mother spoke with a dark look in her eyes.

"Yes!"

"And you _weren't_ hiding them somewhere to make me _think_ you were taking it?"

A vein began to throb on the son's head. "...What...the _hell_ makes you say that?!" A sharp tug from his mother caused another pang of pain to go through his head.

"No cursing your mother, young man...!"

"If you think I'm lying, why don't you just check the bottle?!" Hanzo shouted as tears of pain started to form in his eyes.

"...Why didn't _I_ think of that?" Kotoyo mumbled to herself as a sweatdrop ran down the side of her head. Using her free hand, she opened the drawer neat the bed and rummaged through it. All the while, Hanzo resisted the urge to shout at his mother to let go of his hair. After a minute of moving her hand inside, she pulled out a clear, plastic bottle that was half-full of red and white pills. "Ah, I guess you _have_ been taking them! It must've just been my imagination. Tch, you threw them away? Quite a bad hunch on my part."

The boy's eye twitched. "So, you did all that because of a _hunch_?" He spoke in a flat tone.

"Well, I'm your mother. I have a right to act upon a hunch. And besides, you haven't been acting like yourself much, lately."

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Ever since the Chunin Exams, you've been acting funny. And _not _in the good way! I..." Tears started to well up in her brown eyes, and before Hanzo knew it, his mother was hugging him tightly. "I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO MY BABY!!!"

A large drop of sweat ran down the back of Hanzo's head. _'Is it "that time of the month"?'_ "N-now, now. Nothing's wrong with me, and nothing bad is going to happen. Okay, Mom? I promise." He mumbled as Kotoyo started to cry.

"I...I don't believe you!!!" She shouted as her grip on Hanzo tightened.

"Mom, stop that! You're starting to _choke_ me!!"

**X-X-X**

"Good morning, Hanzooooo!!" Nataro exclaimed cheerfully as he saw Hanzo approaching his teammates at their usual meeting spot on a bridge above the streets of Konoha. "It's a beautiful, wonderful day today, ain't it?"

The Uchiha sweatdropped as he stared at his blonde teammate, who was beaming at him. "Wow, you sure are peppy today, huh?"

"Oh, I've got a reason to be peppy today! Guess what it is, guess what it is!!"

"An all-you-can-eat ramen buffet?" The raven-haired boy guessed.

"...Hmmm..." Nataro squinted his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest. "That'd be great, but that's not it. Take another shot!"

"You beat Ina?"

"Ha! I doubt that would happen in _this_ lifetime..." Kazemaru mumbled as he leaned against the railing of the bridge.

The blonde gave his pyromanic teammate a glare before mumbling, "No... One more try."

"Just tell him the news, Ramen Breath, or else we're gonna be late!!"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow as he looked at Kaze. "Late? For what?"

"We have a mission—"

"Without Tsuki-sensei!!" Nataro exclaimed. "She had to go on a mission for a couple of days, but decided to give us a solo mission while she was gone. Isn't that _awesome_? We have the coolest sensei _ever!!_" He cheered.

"...Are you serious? She's _actually_ gonna let us go on a mission on our own? Without a higher-ranking ninja to look over us?" Hanzo asked his two teammates. The two other genin nodded. _'Either she really trusts us or...she's a bad judge of character...'_ "So, what's our mission?"

"Uh, we don't know," The orange-clad ninja said as he scratched the back of his head. "The scroll Tsuki-sensei gave us said we had to go to...Kagetsuchi City in Doukutsu no Kuni (Cave Country) to housesit."

Kazemaru sucked his teeth as his placed his hands behind his head. "That's what I don't get: how come _we're_ being called to do a mission that's easily a D-rank?!"

"Maybe it's something so important that they need Konoha's help! Like they've got family jewels and antiques and stuff!" Nataro started to grin. "That's why they hired _us_!"

"That doesn't make any sense! Why would they want to hire a bunch of genin for an important mission and not jonin?"

"Hmph! I think we could be as good as any jonin..."

"It might just be another D-rank mission." Hanzo suggested.

The blonde's eyes widened as he turned to look at the young Uchiha. "Eh?! No fair! I thought Tsuki-sensei would give us a cool C-rank mission!!"

"Relax, Nataro. Didn't the scroll say what sort of mission this was?"

Nataro quickly turned to Kazemaru, expecting an answer. "It doesn't say anything else. Just that we should ask for the..._'Yagami clan'_."

"Hm. That's odd. Maybe they'll tell us once we arrive."

The pyromaniac of the team raised his hand. "I just realized something: we've never had a mission outside of Hi no Kuni. How are we gonna to find the city?"

"We'll just follow the map on the scroll." Nataro held up the scroll and showed him the back, which had a map on it.

"Oh."

"If we have a map, then it shouldn't be _too_ to get there..." The Uchiha explained. He looked at his blonde teammate, "Nataro, when do we have to get there? Cave Country is nearby and traveling there will take a couple of days"

"The scroll says that as soon as possible would be the best time," Said their orange-clad teammate. "So...what're we gonna do _now_?"

The pyromanic genin turned his back on his teammates and gave a small cough. "I don't know what _you_ guys are gonna do, but _I'm_ going to home to watch the rest of my...movie."

Nataro stuck his tongue out at Kaze. "Bleh! You're no fun." He looked at Hanzo pointed the scroll in his hand at him. "Hey, Hanzo! Wanna spar for a while? We haven't done it in a long time!"

"...Sure. But, I have something to do at home first. Maybe later." Hanzo said before he turned around and looked at his teammates over his shoulder. "Oh, and let's meet at the village gates tomorrow at...some time before 5:30."

"In the _morning_?" Kazemaru asked with slightly widened eyes.

"Of course. Bring enough supplies to last us for a couple of days as well."

"Uh, why is _he_ acting like the leader of this team all of a sudden?" The pyromanic genin whispered to the blonde.

"I dunno. Maybe he _thinks_ he's the best one for the job." Nataro whispered back in reply.

The raven-haired genin frowned as he looked at his teammates. "Hey, I'm only saying what needs to be done! If you two have any suggestions, feel free to say them."

"Er, we don't... But we just wanna know why _you're_ the captain!"

Hanzo shook his head and muttered something under his breath before walking away from Kazemaru and Nataro. "Whatever... Bye, guys!"

"Well, if this meeting's over..." The orange-haired genin began to walk away as well. "Then I've got a video to watch. Later, Ramen Breath!"

"Hey, come on! Why don't we all just train toge— ...Aw, never mind..." Nataro's shoulders slumped as he gave a sigh. "What am I gonna do until my spar with Hanzo...?"

"Hi, Nataro-san!!" Asura exclaimed as she popped up behind him.

"Aaahhh!! Oh, Asura-chan. It's just you." The blonde gave a mental breath of relief. "What're you doing here? These days, I have to go to the hospital to hang out with you." _'Which is weird, because she usually breaks __**out **__to come to see me.'_

"I just wanted to see you, Nataro-san." The pink-haired girl spoke with a pout.

A light blush began to appear on Nataro's cheeks and he scratched the back of his head. _'She's so cute when she does that!'_ "Uh...oh. Well, anyway, wanna hang out for a while?"

"Okay!"

"Great!" He exclaimed before hooking his arm with her arm and dragging her off into town. "We can go and get something to eat, and when we're done, you can watch me and Hanzo train, okay?"

**X-X-X**

"I'm home!" Hanzo called out as he slid open the door. He didn't hear a reply, so he shrugged. "I guess Mom's already gone—" As he started to take off his sandals, he heard a scream.

"KYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!! IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING!!!" Kotoyo scream from what Hanzo recognized to be the kitchen. The raven-haired boy sweatdropped and cautiously approached the door. He poked his head inside to see his mother staring up at the ceiling, holding a piece of paper in one hand and a frying pan in the other.

"...Mom? Is everything okay? What were you screaming about?"

"Huh? Oh, Hanzo! You're home awfully early, hun!" The dark-haired woman said with a smile.

Hanzo blinked. "Uh, yeah. Tsuki-sensei went on a mission. So why were you screaming a while ago...?"

"Oh. That. Well, I was making myself some brunch when I was reading the mail and I saw this thing that said _'You may have won a 15 million Ryo'_! But, I misread it and thought that I had already won, so I got all excited and...well...!" As if on cue, something yellow drooped down from the ceiling and into the frying pan. "_That_ happened."

Her son looked up at the ceiling and the sight made his eyes turn into small, brown dots as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "Wha...? What is that?"

Another yellow glop dropped down from the ceiling and Kotoyo managed to move the frying pan quickly enough for it to land on it. "My brunch: an omelet with green onions. I didn't get to add the onions yet, but you could have some if you want." She said with a grin. "I know you preferred your eggs boiled, but this could be just as good!"

"...No thanks." Hanzo mentally cringed at how a ceiling omelet would taste. "Uh, anyway, I'm gonna be on a mission for the next couple of days out of the country."

"Ooh, really? This is the first time you've gone out of Hi no Kuni! Where are you going?"

"Doukutsu no Kuni. We're supposed to be going to Kagetsuchi starting tomorrow, but we don't know what we've been hired for."

The Uchiha woman paused. "Oh. ...Okay! Do you want me to wake you up early for tomorrow morning, hun?"

"No... No thanks." _'The last time she woke me up early, she used a genjutsu on me...!'_ Her raven-haired son thought as he left the kitchen.

"Now..." Kotoyo looked up at her ceiling omelet, which seemed to stop dripping now. "How am I gonna clean _that_ up...?"

**X-X-X**

Doukutsu no Kuni, the Cave Country—named for its multiple caverns, dens, and caves that could be found in almost every part of it. Myth has it that in the past, those caves were the homes of several spirits, both good and evil, as well as demons. But those were just myths that were started off by its people long before civilization was created there.

Team 14 was currently walking through a dark forest, towards the Kagetsuchi. The trees' foliage blocked out any trace of sunlight that should've come through, making it appear like night even though it was actually around 2 in the afternoon. Every so often, they would hear something: owl hoots, cicada chirps, rustling bushes and growls.

"Are we going on the right path?" Nataro asked. "You readin' that map right?"

"Positive," said Hanzo, who kept looking down at the map. "It's just the way this forest is. Something about it makes you think you're getting lost and creates moments of delusions in some people. They say it's because of the spirits of the forest."

"Spirits of the forest...?" Nataro and Kaze repeated flatly, even though their faces were slightly blue from fear.

The Uchiha nodded. "Mm-hm. One of the legends of Doukutsu no Kuni is that it is the souls of the dead within the Yami Mori (Dark Forest) that do this. They think that if _they_ can't move on and be at peace, no one who passes through here can." He started to smile.

"C-can't move on...?" His teammates stuttered. They could practically feel their spirits leaving their bodies as they spoke.

"And the reason why they can't move on is because of the _Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu_ (Beast of the Heavenly Chaos)—a terrifying demon beast said to have been born from chaos itself—that ravaged the lands and took the souls from innocents and—"

"Stop, STOP!! I can't take it anymore!!" Nataro cried as he started pulling on his hair.

"D-d-d-_don't_ talk about crap like that!!" Kaze stuttered, pointing a shaking finger at this raven-haired teammate.

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "What? You guys believe in that kind of thing? I only read it in a book about the Cave Country a while ago... It's just a legend."

The blonde and redhead shared looks with each other before they puffed out their chests and smirked. "Of course we don't believe! We're tougher than that!"

"Great. Now then..." They stopped walking. "We're here." The three genin looked at the large and ominous-looking cave that had moss and vines growing on and up the edges. "On the other side of this cave is a path that will take us right to the city." They all remained silent, Kazemaru and Nataro staring at the cave with eyes reduced to dots, their chests still puffed out. Hanzo blinked. "Well, let's go." He walked into the cave without a second thought.

The other two boys' chests deflated as their faces became tinged with blue once more. They gulped before sprinting—not _running_, _sprinting_!—in after their teammate.

**X-X-X**

It was very quiet inside of Kotoyo's home from the moment Aiko had stepped in. She didn't know _why_ the older woman had asked her to come over for today, but she was sort of curious to find out. _'She hardly ever calls me over to her house.'_ "Um... Kotoyo? It's Aiko! You here?" The blonde woman paused for a while, expecting to her Kotoyo call back in reply.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!!! IT'S HAPPENING!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S HAPPENING!! _WHY_ IS IT HAPPENING?!?" She heard Kotoyo scream loudly from somewhere in the house.

Aiko sweatdropped as she stared to look around. "Kotoyo?"

"Was it really so bad to get my future husband drunk and marry him when he was inebriated, God...? Is _that_ why you're punishing me with..._this?!?_"

The blonde began to walk into the living room where the sobs were coming from. "Kotoyo!"

"Why can't she just—? Oh, Aiko. What're you doing here?" The dark-haired woman was on the floor, holding a letter and looking up at her blonde friend. "You came _just_ in time!"

"...In time for _what_? And why were you screaming like that?" Before she could get her answers, Aiko was pulled down to the floor by Kotoyo.

"I need you here for mental support, Aiko!!" The Uchiha woman cried as she shook her friend's shoulders. "Please, stay with me! She'll be here _any moment_!"

"_Who_?!" Aiko almost screamed as a vein throbbed on her forehead.

"My...my... Oh, I can't even bear to _say _it!!"

"Kotoyo... Tell me why you are freaking out. _Now_!"

"My sister."

"...What?"

"My _sister_." Kotoyo repeated as waves that were a mix of gloom and anger radiated from her. "She's coming here, to Konoha, to visit for the first time since Hanzo was born." She spoke calmly, though the aura that came from her was similar to that of a killing one.

'_She has a sister?'_ Aiko thought as a large red question mark floated above her head. When she snapped back to reality, she found a piece of paper in her face. "What's this?"

"The letter she sent me. This was sent _2 and a half days ago_. She said she would already be on her way here by the time this letter came! That means she's sure to come today!!"

"...So what's the problem? Do you hate your sister or something? Some sort of sibling rivalry...?"

"Rivalry? Oh, nothing like _that_! It's just that she's..." Kotoyo paused as she tried to find the right words. "...She's a freak."

Aiko blinked. "Uh..."

"She is one of the _oddest_ women I have ever met! And I have met plenty of odd people in my short life!"

'_I better not be one of them!'_ The blonde thought.

"And I have always had this feeling that she didn't like Sasuke-san." The dark-haired woman continued.

"There's a _reason_ for that, I think... Uh, Kotoyo? I still don't get why you need _me_ here with you."

"_You_, my dear Aiko-chan, are support!"

"Oh, Yoo-hoo! Koto-chan! Are you in, sis?" A voice called from outside before the Uchiha woman could get out another word.

"_Damn!_ She's already here!" Kotoyo stood up and straightened herself up. She tossed the letter over her shoulder and began to repeat something to herself under her breath. "Okay...okay...okay... Phew..." The dark-haired woman slapped a smile on her face and quickly walked to the door, leaving Aiko alone. "Coming, I'm coming, sis!"

The blonde woman sweatdropped. _'If __**Kotoyo**__ thinks this woman is weird... Just how odd could she be?'_

**X-X-X**

"Ugh...! How long have we been walking...?" Kazemaru moaned.

"I don't know..." Nataro responded. "But it's been long...!"

"It can't be much further, I'm sure," said Hanzo, though he was just as tired as his friends. "Ah! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

"Oh, my God! Did we die back there?"

"Are you dumb or what, Nataro?"

"What?"

"Yeah, I knew that."

"No, seriously. What did you say?"

Once the boys set foot outside of the cave, they all fell forward onto their knees, tired. After a few seconds of breathing, Nataro looked out of the corner of his eye and his jaw dropped. Below the cliff was a large city that was just as big as Konoha. And from what he could feel, there was a similar atmosphere.

"There it is...Kagetsuchi!" Hanzo proclaimed as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. Nataro and Kaze followed suit, the former still staring down at the city in awe. "Let's get going. We wouldn't want to keep our client waiting."

"Oh, please. All we're doing is house-sitting..." The orange-haired genin muttered, his eyebrow twitching. "It ain't a big deal..."

As the trio walked down the cliff trail that led into the city, they saw a man carrying a pickaxe walking up. Deciding that this was a good chance to get some directions, Hanzo walked ahead of his team and up to the man. "Excuse me? Sir?"

"Hm? What is it, kid? I've got work to do!"

"Sorry, but I was wondering if you could tell me where the Yagami clan lives." The man almost dropped his pickaxe at the name _'Yagami'_. The raven-haired boy arched an eyebrow as the others came up to them. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"W-w-what are you talking about? I've never heard of such a clan! I-I've gotta go!" The man pushed his way past the genin and ran away, leaving a trail of rising dust.

Nataro turned around and stared at the man until he disappeared from sight. "What was _his_ problem? He looked scared."

"About...the Yagami clan?" Hanzo mumbled, arching an eyebrow. "Weird. Maybe we'll get some directions from someone in town..."

**X-X-X**

"Excuse me, do you know about the Yagami clan?"

"Um, about who?! I have no idea who you're speaking of!"

"W-wait! ...Excuse me, miss, do you know where the Yagami family lives?"

"Get away! Shoo!"

Hanzo stepped away from the old woman in time to avoid a swing of her cane. As she hobbled away, he sighed and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "I'm beginning to sense a pattern here..."

Kazemaru growled before he grabbed a kid walking past them by the collar. "Hey, you!! Where does the Yagami Family live?!"

"Buzz off!! I'm not gonna tell you weirdoes anything!" The kid shouted. He then kicked Kaze in the shin and ran off while the pyromanic genin was hopping on one foot, clutching his ankle.

"Awww, damn it!! Why are these people acting like such _jerks_ to us?! They got something against Konoha ninja?"

"I don't think the problem's with _us_... Every time we mention the Yagami clan, people freak out," the Uchiha boy mumbled, rubbing his chin in a thinking manner. "Why would that be...?" He blinked upon realizing something. "Where is Nataro?"

Kazemaru looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. "I think _I_ know!"

The orange-clad blonde was sitting on a stool in a small ramen booth, a bowl of steaming hot ramen in front of him. "Mmmm... It _looks_ good, but let's see how it fares against my selective palette." A hand suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him out. "WHOA!!"

"'_Selective palette'_ my ass!! Do you even know what that _means_?" Kazemaru asked the shorter boy as a vein throbbed slowly on his forehead.

"I know what _jerk_ means!! You should know, too, since your pictures right next to the definition in the dictionary!!"

"Ooooh, you can actually read the dictionary? I bet your mother must be _soooo_ proud!"

"THAT'S IT!!!" Nataro shouted as he leapt on top of Kaze and the two began yet another dust cloud fight.

"You've got no self-control, you loser!!"

"I do, _too_!! I held out for three days without _any_ ramen whereas _you_ were crying a couple of days ago about not being able to find out what happened in the next chapter of that _porn novel_ you were reading!!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was _not_!!"

"Were _too_!!"

"WAS _NOT_, you...RAMEN-EATING MORON!!!"

"WERE _TOO_, YOU PERVERTED FIRE STARTER!!!"

And then, for the fifth time since their journey from Hi no Kuni, and the second time that day, the orange-haired and blonde genin argued once again. On the sidelines, Hanzo sighed and held a hand to his head, wondering if his teammates would stop if he said he'd burn them to Hell if they fought for the rest of the mission... "Hm..." _'Looks like it's __**my**__ job to break it up again.'_ The Uchiha sighed before drawing a pair of kunai from his thigh holster. He aimed the kunai at his teammates and threw them at his targets.

"WATCH!!!" Nataro and Kaze shouted as they jumped back in time to avoid being hit by the projectiles. Both genin glared at Hanzo as veins throbbed on their foreheads, but his eyes widened slightly.

"Wow, your reaction time has gotten better."

"Who _cares_ about our reaction time?! Stop trying to hurt us, already!" Nataro shouted at the raven-haired genin.

"How would you like it if _we_ threw stuff at _you_?!" Kazemaru shouted as he pointed a finger at him.

'_**I**__ wouldn't need to have harmful objects thrown at me to get me to stop arguing...'_ Hanzo thought as he stared at his teammates. "Now if you guys could stop acting like little kids, we need to find our client's home."

Nataro snorted and squinted his eyes. "Is that all? Honestly, what were you guys doing all this time?"

"What were _you_ doing?! Sure as hell not helping us!!" Kaze growled with his eyes glowing bright red.

Ignoring his pyromanic teammate, the blonde genin took a deep breath and screamed loudly, "HEEEEYYYY!!! WHICH ONE OF YOU GUYS KNOWS WHERE THE YAGAMI CLAN LIVES?!?" When he was done, everyone in the crowd was looking at Team 14 with mixed expressions, but they were all bad ones. Nataro began to sweat under the looks. "Uh...what?" A rock hit him in the back of the head before the crowd dispersed. "OW!! What's wrong with you people?! Are you honestly telling me that none of you have hear of the Yagami clan?!" Another rock hit him in the face. "GAH!!"

"If you were helping us, you'd have known not to do that," Hanzo said as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head. "But there's no mistaking it now. The Yagami clan must have a bad reputation with the people here."

Kazemaru slumped over and groaned. "Great. So no one's gonna help us because they hate those Yagami guys..."

Nataro took a look around until he noticed someone who hadn't run off, a little old woman sitting on her porch in a rocking chair. "Maybe not!" He jogged over to the little old lady with a broad smile on his face. He skidded to a halt in front of the steps of her porch. "Hey, lady!" She just kept rocking. The blonde boy arched an eyebrow as his teammates walked over to him. "Lady!!"

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "Is she dead?"

The orange-clad genin took a deep breath and screamed, "YO, GRANNY!!!"

The old woman suddenly woke up with a start and smiled upon noticing Team 14. "Oh, what sweet-looking little boys!"

"_Little_? Who you callin' lit—MMPH!" Hanzo put his hand over Kazemaru's mouth in time to stop him from speaking another word.

"Excuse me, Miss? Do you know where the Yagami clan lives?"

The old woman smiled. "Oh, those nice Yagami people! I know them way back! Years ago, when my husband was unfaithful to me, that woman said she would take care of it and _poof_! He disappeared! And when my son married that little hussy, _poof_! She disappeared! And my daughter's abusive husband, _pfft_!"

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "Pfft?"

The old woman nodded. "Pfft. Do you have some problems, little boys?"

"Uhhh..."

"We're just looking for their home. We were told to housesit for them," Hanzo explained.

"Poof," Kazemaru muttered while Hanzo and the old lady spoke.

Nataro nodded. "Poof...and pfft."

"Yeah, pfft..."

Hanzo bowed. "Thank you very much, miss!"

"No problem, dear. You take care now!" The old woman waved goodbye and smiled as the genin walked away.

"Apparently, the Yagami clan lives near the forest in the back of the town," the Uchiha explained to his teammates.

Kaze turned blue in the face. "Another forest? These guys are makin' it hard to do something simple like house-sitting!"

"Uh, Hanzo... I'm starting to wonder these Yagami people are such good people..." Nataro mumbled to the raven-haired boy in a wary tone. "Didn't you hear what that old lady said? The Yagami made those people go _'pffft'_!"

"What? You think that Tsuki-sensei gave us a mission to housesit for a bunch of murderous assassins?"

"Of course not! I mean..." The blonde boy scratched his head and squinted his eyes. "I sure hope not... It's just that I'm getting a _baaad_ feeling about all this..."

**X-X-X**

Aiko had to admit that despite all of Kotoyo's assumptions and denials, her friend looked very similar to her older sister. They both had long, dark hair and pale skin, but _she_ was taller than Kotoyo and had reddish-brown eyes that looked as though they could see right through a person. The aura surrounding this woman was definitely...odd, but not as odd as Kotoyo had made her sound. At least...she hadn't shown any of her oddness yet as all three women sat down at a table in the living room with Kotoyo and Aiko sitting in front of the woman, the Uchiha holding the blonde woman's hand very tightly.

"So, Shitomi... What brings you to Konoha...again?" Kotoyo asked her sister. She still had on the same fake smile she had when she opened the door and greeted her sister.

"Oh, nothing special. I've just...come to catch up." Said Shitomi as she took a sip of tea. She looked at the Uchiha woman and smiled. "I have missed you so _very much_, sister dear."

The smile on Kotoyo's face was replaced by a slightly bigger, yet still false, smile. "As have I, sister dear."

As the two sisters stared at each other wordlessly for quite some time, Aiko sweatdropped. _'Is it just me, or did the temperature just drop?'_

"Anyway..." Shitomi broke off the stare-off with her sister to look down at her tea. "Have any of my predictions come through, yet? Has this clan given you pain and strife in any way?"

As the blonde woman blinked in confusion at the word _'predictions'_, Kotoyo rolled her eyes. "Please. How many times must I _tell_ _you_ that nothing bad has happened to me since I married into this clan? The Uchiha hold some famous ninja within their clan."

"Are you sure you don't mean _infamous_?"

"No, I mean they're well-known."

"For being natural born killers."

"Stop twisting my words!"

Shitomi began to swivel her finger in her teacup. "It's not _twisting_. I'm just saying what I think to be true."

"It's _not_ true—you _know_ none of them are like that!"

"So? Have you forgotten who your father-in-law is? What your _husband_ is? Or rather, what he _was_—"

"Be quiet..." Kotoyo spoke darkly as she glared at her sister. "You aren't allowed to soil my Zennie's name like that." Aiko stared at her because of the tone her voice carried, but Shitomi appeared unfazed. After only a few seconds, the dark-haired woman began to smile again and said cheerfully, "Let's not get into an argument, okay, sister dear?"

"As you wish, sister dear." Shitomi gave a smile that was just as false as her sister's, "Why don't we talk about something _else_?"

'_My, don't they recover quickly...'_ Thought Aiko as she felt the room temperature go down a bit more. _'Well, they __**look**__ like they get over these sorts of things fast.'_

"So, how is little Hanzo-chan doing, hmm?" The red-eyed woman inquired as she leaned closer forward.

"Oh, Hanzo isn't so little anymore. He's such a smart and talented boy, and he's even become a ninja and— Don't say what I _think_ you're going to say." The Uchiha woman spoke through gritted teeth.

"What was she gonna say...?" The blonde woman asked as she stared at her friend, brown eyes reduced to dots.

"I wasn't going to say anything." Shitomi began to wag her finger at her sister. "You're very close-minded as to what I think about your _family_, Kotoyo. I just want to know how good a ninja Hanzo-chan is."

Kotoyo sweatdropped. "...Oh. Well, like I said, he's very smart and he has plenty of talent. The problem is that he's very modest and doesn't seem to like to show that off." She began to beam with happiness. "He could've been the highest ranking student in his graduating class if he weren't so shy about showing off his skills. I didn't try to force him to do anything special, but I keep telling him people would see him as more of talented young shinobi if he showed them what he could do more often."

Aiko's eyes widened a bit. "Really...? Does that mean Hanzo-kun's, like...a genius?"

"It could just be how a mother acts—how a woman gushes over her son is like how a father adores their daughter. They place their children on the highest standpoints out of love. That's how parents are, you know," said Shitomi.

"It's true! My baby boy is a certified genius!" Kotoyo shrieked, suddenly in chibi-form and causing her blonde friend to sweatdrop. "Check his report cards and you'll see!"

"Hmmm, I was actually hoping to see some..._pictures_." The red-eyed woman placed her hands together and smiled again. "I would _love_ to see if he looks like his father."

Kotoyo arose from her spot and began to look around the room frantically. "Oh, I know I have some pictures of Hanzo-kun somewhere! I can show you Kotaro-chan's pictures as well! He's my _little_ baby boy, you know."

"Ah, fine, fine. I've never seen your _other_ son before. I've never even _heard_ of him before," Shitomi spoke as an aura of darkness surrounded her.

"It must've slipped my mind." _'And fallen into the deepest, darkest recesses of it...'_ The Uchiha woman began to scratch her cheek. "Hmmm... I _think_ there's a photo album upstairs in my room. I'll be just a sec." She walked out of the room and up the stairs in the hallway, leaving Aiko and Shitomi alone.

The blonde woman stared down at her empty teacup, trying not to look at the red-eyed woman who appeared to be staring at her. A small smile appeared on Shitomi's face. "So, who exactly are _you_, Miss Blondie?"

"Um...I'm a friend of Kotoyo's. My son's on the same ninja squad as her son."

"And let me guess: you are not a kunoichi of Konoha, nor have you ever _been_ a kunoichi... And you hate the fact that your son has chosen such a dangerous job path." Shitomi stared at the speechless woman for quite some time until she said, "That _is_ true, isn't it? It is just a gift that I have been born with. Only _I_ have this skill—Kotoyo doesn't. Maybe she's so jealous that she won't ever believe my predictions of the future are true, but they are. Most of the time." When Aiko remained speechless, she continued, "There are several paths for the future. And they are very easy to change. My vision could turn out right or wrong."

"...What did Kotoyo mean...about your predictions about the Uchiha clan?" The blonde woman asked. "You said that they would cause her pain and strife. Why?"

"If you do not know, then you _cannot_ know. Take it not as an insult, but this is something that Kotoyo doesn't like to talk about. So, I'll keep quiet and not say what this clan did to her before." Before Aiko could speak again, Shitomi interrupted, "Would you like me to read your palm? I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet, but..."

"Er, what?" Aiko blinked.

"Come, I won't bite." The dark-haired woman spoke as she held out a hand, curling her long, slender fingers a bit. "The fortune may or may not come true. I could see what could happen to you in love, in wealth...or perhaps, I could see what will happen to your shinobi child through your eyes. All you have to do is tell me your name."

"...I'm Kazaki Aiko, Shitomi-san." The blonde spoke as she placed her hand a few inches away from Shitomi's.

"Excellent, Aiko-san. Now, let us see what your palm reads..."

**X-X-X**

"Is this it? This _can't_ be it. This is some sort of joke." Kazemaru spoke as he folded his arms across his chest.

"No, this is it," said Hanzo as he looked at the map.

"But the map _could_ be wrong, couldn't it?"

Nataro took the map from Hanzo and observed it, squinting his eyes in a fox-like manner. "Hmmm... Nope, this map's right. I remember 'cuz we went past this shop, and then went north, and then we went northeast…"

"Yeah, right! I bet you can't even remember what direction we went in, liar." The pyromanic genin said through gritted teeth. He then looked at the house before them and chill went down his spine. It looked like one of those traditional 2-story houses, and while it wasn't as big as any of the Hyuga or Uchiha complexes he'd heard of, it definitely gave him the creeps. If this were a horror movie, the sky would've been filled with gray clouds and thunder would be booming all of a sudden. "S-so, who's gonna go in first? I nominate Nataro."

"WHAT?!" Nataro shouted as he glared at Kaze.

"Well, if you go in there and don't come out in under 10 minutes, Hanzo and I could go home."

"Nuh-uh! Why don't _you_ go in there?! Or are you too much of a _chicken_ to go into a _house_?"

"Here's an idea: why don't we just go up to the door and see if anyone's home?" The raven-haired genin told his teammates.

"I liked _my_ idea better," the other boys said simultaneously, giving each other the Evil Eye.

The three genin walked onto the porch, up to the front door, with Nataro and Hanzo in the front and Kazemaru, who was still wary about the place, behind them. The Uchiha knocked on the door. "Hello? Anyone at home?" A few seconds passed, but no answer came.

"Maybe nobody's home."

"Tch! They wanted house sitters, but they're willing to leave their home _before_ we showed up?" Kazemaru asked as he placed a hand on his hip.

"_Or maybe_ they didn't _hear_ Hanzo!" Nataro exclaimed before pushing Hanzo aside and banging on the door. "HEY!! Your new house sitters are here!!!" He shouted loudly as he continued to bang on the door. Behind him, Hanzo and Kazemaru sweatdropped.

"If they don't hear _that_, they're either deaf or just not there." The pyromaniac spoke.

The Uchiha nodded slowly. "Uh-huh..."

"Hey, come on! Open up, will ya?" The blonde ninja grabbed the handle and began to jiggle it, only for the door to open and hit him right in the face. He stumbled back into Kaze with swirls in his eyes and a red, circular imprint in the middle of his face.

"I guess they heard you, Ramen Breath." Kaze stifled a laugh while his teammate uttered a curse.

Nataro pushed himself off of the orange-haired genin and rubbed the mark on his face. "I'm fine..." He took a breath and walked over to the doorway. All he saw inside was...nothing. All the lights seemed to be off, so he couldn't see anything.

"I ain't stepping one foot in there unless we have _some_ kind of light." Kaze said as he folded his arms across his chest and turned his back on the door.

"Well, we've got you—you're practically a living matchstick when you use that Houka no Seirei of yours."

"If you think I'm gonna use my kekkei genkai—_my_ special bloodline trait as a light, you're gonna become Ramen Breath Flambé!"

As Nataro continued to laugh at his orange-haired teammate with his back turned to the open door, a pair of hands unknowingly wrapped around his waist and started trying to pull him in. "Huh? Uh...AAAAAAHHHHH!!! WHAT THE HELL?!?" The blonde genin screamed as he tried to get out of the grasp of the hands.

Hanzo grabbed one of the blonde's hands and Kaze grabbed the other hand. They both began to pull as Nataro tried wriggle out of the hands grasp. After a short while of tug-of-war, the two genin managed to pull Nataro away from the door. ...And managed to pull something out as well. Or rather, someone.

"What the...?" The orange-clad genin stared down at the person who still had their arms around his waist. He sweatdropped when he saw who it was. "A...girl...?"

The dark-haired girl that was still holding onto Nataro's waist looked up at him with dark blue eyes. "Um... Hi!"

"Shiori. What are you doing?" A new voice spoke. The boys and the girl who still had her hands around Nataro's waist looked at the doorway and found another girl with dark hair, but her eyes were an almost red shade of brown.

"Sister! This isn't what it looks like!!" The blue-eyed girl exclaimed as a blush appeared on her cheeks.

Nataro gulped and began to blush as well. "Y-yeah!! This isn't what it looks like! Honest!!"

"Actually, from our standing point, it kinda does..." Kazemaru pointed out.

"Who asked you, Kaze?!"

"Ah, you must be the kids mentioned on the bottom of the scroll," said Hanzo as he approached the red-eyed girl while his teammates, who hadn't seen the part about babysitting, stood there with their jaws open. _'Funny. They look too close to our age to be called __**'kids'**__.'_ "I'm Hanzo. And this is Nataro and Kazemaru. We're going to be looking after you and your house until your mother gets back from her business."

"Yeah, so that means you gotta do what _we_ say, kid!" The orange-haired genin exclaimed.

"Oh, no... I believe _we'll_ be giving the orders around here." The red-eyed girl spoke in a toneless voice. Either way, it appeared to scare Nataro and Kazemaru a bit.

The blue-eyed girl named Shiori kept staring at Hanzo and hearts appeared in her eyes. She hopped in front of her sister and started to beam at Hanzo. "Oh, don't mind my sister! Shikimi is just weird like that! P-please, please! Won't you come in?"

Before he could ever answer, Shiori grabbed Hanzo's arm and pulled him inside of the house. Kazemaru and Nataro stared at the girl named Shikimi for a short while before she walked into the house and they wordlessly followed. It was bound to be an _interesting_ couple of days.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the world, a woman was staring at herself in the mirror. She had long, gray hair and had split ends and a red diamond-shaped tattoo in the center of her forehead. The woman observed the dull gray kimono she was wearing with her odd white eyes—not like the Hyuga's Byakugan, but different. They were milky white and pupilless, leading one to believe she had no sight.

"How does it feel to be walking around again, Bhumi?" A voice from behind asked her.

"...It's nice." Bhumi said in a bored and tired tone.

"Heh-heh, as slow as ever to do _anything_!" The female voice spoke again. "_Why_ does Akash keep you around?"

"...I don't know..." Bhumi slowly turned her head to look at the mirror. "Why does he keep you around, Jala? Why does he keep _any_ of us around?"

"You are an odd one, sister! But don't worry. You'll be here long enough to help us complete our purpose."

'_Our purpose...'_ The gray-haired woman looked at the doorway's reflection in the mirror, only to see the one called Jala walk away. "We shall complete our...purpose..."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu's name was inspired by Amatsu-Mikaboshi's (Heavenly August Star)**, **the Japanese god of evil and stars.**

**Shiori means "bookmark" or "guidebook". Shikimi is made up of the words Shi for "death" and "kimi" which is part of another girl's name and means "best". Weird names, but anime characters can be named weird things, can't they?**

**Bhumi and Jala are Hindu names. Bhumi is one of the names of the Hindu deity of earth and Jala is one of the names of the Hindu deity of water.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Well, I'm back! And I've decided for the rest of the arc, we're going sell off things belonging to the Uchiha clan members. First up for auction… (Holds up Sasuke's rope belt)**

**Hanzo: Uh… Sasuke's belt?**

**Blu: What? I got it while he was bathing in an onsen with his teammates. (Cat-like smirk) The first one who reviews can get the photo I took of Sasuke's skinny ass.**

**Karin: (Blushes) Ohhhhh…!**

**Blu: Don't even think about!! That offer's for the reviewers!**

**Naruto: Way to attract fan girls.**

**Nataro: Just be sure you don't get caught by Sasuke. Kaze's still flinches when Uchiha are mentioned.**

**Blu: Oh, please! I'm an all powerful authoress—he can't hurt me!! So remember to review and tell us what you think!! See ya!**


	23. House of Horrors! A Shinobi Horror Show!

**Blu: Now is when the horror **_**really**_** begins! Well, it's more like PG-13 horror, but it could sill frighten you under certain conditions.**

**Kaze: Oh, please! Nothing in this chapter could frighten them!**

**(A white-skinned girl with long black hair, wearing a white dress appears behind Kaze)**

**Blu: Are you sure…?**

**Kaze: Positive!!**

**Doki Girl: (Touches Kaze's shoulder, making him look back into her hidden face) Kaaaaazeeee….!**

**Kaze: (Turns blue in the face) AAAAAHHHHH!!! (Runs offscreen)**

**(Doki Girl transforms into Nataro)**

**Blu: Thank you, Nataro! Now, why don't you introduce us while I go find something else to sell? (Runs offscreen)**

**Nataro: Alright. Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series, 'cuz if she **_**did**_**…it probably wouldn't have gotten so far. Now, on with the fic!!**

**X-X-X**

_#23: House of Horrors! The Shinobi Horror Show!_

To be honest, the boys thought the inside of the creepy house didn't look as scary as it did on the outside. Okay, so it had a couple of odd things here and there--a weird-looking sword with what kanji that Kazemaru couldn't read, a couple of fancy-looking vases with odd designs drawn on them, and an open scroll that hung on the wall with illegible kanji in red ink were just the few they saw. The girls, Shiori and Shikimi, were nice enough to at least open the window to allow the sunlight to come in, so it wasn't so dark anymore.

"Did... Did we scare you?" Shiori asked the genin, who were now sitting on a couple of old-looking cushions. "If we did, then we're very, very sorry!" Shiori was the girl with black hair set up in two long ponytails on each side of her head that were curled at the ends and dark blue eyes, wearing a pink kimono with peach-colored sleeves that reached her knees.

"'_We'_? If I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who was clinging onto the blonde one earlier," said Shikimi. She was the girl with red eyes wearing a small, black, sleeveless dress and a pair of black bicycle shorts, her hair in the same style as her sister's.

Shiori sweatdropped before bowing her head. "Well, nonetheless, we're _still_ very, very sorry!"

"Ha! It's okay. You didn't scare _me_!" Nataro rubbed the back of his head as he gave a fox-like grin.

Kazemaru stared at him with half-lidded eyes. "...Liar. You were screaming like a damn banshee!" He spoke flatly, causing the blonde genin to glare at him as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Was not!"

"Were _too_! You looked like you were gonna pee yourself! Hahahaha!" The pyromanic genin placed his hands behind his head. "Don't pretend like you're some kinda brave ninja all of a sudden!"

"You were no better," Hanzo mumbled as he looked at his teammate from the far left. "You were shaking and you looked like you were about to run for the hills."

Nataro stifled a giggle as Kaze's eye twitched. "Can it, Fan Boy! Quite acting like you weren't scared. Hmph!"

In the blink of an eye, Shiori was by the Uchiha's side. Her eyes were now big, and looked like she'd start crying. "Oh, I hope I didn't scare you or anything like that!"

"...Um, I doubt that could affect me in anyway..." Hanzo spoke with a sweatdrop.

'_Damn straight...'_ The Temashi thought.

'_It could scare you, but I don't think you'd go __**crazy**__ from it or something...'_ Thought the blonde.

"Either way, we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Uchiha Hanzo."

"Temashi Kazemaru's the name! But the ladies call me Kaze-sama!"

"Pssh!! Yeah, right! All _they_ call you is _'Perv!'_" Nataro rolled his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest. "And _I'm_ Kazaki Nataro--one of the greatest ninja in all of Konohagakure!! _And_ the future Nanadaime Hokage!"

"Don't mind him--he's a _special_ ninja," Kazemaru whispered to the girls, though it was loud enough for the blonde ninja to hear.

"HEY!!"

"Um, anyway, as we said, we'll be looking after you until your mother gets home," the raven-haired boy continued, ignoring his teammates' arguing. "When _will_ she be coming back, by the way?"

Shikimi shrugged. "We don't know."

"But we _do_ know that she's visiting a relative in Fire Country!" Shiori chirped. "We don't know _how _long she's going to be staying there. She said it depends on what happens. Until she actually _does_ get back, we welcome you to our humble home!" The dark-haired girl began to hug Hanzo tightly.

"Oooh, Shizuka-chan won't be pleased if she hears about _this_, will she, Kaze?" Nataro spoke slyly with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Nope, not one bit, Nataro!" Kaze replied with an equally sly look on his face as well.

Hanzo glared at his two teammates. "_Shut up._"

The two other genin began to giggle devilishly as Shikimi rolled her eyes and Shiori glared at...no one in particular. _'Shizuka? Who's __**that**__?'_

"So, what do we do _now_?" Nataro asked as he placed his hands behind his head. The only people that the genin squad had babysat before were all years younger than them. It was pretty weird that this mission was all about looking after two girls who looked like they could take care of themselves.

"Duh, we're gonna sit back and relax! Unlike all those _other_ times we had crappy babysitting missions, this'll be _easy_--because our charges are old enough to take care of themselves," Kaze flashed a grin at the two girls, "Isn't that right, girls?"

"Well, we know we can take care of ourselves, but _you_ won't just be lying around and doing nothing," said Shikimi. "So long as you guys are staying in _our_ house, you're going to do _exactly_ as we say."

"What...?" The blonde and orange-haired genin blinked while Hanzo stared at the red-eyed girl.

"You heard me. You're not just looking after _us_. You're looking after our _house_ as well. Meaning that you have to take care of it and make sure it's in proper condition by the time our mother gets back."

"...Wait a minute! You can't do this!" Kazemaru stood up and pointed his finger at Shikimi. "_We're_ the babysitters! _We're_ your elders! So you've gotta do exactly as we say!"

"No, we don't. And if we're not pleased with your work, then you just won't be paid." Shikimi said simply as she folded her arms across her chest.

"You can't do that!!" Nataro exclaimed. "Your mom's already paid Konoha, and as soon as this mission's done and we get back, we'll _still_ be paid!"

"But we'll give you something _really cool_ if you do what we say!" Shiori spoke in a sing-song tone, still holding onto Hanzo, who was starting to blush. "We shall make this the best stay in a foreign country you've ever had! You'll never want to leave!"

"Erm... Let's just do as they said, guys."

Kazemaru did a double-take before he stared at the raven-haired boy. "What the--? Fan Boy!! What're you saying: you wanna take orders from some girls?!"

"But maybe their mother's expecting us to. Besides, didn't we have to clean up the houses every time we babysat back in Konoha?"

"Yeah, but that was because those kids kept making huge messes!" Nataro exclaimed.

"Stop whining!" Shikimi spoke in a harsh tone as she glared at Nataro and Kazemaru. "It's not like I'm asking you to go to war. I'm telling you to clean up my house. _Or else_."

The blonde and orange-haired genin looked at each other from the corner of their eyes before looking at the red-eyed girl. "...Or else what? You're gonna make us go _pfft_?"

"Let's just say that I'll make all your nightmares come true."

Nataro turned to his orange-haired teammate and whispered into his ear, "I don't think it's anything _too_ serious... But just in case this girl's like a _mental ward patient_ or something...maybe we should just take care of the stupid house."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Kaze whispered back.

"Good," Shikimi spoke, somehow managing to hear them and causing both genin to jump. "Your first task will be to clean up all of mother's valuables. They're all over the house. And you better get it done before nightfall, too." And with that, the dark-haired girl spun on her heel and walked out of the room.

"Um... I'm gonna be cooking tonight, so is there anything in particular you might want?" Shiori asked Hanzo. She was looking at him with huge, sparkly eyes as her cheeks became a light pink color.

The young Uchiha sweatdropped as he looked down at the girl. "Um... Not really."

"Hey, can you make ramen? Preferably beef or pork!" Nataro spoke, causing the pink and white-clad girl to sweatdrop.

"I'll eat anything, too, but if you got any saké or something else to drink, I'd _love _to have some," said Kazemaru, causing the dark-haired girl to shake.

"I DIDN'T ASK EITHER OF YOU TWO!! I WAS TALKING TO HANZO-KUN!!" Shiori shouted loudly, causing all three genin to flinch. And Hanzo got the worse of it, considering that she was _still _hugging him and was screaming right next to his ear.

'_She's as scary as that other weird girl!!'_ Kaze and Nataro thought as they stood there in chibi-form, shaking and sweating while hoping she wouldn't try to hurt them. Hanzo was too dazed by Shiori's shouting to react to it.

"So, are you _sure _there's nothing you want to eat?" Shiori pouted cutely and Hanzo stared down at the dark-haired girl.

"No, no! I'm very sure. Anything is fine with me, Shiori-chan."

If it was possible, this made the dark-haired girl's eyes brighten. _'He called me __**'Shiori-chan'**__!!'_ She squealed mentally before releasing him and skipping out of the room with little pink heats floating around her.

Hanzo started to take deep breaths. That girl was squeezing him so tightly that he almost didn't have enough air!

"Dammit, it's no fair! Fan Boy attracts girls even in foreign countries!!" Kazemaru shouted as soon as he was sure Shiori was out of hearing range.

"Hey, it's not like I _wanted_ her to do that! It's not _my_ fault!"

"Of course it's your fault! Who was it that Shiori was attracted to, hmmm?"

"That doesn't make it _my fault_! ...You know what...never mind..." The Uchiha grumbled before letting out a sigh. "Let's just get this over with..."

"So, uh...where do we start _first_?" Nataro asked as he looked around the room. "Should we just...start looking around or something?"

Kaze shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe we should ask one of those girls to tell us where to start our..._chores_... I _still_ say that _they're_ the ones who should do this stuff!"

**X-X-X**

"What are you doing? ...Aiko?" Kotoyo had asked as soon as she stepped back into the living room with a large, cream colored book underneath her arm. She arched an eyebrow as she stared at the blonde whose hand was in her sister's. "...Aiko. Don't tell me you actually _believe_ that she can read your palm! Of all the things..."

A light blush appeared on Aiko's cheeks out of embarrassment. "W-well, the world's a weird place! I mean...something like being able to see the future shouldn't be so weird for a ninja, right?"

"Mmm, Aiko-san has a point: the Sharingan is said to be able to predict things, so why is it that you can't believe in _my_ gift, sister? One or two false predictions surely shouldn't stop you from believing in such things..." Shitomi spoke, looking at her sister from the corner of her eye.

"It's not that. What I hate is that you keep making up false predictions about me having a bad future! Why'd you keep saying that...that becoming a part of the Uchiha clan would be the end of me?"

Shitomi lowered her head, black bangs hiding her eyes. "I didn't _make it up_. Those were just predictions of what _might_ happen, and while I believe in one or two of those predictions deeply, something different might happen. For all I know, you could die because of this accursed clan or because of something you yourself did. You might live up to a ripe old age, or die on the battlefield--killed by some nameless shinobi. Your life may turn out good or bad. And your son..." She glanced at Aiko, whose mouth was a bit open at the information that she was still digesting, then at Kotoyo, who was giving her a hard look before she shrugged. "Speaking of Hanzo-chan, let me see those pictures."

"...Wait a minute!! Aren't you going to say what you predicted about Hanzo?!" Aiko shouted, a vein throbbing on her forehead from being tricked into the edge of her seat--er, cushion. After hearing about those predictions for so long, she just had to learn what had happened--er, what Shitomi _thought_ would happen._ 'All these bad vibes are linked to the Uchiha clan. The clan's the root, but what came from it?! Gah, this is starting to make my head hurt...!'_

And as the blonde woman rubbed her temples and muttered curses under her breath at Kotoyo, Shitomi, and, for some reason or another, Uchiha Sasuke--because she was _sure_ the problem lied with him, so sure!--Kotoyo and Shitomi were busy looking at the album.

"See, this is Kotaro-chan when he was a year old. Isn't he precious?" Kotoyo squealed as she pointed to a picture of baby Kotaro, who was on the ground playing with a stuffed dinosaur.

"Hmph... He looks like his Grandfather..."

Ignoring her sister, Kotoyo continued, "And _this_ is a picture of Kotaro and Hanzo--I think he was 6 or 7 when we took this." Kotoyo pointed to the picture of Hanzo holding his squirming baby brother in his arms. "This was a week before he entered Ninja Academy."

"Now _that_ is precious!"

"I _know_. Kotaro completely idolizes Hanzo."

"Hm? What's this one?" Shitomi asked as she pointed at a certain picture. "A festival."

"Ah, that's the festival they hold every year in October."

"That's such a lovely kimono you're wearing in this picture, Kotoyo."

The younger sister blushed happily. "My Zennie got it for me as a birthday present! It was from another country--I forgot which one, though."

To Aiko, it was _amazing_ how quickly the two sisters went from arguing to happily chatting. _'I wonder if __**all**__ siblings act like this...or if it's just these two...'_ Being an only child, Aiko had no experience when it came to brothers and sisters. But she wondered if how Shitomi and Kotoyo acted with each other was also how other siblings acted. ...Probably not.

"This one's the most recent--Hanzo and his team. There's Hanzo on the right...and that's Nataro, Aiko's son, in the middle...and back there is Tsuki. You remember Tsuki, right?"

"Hm, was she the purple-haired woman who got drunk alongside one of your in-laws?"

"Yup! That was her!"

"Hmmm..." Shitomi picked up the photo album and held it up in Aiko's direction. "Aiko-san. This is your son?"

"Hm?" The blonde woman turned her head to the side slightly and stared at the picture. It was the exact same one that Nataro had in his room, on his drawer--Nataro grinning while giving the peace sign with both hands, Kazemaru holding up one finger with his tongue out, Tsuki was giving the peace sign as well--though it looked like she was purposely giving Nataro bunny ears, and Hanzo simply stood there, smiling. "...Yes. Yes, that's my son."

"Hm, he's such a cute little boy. I would love to meet him if I have the time..."

"Oh, I'm afraid you won't, Shitomi-san. Nataro and his teammates...they're on a mission right now. And by the time they get back, you might already be gone."

The red-eyed woman gave a small pout. "That's too bad. I _really_ wanted to meet your child, Aiko-san..." She hummed softly to herself as she stared at Aiko with eyes that were just a _tad bit _creepy.

A large drop of sweat ran down the back of Aiko's head. Despite her foreboding, the woman managed to crack a small, if nervous, smile. "Eh-heh-heh-heh..." Maybe it was a good thing that her son was on a mission. Heaven knows why Shitomi would want to see her child, but a part of her didn't _want_ to know.

**X-X-X**

"Whoa..."

"What you said..."

Team 14 stared in awe at what they saw. In this particular room that they were told/ordered to clean, there were dozens of old knick-knacks and antiques that looked _way_ older than them. Kazemaru walked over to an alabaster vase with a painting of several fierce-looking ogres and demons on it. "Creepy..."

"Hey, Kazemaru." Nataro picked up a paper parasol. "Check _this_ out!" He opened the parasol and held it in front of him, hiding him from sight. In a poof of smoke, he was replaced by a scantily-clad blonde girl wearing a two-piece swimsuit. "Hiya, handsome..." The transformed Nataro spoke in a low, sultry voice, twirling the parasol in her hands.

The orange-haired genin glared at his teammate and looked like he was going to throw the vase in his hands. In fact, he was aiming at Nataro's face just as he said, "Idiot!! Quit teasing me!!" And with that, he threw the vase at the transformed Nataro. But he/she jumped out of the way in time to avoid being hit. The vase might've hit the wall if Hanzo hadn't jumped in the way to catch it.

"Don't _do that_! We'll get in trouble if we mess with anything!" The Uchiha chided his teammates.

Kazemaru and Nataro hung their heads in shame and mumbled, "Sorry..."

"And change back to normal, Nataro!!"

With an adorable pout, the bikini-wearing blonde transformed back into Nataro, who was giving his friend a squinted look. "...What's up with _you_?"

"Yeah, Fan Boy. I've never seen you act like that when it came to Nataro's Oiroke no Jutsu." Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow.

Hanzo sighed and rubbed his temples. "I-it's nothing. Really. I just haven't been feeling well, lately."

"Ah, it's because you're still fazed by what that Shiori chick did, huh? I don't blame ya. She scares me--her _and_ her creepy sister!"

"Why don't you go an' rest for a while, Hanzo?" Nataro suggested.

"...Good God... That's not a bad idea, Ramen Breath. Maybe hanging around Hanzo for so long has finally increased your brain activity!"

"Maybe watching too much porno's _decreased _your brain activity, 'cuz it's just common sense!"

"Problem is...that Shikimi chick may...do _something_ to him if she doesn't think he's working."

"She can't harm a sick person."

"I'm _not_ sick," Hanzo spoke flatly.

Kazemaru shrugged. "Sick, not feeling well--the only difference is in the amount of words used."

"Hey, hey! Look at _this_!" Nataro spoke as he held up a large obsidian sphere that was roughly the size of a ball. "What do you think this is? A crystal ball or something?"

"Nah, crystal balls are s'posed to be clear enough to see your reflection in. I bet you can't see a _thing_ in that...whatever it is." The orange-haired genin replied.

"P-put that down! You might break it!" Hanzo stuttered.

"Geez, you _must_ be sick! I'm not stupid like Kazemaru--I won't break it!" The orange-clad genin stared at the sphere for a while before blinking. "Hm?"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's weird... For a second, I thought this thing...kinda..._moved_."

"Moved. You think that an inanimate object--which _should be_ incapable of movement--moved." As the blonde nodded, the raven-haired boy sweatdropped. _'And he thinks __**I'm **__sick...'_ "Nataro...put that down."

"But--"

"Put it _down_."

"I _can't_! I-it's stuck!!"

"You're joking. Right?" Kazemaru asked as he placed a hand on his hip.

"No, it's really stuck!!" Nataro almost shouted. He bent down and placed the sphere on the ground. He placed a foot on it and began trying to pull it off with no avail. "Damn...it...! Why won't it...come off?!"

"Let _me_ try something, Nataro." The pyromaniac of the group puffed his chest out as he approached his teammate. Nataro held out his hands, which were stuck flat against the sides of the orb. Kaze held up a hand that was soon surrounded by flames of chakra.

"AH!! Wait a minute, what the hell are you gonna _do_, Kazemaru?!" Nataro exclaimed as he eyes widened to the size of plates.

"I'm gonna burn this thing off. Duh." The orange-haired genin rolled his eyes as though the task was nothing to worry about. But then again, he wasn't the one who might be hurt.

"Nuh-uh! Not when I'm still holding it, you Pyro Freak!!!"

"Relax. I know what I'm doing. I'm just gonna burn off the sides so that we lose a lot of the bulk and we could just deal with two small pieces instead of a big one."

The blonde ninja growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "I said _'No,'_ damn it!!!"

"Too bad!!" Kazemaru touched the sphere with his flaming hand for only a second when it dropped to the floor, just as soon as the genin's fingers touched its surface.

"Wha...?" Both genin stared down at the orb.

"What just...happened here?" Kaze asked no one in particular as he nudged the orb with his foot.

"That depends: what did you _do_?" Hanzo asked as he stared at the Temashi. "You better not have damaged it..."

"Hey, hey! All I did was touch it. _Touch it_!! It shouldn't have dropped just because I _touched it_!"

"I dunno what Kaze did to get that thing off...but at least it didn't break." Nataro mumbled as he stared down at the object with squinted eyes. After a couple of seconds, the ball appeared to...move a little. Just a little--it sort of rolled a bit, but didn't manage to move from its spot. Either way, it was odd to the blonde shinobi, since no one had touched it. Then it started to shake a little more. Nataro's azure eyes widened as Kazemaru and Hanzo argued in the background. "Uh... Guys?"

"I swear, if that thing's broken, _you're_ going to pay for it, Kazemaru."

"Like hell I will!! It ain't _my_ fault that the thing fell!"

"Guys..." Nataro repeated, slightly loudly. The ball was starting to shake even more.

"You're the one who touched it." Hanzo told the pyromanic genin in a flat tone of voice.

Kaze's eye twitched. "That doesn't make it _my _fault!"

"GUYS!!" Nataro shouted before six long, skinny black legs shot out from the ball. The blonde stumbled back in surprise, almost knocking down a mannequin.

Hanzo and Kazemaru turned around and their jaws dropped as they looked at the orb--which, with those long legs, looked like some sort of spider. The Uchiha was shocked and speechless. The Temashi, on the other hand, had but one thing to say:

"What the _HELL_?!?"

The black sphere-shaped creature skittered across the floor, between Kazemaru's legs and around Hanzo, before running out the door. The three genin stared at the spot where the _thing_ had come to life, then at the doorway that it ran out of.

"What...the hell was _that_...?" Kazemaru asked in a quiet, scared tone.

"That thing couldn't even _move_ a while ago! Now it's got...legs?! Just what the hell _is_ it?!"

"What sort of creepy house _is_ this?!"

"Ahem."

Team 14 turned around to see Shikimi standing in the doorway, holding the black ball in her hands. It appeared legless and lifeless...and _definitely_ not as the three boys had seen it before. "I found _this_ rolling about in the hallway. Were you three _playing around_ in here?" The red-eyed girl asked as she glared at the three genin.

"N-no!! _That thing_ came to life!" Kaze shouted as he pointed at the inanimate object in the girl's hands.

"Hm. Funny. It was rolling along the floor when I found it." Shikimi walked into the room, past the genin and towards the cardboard box that once held the ball. She placed it back inside and closed it. "You three are very annoying. Did you know that?" She turned her head around slightly to look at the three genin with a cold stare. "It's obvious that you're all one big mess when you're together, so you will each clean a separate part of the house." She pointed at Nataro, "_You're_ going to work on this room." She pointed at Hanzo, "You get the attic. And you..." pointed looked at Kazemaru, "...You will get the storage room. You got that?"

All three shinobi nodded once.

"Good. After you all have finished your chores for the day, you'll help set the table for dinner. And if you play around or goof off, you'll go without dinner for tonight."

"_What?!_ You can't do that!!" Kazemaru and Nataro shouted while Hanzo blinked.

"I can, and I _will_ if you don't do as I say." And with those words, the dark-haired girl left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

The team pyromaniac glared at the door, since he didn't want to know what would happen if he glared directly at Shikimi. I can't believe this. We're getting bossed around by some girl. And we're _ninja_, damn it! Shouldn't people fear us or something?"

"I doubt people fear you when all you've gotten are dozens of D-rank missions with only 3 C-ranks completed." Hanzo sighed. "Well, we better get started. Later, guys."

Nataro grabbed Hanzo's arm just as the Uchiha was about to move. "Wait a minute: didn't you say a while ago that you weren't feeling well?" He asked the raven-haired boy.

"It's okay. I feel better now. Besides, cleaning an attic isn't so bad--my grandfather makes me do it a lot when I stay over at his house." Hanzo managed to slip his arm out of Nataro's hold and walked over to the door. He slid it open and looked at his teammates, "Well, what're you waiting for? If we don't finish this, we may go to bed hungry." He walked out of the room just as Nataro placed his hands in the back of his head.

"I still say this sucks..." The blonde mumbled as Kazemaru cursed under his breath.

"Crap... Now I've gotta ask one of those girl's where the storage room is. Better ask that Shiori girl. Her sister creeps me out..." The orange-haired genin mumbled before giving Nataro a grin. "Heh. Better not mess around, Ramen Breath. You might unleash some sort of _evil spirit_ next or something!"

"Very funny! You know damn well that you're as freaked out about what happened a while ago as I am!!" He shouted at Kaze as he ran out of the room. Nataro grumbled as he looked around the room. _'I have to clean all of this? By myself?' _"This _sucks_..." The orange-clad genin mumbled as a cloud of gloom floated above his head.

**X-X-X**

The attic wasn't as cluttered as Hanzo had expected it to be. Compared to the room he was in a few minutes ago, there were fewer objects in here--most of which were scrolls that looked brand-new. "Well, I better get started," The boy mumbled before walking up to a full-body mirror. It had a black frame and, oddly enough, it had black tint on the glass.

'_What sort of person puts tint on a mirror?'_ The Uchiha mumbled as he stared at the mirror. He stared at it a while longer and his eyes widened a bit. "What the...?" The raven-haired genin blinked. "Huh... For a second, I thought there was something looking back at me." He pulled out a rag and began to wipe the dust off its mirror.

"This won't take _too_ long. Maybe I could go and help Nataro or Kaze with their chores after I'm done," Hanzo mumbled as he observed his work and gave a small smile at his reflection in the dark-tinted glass. "There. That's one part done. Now, the scrolls..." He turned his head around slightly as he looked at the piles of scrolls scattered about the room. "Whoever Shikimi and Shiori's mother is, she must be a very avid reader." He mumbled with a sweatdrop.

As he walked over to a pile of scrolls, he didn't notice a hand pressed against the mirror from the inside for just a second.

**X-X-X**

There are several things one would expect to find in a storage room: several items in wholesale bulk, cleaning appliances, things that you can't fit anywhere else or stuff that you never want to see the light of day... But Kazemaru _never_ expected to see a bunch of small black jars placed onto high shelves, large black jars placed beneath said shelves and...candy. Or at least he _thought_ it was candy. Actually, it was a blue jar with a pattern of several small, multi-colored candies on it.

His brain told him to put the jar down and get the _hell_ out of the room, since he was finished cleaning already. Too bad he hardly _listened_ to his brain. "Wonder what's in here...?" Kaze mumbled as he pulled off the lid. "...This isn't candy. This is..." He pulled out a small light, pink mound of fluff that was as soft as marshmallow. "Daifuku Mochi...my favorite!! Strawberry's not my favorite, but..." Ignoring the fact that it was an odd time to make mochi in the late summer, Kazemaru looked at the door, wondering if he could get away with stealing one. _Just_ one.

"They shouldn't mind." He looked into the jar that he still held in one hand, the other holding the mochi, "There's plenty more. They won't notice _this_ one missing out of the bunch..." And with that, the pyromanic genin began to eat the sweet and sticky treat. "Yummm... Hey, I wonder what's in these _other_ jars...?" Surely the girls wouldn't notice if he took another peek, would they? He began to smile to himself and started to look into the large jars that were beneath the shelves. "Oh...my...god... Amakaze...!" Yes, all the jars beneath the shelves were filled with sweet, low-alcoholic amakaze. Personally, he'd have preferred saké, but this was good, too. Now the only question was how he could drink the amount he desired.

As he stared at his smiling reflection in the water, Kazemaru felt the temperature drop a bit. "Whoa... Very weird. It feels like someone opened a window and let the air in...and there _is_ no window!" He almost wished he listened to his brain before and got out of the room. As he turned around, he noticed the door at the top of the stairway was open. It was weird, because he clearly remembered that Shikimi closed it after she left.

While the pyromanic genin wondered how the door got open in the first place, the light bulb that was dangling above his head suddenly burnt out, causing the entire lower half of the storage room to become engulfed by darkness. "Terrific... Those guys need to learn how to replace their bulbs _before_ something like this happens! Ah, well...it's not _my_ problem. I may as well just go back upstairs--" The door suddenly slammed shut before Kazemaru could finish his sentence. "The hell?! What the heck's going on?! Does the world suddenly not like me? Whoa! Wait! What was tha-- ACK!!" After that, silence was all that came from within the room.

**X-X-X**

"I can't _stand_ this creepy room, anymore!!" Nataro exclaimed before he started to sneeze. "Achoo!!" He sniffled. "And...this dust is killing me!!" He shouted as he waved away the floating dust particles in the air with his cleaning rag.

"**My, aren't you the pathetic little excuse of a human being?" **The Kyuubi spoke in a mocking manner.

Nataro scrunched his face up as he glared at mannequin, pretending that it was the demon fox. "...Couldn't you just _shut up_ and let me clean in peace?"

"**Hm. Still upset because of what happened?"**

"OF COURSE I'M UPSET!!" Nataro suddenly covered his mouth. If he made any noise, Shikimi might come back and do..._something_ to him. When he spoke again, it was softer and more whispered. "How would_ you_ feel if some...weird..._thing_ clamped onto you? That stupid...whatever the hell it was!"

"**I can beat that: I'm stuck inside of you until someone pulls me out or I find a way to break out of your body."**

Nataro glared at the demonic vulpine in his head. "It's not as bad as having you as a _'tenant'_. You owe me _something_ for all the crap you put me through!"

The Kyuubi gave a low growl. **"Owe you? If anyone deserves being owed, that would **_**me, Naruto**_**. You always come running to me for help whenever you're at a point where you can do **_**nothing**_**. Then you have the nerve to come up to me and insult me."**

"Nuh-uh!! You owe me!! The only reason why I--why _Gramps_ had such a hard life was mostly because of _you_! _And_ because of those weird dreams you keep giving me!!" Nataro shouted as he the cleaning rag to the ground. "It's the least you could do, ya fur ball from hell!!"

"**Dreams? What **_**dreams**_**? I'm not giving you any dreams."**

"Don't act dumb! Last night, I dreamt about Naruto fighting against some ninja from Kirigakure--and how he was so afraid that he couldn't even _move_. The night before that, I dreamt...that no one was paying attention to me. They just kept muttering things...and giving me these looks--like they hated me just for living. And before that, there was this weird thing with an old man peeking on girls while I kept yelling at him to train me! The old perv...!"

"**You do realize that you keep saying it's **_**you**_** in all those dreams and not **_**Naruto**_**, right? Heh-heh-heh…!"**

"ACK!!" The blonde genin quickly clasped his hand over his mouth as his eyes widened to the size of saucers. He then slowly removed his hand from his mouth. "See what I mean?! Gramps' childhood is all I can dream about!! And now _this_?! What the hell did you _do_?!?"

"I always knew it," a voice from behind spoke, causing the loud mouth ninja to jump slightly. He turned around to see if it was Shikimi, but it turned out to be Kazemaru instead.

"K-Kaze? Wh-what are you doing _here_?" _'Did he hear me talking to Kyuubi? I hope he didn't hear __**too**__ much...!'_

The orange-haired boy walked over to his teammate and looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "I always knew...you were insane."

After a few seconds, Kazemaru's statement sank in, and Nataro's eyes became little blue dots as a large sweat drop ran down the side of his head. "...Wha...?"

"From the moment you started acting all..._funny_ after our first C-rank mission. And now you're talking to yourself. A classic sign of craziness. Maybe _you're_ the one who needs to rest, Nataro."

After a few more seconds of staring at Kaze in disbelief, he shouted, "I'M NOT CRAZY!!!" He then began to smile sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm just _bored_! I'm in here, in this gloomy room, all by myself... A guy can't help but talk to himself for company!"

Kazemaru scratched his cheek with his finger. "Well, I can't exactly blame you for that... This place _is_ pretty boring." He suddenly brightened up, and a playful smirk appeared on his face. "Hey, you wanna see something _cool_?"

Nataro stared at his pyromanic teammate with squinted, kitsune-like eyes. "Huh? What? What is it? If it's anything like that weird ball thing again, well..." His eyes darted back to the cardboard box that held the sphere-shaped thing.

"Don't worry, Ramen Breath. This is _nothing_ like that thing from before. Trust me--it'll blow your mind."

"Hm. Blow my mind, huh?" The blonde turned his head to look at the room. "This place looks pretty much clean..." Actually, there was still dust covering some objects, but Nataro wanted to get out of the room _very_ badly. "So lead the way, Kaze!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile in Konohagakure...

"Aw, do you _have_ to leave so soon? It's only just turning into twilight!" Kotoyo said as she held onto her sister's hand. Shitomi was holding her bag in the other. "Do you really have to leave for an inn?"

"I'm afraid I must. I wouldn't want to impose." Shitomi bent down to pat Kotaro on the head and gave a small smile. "Bye-bye, Kotaro-chan! I hope I get to see you again tomorrow."

The young boy wrapped his arms around his aunt's neck. "Good night, Auntie Shitomi!"

"And good night to you as well, Aiko-san."

The blonde flinched as she heard the red-eyed woman call her name. "Um... Thank you. Good night to you, too, Shitomi-san. But...why do you have to stay at an inn when you could stay at your sister's home? Besides, you don't know if there's any rooms left at the inns around here."

"Aha! Brilliant plan, Aiko!" Kotoyo exclaimed as her eyes sparkled with child-like wonder. "We'll have a sleepover!"

"Sleepover!!" Kotaro repeated with as much energy as his mother—if that was possible.

"You should stay over, too, Aiko!"

"Wh-what? I shouldn't--I really shouldn't! That'd be intruding on you and your family--"

"Oh, nonsense! Besides, it must be _so_ lonely without your son at home." Shitomi spoke, placing a hand on Aiko's shoulder. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"...Yes..." _'It's also quiet... More than I'm used to...'_ "Mmmm... Yeah! Okay!" The Kazaki woman punched her fist into the air. "A little sleep-over would be great!!"

"Aiko-san and Auntie Shitomi are _both_ staying over?" Kotaro asked with large, watery eyes.

"But...wait, I have to go to work in the morning. And I don't have anything to sleep over." _'I came over expecting a normal day and maybe some tea and something sweet to eat...but I wound up staying over till nightfall!'_

"Well, we can just swing over by your house and grab your stuff," said Kotoyo as he grabbed Aiko's hand. "Kotaro-chan, I want you to show your Aunt the guest bedroom, okay?" She then started to drag the blonde away as she shouted, "Be back in a while!"

'_This may turn out to be great! I haven't had a sleepover since I was a little girl!'_ Aiko thought as she smiled, despite the fact that the Uchiha woman was still dragging her. _'And maybe, I could finally get her to talk about that secret!!'_

**X-X-X**

"Hey, where are we going, anyway?"

"If you had some patience, I'd let you know."

Nataro folded his arms across his chest and stared at the back of Kazemaru's head with squinted eyes. "At least tell me what you found! Come on, come on, I wanna know!" He whined.

Kaze stopped walking, but didn't turn around to face his teammate as he said, "Well, now I'm not gonna tell you. So you'll just have to wait until we get there, Ramen Breath." The orange-haired genin sighed before he started to walk again. "Just have some patience, will ya?"

As his pyromanic teammate walked after him, Nataro blinked. "Huh? But why not?" He asked as he started to walk after him. "I mean, I could still _act_ surprised if it's something _really_ awesome--like a killer-looking sword. Or maybe a scroll of destructive jutsu!"

"**Just imagine: techniques that could destroy a city in your hands. That may be a sign of the apocalypse!" **Kyuubi snickered evilly in Nataro's head, but the blonde ignored the demonic vulpine.

"Heh... Well, it sure is something, And you're gonna be more than just surprised." Kaze stopped in front of a door with the words _'Storage Room'_ written in black kanji on the door. "It's in here," The orange-haired genin mumbled before opening the door. He turned his head slightly to look at Nataro. "Well, what're you waiting for? You wanted to see something _amazing_, right?"

The blonde genin looked inside, but saw nothing but darkness. "What kind of joke is this? I can't see anything!"

"You gotta go _inside_, idiot. There's a light downstairs."

After glaring at Kazemaru for the insult, Nataro walked down the stairs. He felt something hit him in the face, which caused him to jump before he realized it was a pull-switch. He pulled on it, and lit the light bulb. But to the orange-clad shinobi, nothing looked that interesting _or_ amazing. In fact, all he saw were a bunch of jars that were all black--save for one blue one with multi-color candy patterns. "What kinda joke is this, Ka--" A thud from behind interrupted him. "Kaze...?" Nataro turned his head around and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Kazemaru was lying on the ground facedown. And something transparent was coming out from his body. The thing slowly went from being blurry and formless to having a human form. It now had long black hair that went down to its chest and blood red eyes that were partially hidden by its hair, but Nataro felt like they were staring at _him_ nonetheless.

Nataro found himself unable to move. He couldn't have been frozen with fear?! Could he? _'Dammit, why can't I move?!'_ He cursed in his mind as the Kyuubi growled.

"I...want...it..." The creature spoke softly and slowly. It wasn't moving a bit and its hands hung limp by its sides. "I want... What I...want..."

"**This is great,"** Nataro heard the Kyuubi speak. **"A spirit--one that hasn't been put to rest, I suppose."**

"A _what_?! You mean this thing's a _ghost_?!"

"**No, of course not. **_**'Spirit'**_** doesn't mean the same as **_**'ghost'.**_**"** The Kyuubi spoke in a sarcastic tone. One could almost imagine the nine-tailed beast was rolling its eyes.

'_But what the heck does it mean by __**'want'**__? What does it want?!'_

"**Judging by the fact that you're the only conscious person in this room, the answer should be obvious to you."**

'_EH?!?'_

"I want...it. ...Need it...so... Need it...so badly..." The spirit mumbled as it clenched and unclenched his fist. Nataro blinked and it was standing in front of him, staring down at him with those creepy eyes. It leaned forward a bit and continued to stare at him, as though curious about the young genin. Frankly, the fact that the dark-haired ghost was getting so close to him made Nataro freak out. But no matter what he did, he still couldn't _move_, damn it!!

Suddenly, the spirit's hand grasped his throat before Nataro could see its hand move and squeezed tightly. It slowly lifted the blonde shinobi up off the ground, his feet now a bit off the ground--since the ghost looked like it was only a bit taller than Kazemaru.

"**Hmmm... This can't be right. No ghost or spirit should be able to make physical contact with a living being."** The Kyuubi spoke, slightly puzzled. **"It doesn't feel human, but it only has spiritual chakra... **_**Very**_** peculiar."**

'_HEY!!! Less __**thinking**__, more HELPING!!!'_ Nataro mentally shouted as he began to try to kick the spirit into letting him go. To his surprise, his foot was actually hitting it instead of going through!

"**If you listened to me, Naruto, you would have realized that it's not real. Imbecile."**

'_Huh? I knew that!!'_

"**Then why are you still kicking it if you know it's not real?"**

'_Because... I... SHUT UP!!'_ After a couple more seconds, the ghost released Nataro, causing him to fall on his butt. The red-eyed spirit walked over the still-unconscious Kazemaru--or rather, _through_ him--up the stairs and out the room.

In the mind of his vessel, the Kyuubi no Kitsune was giving an evil, toothy grin. Or a smirk. Nataro couldn't rightfully tell with the bijuu.** "You were scared, weren't you?"**

"Was not..." The blonde genin muttered as a vein throbbed on his forehead. _'Why don't you just go back to __**'sleep,'**__ already?'_

"Ugh... What hit me...?" Groaned Kazemaru as he raised his head. He got to his knees and looked around while rubbing his head. "Uh? Wha? ...What the hell happened?"

"What the hell happened? What the hell happened?!? I'll tell ya what happened: you were _possessed!!_ By a _ghost!!_" Nataro shouted loudly as he pointed a finger at Kaze.

"Possessed? By a ghost? ...That is...the biggest load of crap I ever heard!!"

"It _is_ true! You had a ghost in you, and it made you drag me here so it could kill me!!" Nataro argued. He folded his arms across his chest. "I would've beaten it up, though. But it went an' ran away."

The orange-haired genin stared at his teammate with half-lidded eyes. "...I _still_ don't believe it."

"Fine, don't believe it." _'But the next time he gets possessed, I'm not helping 'em!'_ The orange-clad boy thought with squinted eyes as he glared at Kazemaru. "...OH!"

Kaze arched an eyebrow as his teammate held both sides of his face, his eyes white and wide like saucers. "What?"

"Hanzo!"

"What about him?" Before Kazemaru got his question answered, Nataro grabbed his arm and started to drag him down the hall. "Hey!! What the hell are you doing _now_?!"

"_We're_ going to find Hanzo! To make sure he's okay!"

"What _for_?!?"

The loud blonde let go of his teammate, which almost caused the orange-haired pyromaniac to fall down the stairs, and looked at him. "Because there is something _very wrong_ with this house, Kaze! First that weird black ball thing sticks onto me! And now a ghost possesses you and tries to kill me! If _we_ got struck by some weird, otherworldly stuff, than what's to say that Hanzo isn't in trouble?" A vision than entered Nataro's mind. "For all we know, Hanzo could be tormented by evil spirits as I speak!!"

"...So, you think Hanzo's in danger, huh, Ramen Breath?" Kazemaru spoke flatly as he stared at his teammate with half-lidded eyes.

"Yeah! I can _feel_ it in my gut!!"

"You sure you're not just feeling gas? I mean, don't tell me that you honestly believe that this place is, like, haunted or something." He held up a finger in front of Nataro. "Because if you do, then you need some _serious_ mental help."

"...Kazemaru. What can you remember what happened between now and the time you were doing your chores down here?" Nataro asked in a serious voice.

"Oh, that's easy! I..." Kazemaru blinked as he began to search his memory. "I... I can't remember. All I remember is the door shutting and the light bulb burning out."

"Aha! You say the light bulb burnt out, but it's on now! I put it on myself! _And_ you can't remember what happened between then and now! Not even the fact that _you_ brought me here!" The blonde genin proclaimed. When he got nothing in response from the shocked pyro-freak, he growled and spun on his heel, his back now turned to Kazemaru. "Aw, forget it! I gotta go find Hanzo--now!!" With those words, Nataro ran off, leaving Kazemaru at the top of the storage room stairs.

The speechless Temashi stood there for a moment. There wasn't really anything weird going on in this house--no way! ...Right? The orange-haired boy gulped before he shouted, "H-hey!! Ramen Breath!! Wait for me!!!"

**X-X-X**

"Why won't you tell me, Kotoyoooo?!" Aiko screamed as she pulled on Kotoyo's arm.

"Because it is _family_ business! It is _sister_ business!! And most importantly...it would make me look bad!!" Kotoyo shrieked.

"But how the hell can I help you with your sister problem if I don't know why you two are like this?!?"

"You're only there for support!! I never asked you to help!!"

"Yes, you did!!"

"No, I did-- Oh, wait. I did. But that doesn't mean I want you butting into my privacy!!!"

The two women were in the district where Aiko and Nataro lived--to simply go to Aiko's house and pick up the necessary stuff needed for an overnight stay. But then Aiko started to try to pump info from the older woman. That in turn made Kotoyo angry, which led to both women arguing. There were already people who were staring at them--both in the streets and in their homes!

"It isn't good to keep things bottled up inside, you know! If you talked, you'd feel much better!!" Aiko shouted loudly as she wagged a finger at Kotoyo. Despite the fact that she was trying to look calm, her face was red and a large vein was throbbing on her forehead.

"Who's bottling things up? Not me, not me!! I'm not bottling _anything_!! And why are you asking me about _my_ marriage and _my_ family anyway? You want something to gossip about?!"

The blonde woman arched an eyebrow. "I didn't ask about your marriage _or_ your family... And what makes you think I'd actually gossip about my friends? I'm not that type of woman!!"

"You'd gossip because would just _love_ to hear how Uchiha Kotoyo almost killed..." The dark-haired woman suddenly stopped talking.

"Killed who? You almost killed-- ...WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE STARING AT?!?" Aiko shouted at the large group of people that crowded around her and her friend. "You've got your own lives--stop listening to ours!!" _'How could I not notice such a big crowd?'_

"Hmph. Big talk from someone who was begging for her so-called _friend's_ personal information," said some woman in the crowd to one of her friends.

"Hey, she wouldn't have to be asking if that Uchiha woman didn't bottle things up," said some man in the crowd.

"Oh, wait, isn't she that Kotoyo woman?"

"She's the one who--"

"ENOUGH!!!" Aiko screamed loudly again, as she flailed her arms in the air. "SHUT THE HELL UP!!! IF YOU'RE GONNA GOSSIP, DON'T DO IT IN FRONT OF THE FACE OF THE ONE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!! Uh, I mean...DON'T GOSSIP AT ALL!!!" With the volume of her voice, it was clear that she was the mother of Kazaki Nataro--the loudest living kid in a village of ninja.

Kotoyo pointed an accusing finger at the woman in the crowd. Though how she identified the woman in the entire crowd, Aiko didn't know. "Listen, you! My friend is trying to help me! Unlike you, who probably loves getting into other people's business like you're watching a...cheap television drama! Do I look like a lead female in _'Shadowed Hearts'_? Do I?!" She suddenly began to scream, as she waved her arms in the air, "YOU MAKE ME SICK!!!" With a vein throbbing, the Uchiha woman began to form several signs very quickly.

Aiko stared at her friend. Her eyes had now been reduced to little brown dots and her mouth was gaping open. She _would_ have said that Kotoyo was being a bit _rash_ to resort to using jutsu, but the blonde was far too...stunned to do so. As well as afraid. _Very_ afraid. _'I just hope we won't get in trouble for this... I didn't even do anything!'_

"BEHOLD, WORMS!!! This is your end!!" Out of perpetual fear towards the seemingly-insane Kotoyo, the crowd already started to flee. Kotoyo began to giggle madly as she stared off into space.

Aiko was still shocked as the Uchiha started finishing her hand signs. But, now she actually chose to speak--before Kotoyo destroyed something. "Kotoyo."

At the sound of her name, the dark-haired woman turned her head around. "Huh?"

"They're gone. You scared them off."

"Oh..." The Uchiha stared into space for a while before raising her head to the sky. She took a deep breath and blew out a large amount of white flame in the air until it dispersed, and all the chakra she generated was no more.

"Oh, my..." The blonde squeaked as her eyes were now reduced to white dots. "Did you honestly...have to do that...?"

"Hmmm! Well, I had to get rid off my chakra! I couldn't just put it back after forming the seals and channeling my chakra."

Aiko suddenly grabbed Kotoyo's arm and began to drag her towards her house. "That does it! We'll talk _after_ we get to my place, okay?"

**X-X-X**

**Notes!!**

**Daifuku mochi is mochi with a filling. Strawberry-flavored mochi usually has a whole strawberry inside. Amakaze is a traditional sweet, low-alcoholic drink that's made from ferment rice.**

**A Doki is a traditional Japanese spirit that is the soul of a person that experienced a violent death and lives on for the sake of revenge. Doki are often white-skinned, wear white and usually clench and unclench their hands.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: And now we're back to our Naruto auction!! Next up is…one of Sasuke's childhood toys, the touted dinosaur plushie as seen in a Shippuuden flashback!! (holds up said dino plushie) I'll even throw in this picture of chibi-Sasuke sleeping with it! (Holds up a photo of little Sasuke sleeping in bed with it, his thumb in his mouth)**

**Sasuke fangirls: Awwwww!!**

**Blu: Eat your heart out, girls. This is one of the few pictures that shows a time before Sasuke was tainted by the harsh, cruel world and easily manipulated by evil old men!**

**Sasuke: Manipulated…? I'm not manipulated!**

**Blu: Tsk, tsk… He's in denial… Anyway, the first one to review gets this! So remember to review and I'll see you in the next chapter! See ya!**


	24. Predictions

**Blu: This chapter is all about predictions and whatnot! Isn't fortune-telling a grand thing?**

**Naruto: What, like horoscopes or something?**

**Blu: I meant reading your palm and reading tea leaves. Stuff like that.**

**Naruto: Oh.**

**Blu: Of course, we all know that Uchiha in this series always have bad fortunes.**

**Sasuke: Like that's true…**

**Blu: Oh, really? Lemme read you your horoscope: "you will experience a break in your mentality in the future after failing in your goals, become a cold-hearted miser and most likely grow old alone and die just the same because you always take the saying _'an eye for an eye'_ too seriously."**

**Sasuke: Shows what _you_ know. I'm married Sakura in your fic, remember?**

**Blu: For the sake of the storyline. But otherwise, I predict nothing but pain and suffering and loneliness if you don't change your ways. (Doesn't notice how Sasuke seems to have deflated) Now that _that's_ done, I'm gonna go find something to sell. Naruto! Perform the disclaimer! (Runs off)**

**Naruto: Geez… Who doesn't know that Blu Rose doesn't own Naruto already? If she did, her little prediction about Sasuke would come true… (Looks at Sasuke moping in a corner) And now, on with the fic!**

_**WARNING! This is for those who don't like reading about sex in a fan fic. It's nothing very graphic, but, just in case, you've been WARNED!**_

**X-X-X**

_#24: Predictions_

"Okay. Okay. Start talking. Now!" Aiko demanded after locking the door of her house. There was no way she'd want _anybody_ sneaking a peek inside.

"About what?" Kotoyo asked as a bright red question mark floated over her head.

"Stop playing around! You know what I'm talking about!" The blonde woman shouted loudly as she pointed a finger at her friend while holding what appeared to be a toothbrush.

The Uchiha rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine." She grabbed her blonde friend's arm, pulled her into the living room and pushed her onto the couch. "Well, there's nothing much _to_ explain. I was once a young girl, who wanted to kill Uchiha Sasuke, but fell madly in love with the black sheep of his offspring...!" She gave a fond, dreamy sigh as a sparkly background appeared behind her. "It really doesn't need to be explained—"

"You almost killed _Sasuke-san?_" Aiko shouted loudly. _'Could her relationship with him be __**that**__ strained?'_

"Oh, no, no, no!" Kotoyo exclaimed as she waved her arms about frantically. "I said I _wanted_ to kill him—never actually tried to kill him, though!"

"But...why?"

Kotoyo sighed as she got a sad look in her eyes. "I hate talking about this out loud, but, as I said: I was young...I had a brother once. He may have been a bit...peculiar, but he was a good kid, honestly!"

"Er... Huh?" Aiko blinked, confused. "You had a...brother?"

"Yes. I sweet, lovely little brother named Hanzo."

'_So she named Hanzo after her brother? That's so nice.'_ "But, wait a minute. You said he was peculiar?"

"Hm? Oh, well, he may have done a few things. Th-they were nothing! Really! Nothing at all!" Kotoyo exclaimed as she waved her hand, as though she wanted to change the subject.

But her blonde friend was persistent. "What sorts of things, Kotoyo?" She asked with an arched eyebrow. Despite the fact that she might learn some horrible, _horrible_ things—like the fact that her brother might have been a psychotic whatchamacallit, a _nukenin_—if it would help Kotoyo, she would just have to squeeze the truth out the Uchiha woman. Even if it was against her own will. Because that's what friends do.

"O-oh, nothing big. He might have...burned down our house. Tried to place curses on people. Locked himself up in a room while muttering to himself for long periods of time."

Aiko stared at her friend in shock. _'It's official. Her entire family is insane. I just hope Hanzo and Kotaro-chan don't inherit her side of the genes...'_

Kotoyo arched an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "I know what you're thinking: he sounds like a mental patient. But he was such a sweet boy—and a bit understood. He clung to me more than my sister because she kept predicting that bad things would happen to him."

The blonde nodded. "So, what happened to your brother?"

The dark-haired woman bit her lower lip as her arms fell back to her sides. "He...ran away from home. He didn't say where or why. But when we finally _did_ hear something about him, it...wasn't good." She bowed her head slightly and sniffled, her bangs hiding her eyes. "He went to Konoha, and...he stole a scroll. And...he was killed."

"What kind of scroll was it?" Aiko asked as a question mark floated above her head. _'If it was something important, then there's a reason why he was killed with no questions asked.'_

"I dunno. Some old forbidden scroll or something. _That_ is not what matters. What matters is that one of their ninja killed my baby brother! And they had the nerve to say it was an accident!"

'_I'm not surprised that he was killed, but it's a little odd that he was killed on __**accident**__.' _The blonde thought as she stared at her friend with half-lidded eyes.

"So, months went by, and I soon found out that my baby brother was killed by some man named Uchiha. Well, I was never very good at remembering important media and junk, but I remembered that there was this Uchiha Massacre thing that happened in Konoha a _looooong_ time ago before I was even born, and that there were only two people left alive after that. And years after that, one died, leaving only one Uchiha left—and that was Sasuke-san. You know what that means, right?" Kotoyo asked, now only a few inches from Aiko's face.

"Uh...what?" The blonde woman, however, was still confused. She had no idea about what the Uchiha Massacre and what it was, anyway. _'But if that old man managed to survive a massacre that killed off his entire family...'_ Her eyes suddenly bugged out at the thought. _'Was he... Could he really have been so powerful when he was young?'_ She imagined a handsome-looking young ninja who was surrounded by thousands of unconscious enemies—and he looked like he hardly broke a sweat! _'Ooooh…! NO! That's just wrong! There's no way that old bastard could've been so cool when he was young!'_

**X-X-X**

"Achoo!" Sasuke blinked.

"Ah, are you getting a cold, Dear?" Sakura asked as she placed a hand on his forehead. "A summer fever, maybe?"

"I'm not sick." The elder Uchiha spoke with a frown.

"Then someone must be talking about you somewhere! You better hope it's something nice~!" His wife spoke in a sing-song tone of voice.

Sasuke snorted as he looked away from Sakura. "That's a bunch of rubbish. I don't believe in that sort of thing, you know." He sneezed again.

Sakura sweatdropped as she stared at her husband with half-lidded eyes. "So you're just sneezing completely of your own free will? Well, _that's _more believable than having a cold..."

**X-X-X**

"Aiko, are you even listening to me?"

"Wh-what?" The Kazaki woman snapped back into reality and now saw her friend staring at her. "Oh, sure! I'm listening! So, what did it mean?"

"It meant that Sasuke-san was the one who killed my brother!"

"WHAAAAAAT? YOUR FATHER-IN-LAW KILLED YOUR BROTHER?"

"Well, that's what I assumed."

Aiko stared at the woman with dots for eyes. "Eh?"

"So, I made my plan to go to Konoha, kill that bastard and place my brother's soul at rest! Oh, and maybe regain my clan honor."

Aiko stared up at Kotoyo. The dark-haired woman had a fist up in the air as fire burned in her eyes. A sweatdrop ran down the back of the blondes head as she mumbled, "But...Sasuke-san isn't dead."

The fire in Kotoyo's eyes faded and her arms fell back limply by her sides again. "_That_ is because my plan hit a snag."

"...I'm almost afraid to ask, but: what kind of snag?"

The Uchiha scratched her cheek. "Well... I'll give you a couple of clues: it involved alcohol, sex, and a cute guy."

Aiko's eyes became the size of dinner plates. "Oh my God..."

**X-X-X**

_**Years ago in a bar somewhere in Fire Country...**_

"_Hello, cutie! What's __**your**__ name?"_ _A 19-year old Kotoyo asked the young man next to her. He appeared to be a year or two younger than her, but age was only a number and she was slightly too drunk to care at the moment._

_The young man turned his head slightly to face her. Kotoyo decided he __**was**__ cute, indeed—shoulder-length raven hair, forest green eyes...a bit pale, but it looked good on him, in her opinion. "Huh?"_

"_I said: 'What's your name'?" Kotoyo repeated as she swirled her straw around in her drink._

"_Um...Zen. Uchiha Zen."_

_The dark-haired girl blinked before twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Hmhmhm... Zen. What a weird thing to name a child. Your parents must've wanted you to be a monk!"_

"_N-no."_

"_I think I heard of Uchiha before. Are you, by any chance, a relative of Uchiha Sasuke's?"_

_It was now Zen's turn to blink. "Hm? Of course—he's my...father."_

"_Oh? I didn't know he had kids!" 'What good luck! I shall make Uchiha Sasuke suffer by killing his own child!' "Why, Zen-kun! Why aren't you drinking anything?"_

"_What...?"_

"_You know! Have a drink or two—or more!"_

_The Uchiha arched an eyebrow. "You actually expect me to get drunk for a woman I don't even know? No way."_

_Kotoyo gave a cat-like grin as she leaned towards him and whispered, "I'm Yagami Kotoyo."_

_Zen's cheeks were now a cherry shade of red, his eyes the size of baseballs. "Um... Um..."_

"_See? I've introduced myself. Now we can get a drink together, huh?"_

_An hour and 5 and a half bottles of saké later, Zen was completely drunk. Kotoyo was a bit tipsy, as well. They were so deeply inebriated that they began to converse. Zen told Kotoyo that he was the youngest of five children whom he claimed were all more skilled than him—though she realized he was probably being modest when he punched some drunk who mistook him for a woman through a wall—and how he was quiet, not much of a social person—which got him labeled as anti-social and untalkative in his childhood. Though he definitely started talking more after the 5th bottle of saké was empty. And Kotoyo told him that she was the middle child of her family, an orphan because her mother died after her brother's birth and her father ran off with some waitress before that. And how men seemed to be afraid of her._

"_So, you're from another country? A foreigner?" It was amazing that Zen could still pronounce words correctly after he drank so much._

"_Uh-huh. This is my...my first time in Hi no Kuni." Kotoyo hiccupped. "Wha' 'bout you?"_

"_Konoha."_

"_Heh. Shoulda known...with that thi...that thing around your neck." The dark-haired girl's finger traced the Leaf symbol on his hitai-ate._

"_Hey, Koto-chan. I think you're...__**very**__ cute...y'know?" Zen mumbled as his eyes softened._

"_Ah, I think __**you**__ are very cute, __**too**__, Zen...Zennie!" Kotoyo exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the Uchiha's waist._

"_I would __**love**__ to get to know you better."_

"_...I know of a way we could do that..."_

**X-X-X**

Aiko's mouth was in the shape of an 'O,' her eyes reduced to little brown dots. "Don't tell me...you two..."

Kotoyo nodded as she smiled fondly. "Yup! We did _'The Nasty'_."

"Don't tell me you're proud of what you did!"

"Of course! Zennie was my first love! You know that you always remember your First, silly!"

"Does it _count_ when they're _drunk_?" Aiko sweatdropped.

"...So after one hell of a Friday night, we woke up in each others' arms, in some motel, and buck-naked!"

At the words 'buck-naked,' Aiko immediately covered her ears, "Too much information, Kotoyo! Too much info!"

"But, the result of such a wonderful night had something...not-so-good happen at the end," said Kotoyo, forgetting about her friend. "Somehow, we wound up getting married."

**X-X-X**

"_THE HELL WE ARE!" Zen shouted after he had jumped out of the bed with Kotoyo. He managed to grab a pillow to hide his manhood with. "There is **no way** you and I are...**married**."_

"_But Zennie, that's what happened!"_

"_I don't remember that happening!"_

"_That would be because you were too drunk to remember. It was an accident, okay?" Kotoyo mumbled as she held the bed covers close to her body._

"_What's everyone gonna think? They'll have a field day over all of this!" The young Uchiha panicked as he tried to find his boxers._

_The dark-haired woman's bottom lip quivered as she looked away. What was she **thinking**? Sleeping with some boy she just met last night...and plotting to kill him because of something his father did? Before, it sounded justifiable, but now... Now it just sounded **wrong**. Was revenge truly the wrong path? Should she just forget about the Uchiha and go back home to Kagetsuchi? ...An epiphany brought on by the headache that was caused by her massive hangover earlier when she woke up? Most likely, yes._

"_Zennie... I'm sorry. But I really...really do like you a lot." The dark-haired girl got his attention after he had found and put on his boxers. "I'm so ashamed. I don't deserve to live!" She pulled out the kunai that she had hidden under her pillow and pointed the blade at her chest._

_Zen's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "HUH? WAIT, STOP! Don't be an idiot!" He jumped on top of the girl and snatched her kunai away from her. She didn't put up much of a fight because she still had a headache. "D-don't try and kill yourself because of me! That's the **last** thing I want to be blamed for."_

_Kotoyo hiccupped. "I...feel...so...ASHAMED!" She began to cry. "And to think...I..I was gonna... I was going to...!" She hiccupped again._

"_...What?"_

"_I almost...tried to... I CAN'T EVEN SAY IT! I feel so...**dirty**!" The dark-haired girl began to cry even louder than she did before, and still ignored the fact that the only thing that hid her body was the bed sheet._

_The youngest Uchiha blinked before he began to groan. "H-hey... Don't cry. I'm not good with crying women." She still continued to cry. Zen let out a groan. "Look, I'm not mad anymore. A-and if you want, we could still get married—the **right** way. But only if you stop crying!"_

_Kotoyo suddenly stopped crying and looked at him with red, puffy eyes. "You... You still wanna marry me? Of your own free will?"_

"_Uh... Y-yeah...!" Zen exclaimed quietly, his green eyes looking out of the corner of his eye as a cherry-red blush appeared on his pale cheeks. "I think you're a...nice girl, Kotoyo. Even if you're a little...weird."_

_Kotoyo's eyes widened to a comical size. In a matter of seconds, she had forgotten about anything related to the keywords "Uchiha," "Hanzo" "revenge" and "brother". She had managed to get Zen on the bottom and her on top of him. She started to smother him with kisses and occasionally muttered an "I love you" every couple of seconds or so. All the while, it took Zen all his will power to not yell at her to get off of him. Instead, he said:_

"_Koto-chan... Put on some clothes so we can go, already."_

**X-X-X**

'_Well, are least she wasn't __**too**__ graphic, this time.' _Aiko thought as she stared up at Kotoyo. The older woman still had a fond look on her face. "I still haven't heard anything about Shitomi and her predictions, you know. And make it short, will you? Who knows what Kotaro and Shitomi are doing at your house?"

"Oh, Zennie..." Kotoyo began to giggle.

"Kotoyo!"

"What? Oh, right. Predictions. Erm, well, about 9 months later, after lots of lying to Zen's friends and family about our meeting and our wedding, our first child was born into the world. Zen let me name him, and I named him after my brother, Hanzo, as you know. So, a couple of months passed and Shitomi came to see Hanzo and how my marriage with Zen was going..."

**X-X-X**

"_Oh, he's such a cute little boy! Such smooth skin and such lovely eyes! And such a cute little face!" Shitomi cooed as she tickled Hanzo's tummy with her finger. The little baby with tufts of raven-hair and large chocolate brown eyes giggled and tried to grab his aunt's finger._

"_That's right! He's such a handsome little boy! He's gonna be a lady killer like his daddy, aren't you, Hanzo-chan!" Kotoyo smiled down at her baby boy._

_In the background, Zen sweatdropped and rolled his eyes. "Which daddy are you talking about?"_

"_Oh, let me hold him, sister! I've always wanted to hold a baby!" The red-eyed woman exclaimed as she held out her hands._

_Kotoyo looked at her sister, then down at baby Hanzo, then back at Shitomi. "Well... Okay. But just be careful not to drop him." She mumbled as she handed him over to her sister._

"_Ah... Such an adorable baby." Shitomi cooed as she smiled down at Hanzo. The little baby smiled up at her and laughed. She stared at him for quite some time until her eyes widened. Her hold slackened and she dropped the baby._

_Zen dove to the floor and caught the baby. Hanzo started to wail in his father's arms. "Shush, shush. It's okay, now..."_

_Kotoyo glared at her sister. "SHITOMI! WHAT IS **WRONG** WITH YOU? You almost dropped Hanzo-chan!"_

"_That...child... He's...just like our brother."_

_Kotoyo and Zen blinked. Zen looked confused but Kotoyo's eyes were wide with shock. "Wh-what...?"_

_The red-eyed woman suddenly put her fingers to her temples. "That boy... Ah, yes, that child... He's going to do some horrible things in the future..."_

_Kotoyo stared at her sister in disbelief. "Shitomi... Get out."_

"_What?"_

"_Get out. Get out of my house. I've had it...with you and your stupid predictions and premonitions!" The dark-haired girl shouted at her sister. "You first said that Zen and the Uchiha are going to be the death of me, and now...you're saying things about my baby? I want you out of my house immediately!" She shouted as she pointed out of the door._

_Shitomi opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly stopped. She stared at Kotoyo for a couple of seconds. "You know...I could be wrong. But I could be right. Faith is funny like that, Kotoyo. You never know where it's going to take you or what's it's going to deal you." _

"_I said **get out, now**." Kotoyo spoke in an angry tone._

"_...Alright. I'm gone." And without another word, Shitomi spun on her heel and walked out of the house._

_Zen looked at Kotoyo with a confused look on his face. "Kotoyo... What did you mean by me being the death of you?"_

"_Ah...nothing, Zennie. Just some stupidity. My sister just thinks she can see the future. It's...stupid."_

**X-X-X**

"That sounds...awful! How could Shitomi think something like that—and about her own nephew, too!" Aiko said in shock. "I mean, Hanzo's such a nice boy. A bit quiet, but that doesn't make him a future murderer or something!"

"I know... I still can't believe that she'd think that. I mean, Hanzo might have had some problems in the past, but everything's better now!" Said Kotoyo as she placed a hand on her hip.

The blonde woman stared up at her friend. "...What did you say?"

"Er, nothing! Nothing at all!" Kotoyo suddenly grabbed Aiko's arm and began to pull on it. "Come on, come on! We haven't got all night, have we? Hurry up and gather your things, Aiko!"

Aiko stared up at her with a confused look. "Wha...?" _'Maybe it's best if I stop asking questions, now. Who knows how she'd react if I prod into her life more,'_ She thought before getting up out of the chair. She handed Kotoyo the toothbrush. "Here. You hold this while I try to find some overnight clothes."

"Goodie!" The Uchiha woman exclaimed, suddenly in chibi form. "We could do our nails, and brain each others' hair and watch scary movies and gossip about boys!"

The Kazaki woman sweatdropped as she stared at her friend again. "Uh...Kotoyo? Don't get weird on me again."

**X-X-X**

"Hey, Nataro."

The blonde boy turned his head to look at his pyromanic teammate. "What?"

"Do you _seriously_ think that Hanzo's...like _dead_ or somethin'?" Kazemaru was then given a swift blow to the head by Nataro. "WHAT THE FUG? Why'd you do _that_ for?"

"'Cuz I didn't say that Hanzo was dead, stupid pyro!"

"I asked if you _thought_ he was dead." Kaze dodged a second punch from Nataro. One bump on his head was enough, thank you.

"Of course he's not dead! Hanzo's not a wimp like you! He can handle himself, but it's safe to just check up on him, right?"

"Who you calling a _'wimp,'_ you dunce?" Kazemaru asked as a vein throbbed on his forehead. However, instead of the reaction he had expected, his orange-clad teammate turned his back on the pyromanic genin. "...What're you _doing_? Aren't you gonna turn around and call me a pervert? Or try to punch me again? _Something_?"

"Hmph." Nataro folded his arms across his chest. "That'd just be a waste of time. First, we'll find Hanzo. And when we make sure he's safe, then I'll kick your rude ass!"

Kaze stared at his teammate with wide eyes. "Wow... That's...really mature of you, Nataro..." A couple of seconds later, the orange-haired boy delivered a jump-kick to Nataro's back. "HYAAAAAAH!"

Nataro landed face first on the floor, a foot mark on the back of his jacket. Kazemaru put his foot on his back as he folded his arms across his chest, a triumphant look on his face. "Ow..." Came the muffled cry of slight pain from the blonde ninja.

"Imposter! Nataro's not that mature! Who the heck do you think you're fooling?"

"MORON! It really _is_ me, PYRO FREAK!

"Really? Whoops. My bad..." The orange-haired genin stuck out his tongue a little as he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I was just...making sure."

"When this is all over, I'm gonna make sure my fist's shoved all the way into your mouth!" The blonde shouted as a vein throbbed on his head.

**X-X-X**

"_Hanzo-chan? ...Are you okay, hun?"_

"_I-I... I'm f-fine."_

"_Just let me in, Hanzo!"_

"_N-no! I said I'm fine!"_

"_HAN—! ...Okay. Fine. Are you at least hungry?"_

"_...Yes." Glass shards were all over the floor. A few bits and pieces had blood on them._

"_Anything special you want? Sushi? Egg rolls? Maybe onigiri?"_

"_Anything's f-fine." The 8-year old mumbled as he cradled his bleeding hand. Tears fell from his eyes and he was in so much pain, but he managed to keep up his little facade. Still, it felt so wrong for him to lie to his mother like that. He was hurt. He was **bleeding**. Maybe punching that mirror wasn't such a good idea, after all._

_On the other side of the door, his mother was crying as well, and was in more pain than her son. "Okay. Come down in a couple of minutes. ...Hanzo-chan. I love you." _

_The young boy's eyes flashed with that familiar red… and continued to do so as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. It looked so broken up...just like he was right now. He closed his eyes hard and bit into his lower lip. He opened them again a few seconds later. They were back to their normal brown color._

"_Hanzo…?"_

"_I love you, too, Mom."_

**X-X-X**

Hanzo's eyes slowly opened. "Ow…" He slowly got to his feet and dusted himself off. He had tripped on a scroll that, somehow, came out of place from one of the piles and hit his head hard when he landed on the floor. The Uchiha rubbed his head as he bent down to pick up the scroll. "I hope I wasn't out for _too_ long."

"Psst! Hey!" An unfamiliar voice whispered.

The Uchiha jumped out the sound of the voice and turned his head in its direction. And what he saw definitely creeped him out. There was a...woman...a _transparent_ woman with skin—if one could call it skin—the color of coal and gray eyes..._sticking out of the wall_. You could only see her down to the waist, the rest of her body being stuck on the other side of the wall.

"Hi, cutie. What're you doing in a place like this, hm?" The woman asked.

Out of pure instinct, Hanzo jumped back and drew a kunai. He threw the projectile weapon at the transparent being, but, as he should have expected, it went right through her.

"How rude!" The woman coiled her neck, reminding him of a snake. "Are you Yagami all like this—action first, talk later?"

"What?" The raven-haired boy arched an eyebrow. "This can't be real." _'Am I still asleep? Is this a dream?'_ He blinked, and found that the ghost woman was no longer in the room. "Huh. Guess it was just my imagination." He walked over to the kunai that was embedded in the wall and pulled it out. _'This place is starting to get to me...'_

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What sort of Yagami are you, huh, kid?" Another unfamiliar voice spoke.

Hanzo quickly whipped his head around, and his eyes became blank and widened to the size of saucers from what he saw. "A... A... A cat?"

Said cat was an orange tabby with black stripes, which made it look a bit like a tiger. But, unlike any _normal _cat, this particular cat was standing on its two hind legs and had two, striped tails swishing behind it. The fact that it was also wearing only a small black kimono and holding an old-time pipe made Hanzo wonder if he took enough medication before leaving Konoha.

"What the hell...?" The raven-haired Uchiha mumbled as he stared at the cat with wide eyes.

"What? Never seen a nekomata before, kid?" The kimono-wearing cat asked before sticking his pipe in his mouth.

"A...nekomata?" Hanzo began to shake his head furiously. "No, no, no! _You_," He pointed a finger at the feline, "Are not real! You're just some stupid wife's tale from way before even my grandparents were born! You're just the result of me not taking enough medication! A figment of my imagination!"

"Really?" The two-tailed cat walked up to the genin and kicked him once in the shin.

"OW!"

"Could a figment of your imagination do that? I'm _real_, you dolt."

Hanzo hopped up and down for a bit, holding his hurt shin. "Nuh-uh! No way! This isn't real!"

"What, you think this is some sort of genjutsu?" The nekomata rolled its eyes. "Why not just hurt yourself? That'll break the illusion, won't it? Though it'd have to be something _much_ more painful than a mere kick to the shin."

The genin glared at the talking cat. "Do you honestly believe that I'm gonna listen to a stupid cat? Even if you _can_ talk, you're not real. It's not a dream, so this is probably a hallucination."

The orange cat glared up at him and pulled out his pipe. "What exactly would it take for me to make you believe I'm real? Cause you to bleed?" He held up his free hand—er, paw and several sharp-looking claws could be seen. "I wouldn't exactly mind, though..."

"HANZOOOOO! WHERE ARE YOU?" Nataro's voice shouted from somewhere outside the attic.

"Yeah, Fan Boy! Come out, come out, wherever the hell you are!" Kazemaru shouted as well.

"Hey, what's this thing? The door to the attic?"

"Hey, I saw something like this on TV. You pull on the little cord and the stairs come down."

The small door that led up to the attic suddenly opened and Nataro's head popped up as he grinned. "Hi, Hanzo! We're here to give ya some comp— ...What the...?"

"Hey! Get in there, will ya? I don't wanna stare at your _butt_ all day!" Kaze shouted from below the blonde.

"Hanzo, what's with the cat in the kimono?" Nataro asked with squinted eyes.

The Uchiha twitched. "You mean...you can see it, Nataro?"

"Of course! I mean, it's wearing clothes! Ow, hey! Watch it, Kazemaru!" The orange-clad ninja shouted as he kicked Kazemaru in the face.

"Then _move_, Ramen Breath!" Nataro grumbled under his breath as he climbed all the way up into the room, Kaze following him. The orange-haired genin arched an eyebrow as he saw the nekomata. "Hey, what's with the cat in the kimono?"

"I can't believe this... It's _real_." Hanzo muttered as he stared at the kimono-clad cat, who was staring at his teammate.

"And who would _these_ two lovely examples of the faults of humanity be?" The nekomata asked before placing his pipe back into his mouth.

Both genin's eyes widened to the size of saucers as their jaws dropped. "Did that cat just _talk_?"

"Actually, I think it just _insulted_ us!" The pyromanic boy shouted as he stared at his blonde teammate.

"It appears they aren't so dumb. Or at least one of them's not so dumb." The nekomata spoke.

"HEY!"

The two-tailed cat looked at Hanzo. "Hmmm... What is _wrong_ with you, you dolt?"

"Huh?" Hanzo blinked.

Several small blue wisps of flame began to surround the nekomata and in a couple of seconds, it disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"What the _Hell_ just happened here?" Kaze muttered as he looked at Hanzo, then at the spot where the cat was just standing.

"See that? I _knew_ there was something wrong with this house!" Nataro shouted loudly as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "This place is practically _haunted_!"

"Maybe. So what?" A new voice spoke.

"Ack!" Nataro and Kaze jumped at the voice and spun around to see, "YOU!"

Shikimi folded her arms across her chest. "Yes. Me."

"So this place...really is haunted? And you're not just pulling our leg?" The pyromanic genin spoke as he began to sweat.

"Tch. Of course it's not haunted." The red-eyed girl said, causing both young shinobi to give a sigh of relief. "It's just inhabited by a couple of spirits."

"THAT'S WHAT HAUNTED _MEANS, _YOU LITTLE CREEPAZOID!" Kazemaru shouted loudly as he held up a fist. He was then slapped in the face by Shikimi and fell over. As a red hand imprint throbbed on his head, with swirls in his eyes, the pyro spoke in a dazed tone, "What a hit..."

Nataro and Hanzo both sweatdropped. Their mouths were wide open, but they were too afraid to say something at the moment.

"There's a difference between having a ghost haunt you and having ghosts live in your house, despite what people think. Ghosts that haunt houses usually frighten and sometimes kill those who live in them. Ghosts that inhabit houses are those whom are welcomed in a home and may grant the family that lives in the home luck and good fortune if treated properly and given proper offerings. Which reminds me..." The dark-haired girl looked at Kaze. "You took from our cat's food. And drank from his amakaze. For that, you're going to pay sincerely."

Kazemaru's eyes widened as he saw the look in Shikimi's eyes. "Uh... Sorry?"

"Sorry doesn't repay for the fact that you've made the spirits angry. And now, you must pay." Shikimi spoke in a dark tone as she cracked her knuckles.

**X-X-X**

Later that night, as Team 14 and the girl's ate, Kazemaru kept glaring at Shikimi, Hanzo, and Nataro. But mostly at his teammates.

"Thanks a bunch for helping me, _guys_. Some teammates you are..." The pyro mumbled as he rubbed his swollen cheek. He had bruises on his body and a large swollen cheek—all courtesy of Shikimi, of course.

"Hey, I'm not dumb. I know how dangerous women can be!" Nataro said with a grin. "As someone who got beaten up by 'em a lot during the Academy, you should've known it, too!"

"Whatever."

Shiori giggled as she leaned over to Hanzo. "So, how's your dinner, Hanzo-kun?"

"Um, it's fine," the Uchiha said with a smile before popping a piece of fish into his mouth.

"I hope you like it. It was made with _love_." The dark-haired girl cooed as she stared up at him with big, puppy-dog eyes, causing Hanzo to sweatdrop.

"Eh-heh-heh-heh..." _'My head is killing me... I hope this headache gives me a break before I go to sleep.'_

"**Let me out...!"**

His eyes opened a bit wider and he blinked. He shook his head and resumed eating.

"Oh, Hanzo-kun! Is something the matter?" Shiori asked in a concerned tone as she continued to stare at Hanzo.

"Ah! It's nothing, really. I've just got a little headache."

"I think I know what's causing it..." Kaze whispered to Nataro, causing the blonde to chuckle under his breath.

"Oh, well, I could get you some aspirin."

"It's okay. It's not that bad. It'll go away on its own," Hanzo mumbled as he scratched his neck.

Nataro stared at his raven-haired friend for a while before going back to eating his food and he shook his feeling of foreboding off. Nothing bad was bound to happen to Hanzo. There was just no way. No way at all.

**X-X-X**

"Psst! Hey!" A voice whispered in Hanzo's ear. He didn't know how long he had been asleep for, but he knew that whoever it was, they were disturbing his sleep. "Wake up, already, you loser!"

"Leave me alone..." The raven-haired boy mumbled as he frowned and tried to turn away. He suddenly felt something hit him in his forehead.

"I _said_ wake up, Hanzo."

Hanzo's eyes fluttered open and he couldn't believe what he was looking at. He was looking at..._himself_.

The other Hanzo smirked as he stared at the real Hanzo. "Long time, no see, Hanzo."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES**

**Nekomata are cats that have lived for a long time and have the ability to control the dead.**

**Zen is a Buddhist term. I think it means "good" and "pure".**

**Yagami means "Eight gods"**.

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Welcome back to another lovely auctioning of the Uchiha clan's stuff! The next one up is…Itachi!**

**Itachi fangirls: YAAAAAAY!**

**Blu: Unfortunately, being a wandering member of Akatsuki, Itachi didn't keep many material things. All I could get was his Akatsuki cloak—great for cosplaying and, if you're a freak like Karin, you'll notice that it still has that Itachi scent!**

**Itachi fangirls: EEEEEEEK!**

**Naruto: Where'd all these fangirls come from?**

**Blu: They broke in, somehow. Fangirls are that powerful.**

**Kakashi: By the way, isn't it wrong to steal things off of a dead man's corpse?**

**Blu: What's he gonna do? Come back to haunt me?**

**(Itachi suddenly appears beside Blu, and his feet aren't visible. Blu turns blue in the face and faints. In a poof of smoke, Itachi becomes Sasuke.)**

**Sasuke: That's for the picture of me and the plushie.**

**Kakashi: Oh, dear. I think he gave her a heart attack.**

**Naruto: (-.-) Think you could sound a _little_ more worried?**

**Kakashi: Oh, she'll be fine. What's important is that we tell everyone to stay tuned, review, and spread the word of Naruto X to the world.**

**Naruto: …She never did that last part!**

**Kakashi: I know; I just threw that in. See you in the next chapter!**


	25. Mind Games

**Blu: Behold the beginnings of insanity! Like his grandfather before him, Hanzo has something crawling around inside his demented little head!**

**Hanzo: Hey, I'm not demented!**

**Blu: Sorry. Just trying to draw in the readers.**

**Sasuke: Neither am I.**

**Blu: Someone's in denial.**

**Sasuke: Denial?**

**Blu: You've been mind-raped, **_**and**_** manipulated, **_**and**_** you once had Orochimaru living inside of you for a short time, **_**and**_** you wanted to destroy everyone in the village of your birth because some old geezers made decisions behind the Hokage's back, **_**and**_** you'll kill anyone who stands in your way no matter what their intentions are. If that doesn't make you demented, I don't know what does.**

**Sasuke: I am **_**not**_** demented!**

**Blu: Yes, you are.**

**Sasuke: No.**

**Blu: Yes!**

**Hanzo: Uh, while these two continue arguing, why don't you guys read the fic?**

_Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, this fanfic would be a prediction of what's to come in the series. But I don't, so it's not. So there._

**X-X-X**

_#25: Mind Games_

Hanzo stared up at himself-er, at the _other_ Hanzo. He wasn't in that small room with Nataro talking in his sleep and Kazemaru's snores, but in some dark dimension that seemed to go on forever, the metal floor being the only other thing one could make out in this barren landscape aside from the unsettling fog and the spotlight shining down on the two boys-if you could _call_ it a landscape and if you could call one of them an _actual_ person.

"Long time, no see, Hanzo," the other Hanzo spoke. "So nice to see you again after all these years. What's it been-5 or 6? I lost count since you let me play only so many times..."

Hanzo stared up at the other still. "Didn't I lock you up in the back of my head somewhere?"

"Tch. Did you honestly think that a couple of measly pills and some mental therapy can keep _me_ away? I am your beginning and I will be your end."

"But you're not supposed to _be _here. You're not supposed to be here. Maybe I should have taken the medication. I _swore_ I didn't need it anymore... I thought these hallucinations would have passed," Hanzo muttered as he bit his lower lip.

The other Hanzo folded his arms across his chest. "Hallucinations? You actually believe what your mother tells you? That I'm not real?"

"Of course. There's no way you can be real," The raven-haired boy told his mirror image as he looked away from him. "You're just not possible."

**X-X-X**

"As Lord Hokage, my first law...is that all Kage get free ramen..." Nataro mumbled in his sleep. He was having such a nice dream until he felt something move beside him. Azure eyes opened slightly to see Hanzo sliding the door open, walking out, and closing it shut. "Hanzo? ...Eh...probably just...needs to pee or somethin'..." And with those words, Nataro went back to sleep.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, with Hanzo, the raven-haired ninja was muttering to himself with his back turned to...his _other_ self, "He's not real... He's not real... He's not real..."

"Not real? That hurts, Hanzo! I can't believe you actually think I'm not real!" The _other_ Uchiha gave a false sniffle. "I'm just as real as you are, so quit denying me!"

"He's NOT real...! He's NOT real...!" Hanzo increased the volume of his chanting.

"And stop pretending to ignore me!"

Hanzo turned around and pointed a finger at his other self. "Shut the HELL up! You aren't real and I shouldn't even be talking to you! You shouldn't even _be_ here! And...where the Hell _are_ we, anyway?" He uncharacteristically shouted loudly.

The other Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "My, haven't you gotten quite the potty mouth? Must've gotten it from that arsonist teammate of yours."

"Just tell me, right now!"

"Hmph." The other Uchiha cocked his head to the side. "We're in _your_ head, of course. In your warped, split-up little mind."

"So...why are you here?"

"Because: now it's time to see...which one of us will have control from this point on."

The young Uchiha arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"What're you, deaf? Must I simplify this for you? _I_," the other Uchiha pointed a finger to himself, "Am going to kill _you_," he pointed to Hanzo, "And take over your mind and body. Got that?"

Hanzo remained speechless for a while as he stared at his doppelganger. After a while, he snorted and turned his head to the side. "Tch. Yeah, right. You're an idiot! You can't just take control so suddenly. Not without my permission—"

"Ah, but remember what you _told me_ the last time we saw each other?" In the blink of an eye, the other Hanzo was behind the real one. "You said you didn't need me."

The raven-haired genin frowned, but didn't move away or even look at his other half as he muttered, "I still don't."

"Well..." The other Uchiha leaned forward to whisper into his ear, "I don't need _you_ either, Hanzo. Not anymore... I'm going to bust loose of your mental chains and break free!" He punched the Uchiha in the back of his head as a smirk appeared on his face. The real Hanzo stumbled forward and grasped the back of his head.

"Ah... So that's how it is." Hanzo mumbled. "Why do you want to break free all of a sudden? You never complained before...when I let you loose in my illusions and do what I don't have the heart to do. And...maybe..." He bit his lower lip. "Maybe what happened with Rie...and Shizuka-chan...and Ina at the Chunin Exams shouldn't have happened. So, is it just more people you want to hurt? Another way to channel my aggression out on people?" He turned around to look at his other half. "Because in the end, that's all you are: my aggression. All of my anger and sorrow in the form of something I wish I could be-a true shinobi. In the end...you are _nothing_."

"Heh-heh... Heh-heh-heh! You think you _made_ me? _I_ made _you_! Little crybaby Uchiha!" The other Hanzo smirked. "You might think you've changed, but you haven't. You're still the same weak-hearted crybaby you were when you before I even woke up!" He watched Hanzo clench his fist as it shook in anger. You may _think_ you're stronger, but in reality, _you're_ the one who's nothing." He made a single hand sign.

Out of the ground, several hands shot up and grabbed Hanzo's feet and leg. The young Uchiha looked down and his eyes widened in shock.

The other Hanzo smirked as he leered at his other half. "You know, you really should stop watching those horror movies as research, Hanzo. It'll come back and haunt you."

"H-hey! What the-?" Hanzo blinked as he saw the owners of the hands crawl up from the ground slowly. "...Zombies. You actually think I'm afraid...of zombies." He spoke in a flat tone of voice. "I got over those when I was 8. Totally lame."

"I know." The other Uchiha said over the moaning sounds of the zombies. He suddenly disappeared into the ground, which caused Hanzo to blink.

"Hey... Where are you going, now?" The raven-haired boy muttered. "I don't have time for this, you know. I need to get some sleep for tomorr-" He stopped talking as a fist connected with his face. The Uchiha fell back and held the side of his face, a slight bruise forming. "...Ow. That hurt. ...Wait, that _hurt!_ That means that this is..."

"Real, Hanzo-chan." The other Hanzo finished. "You see, this is no illusion. You may not be taking any _physical_ damage, but mentally..._spiritually_, you're going to feel a lot of pain right now." He formed another hand sign and the scenery changed. Now they were in what appeared to be a torture chamber. Bloody corpses were all piled up in a corner of the all-white room, blood staining the walls and such. Several killing implements-knives, axes, needles, etc-hung up on the wall behind the other Hanzo, stained with dry blood.

The real one rolled his eyes. "Quit stealing things from movies. At least be a _bit_ more original."

The other Hanzo approached the wall behind him and grabbed the knife off of the wall. He approached his better half and stared down at him as several chains suddenly appeared out of the ground and tied him to the ground. "Maybe it's not original, but I'm still going to kill you." He held up the knife and then plunged it into Hanzo's stomach. He brought the knife down, slowly opening his stomach open. The young Uchiha, however, was not fazed in the least.

Hanzo bit his lower lip a bit. It was actually...starting to _hurt_ a bit. When the other Hanzo pulled out the knife, the real one let out a small, short grunt of pain. Despite the fact that in reality such an action would have _killed_ him already, Hanzo knew it wasn't real. That didn't explain why it hurt, though.

"Ah, so resilient! You've got a strong mind, you know. That's the only one of your good points." The worse half spoke as he tossed the knife over his shoulder, causing it land on the floor in a clatter. "Still, you can't deny the fact that you felt that, right?" He smirked as he bent down and looked into Hanzo's eyes. "Don't think this means anything, mind you. I have an entire night left to break down your spirit enough for me to take over. And don't get discouraged, Hanzo, you'll still be here." His smirk got wider. "You just won't be the one in control anymore..."

**X-X-X**

The next morning, Nataro and Kazemaru could be seen hugging each other in their arms. The blonde boy nuzzled into his pyromanic teammate, thinking he was a pillow, and Kaze thought Nataro was his dream girl. So, it wasn't too impossible to believe that the young pyro actually _kissed_ Nataro on his forehead and called him "sweet cheeks".

"Mmmm... Wha?" Nataro mumbled as his eyes slowly opened. The first thing he saw was Kazemaru making a kissy-face, and leaning in slowly to supposedly plant a kiss on his lips. His eyes widened to the size of saucers and became blank out of shock. Then he started to freak out. Also not impossible to believe. "! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU PYRO FREAK?" The Kazaki shouted before he kneed Kaze in the balls.

"Oof!" The orange-haired genin woke up and grabbed his family jewels. At that moment, Nataro proceeded to hit him on the head with his pillow. "Oof! H-hey! Cut that out! What the hell did I do to _you_?"

A vein started to throb on Nataro's head as he pointed a finger to his chest and shouted, "You tried to kiss me! You pervert, I told you I don't _swing_ that way!"

"...Oh, _Hell_ no! Not _again_!" Kaze groaned. "Where the heck is Hanzo? This is the reason why _he _sleeps in the middle!"

"Uh..." The blonde boy looked around with squinted eyes. "...He's not here."

"I can _see _that!" Kazemaru growled as he glared at nothing in particular. "He's probably up already. C'mon.' He got up and looked at the blonde boy, who was still glaring at him and gripped the pillow tightly in his hands. "What?"

"I don't wanna go anywhere with you. You might try something again." Nataro spoke with narrowed eyes.

Kaze sucked his teeth as he rolled his eyes, "Tch. Yeah, right! Gay or not, I wouldn't hit on _you_ if you were the last life form on the face of the planet! Even if you did use that Oiroke no Jutsu trick. Now get up and put some pants."

**X-X-X**

Several minutes later, the two genin walked downstairs to get some breakfast. When they got to the kitchen, however, they saw no one there. "Hey. What gives?" Kazemaru asked as he scratched his head. "Where's our breakfast?" _'Don't tell me we gotta make our own!'_

Nataro approached the fridge and stared at a piece of paper that was hanging from it by a magnet before taking it off. "Oh, so that's why."

The pyromanic boy turned his head to look at his orange-clad teammate. "What are you talking about _now_?"

"Shiori-chan and her sister went to school."

"Huh? ...Oh, right." Kaze scratched his head. "They've got school... I almost forgot..."

"It says here that they want us to do chores while they're gone." Nataro grimaced as he saw the list of said chores.

"_More_ chores? I don't do so much work at home!" Kaze growled under his breath with a vein throbbing on his forehead. A light bulb suddenly flickered into existence above his head before going away in a puff of smoke. "Why don't you just use that Kage Bunshin no Jutsu of yours and have _them_ do all our chores for us?"

Nataro started to grin that foxy grin of his. "I like how you think, Kaze! Now, lemme take a look at this list..." He began to scan the list to determine the amount of clones he'd need to do the chores. "Well, I guess we could use five or less...but if we wanna make it look like we worked hard, it's gonna take _more_ than that!" He made that familiar hand sign and in a poof of smoke, about 10 Nataros appeared in the kitchen, lined up in rows.

Kazemaru gave a whistle as he folded his arms across his chest. "Nataro, my friend. We are about to have the ultimate privilege of being babysitters: mooching off of the client's stuff."

"Sweet!" The orange-clad genin then spun on his heel to face the Nataro bunshins, hands behind his back and standing up straight. "Listen up, troops! You know what you must do! You must make this house squeaky clean! Make it spic and span boys! I shall assign you your chores, and you're gonna do a number-1 job on whatever you get. Okay?"

"Yes, sir!" The Nataros announced as they gave the original a salute.

Kazemaru began to rub his hands together in an evil villain sort of way. "Heh-heh-heh... Who says we gotta do the work _now_, little miss Shikimi? Heh-heh-heh...!"

"Technically, _I'm_ doing work, since they're _my_ bunshins." Nataro muttered under his breath.

"You say something, Ramen Breath?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Let's raid the fridge and see if there's anything to eat!"

**X-X-X**

"Dum-dum-dum dum-dee-dee-dum... Doo-doo..." A Nataro bunshin whistled as he dusted off a large and ancient-looking book with a rag. Two other clones were behind him, cleaning the floor with brooms. He continued to whistle, but stopped when he heard a thud. "...What was that?"

"What was what?" One of the other Nataros asked, stopping with his sweeping to look at his fellow clone.

There came a second thud, which put the clones on full alert. "_That _noise."

"Don't tell me it's another one of those ghosts!"

"Great, that's just what we need!"

"Hey, guys!" A fourth clone shouted as it dropped a box of stuff on the floor with a thud. "This stuff's kinda heavy. Mind lending a hand?"

The other three Nataros sweatdropped. "Talk about embarrassment..."

"Ah... DON'T DO THAT!" The first clone shouted as he shook his dust rag at the fourth. "You made us think you were another ghost or somethin'!"

The blonde bunshin started to grin. "Heh-heh... Were you _really_ that afraid? Scaredy cats!"

"Are not!"

As the two clones shouted at each other, with the other two watching in delight and betting about whether or not a fight would start, they didn't noticed the door to the room creaked open ever so slightly. A blur dashed into the room too fast for them to see, and the door was slammed shut.

"Uh? What was _that_?"

"Don't start up with _that_ again!"

"I'm serious! The door just shut, didn't it? Wasn't that thing closed a while ago?"

"M-maybe the wind closed it."

"What wind? There's no wind in here!"

"Well, it's not like you can _see_ wind."

"I know that, but-" The clone suddenly stopped talking. The others blinked, waiting for him to continue speaking. After a few seconds, the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What the-! What happened to him?" A second bunshin suddenly disappeared. Then another. The remaining Nataro gulped just before something struck him in the back of his head, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The attacker walked towards the door and opened it, letting some light into the room. "It has begun..."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, as Nataro and Kazemaru were sitting in front of the small TV in the living room, the blonde boy shook as he felt a shiver run down his spine. "Brrr! Whoa..."

"Hm?" Kaze looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"I just got...this weird feeling. A very..._freaky_ feeling." Nataro mumbled as he shook some more. "I think something bad happened."

The pyromaniac arched an eyebrow. "What're you talking about? More ghosts? Because I can't stand seeing another one of those things just pop up outta thin air like that."

"Hm..." The orange-clad genin tapped his cheek. "Come to think of it, we haven't seen Hanzo since last night. Is he doing chores somewhere?"

"No, because if he did, he probably would've seen all those bunshin of you running all over. Then he'd probably come here and ask what the hell we're doing." Kazemaru spoke as he leaned in a bit closer to look at the television.

"So where is he? We should've seen him by _now_, don't ya think?"

Kaze suddenly got an evil look on his face as he turned his head to look at Nataro. "Kukukuku... Maybe Hanzo has been _taken_ to the realm of spirits and demons, and they're proceeding to use him as food for their demonic queen! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!" He started to laugh loudly like a madman, which caused Nataro to freeze in fright. The pyromanic shinobi started to grin evilly. "Or perhaps he's been killed by one of the ghosts in this house and his body is hidden away somewhere like a closet or a bathtub! Kukukukuku!"

"D-d-damn you, Kazemaru! Stop acting like that, you crazy Pyro Freak!"

"Hahahahaaaa! What's the matter, Ramen Breath? You _scared_? Kukukukuku..."

"And stop _laughing_ like that!"

"Aw, but it's so much fun!"

"Excuse me, but the two of you should be doing your work now, correct?" A third voice spoke.

Both genin froze and slowly turned their heads around to see the nekomata from yesterday behind them. He was smoking his pipe and staring at them intensely. "It's the cat ghost!" Both Nataro and Kazemaru screamed as they jumped up onto their feet.

A vein throbbed on the Nekomata's head as he puffed on his pipe. "I prefer the term 'nekomata'."

"Well, whatever the heck you're doing, why don't you go and do it somewhere that's...not so _near _us?" Kazemaru asked as he pointed at the cat. "The last thing I want is to be possessed again!"

"I'm not going to move until I see you do some work." The two-tailed cat spirit chewed on the end of his pipe slightly as he approached the Konoha genin.

"We _are_ doing work. I've got some of my shadow clones upstairs doing the chores for us," Nataro said as he pointed a thumb to his chest.

The nekomata stared up at the blonde with half-lidded eyes as he took a step forward. "Lies. I saw nothing and no one upstairs."

"Hm? No one? Not even Hanzo?"

"Hanzo? Is that the name of the boy who kept saying I wasn't real?" The two-tailed cat pulled his pipe out of his mouth and closed his eyes in concentration. "Hmmm... No. For all I know, that dolt's in the same place as he was last night."

Nataro and Kazemaru blinked and asked simultaneously, "Huh? Last night?"

"Yup. He was just sitting on the toilet in the bathroom, mumbling things to himself every couple of minutes and twitching. Then after a while, it got boring and he just started to stare off into space like some sort of fool."

Nataro turned his head to look at Kazemaru. "Do you think that Hanzo's still in the bathroom? Talking to himself?"

"How the hell am _I_ supposed to know?"

"We could just go and look for him-" Nataro stopped talking as he blinked again. "Whoa. There it was again! That weird feeling!"

"Do you have some sort of sixth sense, Nataro?" The orange-haired genin asked his teammate with half-lidded eyes.

"Eh? You mean like sensing ghosts and spirits? Nuh-uh! I just got a feeling that something very bad's going to happen!"

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "Like _what_?" Shuriken suddenly whizzed between the two genin, one cutting off a slight bit of Kazemaru's hair off. The pyromaniac froze on the spot and he appeared to be getting blue in the face.

"Rats. I _missed_."

"Mm?" Nataro turned his head around, ignoring the fact that Kaze was now in a somewhat state of shock. "...Hanzo! What's your problem? We weren't even fighting!"

"Uh... Uh... Uh... YEAH, FAN BOY! WHAT IS YOUR MALFUNCTION?" Kazemaru shouted loudly as he flailed his arms about, a vein throbbing violently on his forehead. "WANT ME TO SHOVE A KUNAI UP YOUR ASS? _HUH?_"

"Will you just _shut up_?" The Uchiha muttered as he leaned against the door frame. He rubbed his temples as he muttered something under his breath, bangs hiding his eyes. "I've got a hell of a headache..."

"Yeah, well, just because you've got a severe head problem doesn't mean you have the right to throw stuff at us!" The orange-haired boy continued to shout. "How'd you like it if _I_ tried sticking you with a bunch of shuriken and kunai just because I'm pissed off, huh?"

A vein began to throb on Hanzo's head as he glared at Kaze through his bangs. "Damn it... I _told you_ to shut _up_!" He threw a kunai at Kazemaru, which just barely scratched his cheek. It hit the wall with a dull thunk as Kaze touched his cheek and stared at the blood on his fingers with widened eyes.

"Hanzo! What the _Hell_ are you doing? This isn't like you!"

"Hmph..." The raven-haired boy began to smirk. "Sorry to disappoint you, but...Hanzo isn't in right now."

"Eh?" Nataro blinked in confusion as Hanzo pushed himself off the door frame. He stared at the Uchiha for a while until he was struck in the chest by a kunai. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the real Nataro appeared behind Hanzo, grabbing his arms and holding them behind his back. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you? Were you actually trying to kill me?"

"Duh."

A vein started to throb on the blonde's head. "JERK! We didn't even _do_ anything bad yet!"

"How many times must I tell you idiots that crybaby Hanzo _isn't in right now_?" Hanzo muttered darkly.

Nataro stared at the back of his head for quite some time. _'What the heck's he talking about?'_ His grip on the boy loosened a bit.

"Hm... You truly are an idiot," muttered the Hanzo who had suddenly appeared behind Nataro, holding a knife in his hand. The bunshin in the blonde's grasp disappeared just as he raised the knife to strike him. "Now it's the end of you."

Nataro bit his lower lip just before giving Hanzo an elbow to the stomach. The raven-haired boy doubled over and Nataro hopped away from his teammate. "Are you crazy, Hanzo? What's your problem, huh?"

"I knew it! All Uchiha have mental problems and Hanzo's become one of 'em!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the Uchiha.

"Fools... Have you ever given thought to the fact that he may be possessed?" The nekomata spoke and it smoked its pipe casually, as though the events that were happening were nothing.

"Possessed? Well, I guess you could call this a possession. I mean, it's not like the Hanzo you idiots know is in control." He formed a hand sign and closed his eyes. "Now, to restrain the weaklings." Only a few seconds later, small pools of a black, viscous liquid appeared in the ground beside Nataro and Kazemaru. Long black tentacles shot up from within the pool and wrapped around the two genin's arms and legs.

"CRAP! So this is how I'm gonna die: killed by my so-called _normal_ teammate!" The pyromaniac shouted loudly. "It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"

"Shut up and try to break free, dammit!" Nataro shouted at Kaze as he struggled to break loose from the tentacles. After several minutes of trying to get free, the tentacles tightened around his arms and legs. "Nn!"

"So much for breaking free. That does it; I'm burning this place down!" Kazemaru shouted as heat began to radiate from his body. But before he could get so much as a small flame going, the nekomata had jumped up in front of him and scratched him on the face. "AAAAHHHH!"

The blonde genin stared at his friend, who was writhing about in pain. Only a few seconds later, the two-tailed cat jumped up in front of him and scratched his face, too. "OUCH! STUPID CAT!" Nataro grabbed the nekomata's waist with both hands and began to squeeze it tightly. "WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR? ...Hey, wait a minute! I'm free!" He looked at his arms in awe to see that the tentacles and the portals they had come out of had disappeared.

"Of course you're free. It was only an illusion, after all." The cat spoke calmly, despite the fact that Nataro was still holding onto him tightly. "A little pain was all it took to snap you out of his genjutsu."

"And you couldn't do something other than SCRATCHING US?" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pointed at the scratch on his face.

"That will heal."

"I DON'T _CARE_! I'm gonna take all of your nine lives! C'mere!" The pyromanic towered over the nekomata and growled as a killing aura surrounded his being and his eyes began to shine in a creepy manner.

Nataro quickly turned around to face Hanzo, but found the Uchiha was no longer there. "Where'd Hanzo go?"

"Maybe he went to find an axe to chop us up with. The psycho..." Kaze muttered as he held up the kimono-wearing cat by both of its tails.

"It's not exactly his fault. He's possessed." The nekomata spoke again.

"Yeah, that's true- ...Wait a minute." The orange-haired genin dropped the talking cat on the floor and proceeded to stare at it. "Don't nekomata have the ability to summon ghosts and spirits and control corpses? So how do we know if whatever the heck's in our friend's body was summoned by _you_, ya creepy cat?"

The cat stared up at Kazemaru with half-lidded eyes. "That's nonsense. I don't _have_ those sorts of powers."

"Stop lying! I saw a deep, fact-filled study on the myths and legends of the world on TV, and your kind is supposed to be able to control the dead!"

"Then you're simply too soft in the head. Otherwise, you'd know _not_ to believe everything you see and hear on TV."

"WHY, YOU LITTLE!"

"Kazemaru! Now's not the time to playing with some dumb cat!" Nataro shouted at his orange-haired teammate.

"Some _dumb cat_?" The nekomata asked as it looked at the blonde. "This cat has more knowledge of the world than you and you're little friend combined, you dolt."

"We gotta find Hanzo and bring him back to his senses!" He continued, ignoring the two-tailed cat.

Kaze stared at Nataro with half-lidded eyes. "And how do you suppose we do _that_, huh? Start some sort of ceremony or exorcism? Burn some incense?"

The orange-clad genin sweatdropped before he shrugged and mumbled, "I dunno. But we gotta do something quick, before he tries to kill us again!"

"Ahem." The nekomata cleared its throat, gaining the attention of the two young ninja. "_I_ may be of some assistance."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the bathroom of the home on the second floor, Hanzo-or rather, Hanzo's body-was sitting on the bathroom floor, staring at the wall. Inside of his mind, the raven-haired boy was on the ground, panting heavily as he held the bruise on his cheek.

"You have annoying friends, you know." The other Hanzo spoke as he looked down at Hanzo. "Very annoying. So loud and so stupid. I'm surprised they haven't corrupted you as of yet."

"Heh..." Hanzo smirked and bowed his head, eyes hidden by his bangs. "That's how they are. At least...they aren't always hiding how they feel about something. They may hide their troubles sometimes, but they can deal with it-sooner or later...unlike me."

The inner Uchiha arched an eyebrow as his other half continued to mumbled things to himself. "What are you talking about?"

"Like I told you: you're all my aggression and anger. You're my sadness. The result of me bottling up my emotions and trying to hide them from everyone. To try and not seem like such a crybaby... But if Nataro and Kazemaru can overcome all their problems, what's to say I can't overcome _you_?"

"...You're _kidding_, right? You think you can just _throw me away_? _I_," the other Hanzo pointed a thumb at his chest. "I'm not some sort of problem you can just get over and forget. Believe this or not, I am my own person with my own spirit, and when this thing's over with, I'm gonna have my own body, too! Hmmm... I need a name, though. I can't have everyone referring to me as _'the other Hanzo,'_ can I? Now," He turned his back on Hanzo and folded his arms across his chest, "What should it be...? Perhaps...Hatori? Yes, Hatori. That will do nicely." Before he could turn around, Hanzo had tackled his second self, but he went right through him as he turned into smoke. The raven-haired genin turned his head around to see Hatori with a smirk on his face. "Now…what were you trying to do...Hanzo?"

Before Hanzo could retort, several black snakes that were the size of garden hoses came up from out the ground and wrapped themselves around him. The raven-haired genin flinched a bit. "Great... _Snakes_."

"Ah, still afraid of snakes, huh? Hmhmhm..." Hatori approached his outer half slowly. "That just doesn't sound right! I mean, you're supposed to be a big, tough Konoha shinobi now! And you're telling me you're still afraid snakes? Oh, this is just _too_ much!" When he reached Hanzo, he bent down and looked straight into his eyes. "I think you forgot one thing, Hanzo. This isn't like the real world. You can't stick _me _full of kunai and call me dead! Here, _I_ _have control_!"

Hanzo growled lowly. "...You're right. This isn't the real world."

"Exactly! I'm glad to see you understand- WHAT THE HELL?" The inner half cursed as he saw the snakes were now wrapped around him and Hanzo was now free.

"Just like you said, this _isn't _the real world," said the raven-haired Uchiha as he stood up straight. He began to smirk as he looked at Hatori before jumping away from him. "But, you're not the only one who has control here. This is _my_ mind, too!"

Hatori glared at his better half and frowned. "Hmph! Whatever." The snakes suddenly unwrapped themselves from his body and slithered back to the ground, becoming one with the so-called earth again. "So you know how it works in here. Big deal. I'm still the better of us. Meaning that this body's gonna have a new owner soon." He got into a fighting stance. "I hope you're prepared."

Hanzo got into a fighting stance as well, an apathetic look on his face despite the fact that he was nervous on the inside. If he won. he'd get rid of this pesky second spirit once and for all. But if he lost...who knew what was going to happen to him...

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**Anybody who's deeply into ninja or even some sort of Samurai/Ninja-esque anime or video game should know: Hatori Hanzo was one of the-if not **_**the**_** greatest ninjas of Japan! Hatori's name came from Hatori Hanzo's surname.**

**Nekomata supposedly have the ability to reanimate corpses by jumping over them.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: And once again, welcome to another Uchiha auction! Today, we'll be showing off another of Itachi's items. This time, we're giving away one of his childhood items. A homemade Sasuke plushie. (Holds up Sasuke plushie that looks a lot like chibi Sasuke)**

**Fangirls: Awwww!**

**Blu: You girls wanna know the miraculous thing? Itachi actually made this himself! Yes, the infamous Uchiha clan member actually knew how to sew. Just ask Kisame who agreed to put stitches in their cloaks when Kakuzu wasn't there!**

**Sasuke: Lies! You can't tell me that Itachi did needlepoint!**

**Blu: But didn't he make you a neat little throw pillow at some point and sent it to you while you were a genin?**

**Sasuke: No! (Throws aside a throw pillow)**

**Naruto: (Picks up the throw pillow) "Hatred is Power." Figures…**

**Blu: (Snatches the throw pillow from Naruto) Since Sasuke doesn't want it, I'll throw in the throw pillow!**

**Sasuke: NO! I mean...!**

**Blu: Kukuku…! Remember to review everybody! See ya later!**


	26. The One in Control

**Blu: Geez, we're running out of Uchiha stuff to auction off.**

**Nataro: How about an uchiwa fan? (Holds up uchiwa fan)**

**Blu: That's cliché?**

**Kazemaru: Sasuke's sword?**

**Nataro: He'd kill us before we got it!**

**Kaze: Then we'll make a knockoff!**

**Nataro: What about Itachi?**

**Kaze: What **_**about**_** Itachi? He didn't have **_**crap**_**!**

**Blu: What about Madara?**

**Nataro & Kaze: MADARA? ARE YOU KIDDING?**

**Blu: Yes! Madara! Let's go steal something of Madara's! (Runs off the screen)**

**Kaze: …Do you think she wants to be buried or cremated when she dies?**

**Nataro: Let's surprise her. But before then, why don't we let the readers read the fic?**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She owns only this story and her original characters._

**X-X-X**

_#26: The One in Control_

"I have a question: we're supposed to be trying to help out Hanzo and get rid of...whatever the heck's in him, right? Soooo, why are we up _here_? Where Hanzo _isn't_?" Kazemaru asked from his spot on top of a trunk that had several locks and latches and was covered in paper seals. At the moment, he, Nataro, and the Nekomata were upstairs in the attic.

"Yeah, you stupid cat!" Said Nataro as he folded his arms across his chest. "You're supposed to help us!" He shouted as he pointed a finger at the two-tailed cat, who was currently digging through a pile of scrolls. "So stop slackin' off and come on! Let's go an' exorcise Hanzo or...whatever!"

The Nekomata, without looking at Nataro, said, "Perhaps the young master _isn't_ possessed. Maybe...it's not a _spirit_ that's inside of him."

Nataro and Kazemaru blinked. "Say what?"

"You heard me. Whatever is inside of him is much older than any ghost living in this house. As old as the world itself, perhaps."

"...Say what? I still don't get it." Kaze scratched the back of his head. "Are you saying that something's in Hanzo and it's _super_ old and evil? ...OH NO! HANZO'S BEEN POSSESSED BY A DEMON!" The pyromaniac exclaimed as he grabbed his head.

"A DEMON? Say it ain't so!" Nataro cried.

The Nekomata sweatdropped. "I wasn't serious. The young master isn't possessed by something. It's a natural part of him that's just...gotten too big of an ego right now."

The two genin ceased in their panicking and turned around to face the kimono-clad cat. "Huh?" The muttered as question marks floated over their heads.

"Hey...why're you calling Hanzo _'young master'_? And what do you mean that this is _natural_?" Nataro asked with squinted eyes.

"Of _course_ it's natural! Insanity is a _natural_ part of the Uchiha clan." Said Kaze as he folded his arms across his chest. "Just look at all the really smart genius Uchiha: Uchiha Itachi...Uchiha Sasuke...and now, Uchiha Hanzo. It's just in his blood!"

"Ina's not insane."

"She's bitchy. That's close enough."

"Hanzo's brother Kotaro isn't, it."

"He's not old enough to lose his mind yet! The point is: it's natural Uchiha gene." The nekomata suddenly walked up to Kazemaru and kicked him in the shin. "OW!" He began to hop up and down.

"Who exactly was talking about _that_ accursed clan? I was talking about _this_ accursed clan, fool."

This gained both genin's attention. "...Go on."

The two-tailed cat sighed and rolled its eyes. "Ah...I suppose you won't leave me alone until I tell you. Very well. Long ago, there were two clans: the Kusanagi and the Yagami. Both clans had been feuding for many years. Then a powerful beast unlike any ever seen before appeared from nowhere—a chaotic force whose appearance is just indescribable, but it was something that caused terror to fill all those who felt the heavenly fury of its power. They called it the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu. When the dreaded beast appeared in this country, the Kusanagi and Yagami banded together to attempt to destroy it. But in the end, after the beast was sealed away, the Kusanagi became praised for their spiritual prowess, while the Yagami were overshadowed by them. Of course, jealousy soon came underway and the two clans were back to feuding."

"Is a point coming soon? Because I'm getting a little bored here," muttered Kazemaru.

"Hmph!" The nekomata turned around and folded his arms across his chest. "If you're bored, I'll just stop."

Nataro quickly covered Kazemaru's mouth. "Continue, continue! If this story helps us to find out what the hell's wrong with Hanzo, then keep going!"

"...Very well. As I said, the Yagami and Kusanagi were feuding again because the Kusanagi became more widely acclaimed and the Yagami were overshadowed by them despite the fact that it was their clan who found the sealing method. So, several years later, the Yagami made a deal with the beast—they would free it and give it a vessel, and it would help them crush the Kusanagi in return. Thus did they seal the dreaded Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu into the young heir of the Yagami. They expected the child to grow up into a fearsome force that would grant them victory."

"So what happened?" Kazemaru twitched. He was actually expecting some hideous demon to pop up out of nowhere and swallow him whole like a mouse.

"He got killed."

"...WHAT? HOW THE HELL IS THAT _POSSIBLE_?" The pyromaniac exclaimed. "I thought the demons were supposed to be super-strong! How could someone who was _'fearsome'_ die so easily, huh?"

"He was but a baby, just a few days old when the Kusanagi learned what the Yagami were doing. They stole the child and killed it, killing the beast along with it because of their connection."

Kaze blinked. "Oh. Well, that's all I wanted to know."

Nataro gulped. _'So then… I could get rid of the Kyuubi…but…I'd die with it?'_

"**I'm afraid so. We're stuck with each other for the rest of eternity…Naruto."**

The blonde boy growled under his breath before looking at the nekomata. "Hey, you stupid cat! What's this gotta do with Hanzo?" He snapped

The Nekomata looked out of the corner of his eye. "Well, the young master _might_ be...the reincarnation of his ancestor."

"Oh... HIS ANCESTOR!" Nataro and Kazemaru exclaimed with eyes the size of saucers.

"He's related to the Yagami. Which is _this_ accursed clan? Who live in _this_ crazy house?" Kazemaru asked as his eyebrow twitched.

"And our friend's possessed by some dead relative of his?" Nataro growled.

"It's either that, or the Kaijuu itself." The two-tailed cat was immediately kicked aside by Nataro.

"WHAT? HE COULD BE POSSESSED BY A MONSTER? _NOW_?"

Nataro grumbled before he looked at the nekomata—who was now rubbing a bump that had formed on his head as a result of the blonde's _accidental_ blow. "Er...sorry." He said as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and ask how you know all this."

The kimono-clad feline dusted himself off. "Well, I do consider myself a guardian of this clan. It also helps that I was their pet before I gained my powers."

"Oh. That makes sense." _'I guess.'_ "But you still haven't told us what may be wrong with Hanzo."

"...I dunno. For all I know, he's either possessed, trapped in an intense spiritual battle with some dark part of him he sealed away, or perhaps he is the reincarnation of the Kaijuu's former vessel. Or—" Before the two-tailed cat could get another word out, Nataro and Kazemaru both kicked him into the wall.

"STUPID CAT! JUST TELL US, ALREADY!"

**X-X-X**

Hanzo bent over and began to breathe heavily. He bit the lower half of his lip before he raised his head to look at Hatori.

"Aw, what's the matter, Hanzo? Are you tired?" The other half spoke as he folded his arms across his chest. "Because you could just close your eyes, and I'll put you out of your misery."

"Ugh... Jerk. Why do you want to just...take control?" The raven-haired Uchiha growled. "You were happy before with torturing people through my genjutsu...do you just want to shed some real blood? That's not what I made you for."

Hatori rolled his eyes. "Oh, just shut _up_!" In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Hanzo. He smirked when he noticed the startled look in the boy's eyes as he looked at his. "You think you created. You think that without you, I am _nothing_. I've had enough of this _fun_, little charade. But the truth of the matter is that you'd be nothing without me _either_. Just half of what you are and used to be."

"What? What are you—?" Hanzo stopped talking as his other half leaned forward and wrapped an arm around Hanzo's neck, the other around his waist. Was he trying to _hug_ him or something?"

"I told you, I was with you long before you _'created'_ me. Before you were even born, we were _destined_ to share the same body." His voice dropped down to a hiss. "You claim that you created me...but in the last life, I was the one who created you. And this form is just what your mind perceives me to be..."

Hanzo suddenly flinched as he felt something bite into his neck. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw...two snakes biting his neck. Another was currently slithering up his arm and a fourth was wrapping itself around the other arm. He could feel more of them coming onto his body. But where the hell were they coming from?

"If you saw my true form, Hanzo..." Hatori hissed, "You'd _die_ of fright..."

"What...are you?" The Uchiha muttered before his vision began to blur. He immediately jumped far away from his other half and began to pull the snakes off of him and tossed them all aside. Hatori smirked as he tilted his head to the side and Hanzo frowned. "What're you smiling at—?" He stopped talking as he felt something come up his throat. He bent over and felt something come slowly out of his mouth. Something _long_. When the thing was all the way out, his eyes gained a blank look.

A _snake_. A _very long_, black _snake_. And it came out of his... "Dear God..." Hanzo paled in color and stumbled back, coughing and holding his throat. "Th-that _thing_! That th-thing came out of...came out of...!"

Hatori smirked as the snake slithered in his direction. He bent down, picked it up, and swallowed the snake whole. If it was possible, Hanzo got even paler as the other licked his lips. "What? What's the matter, Hanzo?"

"Sick! That is so...! How could you? Real or not, that's _disgusting_!" The Uchiha shouted loudly, taking another cautious step back.

"What are you crying for, Hanzo? It's only an illusion..." The other half spoke as he took a step forward. "You know that everything in here is not like reality, right? So that means you won't mind if I slip into something that's a bit more...comfortable." He made a hand sign and smoke began to surround him, hiding him completely from sight. Hanzo twitched at the sound of something popping and ripping. It wasn't real. That was all he had to tell himself. Whatever Hatori comes out as next shouldn't scare him as much as seeing him swallow an imaginary snake.

The smoke cleared and...Hatori was no longer in his spot. The Uchiha braced himself for any attempt made by his darker half. He tensed up and got ready to move at a moment's notice. "Okay, Hanzo... You can do this...you can beat him."

"Do you truthfully believe that, Hanzo?" Hatori hissed from behind him. Hanzo had jumped away from the source of his voice the moment he started to talk. He stared at Hatori's new form for quite some time with widened eyes before he managed to choke something out:

"Oh, crap." What stood before him was a _very_ large monster. Its entire body was black, save for the red In-Yo tomoe symbols on its long arms, bent legs, and on the forehead of its round head. It had some animal qualities—long ears that stretched back, almond-shaped entirely black eyes with red slits for pupils, the claws that formed form its hands and feet, and the mouth that seemed to appear only after the beast opened it to reveal many rows of sharp teeth and a forked tongue. The beast placed its arms around Hanzo, giving him no chance to escape. It looked down at the Uchiha and its eyes narrowed.

"**What's the matter, Hanzo?" **The beast growled in a familiar voice before it began to sound different. **"I thought you could handle this..."**

"What...the _Hell_ are you?" Hanzo shouted as the monster lowered its head lower to look at him.

"**That tone of voice... You should be **_**grateful**_** that I gave you someone to talk to." **The beast stuck its forked tongue out at him. **"Accursed Uchiha. Accursed Yagami. It appears you were just born to lead a tragic, horrible life, doesn't it, Hanzo?"**

"Shut up!" Hanzo covered his ears and went to his knees. "I am nothing like the Uchiha of the past! I am not like _any_ of my ancestors! So...stop blaming _me _for the things that they've done in the past!"

"**Foolish little boy... I am only stating facts. By what I remember, the Yagami actually came crawling to me, a demon, to help them gain revenge out of jealousy. And from what I remember hearing through you, the Uchiha aren't so pure, either," **the beast growled. **"As I said, I am merely stating facts. And these facts show that your life shall be full of misery and suffering. Such is the way of the Yagami. Such is the way of the Uchiha. Such is the path of your life."**

"It's...not true..." Hanzo mumbled as he stared at the so-called _ground_ with wide eyes and slightly smaller pupils as he bit into his lower lip so hard, he began to bleed. "I won't...I can't wind up like my ancestors...! I just...can't...!"

**X-X-X**

"**I swear, if that damned child **_**is**_** possessed, just kill him and get it over with." **Kyuubi told Nataro as he, Kazemaru and the nekomata through the hall on the second floor.

'_Kill? KILL? I'm not gonna kill Hanzo just because he has a demon in him! If that's sense, someone may as well kill __**me**__, too!'_ Nataro shouted mentally at the demon fox.

"**Feh. You little imbecile. Why do you care so much about something as idiotic as friendship in your line of work? The life of a ninja is filled with backstabbing and betrayal. Killing Hanzo would just be following that path."**

'_Well, maybe I don't __**want**__ to follow that path!'_

"**Then why did you become a ninja in the first place, idiot? It's part of the **_**job**_**."**

'_What? Can't read __**all**__ my memories, stupid fox?'_

"No way... I just can't...! Just can't...!"

Nataro stopped walking at the sound of a familiar voice. _'Is that...?'_ He turned his head to look at the door in front of him. "Hanzo? You in there?" When he heard nothing in response, the blonde genin gulped and grabbed the doorknob. He started to jiggle it, but found it locked.

"Yo, Nataro! What're you doing?" Kazemaru asked as he jogged up to the blonde.

"Hanzo's in here! But he locked the door!"

The pyromanic genin began to smirk. "Oh, is _that_ all? No sweat!" He held up a hand and it began to heat with flames of chakra. "Leave it up to Kaze!" Kazemaru touched the doorknob with his hand and began to slowly, but surely melt it off.

"Hey, you're going to pay for that!" The two-tailed cat spoke behind the two boys.

"Aw, shut up, you fleabag!" Kazemaru exclaimed. "Our friend's life and sanity is way more important than some stupid doorknob!" He then kicked the door open forcefully. "Hey, Fan Boy! We've come to save your crazy ass— HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUG'S IN HIS MOUTH?" The pyro exclaimed as his eyes bulged.

Nataro poked his head into the door. "What? HOLY CRAP!" The blonde exclaimed. "WHAT'S IN HIS MOUTH?"

Hanzo was on the floor on his knees, with something long and dark green slowing coming from his mouth. He appeared to be gagging on it as the pupils of his eyes grew small. After a few minutes, the slimy, black thing finally came out of his mouth and slithered around on the floor. The Uchiha fell back and leaned against the tub.

"Is that a..._snake_? Did a snake just come out of our teammate's mouth?" Kazemaru shook as he stared at the snake on the floor.

"HANZO!" Nataro shouted loudly, trying to snap the raven-haired boy out of his trance. He didn't get through to _him_, but the snake suddenly noticed the two genin and stuck its forked tongue out at them before it slowly began to slither their way. "Whoa! N-nice snake! Don't even _think_ about coming in our direction!"

"Y-yeah! Or we'll make a snake skin wallet outta you!"

The nekomata pushed his way in between Nataro and Kaze and held up a clawed paw. With a quick swipe of its paw, the snake disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Would you relax? It wasn't _real_…"

"...I think we're gonna need more than just _these_." Kazemaru's eye twitched as he held up a paper talisman with the word _'seal'_ written in blood. "We're gonna need, like, pesticide! Or something to gag Hanzo's throat with, just in case he decides to spawn more creepy things later on..."

"I wonder what this means? Perhaps the young master is confronting the Kaijuu?" The kimono-clad cat mused aloud as he stared at the semi-conscious Hanzo.

"Er, isn't that bad? I mean, if that beast is _really_ scary, our Hanzo must be a vegetable by now."

"Hanzo! Wake up!" Shouted Nataro, who was now hovering over the raven-haired boy. He suddenly gave him a hard slap to the cheek, which caused his head to loll over to the side. When he got no response, the blonde continued to slap him. "HANZOOOO!"

"IDIOT! You're gonna make that stupid ol' Kaijuu kill us!" His pyromanic teammate shouted. _'Besides, it's not like Hanzo can hear him!'_

"I know what I'm doing! All Hanzo needs is a shock to the system!" Nataro exclaimed as he continued to slap Hanzo. After a while, he stopped slapping and rubbed his chin in a thinking manner. "Hmmm... Ah! I know! I'll get some cold water to splash in his face! Or maybe I'll just dump him in cold water altogether!"

Kazemaru sweatdropped. "...That...is the _stupidest _idea you've probably _ever _come up with..."

Nataro ignored him and looked into the tub. His eyes widened to the size of plates when he saw several small snakes and insects and worms of all sorts of colors crawling around in the tub. He stumbled back and began to point at the tub as he screamed, "No way! Does Hanzo have _critters_ breeding in his stomach or something?"

"What're you spazzing about—?"

"More snakes and junk! Hanzo spewed out more of 'em before we got here!"

"What? Ew, that's gross! Who's gonna kill 'em?"

"You do it! You can just burn those suckers and send them back to the pit in hell they crawled up from!" The orange-clad blonde pointed at Kazemaru.

"Nuh-uh! You have your clones do it!"

Nataro gasped in an overdramatic fashion. "And risk them getting bitten? Hell no!"

"The _clones_ are doing it, not _you_, dumbass!" Kaze shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

As the two genin continued to argue, the nekomata behind them walked over to the tub. He raised his paws and began to wave them around as his tails moved about in a rhythmic fashion. Several small, blue fireballs appeared around the cat as it muttered things under its breath. Nataro and Kazemaru stopped talking in time for them to see the two-tailed cat and stared at it with wide eyes. With a final wave of its tails, the fireballs were launched into the tub and the room became illuminated with an eerie blue glow.

"Oooohhh..." Kaze gasped in awe with large eyes at the flames while his blonde teammate looked stunned, his mouth wide open.

"The cat can set things on fire now?"

"Just another one of the cool things that nekomata can do..."

As the flames died down, all that were left were the scorch marks left by the fireballs. The nekomata turned around and looked at Kazemaru and Nataro. "What are you two staring at?"

"We _were_ staring at something freaky..." The pyro muttered as he approached Hanzo. He held up the paper seal...and put it over Hanzo's mouth. "There. Now no more of those creepy things'll come out of his stomach...or where they actually come from..."

Nataro sweatdropped. "Is that safe? He might suffocate..."

"Maybe, but it's for his own good and for ours. But mainly for ours." Kaze was quickly kicked in the shin by the nekomata. "OUCH!"

"Idiot! Take that off, now!" The kimono-wearing feline hissed before sticking his pipe into his mouth. "I don't want the young master to die because of you two oafs!"

"Why should I? Hey, you still haven't told us what might happen if we _do _go along with your little plan!"

". . ."

"Well?"

"...Eh." The cat shrugged. "Who knows but the Gods?"

"GIVE US A STRAIGHT ANSWER FOR ONCE, DAMMIT!"

**X-X-X**

"**So much for the **_**great**_** and **_**mighty**_** Uchiha Hanzo... Perhaps you just weren't meant to be a shinobi at all," **the Kaijuu hissed, slitted eyes focused on Hanzo, who was still on his knees and shaking slightly.** "If you just give in, Hanzo, you won't have to suffer anymore... You would have no more stress or worries... No need to take medication or deal with that poor excuse of a mother."**

A thought of Kotoyo flashed through the young Uchiha's mind. _'Mother...'_

"**If it wasn't for that woman, you probably wouldn't be as you are now: a pathetic example of what has become of both your clans' namesakes. Why people said you needed psychiatric help because you saw things and heard voices that no one else could... Do you agree, Hanzo...?"**

"...It isn't...my mother's fault. I'm just special. And people have the tendency to fear things they can't understand... Like how I read some people are turned off by those with kekkei genkai...like they're freaks or something..." Hanzo muttered.

"**Feh,"** the beast's eyes narrowed. **"That's what I was saying, child. Your mother was afraid of you...afraid of the terrible thing you would become."**

"That's not true! She was afraid because she was worried about me! Because after Dad died...I didn't act like normal did. She just...overreacted!"

"**Overreacted. Ha! Face it: she was afraid that your father's death unhinged something in your mind. That what you saw and what you heard were signs of an unstable mind."**

Hanzo looked up at the beast with wide, glassy eyes. The Kaijuu smiled at the young Uchiha as he stood up straight, bangs hiding his eyes. **"That's a good boy... I knew you'd make the right decision."** Its clawed hands grabbed the boy, hiding him from sight. The demonic beast almost smirked.** "Total control is finally..."** It stopped speaking and stared at its claws. **"Hm?"**

All of a sudden, quicker than the human eye could see, the beast's hands were sliced into pieces and Hanzo remained unharmed, held up by an invisible force.

"**Hmph. Foolish boy...you're only prolonging the inevitable..."** The beast's hands suddenly reassembled themselves before it grabbed Hanzo and brought the Uchiha close up to its face. **"Perhaps you haven't learned who should be in charge... Shall I show you?"**

Hanzo stared at the beast with..._red_ eyes...the three commas circling the pupil. "No... Allow _me_ to show you who is in charge."

"**...Hmhmhm... Do you think this can fool **_**me**_**? You have no access to the Sharingan..." **In the center of its forehead, a third eye opened, revealing something similar to the Sharingan—black with red tomoe. **"Because **_**I**_** have it!"**

"How do I know _you're_ not just lying?" Hanzo flinched as the beast's grip tightened and his eyes returned to normal.

"**Heh... Whether or not it's fact or fiction won't matter where **_**you're**_** going…!" **The monster flung Hanzo up into the air and as he fell, opened its massive maw wide open before swallowing him whole.

Inside of the Kaijuu...Hanzo was pretty much freaking out. Then again, the inside of a large, demonic monster is never a good sight, especially when you're about to become a part of it. The black tendrils were wrapping around his body and making squelching noises were _too_ realistic to be a genjutsu, but he pushed that thought out of his head. He was upset, but too disgusted to actually scream or curse. That thing knew him inside and out! Then again, in the Uchiha's mind, it was only a twisted manifestation of his negative emotions, so that meant it _had_ to know about him.

'_But...he can't be right! It's not __**her**__ fault! Right...? Right... It's not her fault.'_ A thought of Kotoyo flashed through his mind again—a memory of a pregnant woman clutching her seven-year old son, crying _"Why, Hanzo, why?"_ over and over again as her child's head bled through a large injury on the side. _'It's not his fault, either... Death isn't something you can control, right...?'_ A memory of a young Hanzo and his father Zen watching the stars in the night sky. _'It's not even __**his**__ fault, really, I guess.'_ A thought of his grandfather's serious face as he lectured him. Even if it was partially their fault in Hanzo's opinion, he held some of the blame, too, didn't he? _'Because of my actions, people thought I might've wound up going insane... I probably deserve this...for acting the way that I did...'_

"HANZOOOOO! Don't give up, man! You can beat this thing!"

Huh. Now that's funny. Who would've thought that the last thing that Hanzo was hearing was Nataro's voice? _'I'm probably going crazy...but I'm gonna miss him.'_ The raven-haired boy closed his eyes and frowned.

"C'mon! You can do it!"

Hanzo's eyes snapped open._ 'Wait. That __**is**__ Nataro!'_

**X-X-X**

"Don't let that demon bastard have its way! HANZO!"

"Dammit, will you stop yelling, Ramen Breath?" Kazemaru shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Never! I think I'm gettin' through to him!" Nataro spoke, not taking his eyes off the unconscious Uchiha before he recommenced with the cheering. He was currently on his knees next to Hanzo, with Kazemaru and the nekomata behind him near the door. The blonde suddenly stopped cheering when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Hanzo's hand had only twitched a bit, but it was enough for Nataro to start shouting, "He's okay!"

"Mm? You serious? He _heard_ you?" Kaze asked as the nekomata arched a nonexistent eyebrow.

"It was only a little, but I'm sure he heard me!" Nataro took a deep breath and screamed, "HANZO! KICK THAT THING'S ASS!"

His pyromanic teammate sweatdropped. _'I still can't believe that'd work...'_

"Impossible..." The kimono-clad cat muttered as he stared at Nataro._ 'How could this fool actually reach him in __**this**__ state…?'_

**X-X-X**

"**What's that irritating noise?"** The Kaijuu hissed in disgust, its ears twitching.

'_Idiot! I'm not like you! I can't just pull a victory out of my hat! It's not like I'm some genius prodigy...' _Hanzo thought as he gritted his teeth.

"You can do it, Hanzo! You're a kick-ass ninja! You can beat this thing! The future Hokage says so! ...Shut _UP_, Pyro Freak!" Nataro shouted from somewhere in reality.

'_I can't...!'_

"I _swear _that if you don't make it through this so we can have our rematch—and so I can beat your butt—I will NEVER forgive you! ...Dammit, Kaze, I _said_ shut up!"

Hanzo's eyes widened. _'Huh?'_

"So come on, Hanzo! Go wild an' win this thing! Gear up your Uchiha blood and get it over with! Otherwise, you might get killed! Or..._worse_... Who _knows_ what that thing'll do with your body?"

"**It's that irritating child!"** The monstrous beast growled. **"Doesn't he ever know when to shut up? How can his voice even be **_**heard**_** in here...?"** The Kaijuu suddenly stopped talking as it felt a pain in its body. **"Guh... My...stomach...!"** Something suddenly busted out of the beast and landed on the ground. The wound immediately healed. **"...Why must you always be such a troublesome little nothing?"** It hissed as it looked down at Hanzo.

The raven-haired boy shrugged. "Maybe it's just my Uchiha blood. My grandfather tends to say that none can stand before the might of Uchiha. In this case, for the moment, I'll believe in that, too!"

The Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu narrowed its eyes and bared its fangs. **"Heh-heh...! You honestly think you can kill **_**me**_**?"**

"No. But I can try to put you away again!"

"**Newly-acquired confidence, eh? So be it!"** The third eye on the Kaijuu's forehead opened wide as the tomoe began to spin. It took a swipe at the raven-haired boy, but he jumped onto one of the beast's claws and latched on. **"Get...off!"** The Kaijuu swung its hand in an attempt to shake off the Uchiha, but it suddenly came up with an idea. It brought its hand up to its mouth and opened wide.

Hanzo gritted his teeth. _'I hope I can make this jump!'_ He leapt off of the Kaijuu's claw and landed on its face, almost falling into its mouth as he did. He broke out into a run, just barely dodging the Kaijuu's clawed hand swatting its face, and ran up to the giant, inversed Sharingan eye. Not sure what might happen, Hanzo punched the eye with as much force as he could muster. The beast threw its head back and gave a roar of pain, throwing Hanzo off of its head. He landed a few feet away, facedown on the metal floor. The raven-haired boy pushed himself up and gave a low growl. "How the heck do I _beat_ this thing? It's too big to try and overtake...unless I wanna get squashed or eaten!"

The Kaijuu gave a wicked smile, baring its fangs as the inverted Sharingan eye on its head recovered. **"Have you finally seen the light? You cannot win!"** It held its arms out and stuck out its forked tongue. **"This is the domain of the **_**Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu**_**! You cannot hope to destroy me in here!"**

Hanzo gritted his teeth as he glared up at the Kaijuu before he blinked. "Wait... That's not right. Your domain is _my_ head. And like you said, I can't _destroy_ you, but...I don't necessarily _have_ to destroy you to keep control, right? Just beat you. And make sure you don't try this again until I find a way to permanently get rid of you."

"**What are you talking about you stupid child?"**

The raven-haired genin folded his arms across his chest. "Do I have to spell it out for you? I'm gonna lock you up somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind until you get your act together. Sort of like a time-out. Got it?"

"**Heh-heh... Heh-heh-heh... HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA! Funny! You're **_**very**_** funny!" **The chaotic beast laughed.

"I'm not kidding!" The Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu bent over and looked at the Uchiha as he continued, "You're going to be locked away! And you're gonna stay that way forever!"

"**Interesting... Do you honestly think you can do that? I doubt you have the strength to hold me back. But I will humor you. Go on, put me away so that you can get on with your miserable existence,"** the Kaijuu mocked. Hanzo narrowed his eyes as two demonic eyes and one Sharingan eye stared down at him expectantly. Minutes seemed to pass...but nothing happened. And neither one made a move until the Kaijuu stood up straight. **"Hmph! Idiotic child, your time is up!"** It opened its mouth and a sphere of compressed, dense black chakra began to form in it Just as the beast was about to unleash its attack, it stopped all of a sudden. **"What...?" **The sphere of chakra dispersed.

Hanzo tapped the side of his head. "See? Told you so. My head, my rules," he said as the monster slowly began to turn to stone from the bottom up.

"**This...cannot be...happening! **_**I**_** am the one who's supposed to be in control!"** The Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu roared before its heads became stone, as was the rest of its body.

The young Uchiha walked up to the stone-encased monster and flicked a finger at its shin. The Kaijuu began to crack and collapsed. And standing in its place...was Hanzo. Or rather, Hatori who was now back to normal. "Hm?" Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "What the—?"

"...Huh?" Hatori looked at his hands. "You little nothing… It's inconceivable…!"

"Why do you look like me _again_?" The Uchiha muttered.

"Because it's _your _mind. And to you, I'm you, as far as you know!" Hatori shouted.

"Whatever. Anyway, it's time for you to say goodnight, Hatori, or Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu, or...whatever it is you call yourself."

"You think I'll just let you put me away? You must be joking!"

"Face it... It's over." Hanzo muttered. "I am in control now, and I always will be." He walked up to his other half until they were face-to-face. "Thank you very much for this..._enlightening_ experience." He flicked Hatori in the forehead and the other half fell on his back, semi-unconscious.

"Heh-heh-heh…! You think you can keep me under lock and key? I'M COMING OUT! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, I'M COMING OUT!" Hatori screamed before he went on to laugh insanely to himself, disappearing in a wisp of black smoke.

"_Great_... A new reason to take more medication..." The Uchiha muttered as he closed his eyes.

**X-X-X**

"HANZOOOOOO!"

"Dammit, Nataro, stop shouting! Or else I'll shove my burning foot so far up your ass, you'll be shitting coal!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he knocked Nataro in the back of his head.

"What the _hell_ happened in here?" A cold, angry voice asked, making Kaze, Nataro, and the nekomata turn to stone. Shikimi stood in the bathroom doorway as she glared at the two genin and the cat spirit. "There are shuriken in the walls, the doorknob has been melted off, and I found a _snake _in the living room. Would you mind explaining how this happened? ..._Well_?" The red-eyed girl folded her arms across her chest. "How about you, Kyoji?"

Kyoji the nekomata's ears drooped slightly. "Er... You see...it was all _their _fault," he pointed a paw at Nataro and Kazemaru.

"What? You stupid cat! You're the one who brought us in here!" The blonde genin shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"I _knew_ I should've fried you before!" The orange-haired genin growled, glaring at the two-tailed cat.

"Shikiiiimiiii!" Shiori exclaimed as she approached her sister from behind. "I got rid of the snake! Turns out it wasn't real... H-HANZO-KUN! Wh-what happened to you?" The dark-haired girl shouted as she rushed over to Hanzo, pushing Nataro aside. "And why's there a seal over your mouth?" She ripped it off of the genin's mouth as her eyes became large and watery.

"Yeah, why _is_ he lying down on the job, anyway?" Said Shikimi as she glared at Nataro.

The orange-clad genin almost withered underneath her gaze. "Um... You see..."

"Ugh... Mmm..." Hanzo slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Shiori, which sort of caused him to jump a bit. "Hm? Shi...Shiori-chan? What are you—?" Before he could finish his sentence, the Yagami girl got him into a bear hug. "Ack!"

"Oh, Hanzo-kun! What happened to you? What did those mean friends of yours _do_ to you?"

Kazemaru glared at the dark-haired girl's back. "We didn't do _anything_, except maybe try an' help him!"

"Yeah! Hanzo got possessed by..." Nataro paused and squinted his eyes. "...What'd you get possessed by, Hanzo?"

The Uchiha paled as he shook slightly and mumbled, "A monster... A _big_, ugly...sadistic monster..."

"Named the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu?"

"Uh-huh." Hanzo looked at his blonde teammate with an arched eyebrow. "How'd you know?"

"The stupid cat told us about the untold legend of the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu—also known as the Beast of Heavenly Chaos," said Kazemaru as he folded his arms across his chest. "Are you _really_ Hanzo? Because I can't believe that a genin like me and Nataro could stand a chance against a legendary demon... For all we know, you're the Kaijuu itself, trying to trick us into believing you're Hanzo when actually you're not."

"_What_? Of course it's me! I know that last week you tried to sneak into a hot spring full of women by transforming into a girl, and you _still_ got caught. And there was that time when we all had to go on a paper route and you were attacked by some dog belonging to the Inuzuka clan. Oh, and there's that time when you tried to sneak into an M-rated movie and you wound up getting beat up—"

"Alright already, I believe you! Just shut up, okay?" The pyro exclaimed as his face became red from embarrassment.

"Ahem." Shikimi cleared her throat. "I had to interrupt the festivities, but you _still_ have to fix this place up. You _messed _it up, so you'll _clean_ it up."

"What? Now way, our teammate just got out of a horrible state of mind—the possessed kind!" Nataro exclaimed as he and Kazemaru hugged Hanzo tightly.

"Yeah, w-we gotta make sure he's okay!"

"Yeah, right! I can see that he's okay and definitely well enough to do work. And just so you know, your pay is being deducted."

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T DO THAT, YA CREEPY LITTLE GIRL!" Nataro and Kazemaru shouted as veins throbbed on their foreheads. "YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF US!"

Shikimi cracked her knuckles. Shiori scurried away from Hanzo and hid in the corner. Kyoji turned his back on the situation as he lit his pipe. Hanzo sweatdropped as his eyes became the size of little brown dots. "Um... Guys?" He managed to squeak before their pain and suffering began.

**X-X-X**

"Ah... How long have we _been _here?" Nataro shouted at the ceiling as he stopped with his sweeping. He had a bandage on his slightly swollen cheek.

Hanzo paused in his dusting as he stared at the ceiling. "Let's see... Today's our third day here."

As the Uchiha continued with his chore, the Kazaki stared up at him with squinted, fox-like eyes. "Mmm... When's their mom coming back? I miss Konoha. ...And Shikimi scares me a bit..."

"She's not as scary as the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu. Well, maybe a _little_ more."

"That reminds me: you still haven't told me how you got rid of that thing." _'Because maybe I can do the same thing to Kyuubi!'_

In his mind, the Kyuubi snorted. **"Oh, please... Like you could honestly do that."**

"Well... I didn't get rid of it." Hanzo muttered.

Nataro stared at him in confusion. "Huh?"

The Uchiha pointed at his head. "It's still in here—in my head. In time-out. And until it learns that _I'm_ the one in control of my body, it's gonna stay there."

"Really? So...it's not giving you problems anymore?" The blonde asked as he approached his friend and poked him in the forehead several times before he swatted his hand away.

"Stop that!"

"What, I'm just kinda shocked." Nataro began to grin. "You managed to put away a demon all by yourself! That's so _cool_!"

Hanzo blushed as he scratched his cheek. "Actually...if it wasn't for you, calling out to me and cheering me on, I probably would've given up. You gave me encouragement and I'm...grateful." He gave a small smile.

Nataro began to blush and rubbed the back of his head. "Awww, stop being so mushy..."

All of a sudden, the door was slammed open by Kazemaru, who was wearing a grin on his face. "Fan Boy! Ramen Breath! We're done with our mission!"

"Huh? What're you talking about, Pyro Freak?"

"Shikimi and Shiori's mom is here! We can finally get _out _of this nutty house!" The Temashi exclaimed as tears began to fall from his eyes in a comedic fashion. _'Now I don't have to put up with those freaky ghosts and spirits bothering me again!'_ Both of his teammates sweatdropped at his actions, but before they could actually _talk_ about it, Kaze had grabbed their arms and began to drag them out of the room, all the way out to the living room. "Hey, laaaady! We're all here! Now tell us what a good job we've done and we'll be on our way!"

Shikimi, who was sitting on her mother's left, snorted. "A good job? A couple of days ago, you messed it up. And yesterday, you overcooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That doesn't sound like a good job to _me_."

"Oh, Mother! Please don't hurt them! Especially the cute one with the dark hair!" Shiori squealed from her mother's right as she held Kyoji in her lap. "Actually...could you punish the other two, but spare Hanzo-kun?"

"Hey!"

"Hmmm..." Shitomi gave a small smile and stood up, approached Hanzo and kissed him on the forehead.

Nataro and Kazemaru's eyes became the size of plates. "What the—?"

Shikimi arched an eyebrow. Shiori stared off into space out of shock. "Mother...?"

The dark-haired woman smiled down at the young Uchiha before pinching his cheek. "You're as cute as you are in the pictures, Hanzo-chan!"

"H-huh?" Hanzo stuttered as he stared into the woman's eyes. "What're you talking about? D-do I know you?"

Shitomi frowned as she released his cheek. "Hmph. I can't believe you don't even know your own dear auntie Shitomi! It must be your mother's fault..." She muttered as she folded her arms across her chest.

Hanzo blinked. "Aunt...? _You're_ Auntie Shitomi? You sent me a birthday present all those years ago... Mom never told me who you were, though."

'_I knew it!'_

"Ah... I _knew_ we forgot something!" Nataro exclaimed as he pounded his fist into his open palm. "Hey, Hanzo, did you know you're from the Yagami family?"

"Why didn't you tell me that _before_, Nataro...?" Hanzo growled as he glared at Nataro.

"We pretty much forgot after we saw you throw up snakes and bugs..." Kaze mumbled as he avoided eye contact with the Uchiha.

"Well, now you know. And you can grill your mother about it when you get back home to Konoha!" Shitomi muttered as a vein throbbed on her forehead. She noticed Kazemaru and Nataro staring at her in a mix of shock and slight fear. "_You_ must be Hanzo-chan's teammates, hm?"

"Y-yeah..." Nataro stuttered. Before he knew it, Shitomi was pinching his cheek. "Hey!"

"You're _so_ adorable. I could just _eat you up_..." The Yagami woman licked her lips and Nataro turned blue for a moment, thinking she was being truthful. "And you have _such_ an amazing aura... So incredible."

"Ah..." _'Is this lady coming on to me...?'_

"Hmmm... Well then, you must be off, right? Must get back to Konoha, hm?" Shitomi cooed, causing all three genin to nod their heads. "I hope you have a safe trip back, then! Oh..." She suddenly hugged Hanzo tightly into her chest. "I wish I could get to know you and your little friends a little better Hanzo-chan!"

Hanzo gulped as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. "Y-yeah. It's a shame...Auntie." As soon as he was released, the young boy sighed. Kazemaru quickly pulled him over.

"Let's get our bags and get out... This lady's as freaky as her children..."

"I agree. I don't like the way she looked at me..." Nataro muttered as he glanced at Shitomi for a second. "Let's go already!"

As the two boys disappeared upstairs, Shiori sighed. "We're...cousins?"

"There goes your so-called _dream guy_." Said Shikimi. She arched an eyebrow when she noticed her sister's odd look. "...You're taking this better than I thought."

"I _love_ Hanzo-kun... I don't _care_ if we're cousins! I shall love him—and he'll love me!" The blue-eyed girl exclaimed with wide, sparkling eyes that caused her sister and mother to stare at her and sweatdrop.

"Incest? That's so... _Weird._ You're gonna drag our clan name in the mud." Shikimi muttered as a vein throbbed on her forehead. _'Besides, Hanzo doesn't even __**like**__ you. He probably likes that other girl his friends were talking about...'_

Shitomi sighed and slowly shook her head. "My poor baby... You'll only get your heart broken. And people will look at you like you're a freak if they find out your love your cousin is the _in _love kind..."

"I don't care! You do crazy things when you're in love!"

"But not crazy enough to want to marry your cousin..." Shikimi muttered as she rolled her eyes.

**X-X-X**

**Blu: We return with yet another edition of the Uchiha auction! For today's auction, we are selling off Madara's mask, from the time he spent as Tobi!**

**Audience: Ooooohhh!**

**Blu: Yes, this mask has endured being blown up by Deidara, assaulted by the Sanbi, and sliced in half by Sasuke, which just ups its level of WIN!**

**Sai: Win?**

**Blu: Internet phrase. Look it up online. (Holds up the mask) Now then, who's the highest bidder?**

**(A guy wearing an Akatsuki cloak suddenly appears beside her, wearing a bunny mask)**

**Bunny-masked Guy: Give me that! (Disappears again in a swirly manner)**

**Blu: …Who was that weirdo?**

**Nataro: I think…that was Madara?**

**Blu: He wore a _bunny mask_ to hide his face?**

**Kaze: That guy's got issues…**

**Blu: Uh… Since we no longer have an item to auction off, I guess I'll just ask you guys to stay tuned and review, for the sake of dear Blu!**


	27. Sealing? Not THAT!

**Blu: How gross was that last chapter?! Seeing Hanzo spew out snakes and bugs and junk? That'd be pretty disgusting…**

**Naruto: I got used to it after seeing Orochimaru fight a couple of times.**

**Blu: Really?**

**Naruto: Yeah, it's gross, but it doesn't freak us out anymore.**

**Blu: **_**Really**_**? (Blu opens her mouth and a deformed hand reaches out from within her.) GROOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!**

**Naruto: AAAAAHHHHHH!!! (Faints)**

**(The hand reaches back into Blu and she licks her lips.)**

**Blu: I got that one from a commercial. Heh-heh-heh! And now, on with the fic!**

_Disclaimer: I, Blu Rose, don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I do, however, own the characters and anything else I created._

**X-X-X**

_#27: Sealing?! Not THAT!!_

"It's been a while since it's last shown its true colors. We ought to deal with it ourselves rather than allowing it to grow gradually by itself."

"It is too soon to reveal ourselves. We must bide our time and be patient."

"But I can't! Why can't we just be direct and _force_ _it_ to sprout a tail?"

"Be patient. Continue following it…"

"Fine…"

**X-X-X**

Within the Hokage's office, Tsuki, Haseo and Ninigi stood before their Hokage.

"As of late, there have been several disappearances in the country…from mere civilians to shinobi out on missions. This is the same in other countries as well. So far, Nami no Kuni is the allied country with the highest amount. You three and your students are to go to Nami no Kuni to investigate," Naruto explained.

"Yes, sir," said Tsuki and Haseo with a nod. Ninigi, however, was silent.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Something wrong, Ninigi?"

"Hokage-sama…this sounds very similar to the _'incidents'_ some years ago… If they are done by the same person, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for my team to go."

The Rokudaime sighed. "I understand if they may still be traumatized by those events…but they have to get over it eventually. There's also the chance that this could be something completely different. In any case, we've been called in to put a stop to these abductions, and the last thing we'd want is for someone to go through what they did."

Ninigi sighed and bowed his head. "Yes, sir."

**X-X-X**

"Mother... This is really quite unnecessary."

"Nonsense! This _must_ be done! I have overlooked this problem for _too_ long! I thought that normal means could help rid you of that horrible thing, but now I see the only way to solve this problem!" Kotoyo exclaimed with a determined look in her eyes.

"Yes, but... Isn't this a bit too _much_?!" Exclaimed Hanzo. He was kneeling down on the floor, in the center of a circle of blood-written kanji and symbols, wearing nothing but his boxers and tied up by invisible chakra strings. His mother was kneeling behind him with one hand on his back and the other holding an open scroll that she was looking at. "Come on, Mom! This really isn't a problem!!"

"That's the influence of the Devil speaking through you, boy!! Don't worry, Hanzo, hun! I'll rid you of that nasty spirit, or I'm not Uchiha-Yagami Kotoyo!" The dark-haired woman exclaimed, her brown eyes filled with the flames of determination. Her son, however, had just the opposite reaction. He sighed heavily as he closed his eyes.

_'This is all your fault, you know...'_

**"No, it's not,"** said the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu which had somehow managed to get out of punishment. That, and it kept popping up in Hanzo's dreams, which resulted in some sleepless nights before they got back to Konoha.** "That orange blotch you call a friend is the one to blame. Remember?"**

**X-X-X**

_(Several hours ago...)_

"Ah, Hanzo! Let's stop for something to eat first before we go an' turn in that mission report to Gramps!" Said Nataro as he pointed at the nearby café. Kazemaru had already separated from the two and went back home, leaving the two of them to turn in the report.

"Nataro, we can't do that! We have to turn this in as soon as possible!" The raven-haired genin held up the folder.

"Aw, come on! It's not like it's really important! I mean...we're not _supposed_ to talk about what happened, so all that's written on there is less than two paragraphs of boring, uninteresting stuff! ...Besides, I'm hungry." On cue, the loud blonde's stomach growled. He held onto his stomach and fell to his knees. "I haven't eaten anything since I woke up... I can't make it to the Hokage's Tower if I can't even move!"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow as he folded his arms across his chest. "_No._"

"Why must you...be so cruel, Hanzo?!" Nataro shouted, catching the eyes of a couple of passersby for a couple of seconds. People in Konoha were used to the loud boy since he had moved there. "Come on, let's go eat! It'll only take a sec!"

"Yeah, right! If they sell ramen in there, you'll stay for _more_ than a second!" The Uchiha exclaimed, leaning down to looked at his blonde teammate.

"Quit being like this, Hanzo!! Don't tell me that you're feeling cranky because of--" Before the blonde could get the words out, Hanzo had bopped him on the head.

"Quiet!! Don't talk about that!" He hissed as he glared at Nataro. "Who knows how people are going to react if they hear..._that_? My grandmother told me that Uzumaki Naruto was hated by almost every single person in Konoha during his childhood because he had the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of him. I don't _want_ to imagine how they'll react to me. Not to mention my mother..."

Nataro froze and gulped. "R-really? That happened, huh? That wasn't in any of the textbooks at school..."

"Of course not. It would make Konoha look bad: not wanting an orphan boy to exist because of something he couldn't control." Hanzo muttered as he looked down at the ground.

_'Is that so... Well, that makes some of those dreams make sense...'_ Nataro stood up and arched an eyebrow. "What's the big deal? You're still you. That thing in your head doesn't make you any different to me, and your mom won't think any different of you, either. I mean..." He gulped and began to feel uncomfortable. "I got..." He stopped speaking as the Uchiha suddenly froze. "What?"

"Hanzo!! You're back!!"

Nataro blinked in confusion at the familiar female voice. "...Kotoyo-s--" Before he could fully finish his sentence, the blonde found himself in a tight, bone-crushing embrace from Kotoyo. "GACK!!"

"Oh, Hanzo, hun!! I'm so glad you're back home, safe and sound, and in my arms again!!" Kotoyo cried as she hugged Nataro tightly. "I've missed you!"

"Mom... I'm, uh, right here." Said Hanzo as he sweatdropped. The moment he said that, she was now clinging onto him tightly, leaving Nataro lying on the ground and taking in deep breaths. And only a few seconds after being caught in his mothers monstrously strong hug, the young Uchiha was turning blue in the face.

"Nataro? Nataro, what happened to you?!" Nataro, still trying to regain the air he lost from his encounter with Kotoyo, looked up and saw Aiko, in her work uniform looking down at him with a shocked, wide-eyed expression on her face. "Ko... Kotoyo-san..." The blonde ninja managed to breathe out, his face regaining color.

Aiko looked at the blonde woman and sweatdropped before muttering, "Oh..." She looked down at her son and continued, "She may have gotten into the saké a _bit_ too early. Apparently, she went from shouting about her sister, then after a couple of bottles, she got to crying about her husband, whom she almost killed for revenge, her eldest son, whom she thinks is insane, and her youngest son, who apparently put some sort of bomb in the boy's bathroom and caused the Ninja Academy a _very_ high cost in plumbing and construction."

"...Ah, so _that's_ why Kotaro was asking me how to make an explosive flash bomb." Nataro muttered.

"_What_?"

"Nothing!"

Aiko arched an eyebrow and gave her son a certain look. "...So, how did your mission go?" She blinked in confusion when her son's eyes lit up in joy.

"Ah, it was so cool, Mom!! We got to see another ninja village, we stayed in a haunted house with lots of weird and creepy stuff, and I almost got killed by an angry spirit!" Nataro exclaimed. Aiko had a shocked look on her face, but Nataro continued, "_And_ there was this nekomata, and a ball that came to life, and Kazemaru got possessed and Hanzo almost went crazy and killed us because something was in control of his body and we met these two creepy girls and one of them had a major crush on Hanzo and she turned out to be his _cousin_, and we had to do stupid chores all day because the mission was actually--" For the second time that day, someone had put their hand over Nataro's mouth. This time, it was his own hands covering his mouth, as he finally realized what he had done. He'd spilled the beans. He could only hope that at the speed he was talking, no one understood.

One could see his mother most definitely didn't, because a large red question mark was floating over her head before she said, "Nataro, sweetie... I didn't catch that last part. Or any other part that came after you said a spirit almost killed you." Aiko muttered. "Could you please say that slower? And actually put spaces between your sentence, okay?"

Meanwhile, the Uchiha woman and her son, who had been released from her hold, flinched. Mainly because they heard most of what Nataro had spoken. Hanzo began to sweat as Kotoyo slowly turned her head around to stare down at him. "Hanzo. ...Hanzo."

The raven-haired boy gulped. "Y-yes...Mother?"

"Is what Nataro said true?" She spoke through gritted teeth as she kept a small smile on her face.

Aiko blinked in confusion. "What'd he say?"

Hanzo's face suddenly became a bit blue. He glared at Nataro as the blonde mouthed a "sorry" before his mother grabbed his shirt and dragged him away. The raven-haired boy regained his ability of speech and stuttered something along the lines of "M-mother?! Where are we going! Mom? MOM!!!"

Nataro and Aiko sweatdropped as Kotoyo and Hanzo disappeared from their range of sight and remained silent until they were out of hearing range. "That woman...is definitely something else..." Kotoyo mumbled as she narrowed her eyes. "She also didn't pay her bill!"

"AIKO!!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!?" Aiko's boss exclaimed from inside the café.

"I'm coming, sir!" The blonde woman shouted, quietly adding, "Cruel, slave-driving bastard...!"

After his mother had stomped away from him, Nataro kept staring at the ground. The folder containing the mission report was on the ground, dropped by Hanzo just before Kotoyo pulled him off to only God-knows-where. The blonde picked up the folder and stood up, dusting it off. "Hmmm... What to do?" Nataro mumbled, looking at the folder with squinted, fox-like eyes. "Should I go give this in _now_...or do I go get something to eat and turn it in _later_...?" As a reminder, his stomach growled and reminded him of the situation at hand. "Right! Lunch first, _then_ turn in the report!" He cheered, skipping off to the café.

**X-X-X**

**"If that blonde disaster had only kept his mouth shut, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now,"** the Kaijuu stated.

_'First of all, it's __**initially**__ your fault, because if you didn't try to pull the little stunt you pulled back there in Kagegakure, Nataro wouldn't have known and I wouldn't __**be**__ in this mess!! And what's this about __**'we'**_

**"Well, we share the same body, so... We're one, in a sense. I'm a part of you. You're a part of me. ...Didn't I explain this about...four days ago?"**

Suddenly, the door to the living room opened and there stood Kotaro, schoolbag in hand. "MOOOOM!! Where's my lunch?!"

"It's in the kitchen on the counter, sweetie!" Kotoyo called over her shoulder.

"Thanks!"

"WAIT!!! KOTARO!!! Don't you see something _wrong_ with this scene?!" Hanzo shouted loudly at his sister before she could close the door again.

"Don't listen to him, Kotaro-chan! You're brother is being controlled by an evil spirit!" Kotoyo shouted loudly.

"I am _not_!!"

The green-eyed boy blinked and stared at his mother and brother. "Are...you in trouble Hanzo?"

"Yes!"

"Oh... You did something bad, didn't you?"

"What? NO! Just come and save me! Our mother's gone mad and she's trying to seal something that's not even here!!" Hanzo shouted loudly as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Don't mind your brother, Kotaro, sweetie. He's under the influence of a devil." Kotoyo spoke with a sweet smile and voice. "Now just run off to school and learn like a good little boy!"

Kotaro arched an eyebrow. "Um...okay." And with that, he closed the door and Hanzo groaned as his footsteps faded.

"Really, Mom, it's nothing to worry about! Yes, there is an evil and annoying demon spirit in my head--"

**"You think I like sharing a body with **_**you**_**?" **Kaijuu muttered.

"But it's all under control!! He's not gonna do anything drastic and--and I promise I won't lose control of him and will _never_ talk about this in public! Just don't go so far as doing _this_!" Hanzo pleaded as he fidgeted about, his chakra bindings becoming tighter.

Kotoyo ignored her son's pleas and tossed the scroll aside. "Alright! Here goes!" She picked up a kunai from the floor and cut the palm of her hand. Then she rubbed her hands with her blood and began to form a string of hand signs. The dark-haired woman placed her hand on her son's back and shouted, "Furui Yagami Gigei: Akki Harai no Jutsu (Ancient Yagami Arts: Demon Exorcism Technique)!!"

"Mom, wait-- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Hanzo? ...Hun? Are you okay?"

"I... I can't feel my...legs..."

**X-X-X**

The next day, we find our favorite loud, orange-clad, partial reincarnation at the top of the mountainside Hokage monument. At the moment, he was sitting on top of the Yondaime's head, cross-legged. "I still can't believe it... Hanzo's got a demon in him..." Nataro mumbled as he stared off into space.

**"As if the Uchiha weren't satisfied with copying jutsu...now they're copying us by having their own demon vessel,"** said the Kyuubi.

_'I wonder if Hanzo's like me...'_ Thought Nataro, ignoring the demonic vulpine. _'Does he dream about his last life?'_

**"I'm not sure... He doesn't have a link like you do with your preincarnation, but there may be some memories hidden deep, deep down..."**

The blonde squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner. _'That reminds me... Why __**do**__ I have a link with Gramps...?'_

**"I keep telling you: you're his reincarnation, Naruto."**

_'Would you knock it off with the __**'Naruto'**__ stuff?! It's not funny! It's bad enough that I've got a demon inside of me, but having you keep saying that I'm the reincarnation of someone who's still alive doesn't make me feel better!! I don't even know why all this stuff is happening to me!!'_ "Gah!" Nataro clutched his head with one hand as he stood up. "All this pondering is making my head hurt!! Reincarnation and past lives and evil spirits... It's too much to think about so early in the morning!"

"Nataro-saaaan!" Cried Asura, who had suddenly appeared behind the blonde. "I found you at last! Hee-hee!"

Nataro jumped out of fright and almost fell off the Yondaime's stone head. He turned around and gave a breath of relief. "Phew! Asura-chan...it's only you. Uh... Wait, why're _you_ here? And up so early, too--it's at least a quarter to 6!"

The pink-haired girl smiled and spoke, "I wanted to ask you something: what do you dream about, Nataro-san?"

"Mm?" The blonde ninja blinked. "Dream? As in, when I go to sleep?" Asura nodded and he continued, "Well, a bunch of stuff. A couple of nights before, I dreamt I was riding on top of this giant toad! And last night, I dreamt about..." His cheeks suddenly became red as he scuffed his foot in the dirt, "Kissing this cute pretty girl with pink hair and green eyes and nice legs and...a hard left." Nataro snapped out of his reverie and noticed that Asura was looking at him with a confused look on her face. "Wh-why do you wanna know?"

The white-clad girl began to twirl a strand of her pink hair around her index finger absentmindedly. "When I usually sleep, all _I_ see is white."

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "White?"

"Yes!" Asura exclaimed before looking up at the morning sky. "I'm floating in an endless space of white, where I'm the only one there... But a couple of weeks ago, I started to hear voices in my dreams. And they keep calling me and calling me something...but I can't remember what they call me. Or why they call me. Why do they call me, Nataro-san?"

"Uh..." Nataro sweatdropped, unsure of what to say. "I'm not an expert on dreams or anything, Asura-chan, but maybe...that's one of those weird dreams...like the ones that predict the future in a weird cryptic way." He then shrugged, "Or maybe you just ate some bad food or something before you went to sleep. That happens."

"Really?" Asura placed a finger on her cheek. "Hmmm..."

_'__Hey, Kyuubi. What're the chances that Asura-chan's got a bijuu in __**her**__, too?'_

**"Just because that girl isn't ordinary, that doesn't mean she has a bijuu in her. Hoping for an explanation of her little...mental problem, Naruto?"** In his head, Nataro could see the evil kitsune give a large, toothy grin. **"Heh... Isn't that sweet? You must have a thing for girls with unusual hair color."**

_'H-hey! I just wanna know more about her!! I wanna know why some weirdo would stick a living, breathing person inside of a __**scroll**__, of all things?! I can't help but wonder if...'_

Before Nataro could finish his thought, an ANBU in a cat mask appeared behind Asura and grabbed her shoulder. "Gotcha! I finally found you!"

"Oh, Cat-san! You found me!"

"Damn right. Now come on--my captain'll kill me if I don't bring you back." The ANBU grumbled as he looked down at the girl.

Asura pouted. "Aw, already? But I just found Nataro-san."

The ANBU looked at Nataro and stared at him. "So..._this_ is _the_ Nataro...your crush?"

"Wh-what?!" The orange-clad boy shouted as his cheeks became tinged with red. "Th-that's not true, is it, Asura-chan?!"

"Hm?" The pink-haired girl blinked, a question mark floating over her head. She looked at Nataro, then up at the ANBU. "Huh? A crush? What is a crush?"

"A crush is when you really, _really_ like someone very much." The ANBU explained.

"Oh... Then yes, Nataro-san is my crush." Her statement almost made Nataro fall flat on his face. "You're my crush, too, Cat-san!" Okay, now Nataro was _very_ confused.

The ANBU sweatdropped and held up a hand. "That's not how it works. It's... I'll explain it to you when we get back to the hospital." And with that, he made a hand sign and a swirl of leaves surrounded him and Asura.

"Bye-bye, Nataro-san!" She chirped before they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Nataro stared out into space for quite some time, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Did Asura-chan...just call me her crush?"

**"You heard her: she must have been confused about what the term 'crush' actually means. Otherwise, why would she say she had one on an imbecile like you?" **Said the Kyuubi.

Ignoring the demonic vulpine, Nataro sighed. "Ah... Damn that stupid ANBU! Putting thoughts like that in her head...! I don't even like Asura-chan like that!"

**"Says the boy who is blushing."**

"Stop doing that!! You shouldn't use your abilities to control some of my bodily functions for evil!" The blonde shouted loudly as a vein throbbed on his forehead, forgetting for a moment that he was talking to a destructive demon kitsune. "Aw, why do I even bother? I should just go and wait for Tsuki-sensei and the guys in town..." He mumbled as leapt of the mountain.

**X-X-X**

"Good morning, my adorable little students!" Tsuki spoke cheerily as she appeared in a poof of smoke. "How did your mission go, boys? ...Hm?" The purple-haired jonin blinked as she counted her students. "...Where is Hanzo?"

Kazemaru and Nataro shrugged. "We don't know." They both said.

"Maybe he's still at home?" Kaze suggested.

"Or maybe he's on his way right now." Said Nataro before mumbling. "Though, with the way Kotoyo-san was acting yesterday, I kinda wonder if anything _bad_ happened to Hanzo."

"What was that, Nataro?" Tsuki asked with an arched eyebrow as she turned her head slightly to face her student.

"Uh, I said that maybe we should wait a little longer for Hanzo, sensei!! He's gone through some...things ever since we got back from the Hidden Shadow Village."

The kunoichi blinked. "Things? What things?"

"I-it's family stuff, Tsuki-sensei!" Kazemaru joined in as he and Nataro both started to sweat a little.

"Yeah, family stuff! We--we shouldn't stick our noses in it!" The blonde added with a nervous grin. "L-let's just wait to see if Hanzo shows up! He could be on his way even as we speak."

Tsuki's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at her students. "...You two are hiding something." The two boys froze and began to turn blue. "Something happened when you went to Kagegakure, didn't it?"

"N-no!! It was...just a lame baby-sitting mission. The client just t-turned out to be Hanzo's aunt and we had to look after his cousins and their house. That's all. We _swear_..." Kazemaru squeaked out the last two words as he shrank back under his sensei's glare.

"Yeah... Nothing happened to him _during_ the mission, but afterwards, his mom looked _reeeealy_ scary... Maybe I shouldn't have blurted out that Hanzo almost killed us--" The blonde genin suddenly clamped one of his hands over his mouth when he realized he was spouting off Hanzo's secret again. Tsuki blinked and Kazemaru glared at his blonde teammate. "Um..."

"Hanzo almost did what now?" The purple-haired kunoichi spoke slowly.

"Way to go, idiot!" Kazemaru shouted. "Why not just tell her Hanzo's got an evil spirit, why don't ya?! Oh crap..."

It was now Nataro's turn to glare at Kaze. "Way to go, Pyro Freak!"

Tsuki folded her arms across her chest as she glared at the two genin. "Okay, what're you two talking about? Did something happen to Hanzo? And tell the truth."

Both boys began to stutter, "N-nothing's wrong! Honest! ...Don't hurt us, sensei!!"

"Hmph!" The kunoichi suddenly grabbed her students' arms and jumped off the bridge, landing on the ground safely, though Kazemaru and Nataro were still a bit shaky. "Come on. Let's go." She spoke as she began to drag her frightened students away.

"Where are taking us, Tsuki-sensei?"

"_We_ are going to see Hanzo and see if he's doing as well as you say he is. But if he isn't..." She turned her head around and smile sweetly before adding in a song-like tone, "You two are gonna soooorry."

"Say what?! Alright, we confess, Hanzo's got a...problem, but please don't make us say anymore! It will ruin his reputation, and we don't wanna get tortured, Tsuki-sensei!!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed with big, watery eyes.

"I do not care if he has a secret. I must know because I am his sensei, because he is my student, so I must make sure he's alright!" Tsuki exclaimed with flames burning brightly in her eyes.

Nataro sweatdropped. "I...didn't catch that..."

"The bond between a teacher and her students is precious!"

"Eh?!"

"Tsuki-sensei _loves _us!!" Kazemaru exclaimed with hearts in his eyes.

"She's also a bit weird this morning..." Nataro muttered with half-lidded eyes as a large sweatdrop rolled down the side of his head. _'I don't think it's Sunday...'_

**X-X-X**

A couple of minutes late, two-thirds of Team 14 and their sexy sensei were close to arriving at Hanzo's house. It wasn't as big as his grandfather's but it looked quaint and simple. If only the family living in it was like that.

Kazemaru suddenly began to turn blue. The mostly emptty Uchiha district reminded him so much of after the experience _there_, he was starting to wonder if the angry spirits of the fallen Uchiha clan could just _rise_ and try to kill him. _'God, please don't let that happen!'_ He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped slightly. "Ah!"

"Kazemaru?" The hand turned out to be Tsuki's, and the purple-haired jonin was now arching an eyebrow in curiosity. "Is something wrong?"

"N-nothing's wrong, sensei! Absolutely nothing! I--"

"So, sensei, does that mean you know Sasuke-san?" Nataro interrupted, earning him a glare from Kazemaru. "'Cuz whenever you dropped us off at his house to do chores, you'd run off pretty fast.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I know him..." The kunoichi muttered as she cursed something under her breath.

The blonde and the pyro both sweatdropped as their eyes were now reduced to dots. "Sensei?"

"Huh? Sorry, sorry! Kinda spaced out there for a moment!" Tsuki giggled nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Well, we're here!"

"This is where Hanzo lives...?" Kazemaru arched an eyebrow as he looked at the 2-story house. "I was expecting for something more..._fancy_."

"Yeah... I didn't think it would be so small. I thought it'd be as big as Sasuke-san and Sakura-san's!"

"You think they got a lot of money?"

"Well, Hanzo said his mom was an oinin... I dunno how much _they_ make..."

_'Come to think of it, neither do I--and my big brother's an oinin!'_ Kaze thought with a sweatdrop.

As the two boys began to converse, Tsuki knocked on the door. "Hello? Kotoyo-san? Hanzo? Anybody home?" She called out as she continued to knock on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened and they saw someone they never expected to be there.

"HIKARI-SAN?!?" Nataro shouted loudly as he saw the pink-haired woman standing in the doorway. "Wh-what're you doing here?"

"Mm? Nataro-kun?" Hikari blinked in confusion. She looked at Tsuki and jumped slightly. "Tsu--Tsuki?"

The purple-haired kunoichi smiled widely as she gave a wave and a cheery, "Hello, Hikari! We just came to pick Hanzo up and remind him that _he_ is supposed to meet his _team_, and not the other way around. May we please see him?"

The pink-haired Uchiha bit her lower lip. "Actually..."

"Psst! Nataro!" Kazemaru whispered to his blonde teammate with his cheeks tinged with red. "Who's that lady with the pink hair?"

"That's Hanzo's aunt Hikari. Why do you wanna know?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow, looking at Kaze out of the corner of his eye. _'As if I don't already know.' _He sweatdropped as the young pyro's entire face became red.

"She's _gorgeous_! A total babe! And the pink hair makes her look exotic!"

"What about Tsuki-sensei?" The orange-clad boy asked flatly. Not that he cared about his teammate's odd taste in crushes, but he was just curious.

Meanwhile, finishing up with their conversation, Tsuki blinked. "Oh. Well, is he at least alright?"

"He will be when they're all taken off of him. Hopefully."

"Can we...see him?"

"Uh..." Hikari shrugged. "Sure, why not? He's aware of his surroundings and he can talk, so that'll give him something to do before it's over."

Tsuki turned around to face Kazemaru and Nataro. "Well, boys, let's go in."

"What a minute, what's wrong with Hanzo?" Nataro asked with wide eyes.

"Well...let's just say that his mother may have done something...drastic the night before. In short, he's not in a good condition right now." The purple-haired jonin stated as she turned her back on the boys and walked inside.

The two boys looked at each other before shrugging and followed their teacher into the house. A couple of minutes later, there was a shout of "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!?" coming from inside the house. Hanzo was lying on the floor, his body covered in several black kanji with Sasuke on one side of him and Kotoyo on the other.

"Eh-heh... A little incident with my mom..." The young Uchiha gave a weak smile.

"She actually _did_ that?!" Kazemaru shouted.

"Are you okay, Hanzo?" Asked Tsuki as a sweatdrop ran down the side of her head.

"Not considering the fact that I can't move my arm or my legs?" Hanzo spoke flatly. "I'm fine. I just haven't gotten up since last night."

Sasuke looked up from his grandson and turned his head to look at his genin team. "What do you want?"

"W-we just wanted to make sure Hanzo was alright. He...is gonna be alright, isn't he?" Tsuki muttered the last part as Nataro and Kaze suddenly appeared beside their seal-covered friend and began to poke him in random places.

"Hn... He'll be okay. No thanks to his mother."

On cue, Kotoyo began to cry dramatically as she hugged Hanzo's head to her chest. "OH, Hanzo, my baby boy!!! I'm so sorry!!" She sniffled as she wiped her tears off the sleeve of her dress. "I'm a horrible mother!! A horrible _terrible_ mother! Waaaaaah!!"

"Glad to see you finally realized it."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Kotoyo cried even louder.

"Now, now, you're not a bad mother! I'm sure Dad didn't mean it!" Hikari soothed the woman as she rubbed her back. As Sasuke opened his mouth to speak again, she glared at him and through gritted teeth spoke, "_He didn't!_"

Sasuke closed his eyes and snorted. "She's still an idiot. Who puts seal after seal after seal on someone and they don't even know what it's for?"

"I knew what it was for!! It was a special seal that allows the user to remove an evil possessive spirit from someone's body! I used it on Hanzo because I wanted that devil OUT!!!" Kotoyo shouted loudly.

Hanzo began to sweat. Nataro and Kazemaru's mouths were in the shapes if 'O's and their eyes were reduced to dots. Tsuki and Hikari looked confused and Sasuke appeared...apathetic.

"...A devil... Just when I thought you couldn't get any worse."

"Um, Kotoyo, maybe you're wrong about Hanzo having a demon inside of him..." Said Hikari as a sweatdrop ran down the back of her head. "I mean...what would possess you to think that _Hanzo_ would have something like that in him?"

The dark-haired woman sniffled before pointing a finger at Nataro, which caused everyone in the room to look at him "Nataro told me so!"

"Huh? I DIDN'T SAY HE HAD A DEMON IN HIM!!!" The blonde shouted loudly, causing Hanzo, Kazemaru and Sasuke to wince.

"But you said he tried to kill you!! And that something _possessed _him!!" Kotoyo screeched, now shaking Nataro by his shoulders.

"I-I was speaking really fast, okay? Y-you probably m-misheard me, Kotoyo-saaaan!!" He cried, tears streaming down his eyes in a comical manner as everyone else in the room, except for Kotoyo, sweatdropped.

"Y-yeah! You probably just...misheard him, Mom! Honestly!" Said Hanzo from his spot on the ground. As Kotoyo stopped shaking Nataro and looked at her son with upset eyes, said son turned slightly blue. "Um..."

"If I just misheard him...why were talking about having a demon in your head just last night? You called it annoying and how you wished it'd stop speaking in your voice...! Like it was _real_!"

If it was possible, Hanzo started to look like a blueberry. Nataro and Kazemaru's mouths were wide open and their eyes were blank. The same thought went through all three boys' heads: _'Game over.'_

"...Well? Tell them that's what you said." Kotoyo said as she looked down at her son.

Hanzo sighed as he tilted his head slightly to the side. _'This can't go on any further...!'_ If he lied, his mother would been seen as insane, and she'd probably be taken away to some mental clinic far away from here.

Just as the young Uchiha opened his mouth to speak, however, his teammates, who had probably cracked under pressure, started to shout, "WE CONFESS!!!"

"Hanzo has the evil spirit of the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu in him!!" Kazemaru cried with big, watery eyes.

"And it possessed him and tried to take over his body!! And it tried to _kill_ us!!" Nataro cried, eyes also looking as though he'd cry any minute. "B-but it's okay, now! Hanzo beat it up!"

"Yeah, and now it won't ever bug him again!! I should know, because I walked back here with him and Nataro for three and a half days in fear, thinking that he'd go nuts and start throwing up snakes again."

"But please...please don't treat Hanzo any differently than you usually do! He's still Hanzo! He's...just got a tenant in his body!"

Tsuki, Sasuke, and Hikari stared at the two genin, who had suddenly broken down and were now crying loudly as they hugged their raven-haired teammate. Hanzo was also surprised by this show of emotion, but mainly because the two boys were hugging him.

"That is...totally insane! You honestly expect us to believe that Hanzo has a demon in him?!" Hikari exclaimed as she pointed a finger at the two boys.

"What do you want from us, Hikari-san?" Nataro asked, still holding Hanzo, but no longer crying.

"How about some proof?"

"Proof? ...We don't _have_ proof!"

"If you're trying to cover for the fact that Kotoyo-san almost tried to kill Hanzo..." Tsuki trailed off as she rubbed her chin.

"She... She didn't almost kill me!! She's just worried! There's really--!" Hanzo suddenly stopped speaking as he felt something in his throat. If he could move his arms, his hands would already be covering his mouth, but there was no chance of that happening in his current condition. Therefore, he couldn't stop the small, long, green garter snake that slithered out of his mouth.

"NOT AGAIN!!!" Kazemaru screamed as he scurried away from Hanzo. "The snake pit from hell has come alive in Hanzo again!!!"

"H-hanzo! Are you okay?!" Nataro shouted after the snake had come out all the way and slithered on the Uchiha's bare stomach. "You're not the Kaijuu again, are you?!"

Hanzo looked up at the blonde, his face blue and pupils smaller than usual. "I-I'm fine... I'm kinda sick, though..."

"What the hell?!" Hikari and Tsuki screamed, their hair standing on end.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow and he picked up the garter snake, inspecting it. "Interesting..." His grip on it tightened and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"_Interesting_?! Are you insane, Father?! That _thing_ came out of Hanzo's _mouth!_!" His pink-haired child exclaimed.

Tsuki eyed Sasuke suspiciously. "Uh, you didn't show him any kinjutsu or one of your snake techniques, did you, sensei?"

"No." The old man spoke stiffly before adding, "And don't call me that."

Nataro pointed a finger at Hikari. "See?! No _ordinary _boy has snakes coming out of his mouth!!"

"I didn't even do that..." Hanzo muttered as the Kaijuu snickered in his head.

**X-X-X**

"This feels so good... I can finally feel my arms and legs again..." Hanzo sighed in relief as he moved his arms and Sasuke stood up. "Um... Thank you, Grandfather." _'He hasn't said anything since that snake came out. Mom hasn't said anything, either.'_

"Good! Now you can put some clothes on! The image of you in your boxers is gonna stay in my head for days..." Kazemaru grumbled as he scratched his head.

"At least tell us our mission, Tsuki-sensei." Said Nataro, who was now waking up from his nap. "How long have we been here?"

"Almost an hour. It'll just take us a little longer to get to the destination of our next mission than I planned."

Nataro's ears perked up and he stood up straight. "We're traveling again?" The blonde said cheerily.

"Aw, c'mon, Tsuki-sensei!" Kazemaru whined. "We already went to Doukutsu no Kuni last week! Can't we get a mission a little closer to home?!"

"Oh, this mission's _more _important than mere babysitting, Kazemaru!" Tsuki said with a grin. "It's also more _dangerous_ and _exciting_!"

The pyro arched an eyebrow. "...Really? What is it?"

"Yeah, sensei! What, what, what?!" Nataro shouted, suddenly latching onto the jonin's arm.

Tsuki smiled devilishly before saying, "I'm not gonna tell you."

Kaze and Nataro fell flat on their faces. Hikari sweatdropped as she stared at their non-moving forms for quite some time. "Uh... Are they knocked out?"

Both genin suddenly jumped onto their feet and rushed up to their purple-haired sensei. "WHY NOT?!?"

"Because, you aren't supposed to know until we reach Nami no Kuni. Then and only then will you find out our mission briefing." The kunoichi explained. "So, pack up for Nami no Kuni--which experiences some small amounts of rain during the month! I'm unsure _how_ long we'll be able to stay there, so pack about as much as you think you need. We shall meet in an hour at the gates of Konoha."

"Yes, m'am! Er...by the way, can I bring some..._reading_ with me this time?" Kazemaru asked, twiddling his fingers as his cheeks turned cherry red.

Tsuki looked at her student with half-lidded eyes. "Kazemaru, do not bring your trashy erotica on this mission. That is an _order_."

"Yes, m'am..."

The kunoichi suddenly turned around and flashed a grin to Sasuke. "See that, Sasuke-sensei? I'm a good teacher, after all!"

"Even the worst teacher could be good if they have good students."

"So, you admit you were a bad sensei?"

Sasuke turned his head to look at Tsuki. "Actually, no. I'm saying I had bad students."

"WHAT?!? What did you say, you cruel old bastard?! Say that again!!!" Tsuki shouted loudly, her eyes burning with flames and a vein throbbing on her head as a supreme killing intent surrounded her being. Nataro and Kazemaru hid in the corner of the living room and Hanzo merely held onto Kotoyo.

"Hm. See what I mean? A bad memory, a tendency to forget something unless it's repeated or shouted at you...I wonder how you became a jonin, let alone a sensei." The retired shinobi said before turning his back on Tsuki, who was now being held back by Hikari. "Hikari. I'm leaving. Are you coming or not?"

"Um..." The pink-haired woman sweatdropped as she looked at Tsuki, who had managed to calm down a bit and was now panting heavily. "Sure, why not?" She released the purple-haired kunoichi and walked over to her father's side. She grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him out. "I'll take you out to breakfast, Dad!"

"I wanted to go home." Sasuke muttered as he grabbed his cane from against the wall.

"_That_ is why people think you're becoming a shut-in!"

"Sasuke-san is used to be your old sensei, Tsuki-sensei?" Nataro asked Tsuki with squinted eyes.

"Unfortunately..." The woman muttered as a vein throbbed slowly on her forehead.

"Aw, it's too bad he left! I wanted to know what you were like as a genin! Maybe an embarrassing story or two..." The blonde caught the look on his sensei's face and immediately shut up.

"Whatever... Let's just meet up in an hour." Tsuki growled, despite returning to normal.

**X-X-X**

"Was this _truly_ necessary, Jala? This is such a mess..." Drawled Bhumi as she laid her head down on a table in the inn's main lobby. She was no longer dressed in the gray kimono, but in long, sleeveless gray robes. Long, earth brown fingerless gloves covered her hands and dark brown sandals were on her feet. "I thought we were here for a break?"

"A break? Puh-lease, Bhumi! Did you honestly think Akash would let us go vacation as soon as we woke up?" Said a female voice, which was followed by a sickening crack, then a dull thud. "Besides, _you_ rest too much, anyway."

"Still, to kill the entire inn staff _and_ the guests... And just because someone said you _had_ to wear clothes..." The gray-haired woman sighed. Her eyes traveled over to the large pile of bodies--a pile that appeared to be growing with the amount of half-living people being killed by her sister. "It's quite stupid, don't you think?"

Jala smiled as she looked at Bhumi from the corner of her eye. "If it keeps me from expressing my freedom, then it _is_ stupid!" She appeared to be in her early 20s, with navy blue eyes and _very_ long, white-blue hair that moved about wildly and loosely as if it were alive. Though the most surprising part was...she was _naked_. She wore almost no clothes, save for the white pair of panties that she wore. Her chest was bound by a long, large lock of her hair that had wrapped itself around her chest. "Besides, we're supposed to kill all witnesses, aren't we?"

Bhumi turned her head around so that she wouldn't look at Jala. "To argue with you would be futile. Can we at least call the soldiers in?"

"Hmph!" The ice-blue haired woman puffed her cheeks up a bit. "Fine!" She took a deep breath and her sister braced herself for the noise that would follow. "HEEEEEYYYYYY!!! COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!" As soon as Jala had started to scream, about a dozen ninja appeared before her in the blink of an eye, all wearing white and blue oni masks.

"Thank goodness we're not anywhere near civilization or humanity. Otherwise, we might be caught."

"Clean up this mess, immediately! ...And burn down this place, too, while you're at it." Jala commanded, but immediately stiffened up. A lock of hair immediately stopped moving and snapped towards a nearby closet door that was slightly open.

"Aah--" A scream was cut short as the hair began to drag something out. Or rather, someone. It was a young woman who was working at the hotel, as she had the female employee uniform. Jala's hair was wrapped around the woman's body as though it were a snake and covered the woman's mouth. The hotel worker's eyes reflected fear as she locked eyes with Jala.

"Hey, were you trying to _hide_?" The blue-haired woman smirked as the hair tightened around her prey. "Cause if you were, then you should be with the others. Over there..." The hair turned the woman around to let her see the large pile of corpses, most of which were bent in odd shapes. "But don't worry, you'll be joining them soon..." Jala's hair began to tighten around the woman and her eyes bulged out.

"Isn't she dead yet? Her bones should be cracking by now."

Jala rolled her eyes at her sister's statement. "Ah, relax, would ya? It'll be over right...NOW!" As her hair bent back, as did the woman, a blood-curdling scream muffled by the blue-haired woman before the hotel worker's eyes rolled to the back of her head. "There, you happy now? Way to kill my fun, Bhumi."

Bhumi turned her head around to look at Jala's handiwork. She had bent the poor woman at more than a 90 degree angle. _'That had to have hurt.'_ "Eh... Can we at least _go_, now? We have _business _to attend to in the east..."

**X-X-X**

Back in Konoha at the village gates…

"What the hell?!" Nataro and Kazemaru's shrill screams could be heard from the other side of the village. A while ago, when Tsuki had told them that they were going on a special mission, she hadn't mentioned if they would have any other squads joining them…and now, they saw _why_.

"_You_ misfits?!" Kaoru screamed as he pointed a finger at Team 14. Behind him, Masamune waved hello while Rie blushed and grinned like a cat with her eyes on Hanzo.

"Perfect. As if the lineup wasn't bad before…" Ina muttered while Konjo stared at the Tsuki's students with wide eyes and Shizuka waved shyly at Hanzo, very careful not to make eye contact.

"Weasel Girl!! Yo-Yo!! _What gives_?!" Nataro screamed. "Don't tell me you're our…?!"

"Teammates?" Masamune finished with a small smile. "Apparently."

"How exciting! Just a while ago, we were all competing against each other in the Chunin Exams, and now, we're teammates!" Said Konjo.

"We don't _wanna_ be teammates with you weirdoes!!" Kazemaru screamed. "Where the hell is Tsuki-sensei?! We deserve an explanation for this!!"

On cue, Tsuki, along with Haseo and Ninigi, appeared, walking towards the genin. "Hello, kids!"

"So nice to see all your smiling little faces in one place," said Haseo.

Ninigi sweatdropped. "They're not smiling."

"Sensei!! What gives?!" Nataro and Kaoru exclaimed once they were up in their teachers' faces. Ina settled for glaring at Haseo.

"You're going to work with shinobi you don't even know as you go up in the ranks. Think of this as practice—with people you don't know so well," said Ninigi.

"I _do_ know them! That's why I don't wanna _be_ with them!!" Kaoru growled.

"Just be good little genin and suck it up," the purple-haired kunoichi said with a sweet smile.

"But, sensei—"

"I said _suck it up_!!" The genin were standing straight and stiffly in the blink of an eye. Haseo and Ninigi sweatdropped. "You nine will work together and I don't wanna hear a _single complaint _about it from you! _Got it_?!"

"Yes, m'am!!" All nine rookies exclaimed, too frightened of the woman's murderous aura to say _'No'_.

"Good! Now, off we go to Nami no Kuni!! Fall in line! Shoulders back! About face! Aaaand _march_!!" Once again, the genin did as the female jonin said and began to march out of the village gate.

"She's good…" Ninigi mumbled with an arched eyebrow.

"Not surprising. Look at her teacher…" said Haseo before they walked after them.

"Man… Tsuki-sensei is…" Konjo began.

"Scary," Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru finished. "We know…"

**X-X-X**

After several days of traveling, the three squads arrived at the bridge that connected the mainland to the set of islands making up Nami no Kuni.

"The Naruto Bridge," Konjo read off of the sign. "That name sounds familiar…"

"That's Hokage-sama's name, isn't it?" Shizuka asked.

"He's got a _bridge_ named after him?" Kaze asked with an eyebrow arched. "Isn't a face on a mountainside enough, or is the old man just full of himself?"

"Actually, they named this bridge after him while he was still a genin," said Hanzo. "He and his squad helped to free the citizens of Nami no Kuni from an evil businessman. That's what my Grandma said."

"Really?! While he was still a genin?! That's amazing!" Masamune exclaimed with wide eyes and a wider smile.

"Hmph! It's not _that_ big a deal," Nataro muttered as he fiddled with his goggles. "Just you wait! I'll get an even _cooler_ thing named after _me_! Like a…a city!"

"Like any city would wanna be named after a _freak_ like _you_," Kaoru muttered.

"**You already have something named after you, remember? The **_**Naruto**_** Bridge?"**

'_Didn't I tell you that __**I'm not Naruto**__?!'_

"If we're done sight-seeing, may I remind you all of the inn where our rooms are reserved?" Ninigi asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Ooooh, an inn! Is it a nice one? Do they have room service ?" Rie asked her sensei with a twinkle in her eye.

"Beats me. The last time _I_ was in Nami no Kuni was during my honeymoon," said Haseo. A smirk suddenly broke out across his face and a blush appeared on his cheeks. "Of course then, the hotel held more promise than the town, if you know what I mean."

"Haseo, children are present. Now's not the time to be talking about your love life with your wife," the Hyuga man muttered.

"That's useless. He tells us about his love life all the time," Konjo spoke flatly.

"Enough chatter! I've got the map, so let's go!" Tsuki said as she waved the folded map in the air.

The honey-haired man sweatdropped. "_You're_ gonna read it? Oh, dear. We may never reach the inn…"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Well, the next arc is about to begin, so this is our last Uchiha auction. Today, it's Uchiha Madara's battle fan!!**

**Audience: Oooohhhh!**

**Blu: Yes, with this fan, he fought the legendary Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama! And now, ladies and gentlemen, a demonstration by the lovely fan user, Temari!**

**(Temari, holding Madara's fan, bows her head before getting into a fighting stance. A few feet away, Kankuro is bound to a wall with sand and an apple on his head, courtesy of Gaara, who's standing nearby.)**

**Kankuro: Do I have to do this?**

**Gaara: I'm the Kazekage. Temari's an important liaison. You're the only one who doesn't have anything important to do.**

**Kankuro: (Crying) You make it sound like my life's disposable!!**

**Temari: Enough whining!! (Rubs her blood on the fan) Kuchiyose no Jutsu!! (Swings the fan and summons a weasel spinning in a tornado at Kankuro) Kirikirimai!!**

**Kankuro: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!**

**(The weasel spins towards Kankuro and easily slices the apple on his head in half, and also cuts off the tips of his hat.)**

**Kankuro: AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!**

**Gaara: (-.-) It's over now. You can stop screaming.**

**Kankuro: AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!**

**(Gaara sweatdrops until Temari bops Kankuro on the head with the fan, knocking him out.)**

**Blu: What a great show!! Here's hoping that you guys will review and tell us what you think of the story so far! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go glomp Gaara.**

**Gaara: …What? (Is tackled over by Blu)**

**Temari: (Sweatdrops before waving to the readers) Uh, bye for now!**


	28. A New Enemy! Terror in Nami no Kuni!

**Blu: We're on the Nami no Kuni arch already! Isn't this exciting? For those who didn't read the original Naruto X, you probably don't know that this arc is probably the leeway for one of the better fight scenes in the story. And I've changed up some things so no problemo!**

**Nataro: That bridge…!**

**Hanzo: Not again…!**

**Kazemaru: I feel a headache coming on…!**

**Blu: To commemorate this wonderful arc's beginning, let's bring in a recently revived character from Naruto's Nami no Kuni arc, Zabuza!**

**Team 14: ZABUZA?!?**

**Haku: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic.**

**Blu: Wait, where's Zabuza?!**

**Haku: Zabuza-san said that it was stupid to do the disclaimer and sent me instead.**

**Blu: Of, fine. I'll take you. But next chapter, he's _mine_!!**

**X-X-X**

_#28: A New Enemy Appears! Terror in Nami no Kuni!_

"Mmm..." Asura stared at the book in her hands after reading the last page. She then closed the book cover and dropped it on the ground. "Done!" She chirped before picking up another book from the stack in front of her. "The history of Konohagakure..." The pink-haired girl pronounced. Lying next to her hospital bed were several books that she already read. At the moment, she was merely randomly flipping through pages in the book, stopping at anything that caught her eye. "The Legendary Sannin were three of the greatest ninja ever produced from Konohagakure and were taught by the Sandaime Hokage. The legendary Sennin Jiraiya was well-known for his knowledge of seals and jutsu, as well as spying capabilities! He was also the creator of the Icha-Icha book series..."

A large question mark floated over Asura's head as she stared at the words Icha-Icha. "Icha-Icha... What a funny name...! Tsunade was known for being a great medical ninja and for her monstrous strength, as well as her beauty. She became the Godaime Hokage after the invasion of Konoha by Sunagakure and Otogakure and the passing of the Sandaime Hokage. Orochimaru was a genius shinobi who was well known for his skills and knew a vast amount of kinjutsu. Unfortunately, he became a missing-nin after not being awarded the title of Yondaime Hokage, and created the village of Otogakure. He was the one who assassinated the Sandaime Hokage..."

"It's incredible. That girl just got those today and she's already read a quarter of them!" Hissed a young blonde woman as she looked through the crack in the door, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "And here I almost thought she was a little _slow_." _'I wonder if she even remembers anything she reads...! Oh, wait, I'm probably looking bad in front of the Hokage!'_ She spun around on her high-heeled sandals and grinned nervously. "It truly is incredible, though! Just yesterday, all she was obsessed with was watching television and that loud blonde boy, but maybe this will help her forget about him and stay inside more!" The woman laughed nervously.

Naruto chuckled. "I doubt that. Asura-chan is obsessed with television and even more so Nataro, so she won't be forgetting him any time soon. But I'm not here to visit her today."

The woman blinked, confused. "You're not?"

"No. Sakura-sama said that there was something important concerning Asura and some tests that she had taken."

"Oh! R-right!" The blonde nurse held up a medical chart and turned over to the page containing information on Asura. "Well, as I'm sure you know, Asura is no normal girl. From the information we received on her before, she was sealed inside of a scroll for reasons that are currently unknown. When she was looked over, we found a mark on the back of her neck—most likely a seal. Because she has no memory of her life before being sealed, we have no idea how she got them. It also appears as though someone has been tampering with her body. Just look at this…" She handed the chart to the Rokudaime, who stared at it intently. "These are the results we got from a recent test…"

Naruto blinked. "What does this mean…?"

"It means…that's she's probably…"

"Each Sannin had trained three talented people. Jiraiya trained Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, who became the Rokudaime Hokage and one of the most powerful shinobi up to date. Tsunade trained Haruno Sakura, who surpassed her master in medical skill and became the most renown medical ninja from Hi no Kuni. Orochimaru trained Uchiha Sasuke, the patriarch of the Uchiha clan who killed Orochimaru after he'd learned enough from him." Asura blinked after she read the passage she chose randomly on the page. _'Sasuke-san?'_ "Because they were each taught by a legendary Sannin were part of the same team, many who group these three together call them the _'Second Coming of the Sannin'_." She looked at the pictures of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura that were separately taken when they were in their 30's.

"That really _is_ Sasuke-san! He looks like him...except less old! ...And Sakura-san looks so pretty…and less old, too!" Asura chirped. "Hm?" She stared at the picture of Naruto for a good time. "Hm... Naruto-san...looks familiar. He looks like Nataro— No…no, that's not where I remember him from…" She suddenly flinched as a pain ran through her forehead and she fell back, holding a hand to her head. "Ohhhh… Ohhhh…!"

**X-X-X**

"Ah-CHOO!!" Nataro sniffled. "Huh?" He started to look around. _'Is somebody talking about me?'_

"Yo, Ramen Breath!! Try and keep up, will ya?" Kazemaru called out to his teammate before disappearing into the crowd.

"Hey, don't you _dare _leave me behind!! KAZE!!!" The blonde raced through the crowd until he collided with Kaze. "There you are!"

"Watch where you're going!"

"Watch where you're _standing_!"

"Tsuki-sensei, are you sure you know where we're going?" Hanzo asked the purple-haired woman as he looked at the map in her hands.

"Of course I know where we're going! Do you think I'm illiterate when it comes to maps?"

"I do," said Haseo.

"I wasn't talking to you, you pervert!"

"It's not like I think you're too dumb to read a map. I just want to know where we're going," her raven-haired student spoke.

"Yeah…because I get the feeling that we're lost," said Shizuka. "Not that I don't mind. This is our chance to see Nami no Kuni before we're preoccupied with our mission."

"What's there to see? It's an island," said Ina.

"Well..." Tsuki stopped walking and showed Hanzo and Haseo the map. "We're trying to get to this inn _here_, and we're right _here_, so that means... Ooh, we're almost there!" She turned her head to look at Nataro and Kazemaru, who were glaring at each other so intensely that lightning was flashing between their eyes. "Oh, boys! Hop to it, we're almost there!"

The orange-haired genin spun on his heel and looked at his sensei with a frown on his face. "Why should we? I don't wanna work with these freaks any sooner! And that includes Nataro, by the way."

"What was that?!" The blonde screamed, held back by Masamune.

"Calm down, Nataro-kun! Take _deep breaths_!"

"That's not nice, Kazemaru. Besides, it's not like _you're_ normal," Tsuki told her student with a pout.

"Eh?! I am too normal!"

"Psh!" Nataro began to smirk as he looked at Kaze with an arched eyebrow. "Yeah, right. You were weird even _before _you became a living matchstick, Mr. Pervy Pyro!"

Kaze turned his head slowly towards the blonde, his eyes burning with flames of anger. "You're one to talk...! You eat so much ramen, it's a surprise you haven't died from all the junk that's in it! Plus, you recover _way_ quicker than a normal person should! _You,_ my dear idiot, are the weirdo of this team! Hell," He pointed a finger at Hanzo, "Even _Fan Boy_--who _we_ were pretty sure was normal--is weird! Every _fugging_ person from Konohagakure has to have even an itsy-bitsy bit of weirdness!!!" After his rant, the pyromanic genin bent over and began to pant heavily, sweat dripping down his face. "It's...just...crap!"

Tsuki looked out of the corner of her eye and saw the people that were staring at them. _'And thanks to Kazemaru, half the populace of Nami no Kuni probably know that...'_ A sweatdrop rolled down the back of her head as Nataro patted Kazemaru on the back.

"Easy, Pyro Freak! You're gonna pop a blood vessel if you keep going on like this..."

"It's...the truth! Look what you've done...Ramen Breath!" Kaze growled, a vein throbbing on the back of his head.

Nataro looked away from his upset teammate approached their sensei. "Speaking about Hanzo, Tsuki-sensei... What about his, um...you-know-what?"

"His _inner de_—" Before Kaze could finish, Nataro had punched him in the face to shut him up. The pyromanic genin's mind went from Hanzo to the orange-clad fool before him. "The hell?! What'd you do _that_ for?!"

"You wanna spill the beans and make Hanzo look like a monster in front of the others?" The blonde hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, crap… That's right." The orange-haired genin then punched Nataro in the gut and made him fall back before jumping on top of him. "Who do you think you are, punching me in the face like that?! I oughta kick you in the balls!!"

"Try that!! Ever hear of Sennen Goroshi (1000 Years of Death)?!"

"What's _that_ supposed to do? Scare me?"

"If you knew what it did, you'd be scared, alright," Haseo said as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head.

"What's so scary about it?" Kaoru asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Let me just say that doing it oughta be a crime of sexual assault…"

Kazemaru immediately jumped off of Nataro, blue in the face. "Sexual assault?! That's nasty!! Nataro, you perv!!"

'What the hell do you mean _'sexual assault'_?! How could sticking a kunai up anyone's butt be sexual?!" Nataro screeched at the honey-haired jonin.

"Depends on how kinky you are. And it doesn't have to be a kunai, y'know."

"Let me guess: another one of your _'sexcapades'_?" Ina asked with a dark look on her face.

Shizuka was slightly blue in the face. "Haseo-sensei… Really, you shouldn't talk about things like that in public…!"

"Sensei…" Hanzo mumbled to Tsuki. "Did you…tell anyone like the Hokage about the Kaijuu?"

The purple-haired woman rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

The Uchiha gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"I mean, no one's even _heard_ of an Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu—it's just a long dead myth. I doubt it would make sense to tell Hokage-sama about a fictional demon… But if something happens, you _do_ know that I'll have to tell him."

"Of course."

Tsuki smiled before she patted him on the head. "Besides, I don't really like telling secrets about the people I love. It feels..._wrong_. Even for someone in my line of work."

As the Uchiha blushed and looked out of the corner of his eye, Kazemaru glared at his raven-haired teammate while muttering, "Lucky."

"Wait, wait! You're telling me that there's a jutsu where you're supposed to stick something up someone's butt?" Kaoru asked in a skeptical manner.

"Yup," said Haseo and Nataro.

"And in it's most simple form, you only use your _fingers_ and propel the target into the air with chakra?"

"Yup," the two blondes repeated.

Rie blushed and looked away in disgust, her arms folded across her chest. "That's disgusting! What sort of pervert made up a jutsu like _that_?"

**X-X-X**

"This is so _cool_ All the guys who graduated from our class, working together on the same mission!" Konjo exclaimed once the boys had entered the inn. "It's like school again!"

"Except in school we'd all be graded," Kaoru spoke flatly.

"And out here, we may be killed," Masamune added.

Konjo sweatdropped. "Okay, maybe it _won't_ be like school again…"

"Then again, it's similar in _some _ways… We've already got Shizuka-chan crushing hard on Hanzo!" Nataro said with a grin as he pointed at the blue-haired girl in mention.

"Huh?! Wh-what are you talking about?" Shizuka stuttered, her cheeks turning bright red.

"Well, it's pretty obvious how much you like Hanzo, and how much Hanzo likes y—ACK!!" In less than a second, the blonde genin was lying on the carpeted floor on his stomach, Hanzo on his back with a knee pushing into his spine. "Ow, ow, ow!!"

"Would you knock it off?!" The raven-haired boy growled, earning a sweatdrop from the rest of the group.

"Is it just me, or has Hanzo gotten more aggressive since the Chunin Exams ended?" Haseo asked no one in particular.

Tsuki sweatdropped. "It's nothing to worry about. He's just starting to get more direct when it comes to disciplining his teammates."

"But you--!"

"I said _'knock it off'_!"

Rie gave a cat-like smirk. "What were you going to say, Nataro? Did you honestly think that Hanzo-kun would fall for a dead-last weakling like Shizuka-chan?"

Shizuka winced. "D-dead-last weakling…?"

"Cool guys like Hanzo-kun wanna date cool girls, like…"

"You?" Ina finished in a flat tone. "As if. We don't even remember you from the Academy."

Rie flinched. "L-l-like that matters!! Hanzo-kun isn't gonna want _her_!"

"I repeat: _don't remember you from the Academy_."

"Hanzo and Shizuka's love has had time to _bloom_ over the years!" Kazemaru mocked.

"They're meant to be!" Nataro joined in as well.

"I…am going…to _kill_ you two when this mission's over!" Hanzo growled as he directed a glare towards his teammates.

"Ohhhh…! This can't be happening…!" Shizuka moaned as she buried her face in her hands.

"Can we _please_ get briefed on our mission now?"

Tsuki cleared her throat. "Alright… My squad and Haseo's should remember the mission to Kazan Village…"

"How could we forget? That was when we found out that Kazemaru was raised by an arsonist rogue ninja." Nataro was immediately bopped on the head by Kazemaru, who was glaring at him.

"This mission's going to be…_similar_ to that one."

"We're gonna catch another arsonist?" Konjo asked.

"Actually, this mission's related to kidnappings," said Haseo, getting a few looks of confusion from the genin squads. "You see, for a while now, people have been going missing from Nami no Kuni. There's no pattern whatsoever between the missing people, but from what a few people claim, the culprits are most likely foreign shinobi."

"Aha! Our mission is to catch those enemy ninja and bring them to justice!" Konjo exclaimed.

"Close, but that's not right."

"There's also the missing people," said Ninigi. "That's the true objective of this mission. While the death of these kidnappers would be best, the safety of the victims comes first."

"And why exactly did they call _us_ in?" Kazemaru asked. "Are we super-important or something?"

"Nope. The only other squads most likely to succeed in this mission were already on other missions or unreachable," the honey-haired jonin said with a smile. "They just decided to give us a chance. And if we fail, well…we'll probably be hated by all of Nami no Kuni." He suddenly realized that the 9 genin were glaring at him. "What?"

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "Well… Let's get to business. Each squad will take a different area and stake out. Our mission is to try to find anything that is even a _tiny bit_ suspicious. If we find one of the kidnappers, we must make them tell us where and/or what they have done with the kidnapped citizens," Tsuki explained to the genin.

"Ooooh, _torture_!" Kazemaru exclaimed with a lopsided smile. "Are we gonna burn off their skin and cut off one of their fingers every minute they don't tell us what we wanna hear?"

Kaoru sucked his teeth and fiddled with his glasses. "So you not only love to cause fires, you love to _hurt_ people? You're crazier than I thought."

"You're one to talk…" Rie muttered.

"Hey!! I ain't crazy! I just saw that in a movie!" The orange-haired genin frowned and folded his arms across his chest.

"Make up excuses. But we all saw that look in your eyes."

"Uh-huh… Whatever." The purple-haired kunoichi turned to Haseo and Ninigi. "So, boys! When are we gonna start?"

"How about as soon as we have dinner?" Rie suggested with a sunny smile.

"How about now?" Her sensei answered back flatly.

"Awww, come on! We don't even get a chance to rest? We've been walking for two and a half days, for crying out loud!" Kazemaru cried. "At least do us a favor and give us a 15-minute break!"

**X-X-X**

To say that she was frightened right now would be one of the highest understatements of the year. She was sitting in front of a disciple of a legendary Sannin, a descendant of one of the most powerful founding clans of Konoha, a powerful shinobi in his own right--even _if_ he was retired and not as strong as he was all those years ago. Not to mention...he was her father-in-law.

"Kotoyo."

"Mm?" Kotoyo snapped out of her daze after she heard Sasuke speak. She noticed he was frowning and flinched slightly. "Y-yes, Sasuke-san?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Um... No."

The retired shinobi sighed. That was the third time this woman had spaced out. _'What the hell is she thinking about, anyway?'_ "How long have you known?"

Kotoyo blinked in confusion. "Known about what?"

"About Hanzo and his..." Sasuke paused to try to find the correct words, but there was only one that popped up in his head, "Demon."

The dark-haired woman immediately began to tap her fingers on the small table. "Well... I didn't know it was a demon at first. I thought he was...talking to himself. I thought that was his way of...mourning over his father. And I was upset about it. I can't...remember why, though." She cleared her throat and looked at her father-in-law with a nervous smile on her face. She began to tap her fingers faster, unaware of what she was doing. "So, Sasuke-san? Do you know how to get it out of Hanzo?"

The retired shinobi sighed. He closed his eyes and bowed his head before muttering, "I can't get it out."

Kotoyo's eyes widened in shock. "Huh? B-but, you're supposed to know a lot of things! Don't you know some sort of jutsu that can--?"

"_Kotoyo_." Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth. "I don't know how the demon got into him. A long time ago, the legendary bijuu were once sealed into people. There was a method to pulling them out, I think...but I don't know any jutsu like that." He opened his eyes and saw Kotoyo leaning over the table, eyes wide with anticipation.

"Do you at least know someone who knows the technique?! I must know: for the safety of my child--_your_ grandchild!"

"No. It wouldn't matter, anyway, because if you tried to pull the demon out...Hanzo could die." Sasuke was almost happy to see that the statement made the girl shut up. "The ones that the bijuu were sealed in before...they were known as jinchuuriki, and they were the containers of the tailed beasts. I was told that if a bijuu was removed from their container, that person would die. Since this Kaijuu is inhabiting his body in a manner similar to the bijuu inhabiting the jinchuuriki and it's been there for who knows how long, there's a chance that they've bonded so much that removing it could kill Hanzo."

Kotoyo's eyes widened in shock before they glazed over. The finger-tapping stopped abruptly. "What...? He... He...could...die...?"

Her father-in-law remained silent. Partially because he expected her to start crying any second now. Surprisingly, all she did was stare at her hands, her eyes glassy and somewhat doll-like. Not to mention the fact that she was _quiet_. That was actually what made him worry. "Kotoyo?"

"...I see. Thank you for your help, Sasuke-san." The dark-haired woman stood up, albeit a bit shaky, and slowly turned around.

"Kotoyo... Are you alright?" From his knowledge, whenever Kotoyo got quiet and spoke softly, bad things had the tendency of happening afterwards--and they'd always trace themselves back to her. Plus, he'd feel partially responsible if what he said was the reason why she got depressed.

"I'm fine. Really," Kotoyo spoke robotically as she stepped out of the room.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly as he saw her outline through the paper-thin door. "Such a lie." No less than half a minute passed when he heard a dull thud, followed by the sound of crying.

Outside on the veranda, tears silently fell down Kotoyo's cheeks as her fingers clenched onto her black dress. "My baby boy...! My baby...! I almost..." She held back a sob at the thought. "I almost killed you! Now you have to live with that _horrible_ _demon_ for God-knows-how-long...!"

"She'll get over it. Eventually," Sasuke mumbled to himself as he placed his head on the table, trying to block out Kotoyo's cries. After a few seconds, he groaned and stood up, then walked out of the room and up behind Kotoyo. He bent down and began to pat her on the back. "There, there... Everything will be fine, eventually."

Kotoyo stopped crying before looking up at Sasuke. "Sasuke-san..." Before he knew it, she had wrapped her arms around his waist and was crying into his stomach, "I was so wrong about you!! You really _do_ care!"

"Okay... That's enough. Seriously, let me _go_!"

**X-X-X**

"Well, I may be stuck on a team with Kazemaru, but I _definitely_ prefer him over Ina and Kaoru!" Nataro exclaimed as he and his team stood on top of a rooftop in the city.

Kazemaru, who was behind the loud blonde, glared at his teammate's back. "Hey, I'm right here, ya know! And just so you know, I'm not exactly ecstatic about being in the same team as you." The pyromanic genin stooped down and looked at the ground below. "I mean...I sort of hoped I'd get placed on the same team as Shizuka. You know she's started to _develop_, right?" Hanzo flinched slightly, but no one noticed it.

"Don't say things like that about Shizuka-chan, Kaze!" Nataro told Kazemaru, neither one noticing that their raven-haired teammate had let out a breath of relief. "Because Hanzo should be the one talking about Shizuka-chan's chest, not you!"

"WHAT?! What makes you think I'd say such things like that about Shizuka?!" Hanzo shouted at both his teammates as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"BOYS!!" Tsuki bellowed, gaining all three genin's attention. "Enough teasing Hanzo about his little crush."

"Tsu... Tsuki-sensei!" The Uchiha stuttered with his eyes hidden by his bangs and a light red tint on his cheeks.

"We have a serious task on our hands. Our goal is to protect the west side of the city and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity!" The purple-haired jonin announced as the sunset glowed behind her. Which was odd, considering that the sun had set hours ago.

"We've been here for hours, and nothing's happened. For all we know, those guys have probably left by now," mumbled Kazemaru as he fell back on his butt. "Or maybe the others got them already."

Nataro pouted after hearing Kaze's statement and folded his arms across his chest. "Don't say that! The last thing I want's a boring mission!"

"Would you boys relax?"

"We _can't_ relax! Sensei...not even a _day_ passed after we got back from a scary-as-hell mission and we wound up getting another mission! Can't we take a break from all the missions?" The orange-haired pyro whined as waterfall tears ran down his face.

Tsuki stared at the genin out of the corner of her eye as he fell on his back and sighed. "Honestly... I thought you learned by now that when duty calls, you _must_ answer! There's no denying a mission!"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow as he stared at his sensei's back. "I thought shinobi had to the right to choose whether or not to do a mission."

Kazemaru and Nataro looked at the purple-haired kunoichi, who was now beginning to sweat. "Well... So long as I'm your sensei, you guys aren't denying a mission any time soon!"

"Sensei, that's _so_ unfair...!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere out of the sight of Team 14, a group of shadowy figures walked in the streets with the smallest figure leading in the front. "It's quiet... _Too_ quiet." The small figure turned around to face the taller figures. "Where the hell is everyone on these streets?!"

"Um... Maybe with all the people kidnapped, the rest decided to go inside early," said a figure from the back of the group. "For their own safety, sir."

The small leader smirked. "Great! Now we have the right to break into somebody's home!"

"Um, didn't Bhumi-san say to only snatch people off the streets?" Said a man in the group who was wearing a white and brown Oni mask.

"So?! The only people we've seen so far have been stupid homeless idiots and even stupider drunks! Think how proud she'll be when we find a specimen that _isn't_ the bottom of the barrel!" Exclaimed the leader, who turned out to be a young boy. He appeared to be 13 years old and had a long, bandaged weapon strapped to his back that was as tall as he was. He had dark red hair that was gelled up, causing spikes to stick out of his head and small, short bangs to hang in front of his eyes. He wore a sky blue shirt with short black sleeves and baggy black shorts that went a few inches past his knee. Strapped to the side of his head was white and brown Oni mask with two horns. "Then Bhumi-san won't waste my talent on such stupid tasks as this!"

"What about us, Jintaro-sempai?"

"What about you idiots?! You're foot soldiers! _Your _jobs are to be my human shields and get killed before I do!!" Jintaro exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the man who had just spoken. "Honestly, don't you idiots watch TV?! Sheesh...! "

_'How exactly is he superior to us again?'_ Several of the mask-wearing soldiers thought to themselves as they stared at the young man, whose arms were now folded across his chest as he stared at them expectantly with a frown on his face.

"Well?"

"Erm, what sir?"

"Get movin'!! Find us a worthy specimen!!" The young man stopped yelling all of a sudden. "Hey... I hear voices..." A smirk found a way on his face. "Great! Maybe _these_ aren't drunkies!" He immediately took off around the corner, ignoring his men's confusion as he shouted, "C'mon, you idiots!!"

The black-clad foot soldiers disappeared in the blink of an eye just as a shrill scream pierced the night air.

**X-X-X**

"Can we just call it a night?" Kazemaru asked as he looked up at the star-filled black sky.

"Why are you being so _lazy_, Kazemaru?" Tsuki asked her pyromanic student with a pout.

"I'm not lazy, just cranky! I only slept in my bed for one night since we got back from Dokutsu no Kuni!"

"Yes, yes, I heard you the first ten times. You have to realize that ninja can't exactly make up a schedule. It's always pretty hectic and chaos-filled and action-packed!"

Kaze turned his head to look at his sexy sensei. "I know! I just...hoped for more time to relax. Not to mention the fact that I'm missing the premier of a new movie: _Double-Edged_, with scenes that couldn't be shown in theaters!"

"Oooh!" Nataro's eyes were now large and filled with stars. "I wanted to see that movie when it was in theaters, but my mom said I couldn't."

"It was rated M for Mature audiences only, Nataro," Hanzo reminded him.

"Yeah, well, your Mom took you out to see it months ago! How the heck did _that_ happen, anyway?!"

The Uchiha shrugged and with half-lidded eyes replied, "She's not a normal mother."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The boys all jumped while Tsuki stood up straight. "Sounds like we got ourselves a catch! Let's go, boys!" In the blink of an eye, they had disappeared and were jumping in the direction of the scream.

**X-X-X**

Jintaro, holding the wrapped-up weapon, stood over a young man on the ground, who was bleeding from a large injury on his head. A girl stood at least half a foot away from the young redhead. "What the hell are you doing?! You seriously hurt him!"

"Well, DUH!! If he were conscious, he'd have ran away." Jintaro turned his head to look at the young woman and arched an eyebrow. "Hey. What's your blood type?"

"Huh?" Before the girl could speak again, she was kicked back into a light pole.

The red-haired boy put his leg down slowly. "Eh, I'm just curious." Just as he walked over to the unconscious man, the mask-wearing ninja appeared.

"You really should warn us before you run off, Jintaro-sempai," said one of the ninja as another picked up the woman and threw her over his shoulder.

"You losers are just too slow to keep up! Learn to keep up, morons!" Jintaro shouted as he pointed a finger at the foot soldier. "Now... All we have to do is find a couple more people and we should be done in this place." _'I can't wait to get outta this place! It's way too small!'_

"I'm not sure if we can _find_ anymore people, Sempai. These are the first people we've seen all ni--" The ninja couldn't finish his sentence as a kunai had been thrown into his throat. As soon as he fell with a thud, the remaining masked shinobi surrounded their superior.

"Well, what do you know? Looks like I can have some _fun_ before we go..." Jintaro smirked as he looked up at the figures on the rooftops before they jumped down and landed in front of the group ninja. He pushed his way out of the center of the circle, his hand on the hilt of his weapon. "Eh? It's a chick and some kids?!"

"It's a _kid_?! A kid's responsible for kidnapping people?!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pointed a finger at Jintaro.

Tsuki arched an eyebrow as she held her short sword in her hand. "I must admit, it _is_ sort of suspicious... Little boys aren't supposed to kidnap people, you know."

"Maybe he's got some sort of growth problem," said Nataro as he arched an eyebrow.

A vein throbbed on the young redhead's forehead as his face turned bright red. "DAMN IT!! Why the hell do people always say that?!" He drew his weapon and pointed it at Tsuki. "Lady, I hope you had a good life so far! 'Cause I'm gonna...! ...Hm!" He noticed the hitai-ate on Hanzo and Nataro. "Ah, so you guys must be from Konoha! I bet you were hired to stop us, _huh_? This is a joke--thinking a bunch of kids could beat me! You know who I am?!"

"No..." Nataro muttered with squinted eyes. "We don't _care_, either! You're probably just some runaway genin who wants to make it big in a life of crime or something!"

The vein on Jintaro's head got bigger as he gritted his teeth. "Grrrr!! IDIOT!!" He jabbed his thumb into his chest. "I am Jintaro, property of Asura no Bhumi!! You think you can take me on, punk?!"

"Ha!" Nataro pulled out a kunai and twirled it around a bit before pointing the tip at the red-haired lieutenant. "Bring it on!"

**X-X-X**

Bhumi raised her head slightly to look up at the moon in the black sky. She sighed as a strand of her silver-gray hair went in front of her eyes. "And it was such a peaceful night, too..."

**X-X-X**

**Blu: (Making an ice sculpture of Piplup from Pokémon) There we go… Done! (Tosses aside ice pick)**

**Nataro: Hey, where'd you get the ice, Blu?**

**Blu: Haku. That Hyoton creation is good for something other than killing people!**

**Hanzo: And yet, you choose to make Pokémon sculptures…**

**Blu: Well, I thought this would be easiest. It was either this or a Shadow from Persona.**

**Hanzo: What's hard about that?**

**Blu: Shadows are balls of gas.**

**Hanzo: Oh.**

**Kazemaru: I made Ivy from the Soul Calibur series! (Points at the statue of Ivy).**

**Blu: Kaze… She' naked.**

**Kaze: I know! : )**

**Blu: Oh, well. That's all the time we have today! Until next time, see ya!**


	29. Enemy Revealed: The Asura Attack!

**Blu: Damn it!! I can't find Zabuza anywhere!**

**Haku: When he doesn't want to be found, he doesn't want to be found.**

**Blu: So I see… In that case, I need to find some way of bringing him out of hiding! I'm going to lay a trap for him! I'll need a stick, some string, some saké and a _really_ big box!! To Kmart!! (Runs off the screen)**

**Kazemaru: (Sweatdrops) What a bonehead… I guess it's my job to say that Blu Rose doesn't own Naruto or any of its characters—just this story and her OCs. **

**X-X-X**

_#29: The Enemy is Revealed! The Asura Attack!_

"You know who I am, punk?! I am Jintaro, Asura no Bhumi's right-hand man!!!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! You've already said that and that name _still_ doesn't ring any bells!"

A vein began to throb on Jintaro's head. "Your ass is _grass_, kid!"

"Who you callin' kid, _kid_?" Nataro growled at the redhead.

"Nataro, stop taunting the enemy! You could force him to do something!" Tsuki chided the blonde genin.

"But sensei!"

"Hmph." Jintaro snorted as he pointed his bandaged weapon at Team 14. "Alright!! Go get 'em! NOW!!"

The masked ninja dashed towards their enemy with great speed.

"Uh-oh. Just how many guys _are_ there?!"

"Less than two dozen." Tsuki affirmed as she quickly began to form a string of hand signs. _'Doton: Tsuchi Sekisho Tengai (Earth Style: Earth Barrier Dome)!'_ The earth began to shake beneath the kunoichi and her students before the earth rose in front of them and behind them, quickly closing up to form a dome. The oncoming barrage of kunai and shuriken bounced off of the earth dome and fell on the ground.

The masked shinobi stopped in their tracks. They knew that eventually, they'd have the opportunity to attack as soon as the jutsu wore off. Jintaro, however, was not so patient.

"What're you idiots waiting for? Break that thing _down_!!"

"It's too hard, Jintaro-sempai! We can't break through just yet!" Shouted one of his men.

The red-haired lieutenant gave the foot soldier a half-lidded glare. "You guys...are pathetic!" He began to tear the bandages off of his weapon. "Honestly... Do I gotta do _everything_ myself?!"

"Haseo, Ninigi! We've run into trouble over in the west section! We could _really_ use some back-up!" Said Tsuki as she spoke into her headset.

"_**We're a little tied up here!!"**_ Haseo shouted over in his headset.

"_**So are we. You're on your own, Tsuki," **_said Ninigi.

"We don't need back-up, anyway. We can take care of those guys by ourselves!" Kazemaru exclaimed.

"So long as those guys don't get back-up themselves, it shouldn't be _too_ hard..." Hanzo mumbled. "The only thing we'd have to be careful of would be that Jintaro guy..."

"_That_ twerp? He shouldn't be so tough..."

Tsuki made three short hand signs and placed two fingers on the chakra-formed earth. A small hole appeared as she removed her fingers. "If we can decrease the enemy's numbers, the four of us against him shouldn't be so hard." She spoke as she began to form several hand signs.

Outside the dome, the masked ninja tensed up with the appeared of the hole. "What's that?"

"Hey! Be on your guard, you lunkheads! They're up to something!!" Jintaro shouted as he was half-way through ripping the bandages off the weapon. A minute passed and a cloud of dark purple smoke came through the hole, covering the masked ninja in a thick blanket of smoke that Jintaro—who was a good distance away from them—couldn't see through. "The hell?! Hey, get outta there!" He arched an eyebrow at the sounds of choking and heaving, followed by the sound of several bodies hitting the ground. "HEY!!! Didn't you retards hear me?!"

The smoke then cleared, revealing the bodies of the men on the ground, dead. The bile and blood that they threw up was on the ground, some of it covering the ninja who couldn't control themselves. Jintaro blinked in confusion, still ripping off the bandages.

"Damn. I'm fighting someone who uses poison." The redhead suddenly smirked as he ripped off the last bandages. "Finally! This is gonna be a _bitch _to wrap up again, but..." He held up the large steel weapon—something that looked like a club, from the looks of it, and it looked pretty heavy. "It'll be worth it to have some fun!" He jumped up high into the air, and raised the bat over his head. "You ready, Leaf ninja? 'Cause here I come!" He began to channel chakra into his weapon as he looked down at the earth dome with an evil grin on his face. "HAAAAAAAAAAH!" He began to fall quickly, and when he was close enough, he swung the club downwards and cracked the dome, spider-like cracks appearing in it as it broke apart

**X-X-X**

Rie suddenly tensed up. "Whoa! Did you just feel that? I think it was an earthquake or something!" She jumped up into to avoid being hit by a flurry of shuriken. The brunette drew her own shuriken and threw them down at the shinobi in the brown and white mask.

Ninigi finished off an enemy by light thrusting his palm into the mask-wearing ninja's chest, making them spit up blood through their mask and onto his jonin vest. "That's either Tsuki or Haseo. Either way, it appears that something big is going on." He looked back at Kaoru and Masamune, who were standing back-to-back. "Remember, we have to leave at least _one_ of them alive!"

"That'll be a _pain_!" Kaoru mumbled as he began to form hand signs. His hands began to glow with a soft light, and when he clapped them, a bright light filled the street up to a good distance, momentarily blinding the enemy ninja. In that moment, Masamune jumped over his teammate and began to run through the ninja, slicing them down with his sword in a sort of fluid motion.

"Hmph!" Rie landed beside her gray-haired teammate and sighed. "Just how many of these guys are left?"

"Shouldn't be much left over... Just stay frosty, Rie-chan!" Rei encouraged his teammate as he stood up straight, holding the hilt of his sword with both hands as he stared down a couple of masked ninja in front of them.

"Easy for you to say! You've got a weapon!" The purple-clad kunoichi growled, a vein throbbing on her forehead as her hands hovered above her kunai and shuriken holsters. Her hands quickly threw the projectile weapons toward the enemy shinobi. She managed to strike a few in the arms and legs, and accidentally hit one in the throat. "Yay! I got one!"

"Great, now could you do that with the _rest of 'em_?!" Kaoru shouted with a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Give me a break! I've never killed someone outside of an illusion!" Rie stuck her tongue out at her red-haired teammate. Just then, Masamune pushed her down, landing on top of her as he did. "Masamune, what on earth—?!"

Before she could finish her question, a Fuuma shuriken flew over their heads, lodging itself in the stone wall behind them. "Pay more attention, Rie!" The white-haired genin warned his female teammate as he stood up.

The kunoichi of the group merely groaned in response and placed her head on the ground, face down. "I can't handle this anymore...!" Came out the muffled whine.

Ninigi gave a breath of relief as he deactivated his Byakugan. "Well, that appears to be the last of them."

"So we're done...?" Rie sighed as she stood up and began to stretch her arms. "And you're sure that there won't be any more of these guys coming after us?"

"I _hope_ not." The brunette jonin scratched his head. He clicked on his head set. "Haseo, Ninigi here. Squad 6 has finished off the enemy in this area."

"_Eh? Just now? You guys are slow..."_ Said Haseo, and Ninigi could just see the other man folding his arms with half-lidded eyes.

"Sensei...? You might want to change that part about finishing off the enemy," said Masamune as he pointed up at the roof. The rest of his team looked up and their eyes widened. Standing on the rooftops were at least a dozen more ninja, these wearing white and blue masks.

"...Forget that last part, Haseo..." Ninigi spoke into his headset before the enemy ninja jumped off of the roof. The jonin and his students braced themselves for another fight.

**X-X-X**

"Well, that was certainly quick to finish," said Haseo as he sat on top of one of the larger masked ninja. He and his team were stationed in the docks, where they had been fighting for a short time. "Too easy."

"Speak for yourself, Haseo-sensei!" Konjo panted. He was bent over and breathing heavily, a large throbbing going on in the back of his head. Shizuka was currently nursing a long, thin cut on her arm and Ina was trying very hard not to wince from the pain in her head from where some shinobi had grabbed her hair and pulled on it _very_ hard.

"Well, chalk it up to battle experience. Hmmm..." The honey-haired shinobi rubbed his chin in an intellectual manner. "When we get back to Konoha, though, we'll need to work on your endurance..."

"F-fine! Just give us a moment to rest before we actually train, okay? Like...a couple of days, maybe?"

"Nonsense, you'll have plenty of time to relax when we're walking back home!"

Ina glared at Haseo. "You just like to torture us, don't you?" She muttered in a low voice.

Haseo smiled brightly. "Of _course_ not, Ina-hime!" _'I __**love**__ it! This is one of the perks of being a teacher!'_ He suddenly stood up and dusted himself off. "Now, we're going to help the other squads. We'll split up and…"

"And what, sensei?" Shizuka asked as she got to her feet.

"And we've got company."

"Hm?" The three genin looked behind their sensei to see about two dozen masked ninja behind them with one non-masked person standing in front of them. It was a woman...with very long hair that went all the way past her ankles and moved around like it had a life of its own...and she was...

"Oh my god...!" Konjo froze in place, his eyes the size of plates as a blush appeared on his face.

Haseo turned around and stared at the woman, then immediately shut his eyes. "The hell?!" He opened them again and started to stare at the woman.

"So, you took out my men, hmmm?" Jala asked with a cat-like grin as her hair wrapped around her chest, the closest thing to decency that she could get.

"Uh... OW!!" The jonin was suddenly snapped out of his perverse thoughts by a kick to the shin from his niece.

"Perverted idiot! You've got a pregnant wife at home and you're staring at some half-naked woman!" Ina shouted at Haseo.

"It's kinda hard _not_ to stare at her! Look at her—she's _goddamned naked!!_"

The ice blue-haired woman giggled behind her hand. "Aw, what's the matter, little girl? Not used to seeing such big breasts before?"

Ina stared at Jala as she arched an eyebrow. She said nothing before turning around to face Shizuka. "Did she just subtly imply that I have a flat chest?"

"I don't _think_ so..." The blue-haired girl sweatdropped.

"What's that you're wearing? Hitai-ate? Leaf ninja, huh?" Jala pointed a finger at Haseo. "You killed all my men. Not that I care for them or anything, but for that, you must be killed."

Haseo arched an eyebrow. "Pardon me? You're gonna fight me?"

"Hmhmhm! Of course! The last time I killed someone, it was a bunch of average people… Fighting a ninja would be _fun_! And besides…" She winked. "You're kinda cute."

The jonin almost fell over, as did his students. Haseo turned around to look at Ina. "Just so you know, _she's_ the one doing all the flirting, okay? Don't you dare tell your aunt any different."

"Jala-sama." Jala turned around to face a ninja wearing a two-horned Oni mask. He had shoulder-length brown hair and wore a black, long-sleeved yukata top with a gray undershirt and black pants that stopped a few inches above his ankles. "Allow me to fight them for you. You shouldn't even be here, anyway."

"Hm, I suppose so..." The long-haired woman licked her lips. "If you wanna beat him up, go ahead, but let _me_ kill him." She lifted the mask slightly to place a kiss on his lips. "M'kay, Kiyoshi?"

Kiyoshi pulled down his mask. "Yes, Jala-sama. I won't let you down." He looked at the men behind him. "Men! Attack!"

"YAAAAAARRRRGH!!!" The other masked shinobi growled as they dashed towards the ninja squad.

"Hey, I thought _you_ were fighting, not _them_ too!" Haseo looked at his students out of the corner of his eye. "Ina?"

"Hm." The Uchiha girl began to form several hand signs before jumping up into the air. She took a deep breath and blew out three large balls of fire. _'Katon: Goenka no Jutsu!!'_ The fireballs struck at least a third of the men and burned them all in a great fiery explosion. As the great flames died, the remaining ninja dashed forward. _'Crap... I was aiming to take out more!'_ Ina thought as she landed.

Konjo took a deep breath as he activated his Byakugan again. Shizuka did a double take and halted in drawing her kunai. "Konjo? What're you doing?" _'He should be having some sort of pain right now...'_

"What does it look like? I'm gonna fight!" The indigo-haired genin got into a Jyuken stance. "It's not that bad, honest. I can still go on..."

"But—!" She jumped back in time to avoid being struck by a masked ninja. Konjo dashed forward and quickly thrusted his palm into the enemy's side, accidentally but thankfully, striking a vital organ. He turned his head and smiled at her.

"See? It's fine!"

"Hey! Am I the only one who's paying attention here?" Ina shouted at her teammates after stabbing a man in the neck. "Between you and that man, I don't know who's worse!" She suddenly froze after feeling the earth move. She turned her head to see a large crater in the middle of the road, Haseo standing in the center of it, several men lying unconscious. "I take it back. He's worse..."

The honey-haired jonin jumped out of the crater and landed gracefully on top of a half-dead enemy ninja. "Well, _this_ is boring. I may as well just let the kids finish these guys off and take out that naked lady." He turned his head to look at the woman then quickly turned away, a blush appearing on his face. "Though...that may be hard, so long as she's got nothing on but a pair of panties..." Haseo mumbled as a sweatdrop rolled down the back of his head.

Just as the jonin was trying to figure out a way around his opponent's...lack of clothing, a sharp object grazed his cheek and cut off a few strands of his hair. Said sharp object stretched back into Kiyoshi's sleeve. Haseo wiped off the blood on his cheek and looked at the brunette out of the corner of his eye. "So _now_ you wanna fight?" Kiyoshi didn't answer, but instead charged towards Haseo. "I'll take that as a yes!"

Kiyoshi quickly whipped out a long, spiked chain that came out of the sleeve of his yukata. Haseo disappeared in the blink of an eye just seconds before a barrage of kunai and shuriken rained down from the skies. The masked ninja jumped back in time to avoid being struck, but only found himself being struck in the back, causing him to fly across the far end of the dock before he made contact against a piece of cargo.

Haseo put down his leg and folded his arms across his chest. "You're not very _good_ at this, are you?"

"Actually, I think I'm quite good." Said Kiyoshi, who was standing behind the Leaf shinobi, after he had stabbed him in the back with the sharp end of his spiked whip. "Good enough to beat you, little Leaf."

"Hm." The jonin smirked just before he turned into mud, landing on the floor to form a big puddle. His brunette opponent tensed up for a counterattack.

'_Now where shall he attack from next...?'_ Before he could so much as react, the masked ninja was delivered a powerful uppercut to the face...by a hand of mud that had shot up out of the puddle at his feet. Kiyoshi back flipped and skidded away from the puddle. His horned Oni mask now had spider web-like cracks in the center, small pieces falling off.

"You brute!! If you even put a _scratch_ on that gorgeous face, I'll kill you!!" Jala screamed as her hair flew about wildly, accidentally hitting one of the other masked ninja at her side with one of her large locks.

"Ugh..." Kiyoshi pulled off the mask and tossed it aside, revealing the fair-looking face of man in his mid-twenties, black bandages wrapped around his eyes.

The mud puddle on the ground slowly started to come up, turning back to the form of Haseo. "Heh... How'd you like that, sucker?"

"Kiyoshi! Why don't you let me fight?" Jala asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "I don't want that pretty face getting bruised!"

"Nonsense. What kind of servant would I be to allow my lady to do such a thing? So please: let me fight in your stead."

Haseo finished cleaning the mud off of him. "Ah, such loyalty. In the face of a threat such as I, that's very admirable," the Konoha jonin stated as he drew a kunai.

The brunette pulled out a short knife and held pointed it at Haseo. "I will not let you lay a finger on her."

"Whoo-hoo! Go, sensei, go!" Konjo exclaimed after he finished off a masked ninja. "Ina, Shizuka, did you see what sensei...did?" He turned around to see Ina killing off a masked ninja with a kunai through the throat. "Huh? Ina?"

"Next!" The raven-haired girl jumped into the air and began to quickly form hand signs, the wheels of her Sharingan spinning wildly. She took a deep breath and blew out several small fireballs. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!" Several of the fireballs struck their targets, the majority of shuriken and kunai hidden in each one managing to strike some of them just as she landed.

"Ina's on fire..." Konjo mumbled. _'She looks like she's enjoying this a little __**too**__ much, actually.'_

Ina bent over and began to pant heavily, the wheels of her Sharingan slowing to a halt before her eyes changed back to normal. "That felt... Wow...!"

"Um, are you okay, Ina?" Shizuka asked her Uchiha teammate as she approached her. "You looked a little..."

"Crazy," Konjo blurted out before Shizuka covered his mouth with her hand.

"—a little too _into_ killing, back there..." The blue-haired kunoichi continued.

The Uchiha girl arched an eyebrow. "What're you talking about?"

"Just..." Before Shizuka could finish, Konjo fell to his knees, grasping his head. "Konjo! Are you okay? Are you in pain?"

"Of course he's in pain! He used his Byakugan longer than he should've. I'm surprised he hasn't collapsed yet," said Ina as she approached the Hyuga. Despite the slight harshness in her statement and her expression, she was a bit worried about him.

"Ugh... Nngh... I'm fine... R-really!" Konjo breathed out. The truth was different and his friends could see that. He was obviously in pain and the throbbing in the back of his head was so _irritating_—it felt like someone was pounding a 2-ton mallet in his head.

Shizuka frowned as she stared at her male teammate. "You _aren't_ fine! Just relax and calm down—I'll try to make it better, okay...?" Her hands began to glow with bright green chakra as she placed her fingers on Konjo's temples.

"Should I feel upset? A bunch of kids just mowed through my men!" Jala mused. A long lock of her hair wrapped around one of the two remaining foot soldiers and pulled him toward her. "Tell me: do you people even _have_ some Chunin-level experience here?"

"Um..."

"Or are these kids, like, super prodigies or something?"

The soldier shrugged. "I don't know..." He was a big worried that his superior would try to kill him if he said he was weak. In truth, they were all on high-genin level. _'Maybe it's Jala-sama's fault for thinking we could do something like this.'_ "But I saw one of those kids has a Byakugan, Jala-sama!"

The wild-haired woman blinked. "Byaku-what now?"

"It's a kekkei genkai from Konohagakure. It's supposed to be able to see chakra points and the flow of chakra. _And_ they can see far distances."

"Well," Jala began to grin like a cat, "He'd make a pretty little slave!"

"Are you feeling better, Konjo?" Shizuka asked her indigo-haired teammate.

"A...a little..." The Hyuga mumbled. The pain in his head had lessened, but that didn't mean it still wasn't hurting.

"So long as you don't try to use your Byakugan for a while, you should be fine..."

"But we're in the middle of a mission! I can't just sit on the sidelines!"

"Do you want us to get in trouble with the Hyuga clan?" Ina asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

Konjo bowed his head and shook it slightly, his eyes focused on the ground. "I just wanna be useful..."

"You're not exactly _useful _in this state."

"Yoo-hoo, kiddies!" Team 4 looked up to see Jala a couple of feet away from them, a cat-like grin on her face as she waved at them. "Which one of you has this Byakugan I keep hearing about?"

Ina glared at the woman while Shizuka held Konjo a little closer to her, her free hand hovering over her shuriken holster.

"It was the boy with the veins around his eyes, wasn't it? That boy _is_ one of those Hyuga or whatever, right? Mm, I could use a cute little thing like you..."

"Nngh..." Konjo raised his head to look at the wild-haired woman and mustered up the best glare he could at the moment. "You think...I'd betray my friends to join...people like you?" He panted.

The blue-haired woman started to laugh behind her hand, "Hmhmhm! You make it sound as if I'm giving you a choice…" A lock of her hair quickly shot forward, towards the young genin.

Haseo's kunai collided with Kiyoshi's knife for what seemed like the umpteenth time. _'It's nice to have a challenge for once, but I need to finish this guy and fast!'_ He jumped away from Kiyoshi._ 'Can't make it __**too**__ obvious, though...'_ As the brunette dashed toward him, he noticed what was going on behind him. "Crap!"

"You're mine!" Kiyoshi growled as he swiped his knife at Haseo in one swift arc. He managed to slice him down his shoulder.

"Sensei!" Shizuka gasped in shock as she saw her sensei standing in front of her and Konjo. He was holding the lock of Jala's hair in his hands. It was actually sharper and harder than it looked. It felt like he was holding the blade of a spear! So of course, his hands were cut, and blood stained the medusa-esque woman's hair. The hair suddenly slid out of his grasp and back towards Jala.

"Damn, that hurt...!" Haseo growled as he stared at his hands. A thin, yet deep cut had been made in his palms and blood was seeping out. He couldn't hold a weapon or use much jutsu in this condition.

"Hmmm..." Kiyoshi looked at the Haseo in front of him. He suddenly turned into mud and fell to the ground. "A bunshin." _'I didn't even see his hands move to form the hand signs.'_ The brunette looked over at the Leaf jonin. _'He is good.'_

"Haseo-sensei, let me see that!" Shizuka exclaimed, getting up from Konjo's side and rushing over to her teacher. She grabbed his hand, but Haseo pulled it back.

"Now isn't the time to be healing, Shizuka."

"B-but... She's not looking..." Konjo muttered as he stared at Jala.

"Yeah... You'd think she'd be on the attack or something, but she's just standing there." Said Ina. _'Is this lady a retard or something?'_

True to word, Jala was staring at the lock of her ice-blue hair that had just retracted. It was stained with Haseo's blood and it seriously _clashed _in her opinion. She started to bare her teeth as her hair began to move about wildly. "Mmmmmmm!"

"Are you done yet? It looks like she's gonna attack now!" Ina said as she drew a kunai—one of the few that remained in her pouch, to be exact.

Shizuka was currently concentrating on healing Haseo's hands. The wounds were almost closed and were quickly healing. "Mmmm... Almost!"

"Then hurry!"

"I _can't_!" The blue-haired girl exclaimed just seconds before her hands stopped glowing. "There, done!"

"WHY YOOOOOOU!!!" Jala screamed as several locks of her hair shot out towards Team 4. "You're _DEAD_!!"

**X-X-X**

"We have company," Bhumi mumbled just before she slowly stood up. The luminescent moonlight shone down on her as she looked off in one direction. "Jala is fighting. Someone must not have liked her idea of freedom..." The silver-haired woman then slowly turned around to look off in another direction that was near the bridge leading into Nami no Kuni. "And Jintaro is, too... I hope he hasn't killed any of the specimens...

"...Should I be helping? I really don't feel like it, but I suppose I must. The destruction would come to me even if I stayed here..." She sighed as she stared up at the sky. "And it was such a peaceful night, too."

**X-X-X**

"Heh-heh-heh... That pathetic jutsu couldn't stand up to my Kanabo (Iron club)" Jintaro smirked as he stood over the broken earth dome. Several large chunks and pieces of rock and stone were scattered all over. Some even managed to make well-sized holes in the houses of the poor people who were too afraid to come outside. "It figures. The Leaf Village pops out ninja prodigies, like, every 10 years or so, but I wound up fighting some weak shinobi..." Before he knew what hit him, the redhead was on the ground with a large bump in the back of his head. "Ugh..."

"Who're you calling _weak_? You may not know this, but..." Nataro put his foot on Jintaro's back as he jabbed his finger to his chest, "I'm the future Nanadaime Hokage: Kazaki Nataro!!"

"Grrr... You're kidding! A retard like you _can't_ be a ninja, much less be a Kage!" The lieutenant grinned evilly as he clenched his iron club, "But you'd be a better _test subject_!!" He swung his Kanabo upward at the blonde genin, but he disappeared in a poof of smoke and reappeared less than a foot away from him. Jintaro stood up and placed his weapon on his shoulder. "Just give up, would you? I haven't even shown you..." He started to smirk, "What I can really do!"

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!" Two large fireballs suddenly shot down in Jintaro's direction. The redhead disappeared in a poof of smoke just before the fireballs hit the ground. One could see the flames that rose in the district from the rooftops. After the fire faded away, the ground and the walls were scorched.

Tsuki, Hanzo and Kazemaru jumped down from the rooftops and landed in front of Nataro. The purple-haired jonin sweatdropped. "Uh, I _think_ you overdid it on the fire, boys."

"Well he's dead now, ain't he?" Said Kazemaru as he folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "That's what he gets for calling _us_ weak!"

"Actually, he's okay." Hanzo pointed at Jintaro, who was standing in the scorched spot he was on a few seconds before, an annoyed look on his face.

"...Well, FUG!! So all we really did was burn up the road?!"

"Apparently..."

"No worries!" Nataro drew a kunai and dashed towards Jintaro, right past his sensei.

"Nataro!!" Tsuki shouted. "Don't _do_ that!!"

"Little loudmouth thinks he can take me on? Oh, please!" Jintaro growled as he gripped the handle of his Kanabo. He jumped back and slammed the club onto the ground while he was in mid-air. A powerful burst of chakra was sent through the ground towards Nataro, creating cracks in the earth and also raising it up a bit. "Daichi Bure-Ka (Ground Breaker)!"

"Here I come!" Nataro exclaimed before he placed the kunai in his mouth and made a familiar hand sign. Five more Nataros appeared out of nowhere and began to dash towards the redhead as well. Two leapt up into the air and drew kunai and shuriken. They threw the projectile weapons at Jintaro, who knocked them aside with his club. "Crap!" Just then, Jintaro's attack finally connected as soon as Nataro set foot on the ground. The earth beneath him cracked apart and the blonde genin was sent flying backwards, caught by his sensei.

"Ha ha! See what happens when you mess with _me_?!" The lieutenant exclaimed as he swung his Kanabo at the approaching shadow clones. They tried to dodge the attack, but it was too fast, and they soon all disappeared in poofs of smoke.

"See what happens when you don't listen to me?" Tsuki told Nataro as she looked down at him. "Are you okay, Nataro?"

"Y-yeah..." The orange-clad ninja stood up shakily and glared at Jintaro, who was sticking his tongue at him. A vein started to throb on his forehead and he began to shake a fist at the redhead. "Why you...! Just you wait; I'll give you a pain that'll last a thousand years!!"

"Just shut up and let me fight your stupid sensei, for crying out loud! After I kill her, you'll be next, ya loudmouth!" The red-haired lieutenant shouted as he pointed his weapon at the blonde.

"You're touching her over our dead bodies!!" Kazemaru shouted as he and Hanzo ran up beside Nataro.

"Heh... Are you kids all eager to _die_ so soon...?"

"For the last time...WE'RE PROBABLY THE SAME AGE!!" Nataro and Kazemaru exclaimed.

"Who cares?! In the ninja field, I've got seniority and experience! To me, you're just a bunch of kids playing nin—" Jintaro stopped speaking as he felt something pierce his back. He suddenly fell forward, face down on the ground with a knife sticking out of his back. Tsuki was behind him with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"For someone who's got _seniority_ and _experience_ as a ninja...you leave a lot of openings for a behind attack. Are you _sure_ you're not just a genin who just turned rogue, little boy?" The kunoichi spoke as she took a few steps forward. "So...are you going to tell us where you're hiding all those people you kidnapped?" She then drew her short sword and bent down beside him, then placed the blade against his neck. "Because if you don't, I have no qualms about killing a child."

Team 14 gulped as they looked at their sensei. "She wouldn't really... She doesn't actually..." Nataro didn't have the heart to finish any of those questions. He had seen his sensei angry, and it was _not_ pretty.

"N-no... To the enemy, maybe, but never to us." Hanzo reassured his blond teammate.

"That killer intent...is _so_ sexy! It's such a turn-on! Like something you see in a movie!" No guesses about who said that. Kazemaru was staring at his sensei in awe while his teammates stared at him in awe as well—though their awe was for a completely different reason. The pyromanic genin suddenly snapped out of his crush worshipping and shook his head. "But no way would she try to do that with us!" _'If it was some sort of foreplay, maybe it'd be better, but not if she was __**actually **__gonna kill us!'_

"Ah... So you're the ones who are causing so much trouble... Konoha shinobi." A new voice spoke in a slightly bored tone. Tsuki turned around to find Bhumi walking towards her. "You don't look so good, Jintaro."

"Ugh... Buh...Bhumi-san..." Jintaro mumbled into the ground.

"So I take it you're this boy's superior?" Tsuki asked the silver-haired woman as she still walked slowly up to them.

"In a way, I guess. So?"

"So that means one thing." The jonin kunoichi stabbed her sword into the ground and began to make hand signs quickly. "This!" She took a deep breath and blew out a thick cloud of toxic smoke in Bhumi's direction.

The gray-clad woman stopped walking and looked at the oncoming smoke. "Hm." She didn't make a move. She simply stood there and let the smoke overtake her.

"Wow, that was actually pretty easy." Tsuki said with an arched eyebrow as she pulled her sword out of the ground. _'Way too easy...'_ As the smoke cleared, a hole was seen in the ground. "I knew it." She turned her head and saw that there was another hole where Jintaro had once been. "Of course..."

Bhumi jumped out of the hole in front of her, Jintaro on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Jintaro. I've got you."

"Ki... Kick their retarded asses...!" The redhead panted out.

"You aren't in the condition to be making insults." The silver-haired woman jumped onto a rooftop and place Jintaro down. "Stay here, and don't try anything." She jumped back down and landed a few feet in front of Tsuki. "You're the one who did this to my men, aren't you?" She stepped over a masked ninja's corpse with an apathetic look on her face. "That's what we get for taking average people into the army."

Tsuki got into a fighting stance and started to channel chakra into her feet. _'Just one swift blow. One beheading and she's out of the picture.'_ She started to dash toward her with great speed.

"Why are you rushing?" Bhumi asked just as Tsuki disappeared in the blink of an eye. "It's not like we're on a schedule." She turned her head slightly and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tsuki's blade coming toward her. The silver-haired woman raised her hand and actually tried to backhand the weapon.

"What a stupid move! " Kazemaru exclaimed. "She just injured herself!"

"Yeah... That's odd. Why would she do that?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow.

"That was a pretty foolish move you just made," Tsuki spoke in a low tone as she stared at Bhumi.

"Perhaps to you, but it's pretty foolish of you to still be holding that sword."

"Hm?" The purple-haired sensei blinked. A few seconds passed and her sword shattered to pieces.

"Huh?! She... That big lady just broke Tsuki-sensei's sword! With the back of her _hand_!!" Nataro exclaimed as he pointed at Bhumi.

"How the hell could she _do_ that? Did she use some sort of weird jutsu?" Kazemaru blinked. "'Because I didn't see her use a hand sign or anything."

"Maybe... Nah. No _way_..." Hanzo muttered.

"What?"

"Well... There _are_ a few people in the world who have such near perfect control of their chakra that they can gain super-strength for one burst. Like the Godaime Hokage."

"...Who?"

The Uchiha stared at his pyromanic teammate in disbelief. "You don't know about Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin?"

"I think I was out the day they were teaching that in school." Kazemaru sweatdropped.

"The old lady you saw in the history book with the big breasts who made herself look young!" Nataro exclaimed, suddenly remembering about the Godaime Hokage.

"Oh _yeah_! She looked _hot_! "

Tsuki jumped away from Bhumi and tossed away her broken sword. _'With strength like that, she could probably break my arm if she wanted to!'_

"Hm." Bhumi looked at her bleeding hand. "That's a nuisance." _'And I can't just heal it in front of these people.'_ "Such a nuisance." She disappeared and reappeared beside Jintaro on the rooftop. She put him over his shoulder again and started to hop away from roof to roof.

"Eh?! Hey, she's running away, the coward!!!" Nataro shouted.

"After her!" Tsuki exclaimed before she and her students began to hop on the rooftops after her.

**X-X-X**

"Ah, where'd she go...? Oh! I see something!" Hanzo exclaimed after pointing over to what appeared to be a small flash of green light. "Over there!"

"Mm?" Tsuki turned her head to look in that direction. "The bridge... Let's go!" She suddenly disappeared in a poof of smoke and was soon seen roof-hopping towards the bridge.

"I think she's still pissed about the sword thing..." Nataro grumbled as Kazemaru nodded behind him. The three genin soon took off after their sensei and landed in front of the sign for the Great Naruto Bridge. Bhumi and the fully-healed Jintaro were standing there, the taller one with an apathetic look on her face while the redhead was grinning evilly.

"I'm back in action! You losers are gonna pay for what you did to me!!" Jintaro exclaimed.

"Don't get overexcited, Jintaro. You may injure yourself even more." His silver-haired superior spoke as she stared at Team 14.

The redhead pumped his free fist in the air. "Nuh-uh! Just let me handle those kids, and you can take care of that bitch who hurt me!"

A vein started to throb on Kazemaru's head. "HEY!! Don't you DARE call Tsuki-sensei a bitch, you jerk!!"

"And stop calling us KIDS!!!" Nataro added.

"Whatever, Bhumi-san can take you _all_ down!!" Jintaro exclaimed.

"Can we just get this over with?" Bhumi drawled as she looked at the Leaf ninja. "I have important things to attend to..."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Kanabo is the iron club that Oni (ogre-like Japanese demons, as you might know) use.**

"**-hime" is an honorific that's used for females such as princesses, thus "Ina-hime" means "Princess Ina". (A little tidbit: Ina's full name is Inahime).**

**Jala's character was inspired by the Harionna, a sort of Japanese demon woman whose hair is sharp and alive, Medusa of Greek/Roman myth, and is similar to Fuka, a character from a filler arc in Shippuuden that was created after Jala was.**

**If Tsunade and Sakura can gain monstrous strength due to their incredibly good chakra control, there's no reason that someone else with near perfect chakra control can't do the same thing.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu:** **(Walks back on stage dejectedly) Ohhhh…!**

**Hanzo: What's the matter, Blu?**

**Blu: Zabuza outsmarted me.**

**Hanzo: How so?**

**Blu: Promise not to laugh?**

**Hanzo: I won't.**

**Blu: Well… I wound up getting stuck under the box that was meant for Zabuza after imitating a stunt in a cartoon.**

**Nataro & Kazemaru: BWAHAHAHAHA!!!**

**Blu: You promised not to laugh!!**

**Kaze: **_**Hanzo**_** promised! **_**We**_** didn't!**

**Blu: Dang it!! I'll get that damn nukenin if it's the last thing I do!!**

**Nataro: Uh-huh. Sure. Anyway, please remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	30. Mind Over Matter

**Blu: I now have an excellent idea as to how to catch that pesky Zabuza!**

**Kazemaru: (-.-) You're _still_ doing that?**

**Nataro: You should learn by now that you're never gonna catch that guy.**

**Blu: Well, I could still try! I figure that since he tried to take a shot at the Mizukage once, he might try to do it another time!**

**Kazemaru: Mizukage? Do you even know what that guy looks like?**

**Blu: I know what the _lady_ looks like! In fact… (Pulls out a balloon and begins to blow in it until it resembles of a blowup doll of Lady Mizukage.)**

**Kaze: Whoa!! She's hot!!**

**Hanzo: (Sweatdrop) You _do_ realize that that's a blowup doll, right?**

**Nataro: I think you've forgotten who you're talking to, Hanzo…**

**Blu: Let's see Zabuza ignore _this_!! (Runs off screen)**

**Kaze: …What the hell is a blowup doll gonna do against him?! Does she expect him to poke it with his "sword"?**

**Hanzo: Who knows…? But let's just say that Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters.**

**Kaze: Right. Just the OCs and this fic.**

**Nataro: Now on with the fic!!**

**X-X-X**

_#30: Mind Over Matter_

Team 14, Bhumi and Jintaro stood facing each. The tallest one of the six people there remained apathetic as her young lieutenant grinned wickedly.

"Hey, Bhumi-san, please tell me you're gonna give it all you've got for once!" The redhead spoke as he raised his Kanabo.

"Mmmm... Maybe. I dunno." Bhumi drawled, almost causing Jintaro fall over.

"What? Hey, just give it 100 percent, okay, Bhumi-san?!"

"Boys... Let me take care of the woman." Tsuki told her students, causing them to look at her with wide eyes.

"Eh? But...sensei! She broke your sword with a simple backhand! Imagine what she could do to your bones...!" Kaze exclaimed.

"Yeah, at least let _one_ of us help you!" Said Nataro. "I mean...she doesn't look all that tough!"

"That doesn't matter! Haven't you ever heard of not judging someone by their looks alone?" The kunoichi clenched her fist. "Just because she acts like that, it doesn't mean she isn't dangerous! You already saw what she did. If you got struck by her at the right moment, you'd die."

Nataro and Kazemaru remained speechless. Hanzo opened his mouth slightly to say something but immediately closed it. He couldn't exactly argue with that.

"Exactly. So just stay out of it and just deal with her little protégé." _'Besides, she must pay! That sword was the only gift my sensei ever gave me in all the years I knew the old bastard!!'_ She screamed mentally. The jonin drew a pair of kunai and held them in her hands.

Bhumi noticed her actions and stared at Tsuki. "Oh. We're gonna fight _here_? I could probably fall into the water and get all wet..."

The purple-haired woman became apathetic as she disappeared in the blink of an eye. Her students tensed up as she reappeared a few seconds later in front of Bhumi. As she slashed her kunai in an attempt to slit the taller woman's throat, Bhumi hopped back in time to avoid the attack, though a small bit of her robe was cut off.

"Jintaro."

"Heh." Jintaro grinned as he raised his Kanabo. "Right!"

"No, you don't, jerk!!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he activated his kekkei genkai. _'Houka no Seirei!'_ A powerful flame surrounded his body. He drew a couple of flaming-hot shuriken and threw them at the redhead.

"Eh? What the--?" Jintaro growled as he swung his large iron club. The shuriken were batted aside and over the bridge, though they _did_ leave some scorch marks on his weapon. "Look what you did to my Kanabo, you living matchstick!" He suddenly blinked. "Hey... That's a kekkei genkai, isn't it?"

"Mmmm... That boy's on fire. A bloodline trait?" Bhumi mumbled just before a kunai cut her cheek. Blood slowly streamed down her cheek and it took a while for her to actually notice it before Tsuki's fist connected with her face. The silver-haired woman stumbled back a bit and touched her bruised cheek.

"Touch _any_ of those boys and you'll be sorry." Tsuki hissed as she pointed her kunai at Bhumi, one of her eyes covered by her hair.

"You must care very much for those children. But I can't make any promises." The gray-clad woman stood up straight again, slightly hunched over. "That's our mission, after all."

The purple-haired woman glared at her opponent before charging towards her. Bhumi remained apathetic as she raised her hand and turned it into a fist. She pulled the fist back as Tsuki came close enough...

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, at the docks of Nami no Kuni, there were several small holes that were the result of Jala's anger. The blue-haired woman began to pant as she glared at the unscathed Team 4, sweat running down her body that glistened in the moonlight. The bodies of the few remaining henchmen were strewn about, dead from being stabbed by their superior's hair.

"Damn you... I'll...kill you...!" Jala growled as a vein throbbed slowly on her forehead.

"Wow... For a second, I thought we were goners...!" Konjo whispered mostly to himself as Shizuka held onto him.

"She was so upset that she forgot to actually take _aim_," said Haseo as he stared at Jala. "But, I gotta admit..." His eyes roved over to a small crater beside him that was made by the naked woman's hair, "Her _hair's_ pretty tough. Maybe that's why she got upset."

Ina, who was crouching beside Haseo, snorted. "You actually think she's upset because we ruined her _hair_? That's pretty vain..."

'_You're one to talk...'_ The honey-haired jonin thought as he looked at his niece from the corner of his eye.

"You guys are _so_ gonna pay for what you did to my hair!!" Jala growled as the blood-stained locks of hair whipped about wildly. It struck the ground and created a large gash in it.

"She really is vain..." Ina, Shizuka and Konjo mumbled at the same time as they watched the woman in front of them--the _deadly_ woman in front of them throw a fit.

Haseo smirked to himself._ 'We can use that to our advantage... So long as she doesn't--'_

Before the Konoha jonin could finish his thought, Kiyoshi stepped up to his superior. "Jala-sama, calm down!"

"Calm down? Calm down?!" Jala's hair stopped whipping about wildly as she turned her head to glare at her servant. "How can you expect me to be CALM in this situation?!"

"If you do not calm down, you won't be able to kill them properly. Besides...we still need the boy." The brunette turned his head to look at Ina, causing the raven-haired kunoichi to flinch slightly under his gaze...if you could _call_ it a gaze. "And the raven hair's not so bad, either. Counting only the kids, she appears to be the best."

"Hmhmhm! My, my... That _is_ interesting!" The naked woman placed her hands on her hips and gave a cat-like grin, ignoring the thought of Kiyoshi seeing with bandages around his eyes. "Little girl! Oh, little girl, you didn't tell us you had a..._gift_. For withholding such important information, I'm gonna have to _rough you up_ a bit before I take you back with us!"

Haseo stood up in front of Ina and held out a kunai. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that. These children are all under my care and there's no way I'd hand them over to the likes of you." _'Besides, the Hyuga would be upset with me if something happened to Konjo or their bloodline trait. And if so much as one of Ina's hairs is out of place...Naota would make sure no one finds my remains...!'_ His niece's hand hovered over her shuriken holster. "Ina. Stay out of this."

"No way."

"I'm not kidding. _Stay_ out of this!" Haseo hissed. "Protect your teammates."

Ina looked over at Konjo and Shizuka, who were already in fighting stances. "...No."

The honey-haired man glared at the girl from the corner of his eye. "_Ina_..." He blinked as he realized something. Her Sharingan was already activated, but what was shocking was...it had all three wheels now. _'That's...! Hmph... I didn't think she'd complete her Sharingan so soon. Guess the adrenaline rush helped her out or something...'_

"What?" The raven-haired genin asked as she noticed her uncle looking at her.

"Fine. You can fight with me. Just keep your damn distance--otherwise you'll wind up being poked and prodded by some mad scientist."

"See that? Her chakra's different now," said Kiyoshi as he held out his hand. "Allow me to--"

"No! I want to beat her _and_ the man! Take care of the boy and the other girl while I take care of business." Jala smirked just seconds before several of her locks shot towards Haseo and Ina. The Konoha ninja jumped out of the way and soon threw a flurry of kunai and shuriken at the naked woman, who deflected them with the strands of her hair. "That's not gonna work!"

"Blast!" Haseo began to form hand signs quickly as he gritted his teeth. _'Doton!'_ He slammed the palms of his hands onto the earth. When he pulled his hands up, a large wall of earth rose in front of him and Ina, hiding them from Jala's sight. _'Tsuchi Joushou no Jutsu (Earth Rising Jutsu)!'_

Jala's hair went through the wall with a dull thunk. A body was heard falling. "Ha!"

"Sensei! Ina!" Konjo exclaimed just before Shizuka pushed him aside. A sharp, blade-like whip just barely missed the nape of her neck before the blue-haired girl fell on top of her indigo-haired teammate. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh..." Shizuka mumbled as she rubbed the back of her neck just to make sure.

"So, _you're_ a Hyuga..." Said Kiyoshi as he appeared in front of Konjo. "You're one of those lower Hyuga, aren't you? There's a one in a million chance of us nabbing an heir." He cracked his whip and began to spin it around in the air. "Then again, Hyuga like you are a bit easier to catch, so I shouldn't be complaining."

"Stay away from him, you!!" Shizuka exclaimed as she threw a flurry of senbon needles at the older ninja. He jumped up into the air to avoid the attack and his whip stretched down towards the two genin. They both hopped away in time to dodge the attack.

'_I've got no choice!'_ Veins appeared near Konjo's eyes as his muscles tensed up. "Come at me with all you've got!"

"Can you even handle using your Byakugan?" Shizuka asked as she gripped a kunai in her hand.

"Of course! I'm not gonna wind up as some freaky experiment!" The Hyuga exclaimed just before Kiyoshi landed in front of them.

The older ninja quickly cracked his blade whip and shoved it into the ground. It shot up in front of Shizuka. Upon instinct, the blue-haired kunoichi jumped back as the weapon continued to snake its way towards her. She deflected the tip with her kunai as it gained some momentum.

'_I can't keep dodging him forever!'_ Shizuka thought as she began to feel out of breath. She jumped up into the air and drew a couple of shuriken from her thigh holster. With a flick of her wrist, the kunoichi threw the projectile weapons at Kiyoshi, but they were mostly deflected by his whip.

'_Now's my chance!'_ Konjo dashed towards the older man as his back was turned on him. The indigo-haired boy drew a kunai and narrowed his eyes. Just as he was a few feet away, something scratched his arm before it shot back into Kiyoshi's sleeve.

The brunette smirked. "Did you honestly think I forgot about you? You may be a lower branch Hyuga, but you aren't _totally_ worthless." He held out both his hands and began to channel his chakra into his whips. Both shot out from his sleeves--one heading towards Shizuka, the other towards Konjo. Both genin managed to hop out of the way and avoid his attacks, but he managed to nick them a couple of times. _'This is all too easy...'_

"This is all _too_ easy." Jala gave a cat-like smirk as she removed her hair from the large earth wall. "Ick... He managed to ruin my hair even before his death! That bastard, now I'm gonna have to wash it...!" A kunai was suddenly plunged into her shoulder blade and the naked woman gave a small yelp of pain. "Eep! ...What the? Where'd _this_ come from?!"

"Peek-a-boo!" Haseo spoke before the blue-haired woman turned around to have his foot in her face. She stumbled back and placed a hand on her face, ocean-blue eyes glaring at the Konoha shinobi.

"You bastard! If you ruined _any_ of my beautiful features...! And didn't I kill you?!"

He sucked his teeth and smirked at his opponent. "Nope. Though you _did_ do a number on those corpses back there."

"Corpses?" Jala blinked until she realized it. "DISGUSTIIIIING!!! My hair touched some dead guy's body?!" The blue-haired woman exclaimed as she grabbed her head with both hands.

"Heh-heh... This is kinda fun!" Haseo resisted the urge to laugh at Jala as she began to shriek to the heavens.

Ina, who was standing behind her uncle, sweatdropped. "I don't know who's worse: her...or _you_."

"Aw, I love you too, Ina-hime."

'_Jala-sama's having a breakdown...'_ Kiyoshi thought as his whips still kept Konjo and Shizuka busy.

After Jala finally calmed down a _little_ bit, a vein was throbbing slowly on her head as her hair began to move about wildly. "Damn bastard...! I'm gonna get serious now! Prepare to die by the hand of Asura no Jala!"

"Don't you mean by the _hair_ of Asura no Jala?" Haseo joked as he appeared in a poof of smoke beside the wild-haired woman. A large lock of hair was now wrapped around him and squeezing him tightly.

"Hmmm... Yeah, that's about...RIGHT!!" Her hair bent the man backwards at a 90 degree angle and she released him, letting him fall to the ground. She proceeded with pulling the kunai from her shoulder, allowing the blood to freely pour. She licked her bloody fingers and smile wickedly. "Nice...!"

Suddenly, the Haseo on the ground exploded, sending a large amount of mud flying all over the place. Ina shielded herself from the blast and managed to not get injured...but a large amount of mud stained her shirt--as well as her hair. "Ugh...! Damn that man..." _'I saw that coming and it's __**still **__gross!'_

Jala, on the other hand, was completely covered in mud, seeing as how she was standing right next to the mud bunshin that had just exploded. As dirty dripped down from her being, she heard a snicker behind her. "Ah, trying to get a full-body mud bath, huh? I heard those really work with people with a lot of _wrinkles_." The semi-naked woman slowly turned around to see Haseo standing a few feet away with a wide smile on his face. "How you doin'?"

"_You_... YOU ARE DEAD!!!"

"Uh, you've said that an awful lot of times, Asura no Jala-san, and I have yet to be seriously injured," the Leaf jonin spoke as he got into a fighting stance. "Would it be too much to assume that you aren't as tough as you seem?"

"If you make me upset, I swear--I _SWEAR_ I'm gonna kill you!!" Jala shrieked as a vein started to throb on her forehead again.

Haseo smirked before glancing at Ina for a second. "Ina! Try and keep track of me with those eyes, okay! This'll be good training for them!"

The raven-haired girl blinked. "Huh?" _'Is he gonna try to show off again? But...'_ "Okay... But it better be worth it." She muttered under her breath as her Sharingan eyes focused on the older shinobi. Her eyes widened slightly as Haseo suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye. "Hm!" He reappeared behind Jala and kicked her in the back, sending her flying. He then reappeared in front of her and punched her in the face. The honey-haired jonin was dealing her a barrage of blows. To the average eye, he was merely a blur. But to Ina, it was like he was moving in slow motion. _'This is... Wow!'_

After he finally finished pounding on Jala, Haseo elbowed her in the face and sent the blue-haired woman stumbling back. She fell back and landed on her butt and she glared at the honey-haired man from her spot on the ground. "Grrrrrr!! You're so lucky that I'm not up to my usual fighting potential! I was locked away for so long that I'm rusty!"

"Sure... That's what they always say when they suck at close combat." Haseo rolled his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest.

'_I can see just about anything with these eyes. I could even see how that woman's hair moved and where it would strike! Which means...'_ Ina narrowed her eyes as her hand reached into her kunai pouch. She drew a kunai and gripped it tightly as she held it behind her back. _'I can beat this weak woman.'_

"Mm?" Kiyoshi looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed his superior was having trouble with her prey. _'It seems that she hasn't gotten so used to being outside again as she thought she was.'_ He was suddenly slammed in the chest by Konjo's palm. "Ugh!" _'I forgot about this child!'_

"That's one..." He brought back his other hand and attempted to give him a second strike, but the Hyuga found himself hitting nothing but air. "Huh?" He suddenly felt something sink into his back. A kunai...

"If you weren't valuable merchandise, I'd have killed you by now..." Kiyoshi spoke from behind Konjo. Just as the indigo-haired genin turned his head to look at his enemy, the whip wrapped around his neck and tightened. Blood began to stream down his neck, but the lavender-eyed boy was amazed at the fact that he was still alive. "If I wanted to...I could make this whip sharp enough to cut your head off with little effort. But you are needed _alive_, because we don't know if your Byakugan will be inaccessible if you do die. Though, I suppose that we could always go get another one of your clan..."

Konjo narrowed his eyes slightly. _'Am I really so expendable...?'_ "No...!" He gasped out, his Byakugan deactivating.

"Now then, are you ready to give up yet? Or shall I have to cut off your air supply before we take you away--" Before the brunette shinobi could finish his sentence, he felt a small prick in his arm. When he looked at it, he found a needle sticking out. Kiyoshi turned his head around to see Shizuka, who was standing on her feet and panting hard. The large gash on her leg was now gone--possibly because she healed it. "Ah, the little medic girl. I almost forgot about you. You must excuse me, because so many things are happening at once and it's quite confusing. Don't worry, though: as soon as I've knocked out your teammate, I'll come to kill you."

"Shi...zuka...!" Konjo gasped out.

"Hmph!" The blue-haired kunoichi smirked--something _very_ unlike her--as she looked at Kiyoshi. "Tell me something: how does your arm feel?"

The brunette shinobi arched an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, girl?"

"That needle in your arm...had its tip soaked in a poison."

"Poison...?" Kiyoshi asked in a curious tone.

"Well, maybe not _exactly_ poison. It won't kill you, but you'll get a numb sensation throughout your arm," Shizuka breathed out, glaring at him through the bangs of her hair. "I bet that even now, you're starting to lose all feeling in your right arm. And pretty soon, you won't be able to use your other arm, too."

She was right. His arm _was_ starting to feel a bit numb. In his sleeves, Kiyoshi's fist tightened around the hilt of the whip. He could hardly feel the texture of it. "Well, if that is the case, I might as well kill you right now before you try another trick." He held out his other arm and the second whip shot out at the blue-haired kunoichi. Shizuka side-stepped it and threw a couple of senbon needles at Kiyoshi, but he whirled around and placed Konjo in front of him. The needles stuck into his arms and his leg and the young Hyuga's eyes suddenly widened, his Byakugan deactivating.

The blue-haired kunoichi gave a small gasp. "Konjo!" She hadn't used the poison-tipped senbon, but if she had...

"Nng!"

"I must admit, that was a bit more..._crude_ than I am used to. But the merchandise doesn't appear to be dead," said Kiyoshi as the other whip retracted into his sleeve.

"STOP CALLING HIM THAT!!" Shizuka shouted, gaining the attention of Ina from far away. "Stop talking about him like he's some sort of thing!!"

"Little girl, shinobi are weapons. Weapons are things. And that goes especially for those who hold a unique bloodline trait--like your friend's Byakugan. When one with a kekkei genkai is discovered, they are either killed, experimented on, or trained to become a lethal weapon."

"That's...not...true!" Konjo choked out before the whip around his neck got tighter. _'I come from a proud clan! I am not an object of any sort!!'_

"Let's be serious: have you _ever_ known a person in your little village who wields the power of a kekkei genkai and _isn't_ a ninja?"

Shizuka could say nothing in response. The only clans with bloodline limits were the Hyuga and Uchiha clans--and the only ones she was sure weren't ninja were those who had retired or simply hadn't gone to the Academy yet. Kazemaru had a kekkei genkai, too, didn't he...? "Just because you think of him as a thing, that doesn't make him so! He's my friend..." She reached into her kunai pouch and drew a kunai. "And I will kill you to save him!!"

Said teammate's eyes widened. _'Shizuka...'_

"She's _kidding_ right?" Ina asked with slightly wider eyes than before.

Haseo smirked. _'Atta girl, Shizuka.'_ Jala clenched her chest as she bit down her lower lip. She stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, I gotta admit that for someone so weak, you sure can take a lot of blows."

"Just you wait. I'll take that pretty face of yours and rip it off!!" Jala exclaimed as one of her hairs shot towards Haseo. He easily sidestepped the attack, but he felt something pierce his arm nonetheless. It turned out to be...the same strand of hair. It had shifted and turned around just in time to pierce through the back of his arm.

"Ugh..."

"Heh-heh-heh... I warned you, you're dead!" Jala giggled as she glared at Haseo. "I'm gonna get serious, now... I'm gonna seriously tear your head off!!" She suddenly felt a kunai scratch her cheek. A small trail of blood streamed down her cheek. "You little _brat_...!"

Ina smirked as she held a couple of shuriken in her hands. "Look who's talking."

The blue-haired woman's eye twitched slightly before several locks of her hair shot off towards the Uchiha. But she had merely jumped aside at the right times, avoiding the strands of hair. Ina threw the shuriken she was wielding at Jala, but she merely jumped out of the way, her hair removing itself from Haseo's arm.

"Ow! Damn that hurts...!" Haseo clutched his bleeding arm in pain. He jumped aside in time to avoid being stabbed by another lock of Jala's hair.

"Where do you think _you're_ going, handsome?! I'm not through with you yet!!" Jala shrieked as more of her hair shot towards the honey-haired man. He managed to dodge the majority of them, but there were a couple of times in which the locks of hair would graze parts of his body. Add the fact that he was still holding on tightly to the bleeding wound on his arm and there was a recipe for trouble.

Ina quickly began to form hand signs and took a deep breath. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ She blew out a large fireball towards the wild-haired woman.

Jala watched the approaching fireball with wide eyes. "Uh-oh..." The fireball seemingly overtook her and the flames rose to the sky. As the fire died down and the smoke cleared, a large shield of hardened hair was in front of Jala. "Heh-heh... Good thing I'm prepared for things like this!"

The raven-haired girl frowned as she landed next to her injured uncle. _'I thought for sure I would've broken through it!'_

As her hair retracted, Jala looked at it in disgust. "Look what you did now! My hair's all burnt up now!"

"Ugh... Does she _ever_ stop whining?"

"I HEARD THAT!! You're so lucky that I can't use my true form, otherwise you'd be tied up and gagged right about now!"

"Your...true form?" Haseo arched an eyebrow. _'Don't tell me there's more to this woman!'_ A large piece of hair suddenly shot up in front of him and he jumped back. The lock of hair sank back down into the ground. He glared at Jala before several other strands of hair shot up around him. The honey-haired jonin hopped back in time avoid being struck, but his injured arm was slowing him down. _'My healing skills aren't exactly good. If I stopped to try and heal my wound, that would be perfect opportunity for her to strike. So for now, I just gotta hope that Tsuki and Ninigi's teams are finished with whatever they're doing!'_

Meanwhile, Shizuka and Kiyoshi were in the middle of a one-sided stare down. "You must be very worried about your teammates' lives."

The blue-haired genin said nothing and merely gripped the hilt of the kunai in her hand.

"But you're not worried about their lives at the moment. You're more worried about making sure I don't kill you," Kiyoshi spoke, the numbness in his arm feeling more obvious.

Shizuka said nothing, but she merely dashed toward the brunette with a determined look in her eyes. Kiyoshi smirked and bent down, forcing Konjo to his knees. He placed a hand down and started to channel his chakra. _'This is my chance!'_ The kunoichi thought as she took aim. She was about to throw the kunai at the blindfolded man, but she felt something sharp tighten around her ankle. It turned out to be one of Kiyoshi's whips, and it was starting to draw blood. "Ugh...!"

"Now, just let me cut off your foot, and you'll be easy pickings." But before he could channel any chakra, Kiyoshi was elbowed in the stomach by Konjo. "Guh!"

The whip's grip around the Hyuga's neck loosened and he pulled the whip off of his neck, ignoring the cuts on his hands. He quickly hopped toward his female teammate and stood beside her. The whip had loosened around her ankle and went back underground. "You okay, Shizuka?"

"Y-yeah...! But you..." She stared at his neck. There was a thin, circular cut on it from which a bit of blood streamed down. "And your hands." They had several small cuts on them and were bleeding steadily.

"It's okay. I can take handle this." Konjo whispered as he got into a Jyuken stance.

Kiyoshi stared in the two genin's direction. "I really should stop underestimating you children."

"Hmph!" The indigo-haired boy activated his Byakugan, a determined look on his face. "Keep talking! These _children_ will be the ones to kick your butt!! I'm going to show you not underestimate a genius of the Hyuga clan!!" Konjo exclaimed as he glared at Kiyoshi.

"...Huh? Genius?" Shizuka asked as a sweatdrop ran down the back of her head. _'But weren't Konjo's grades in the Academy on average genin level?'_ At first, she thought he may have been some sort of hidden genius...but then she realized he was probably trying to trick the man in front of them.

"Genius, you say? If you're such a genius, why couldn't you get out of my grip sooner? Or even _avoid_ being trapped?" Kiyoshi drawled.

The indigo-haired boy began to sweat a bit before he regained his composure. "O-okay, maybe I'm _not_ a genius, but we can still beat you just because!"

"Because of _what_, exactly? Because you believe you can win? Believing you can and actually doing it are two different things."

"Grrrr!" Konjo growled underneath his breath as he activated his Byakugan. "You're gonna regret insulting me and my family..." He got into the Jyuken stance as Shizuka tensed up. "Watch my back, Shizuka?"

"Of course. That's what friends are for, right?" The kunoichi replied as she got into a fighting stance.

A few seconds later, the two genin dashed off toward Kiyoshi, zigzagging as they did. Shizuka drew a kunai and threw it at the older ninja. He jumped aside and managed to grab the kunai by its handle, then threw it back at her. It just barely cut off a few of her hairs. Just as Kiyoshi was about to draw his whip, he felt something in his knees. They turned out to be shuriken.

Konjo drew a couple more kunai from his thigh holster and threw them at the enemy, but he managed to sidestep it. His numb arm got hit, but he felt no pain--which was both thankful and unfortunate. The whip in his hand fell out of his grip. He could no longer move his arm or his hand, which left him with only one weapon left. _'And I can't form hand signs anymore, which means I'll have to beat these kids the old-fashioned way.'_

'_Shizuka's trick worked! Now he'll only be able to use taijutsu!'_ Konjo pulled his open palm back just as Kiyoshi got into a fighting stance. "HAAAAAAAAAH!!" When he was close enough, he thrusted his palm forward just barely missed striking him in the side. He followed up with a round-house kick, but Kiyoshi grabbed his leg and threw him aside.

The brunette quickly dashed toward Shizuka and made his whip shoot out toward her. She made several hand signs before she was struck in the chest and disappeared in a poof of smoke, replaced with the body of a masked ninja. Kiyoshi spun around in time to slash the blue-haired girl across her stomach, but she disappeared in a poof of smoke as well, replaced with yet another corpse. _'She can't hide for __**too**__ long...'_ He noticed Konjo out of the corner of his eye, still on the ground and spitting out a bit of blood.

"Man... Even without an arm, he's pretty tough." Konjo mumbled as he stood up. He turned his head in time to notice Kiyoshi's whip zooming towards him. The young Hyuga hopped out of the way in time to avoid being stabbed.

Kiyoshi dodged Shizuka's attack from behind in time and tried to attack her with his whip. The young kunoichi flipped into the air before it could seriously hurt her and all she got was a slight cut on her leg. Konjo attacked the elder shinobi from behind with another round-house kick and managed to kick him in his head. The brunette shinobi stumbled for a bit before turning around and slashing the young Hyuga across his chest. Blood spilled onto the pavement and Konjo quickly jumped away from Kiyoshi before he could get a second hit in. He placed his hand on his bleeding wound and prayed it wasn't anything serious. His vision suddenly started to get a bit blurry and he stumbled a bit. It started to hurt--keeping his Byakugan on for so long. But he had to stand through the pain. _'If not...Shizuka could be killed!'_ He got into a Jyuken stance again, blood dribbling down his chest. _'If I can't even seal off __**one**__ of his tenketsu points...I am a pathetic descendant of my clan...'_

'_Konjo!!'_ What was he _thinking_?! He wasn't in the shape to be trying to move at all! That attack must have cut through his flesh at least a bit! _'Please...! Just stand there! Don't push yourself to death!!'_ Shizuka thought as her hands shook slightly. Kiyoshi was hunched over, holding his bleeding head in his hands. _'If I can't stop him...I may as well help him!'_ She drew a few needles and took precise aim. _'I can't miss! These are the only other poisoned needles I have!'_ Her gaze met her teammate's and he spat out a small bit of blood. She nodded and immediately threw the needles at the older shinobi and a couple managed to hit him in his arms while he was off guard.

"Huh?" Kiyoshi looked at the needles that had just been stuck into his arm. _'Ugh! Not more...!'_ He looked at Shizuka, and if one could see it, they'd see he was glaring at her. "Damn brat...!" He was starting to lose his calm--something that rarely happened. He could feel his arm going numb at this moment. It was unbelievable... He was going to be killed by a bunch of _kids_! He couldn't let that happen--it would sully the name of his Jala-sama! _'Even if this attraction isn't real, I refused to desecrate her name!' _He suddenly felt something strike him in the back. It turned out to be Konjo, who was pounding him with several chakra-powered blows. The pounding suddenly stopped and Kiyoshi almost fell over. _'Ugh... What was...?'_

Shizuka's eyes widened as she saw Konjo, who had reappeared in front of Kiyoshi, deliver an uppercut to the older shinobi. He then proceeded to deliver several chakra-powered blows, managing to seal off a couple of his tenketsu points...as well as accidentally striking an organ or two. As he was finishing up his barrage, he channeled all the chakra he had left into his hand and thrusted his palm into the man's chest, sending him flying a good bit away from him.

"Kon... Konjo! That was..." Shizuka stuttered as she stared at the indigo-haired genin's back. "That was amazing!" _'To think, he could pull it off while in this condition...!'_

Konjo slowly turned around, hunched over and shaking slightly as he faced his female teammate. He gave coughed up some blood and gave a big grin. "See? Whether I'm Branch House or Main House doesn't matter...'cuz I...can..." He stopped talking as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell facedown on the ground. His blue-haired teammate immediately ran over to his side and began to inspect him. _'It's painful...to think about it... That people seem to think Hyuga like me are expendable... Worthless...'_

**X-X-X**

_A younger Konjo stood shaking, holding his head in his hands as he deactivated his Byakugan. "That's it... I can't do anymore, sister."_

_Standing in front of him was a young girl of 12 years of age. She had shoulder-length indigo hair and the same lavender-white eyes as all Hyuga did. The girl gave a small frown. "Konjo... That can't be your limit. You can't only be able to use your Byakugan for 10 seconds."_

"_I-I can't h-help it...!" Konjo hiccupped, wiping the tears in his eyes. "It just hurts so much... My head is pounding...!" He fell backward and curled up in a ball, trying to ignore the pain in his head. He then felt his sister rubbing his back as she tried to get him to sit up._

"_I suppose that's to be expected... You still can't get used to it, can you?"_

"_No..." The younger Hyuga sniffled. "It's tainted. I can't use the Byakugan. I'll be the laughingstock of our clan. All the kids in the Academy are gonna laugh at me. I shouldn't even go to school--I won't pass as a ninja!!"_

"_Don't say that! You can still use your Byakugan... But it just hurts a little more than it should."_

"_It hurts a **lot** more..."_

_His sister smiled down at him. "It's okay. Before you couldn't use it at all because it was much too painful. But now you can actually stand it for a while. ...I'm sure all you have to do is give it time, Konjo."_

"_Hina?" Konjo looked up at his sister while still curled up in a ball. The pain was receding and his voice got a little louder. "Are you sure about that?"_

"_Positive. You just have to work through it. If you've got enough confidence in yourself and believe you can use it, you'll probably no longer feel pain even when you should be." Hinako tapped her brother's forehead and smiled. "That's what they call 'mind over matter'. If you believe you can do anything and work hard at it, you'll be amazed at the results."_

_The younger Hyuga blinked. "Really?" His sister nodded and he began to smile. "Cool!! In that case, I'm gonna learn how to fly!!"_

_Hina sweatdropped. "Of course, you do know that there are just some things that are impossible...?'_

**X-X-X**

"Oh, Konjo...!" Shizuka tried to stop herself from crying as she looked at her teammate's injury. A long, diagonal gash was on his chest. _'I don't think I have enough chakra left to fully heal him!'_ She thought as she stared down at him. _'He might... He might...!'_

"Shizuka..." Konjo breathed out. He stared up at the blue-haired girl and she locked eyes with him. "You can...do it..."

She bit her lower lip as she held her hands over the wound. They began to glow with light green chakra and she placed her hands on the wound, concentrating very hard on it. _'I will not let him die. I will not let him die!'_ She would run out of chakra soon, and while the wound had stopped bleeding, it was not fully closed yet. Shizuka suddenly felt a bit woozy and stopped healing him immediately. "That's the farthest I can go..." She panted out, as she reached into her kunai pouch. She pulled out a roll of bandages. "Guess I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Can you sit up, Konjo?"

"Mmm..." The Hyuga sat up slowly, still feeling quite a bit of pain in his stomach. His blue-haired teammate began to see to his wound. "At least it's all over with, huh?"

"Not quite. Sensei and Ina are still fighting that woman."

"Oh... And I can't fight in this condition...and you don't have any chakra left to use any jutsu...

"So unless back-up arrives in time, they'll have to do it on their own..." Shizuka mumbled as she finished wrapping the bandages around Konjo's chest. "There, done! But I'm not sure what we should be doing now. We can't do anything in our state..."

"You'll fall over...and die...!" A familiar voice spoke, causing both genin's eyes to widen. Shizuka looked over Konjo's shoulder to see Kiyoshi, who was now conscious and on his knees, blood trailing down his mouth and the side of his head. He coughed up some blood that made a small pool on the ground. He then lifted up his head again as he began to shakily stand up. "...I will not...allow you to beat me...! For Jala-sama's sake...!"

"Not again...!" Konjo breathed out. "I struck your tenketsu points! ...You can't channel anymore chakra. You're internally injured and you can't even use your arms! Just _surrender _already...!"

"_Never_... I will not let...Jala-sama down...!" The brunette ninja panted as he hunched over to cough up more blood. "I cannot fail her...! I have a duty to...to protect her no matter what!"

"Why...? Why would you choose to die for someone who probably cares more about her stupid _hair _than whether you live or die?!" The Hyuga exclaimed as his teammate warily reached her hand into her kunai pouch in a desperate attempt to find a weapon left.

Kiyoshi started to wobble a bit he stumbled forward but caught himself in time as he slowly approached the two genin. "Heh... Like a _kid_ could understand what we have..."

"I don't _have_ to understand--you're crazy!!"

"Say what...what you like, but you are...coming with us..." The elder ninja suddenly stopped walking. Shizuka was now standing in front of Konjo, holding the only kunai that she had left. "...Little girl..._move_."

"I think...I know what you're talking about. Your devotion to that woman is like some false illusion of love..." The blue-haired girl mumbled as her grip on the kunai tightened. "But my devotion to my teammate is of the same caliber! It's _real_!! So don't think I'll just let you have him!!"

"You've been saying that for quite some time...but you haven't killed me yet, have you...child? I bet..." Kiyoshi began to walk again, "That you are the naïve and innocent girl...who has hardly shed the blood of another. You aren't the type who likes to _kill_... You're just another child who hasn't killed their heart--" He immediately stopped talking as the kunai was stabbed into his chest.

Shizuka's eyes were filled with shock as a bit of blood dripped onto her hands and face. She was breathing hard and shaking slightly as Kiyoshi fell backward with a dull thud. She dropped the kunai and it landed on the ground with a loud clatter that seemed to break the silence for a moment.

"...Shizuka?" Konjo asked as he looked at his blue-haired teammate. "Are you okay?"

"Y...Yeah..." The kunoichi bowed her head slightly, bangs hiding her eyes. "To kill i-is necessary, right?"

"Yeah. But did you really think that guy _loved_ her?"

"Not really... Maybe _he_ thought he did, but... Love is a confusing thing, Konjo."

Haseo dodged one of Jala's hairs again. "I can't keep this up for too long! Ina! How're you doing?!"

Ina sidestepped a lock of hair, but received a thin cut in her side by another. "Ugh...! Not so good...!"

"If you can't keep up, why not just _stop_, already?" Jala asked with a cat-like smile on her face. "Surrendering would be _way_ easier than just avoiding my attacks until you drop. You guys are bone-tired, but I'm all pumped up!!"

'_That's gotta be a lie! She can't honestly still have energy to burn after she got pounded all those times!'_ Ina thought as she glared at Jala, her Sharingan deactivating. "Low on chakra... Can't take much more..." She panted out as all of Jala's hairs retracted.

"Awwww! Feeling tired? Good! Now maybe you can stop hopping around long enough for me to actually _use_ my jutsu!!" Jala screamed as she formed a single hand sign. "Behold...!" Several long locks of her hair began to change shape, until they resembled ice-blue snakes. The especially long piece of hair that she was constricting her chest unwrapped itself and became a snake as well--the largest of them all. "Jala no Hea Hebi (Hair Snakes of Jala)!!"

"Oh...crap..." Haseo cursed as he clenched his still bleeding arm.

"Now it's time to really end this!" Jala exclaimed as the hair snakes shot towards the two Leaf ninja. "You're all _mine_!!" They kept hopping and jumping out of the way, but fatigue soon started to fade in. Eventually, several snakes managed to wrap around Haseo's legs and his neck and his torso. The honey-haired shinobi cursed inwardly at being too slow to evade her attack as they bit into his skin.

Ina picked up a bloody kunai that had fallen on the ground not too long ago and threw it at one of the hair snakes. It managed to pierce into the serpent's skin, but it would not budge. Almost as though it felt no pain... _'Crap!!'_ The raven-haired kunoichi froze slightly as the largest snake shot towards her quickly. She jumped back, but before she knew it, the large serpent had wrapped around her entire body. Her arms were still free, but she couldn't pry off the hair snake. "Nngh!"

"Well, now that _that's_ over with...you're coming with _me_, pretty girl." Said Jala as the snake began to draw back to her, dragging an unwilling Ina with it. "Hmmm..." She looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed Kiyoshi's body. "So, you're dead, Kiyoshi? You were useless... But at least you managed to tire out those other kids. It should be _easy_ to take the Hyuga kid and kill of the rest of these suckers."

'_I can't do a damn thing in this state!'_ Haseo shouted in his head as he tried to struggle against his snake bindings. _Ninigi, Tsuki, either one of you or __**both**__ of you get your asses over here __**NOW**__!!'_

As Ina came closer to her, the wild-haired woman noticed something. The girl was forming hand signs. _'Like she even has the chakra left to use a jutsu... She's probably bluffing!' _"You're the type who doesn't _like_ to lose, aren't you, little girl?"

"No..." The Uchiha growled out as she finished forming a hand sign. "But I'd love to hurt you!" She took a deep breath and blew out a small burst of fire towards Jala's face. The result was...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

...It wasn't very pretty for Jala. The intense burning pain caused all her snakes to loosen and immediately release the two leaf ninja. They went back toward Jala and turned back into normal hair as she grasped the burnt half of her face. "My face...! My _faaaace_!!"

Ina immediately dashed back towards her uncle and stood by his side. Haseo looked down at the raven-haired girl. "Nice one."

"Thanks... But that was all the chakra I had left. Anymore and I'd be pushing it..."

"Don't worry. I can still fight..." Haseo mumbled as the hand on his wound began to glow with bright green chakra. "It'll take a while, but hopefully that burn's gonna slow her down for a while..."

"Nnn..." Jala groaned as she kept her hand on her burnt face. "Damn little bitch...! Stupid bastard...! You're really ticking me off!!" Her hair began to move about wildly. "You scorched my beautiful face!! Now you'll PAY!!!" A kunai from behind suddenly whizzed by her arm, cutting it slightly. "Huh?"

"Sorry we're late. But we had trouble in the form of a large ninja army..."

Haseo blinked before a vein began to throb violently on his forehead. "About time...Ninigi! What took ya so long?!"

"Is that anyway to speak to your saviors?" The Hyuga jonin drawled as he activated his Byakugan and slid into a fighting stance.

"Fear not, Inahime! Shizuka-chan! I'm here to rescue you from this witch!" Kaoru proclaimed as several Bishie sparkles appeared around him.

"Will you knock it off? That's annoying," said Rie as a small vein throbbed on her forehead.

The wild-haired woman growled as she glared at Team 6. "More nuisances...?! You guys are cheating--they are more of you and one of me!!"

"You're one to talk: you tried to kill us with a horde of ninja," Said Haseo.

"Shut UP!! That's it, I'm gone!!" Jala made a hand sign and disappeared in a poof of smoke. "You guys are total cheaters!!"

Ina snorted as she looked at the ground. "What a cry baby... Wait, shouldn't we follow her?"

"In _our_ condition? Besides, we've got a couple of people who are still alive. The point of the mission was to find the missing civilians. Let's just squeeze them for information." Said Haseo.

"But before that, we have to find Tsuki. She sounded like she was in trouble when she tried contacting us!" Said Ninigi as he deactivated his Byakugan.

The honey-haired man blinked before realization broke in. "Crap! Okay, Ninigi, you and your team and find Tsuki, okay?"

"But what about you, Haseo-sensei?" Masamune asked the jonin. "What will you and your team be doing?"

"We can't fight in the position we're in right now. You guys'll have to be their backup. When you're done there, just come back for us, okay...?"

Ninigi nodded before looking at his students. "You heard that team? Let's go!"

"Right, sensei!" And in the blink of an eye, Team 6 was gone.

Haseo sighed before he fell backwards and landed on his butt. He looked up at Ina and smiled. "Nice going, Inahime. I bet your Dad'll be proud once he learns you finished your Sharingan."

Ina turned her head aside to blush as she muttered, "Don't call me that..."

"Heh-heh... Go check on your teammates."

"Hm." The raven-haired girl spun on her heel and walked slowly towards her teammates, still tired from the fight. Though she couldn't help but feel a bit proud about her recent accomplishment. _'Just one more thing I can do that you can't, Haruhi...'_

Haseo looked up at the night sky with somber-looking eyes. _'I wonder... Tsuki usually doesn't have problems. She's too good for that. So could she be fighting someone like that Jala woman...?'_

**X-X-X**

**Blu: I can't believe that the blowup doll failed!**

**Nataro: _We_ could've told you that.**

**Hanzo: Do we even want to know how this plan failed?**

**Kazemaru: Lemme guess: he popped the doll, right?**

**Blu: Actually, no. He…_took_ the doll.**

**Team 14: Huh??**

**Blu: I know. It confuses me, too…**

**Nataro: (Blushing) Actually, I don't think it's so confusing…**

**Kaze: (Blushing) Heh-heh-heh…! Me, too!**

**Blu: What're you talking about— Ohhhh…! (Starts blushing as well) Hee-hee!**

**Hanzo: Oh, brother…**

**Blu: P-please review and tell us what you think, before we all die of blood loss thinking about what Zabuza did with that doll…!**

**(Blood spurts out of Kaze's nose)**

**Nataro: Too late…**

**Blu: Oh, well… Just review, then! See you in the next chapter!**


	31. Battle on the Bridge! Beasts Unleashed!

**Blu: I now have a foolproof plan as to how to catch Zabuza!!**

**Hanzo: Was it inspired by a cartoon show?**

**Blu: I am proud to say that it is not!!**

**Nataro: Oooh, what'd you do?**

**Blu: I'm gonna hold Haku hostage!!**

**Hanzo: (O.o) C-can you _do that_? Haku isn't going to agree to that willingly!**

**Blu: Of course he is! So long as I promise not to harm Zabuza. Now, I'll need some rope, a Halloween mask, some fake blood and a plastic finger. (Runs off screen)**

**Nataro: How long is this insanity gonna last?**

**Hanzo: Until the end of the arc. Which is…this chapter.**

**Nataro: Great! I can't stand seeing Blu fail as much as Wile E. Coyote…**

**Kazemaru: Well, I guess it's up to me to say that Blu Rose doesn't own the Naruto series or any of its characters—just her OCs and this fic.**

**Nataro: Why's that?**

**Kazemaru: Because I didn't have a speaking role before that!! Not counting this. Now on with the fic!!**

**X-X-X**

_#31: Battle on the Bridge! Beasts Unleashed!_

Over half an hour earlier, before Team 4's battle against Asura no Jala began, Tsuki and Bhumi were about to attack each other--the Leaf kunoichi wielding a kunai and her opponent using her mere fist. Just as soon as the silver-haired woman's fist made contact with her opponent's stomach, she couldn't feel the kunai striking her neck. In fact, it had disappeared along with the other woman's bunshin.

"A clone," said Bhumi, looking around the area. "Where could she be?" She looked up at the sky and noticed the flurry of shuriken that was coming towards her. She immediately jumped out of the way in time to be struck in the back by Tsuki. The purple-haired kunoichi immediately stabbed a kunai into the woman's back, particularly aiming for her spine in the hopes of paralyzing her, but Bhumi had managed to push her away in time to jump back only a few feet away.

'_Crap!'_ Tsuki cursed as she got into a fighting stance. Bhumi still looked at her with that apathetic look in her eyes before she disappeared again. The Konoha jonin began to circle the woman, running around her quickly as she drew a kunai, making it appear that there were at least four Tsukis running around her.

"You must be very fast... But I could spot the real one among you." The gray-clad woman spoke, hunched over as she inspected the kunoichi. "Genjutsu or not, I can still take you all out."

"Really? Well, you have to show me how you can do that!" Said one of the Tsukis as they all smirked. They stopped running and immediately charged the white-eyed woman. Bhumi shrugged as she began to channel chakra into her hand before striking at one of the purple-haired kunoichi that had come closest to attacking her. She disappeared in a poof of smoke just as a couple of shuriken had flying towards Bhumi and stuck themselves into her body. The silver-haired woman didn't seem to mind, however and merely pulled two out of her body and flung them towards the Tsuki that had attacked her. The bunshin disappeared in a pop of smoke as one ninja star had hit her in the head out of luck.

The two remaining clones stood around her and quickly began to form different hand signs. They both took deep breaths and each spat out a different substance--one a thick, viscous liquid that stuck to Bhumi's feet and made it difficult to move; the other blew out a cloud of purple smoke that was, most likely, poisonous. One could hear the gray-clad woman coughing slightly, followed by silence.

'_And that takes care of her.'_ Said Tsuki as the clone beside was dispelled, disappearing in a poof of smoke. As the poisonous smoke cleared, a dark brown substance had mixed in with the water-like glue that Bhumi had just been in. The purple-haired kunoichi's eyes had widened slightly as she noticed it was mud. "A bunshin!"

"Indeed." Bhumi's voice spoke, but her body was no where to be seen. Her opponent from Konoha braced herself for some sort of ambush as the silver-haired woman began to come out of the ground, slowly regaining her natural color. "Look, could you just give up? There's no way you could beat me."

"Hmph!" The shorter of two smirked as she stood up straight. "Sounds like you're a bit confidant in your abilities... But I'm not giving up without a fight!"

Meanwhile, with the four boys who were a good couple of feet away from the two kunoichi, Jintaro was dashing towards the genin of Team 14 with a manic grin on his face. "Here I come, losers!!!" He jumped into the air and raised his Kanabo into the air.

The flames of his Houka no Seirei blazing, Kazemaru took a deep breath and blew a steady stream of fire up towards the red-haired boy. _'Take __**this**__, loser!!'_

"Uh-oh. Whoa! Hey, hey!" The blue-clad boy struggled to move in the air away from the oncoming fire in a comedic fashion. He then began to make several hand signs in hastened desperation just before the fire burned him. "AIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

"Whoo-hoo! That was _too_ easy!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pumped a flaming fist in the air.

"That's no fair!!" Nataro shouted at his enflamed teammate while giving him a glare. "How come one little burst of fire from you can kill a guy?!"

"Heh-heh... When you've got it, you've got it!" He then bent over and placed a finger on his butt. "Sssss! I'm HOT, baby!" The orange-haired genin grinned while his blonde teammate flipped the bird at him. He was then struck in the ribs by a powerful force that sent him flying back a good couple of feet. Jintaro was standing next to the spot that he had been standing on, the hilt of his iron club clenched in his hand.

"Now, what were you saying, Firefly?" The red-haired lieutenant smirked as he looked at the fallen Kazemaru. The pyromanic shinobi was on his knees, bent over and holding his stomach. For a moment, he swore he heard a rib crack. Jintaro stopped smirking as he noticed his Kanabo appeared more scorched than it had before. "Hey, nice kekkei genkai... We would _love_ to see what makes you tick..."

"Mm?" Kaze raised his head and blinked in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Just as Jintaro opened his mouth to speak more, he was delivered a swift kick to the head by Nataro, who had managed to sneak up on him while he was focused on Kazemaru. The blonde genin quickly hopped away as his opponent stumbled forward, drawing shuriken and kunai from his holsters. "Take this!" He exclaimed as he threw the weapons at the redhead. Jintaro quickly turned on his heel jumped over the attack as Nataro began to form hand signs quickly. He took a deep breath and blew out several small fireballs in Jintaro's direction. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!'_

"More Katon jutsu? How _lame_!" The lieutenant crossed his arms over his face in an attempt to protect himself from the powerful fireballs. The majority of them missed, but a few with shuriken hidden in them managed to cut the young redhead, giving him a few burning cuts on his arms and his leg. As Jintaro landed in front of Nataro, he swung the Kanabo in an attempt to strike him in the head. "I'll knock your block off!!" Nataro ducked in time and swept Jintaro off of his feet with a sweep kick. The orange-clad genin tried to stab him with a kunai that he had drawn from his back pouch, but the redhead had rolled out of the way in time and jumped back to his feet nearby Hanzo.

The raven-haired genin immediately tried to slash his throat with a kunai, but he had to jump back several times to avoid being struck by his large club. Hanzo threw the kunai at the other boy, but he merely deflected it with his Kanabo, which he then raised into the air and struck the bridge, causing several large cracks to appear in it and the stone to rise a bit. "Daichi Bure-Ka!!"

Suddenly remembering the attack, Nataro shouted at his teammate, "HANZO!! JUMP UP!!"

"Huh?" The Uchiha glanced back at his blonde teammate before channeling chakra into his feet and jumping high into the air. _'This is...the same jutsu he used on Nataro a while ago!'_

"You're not gonna catch me with _that_ again!" Nataro made a hand sign and a shadow clone had appeared in front of him. The clone quickly dashed towards the area that Jintaro had struck, and as soon as he had placed his foot on the ground, the other Nataro was thrown back and disappeared in a poof of smoke before the original ran towards Jintaro, his hand balled up into a fist.

"Ah!" Hanzo began to form several hand signs as he landed on the ground. A powerful wind began to blow and in a few seconds, Team 14 had vanished from Jintaro's sight.

The red-haired lieutenant blinked. "Eh? Where'd they go?" He suddenly felt something slash him in the stomach, a large amount of blood pouring from the wound. "The hell?!" He then felt a heavy blow to his face. Then his arm was bent behind his back and he was forced to his knees as he heard popping noises and the sound of something in his stomach. He fell backwards and noticed the tall figure before him, his body and visage concealed by the black cloak that adorned his being. In his hands was a bloody saw, and the young lieutenant gulped at the sign of it. The figure almost floated towards him, coming closer and closer...

Jintaro suddenly felt blood dribbling over his mouth. His nose was bleeding, and there was a burning sensation in the middle of his back. He began to cough up blood at an increasing rate. "N-no... Not again. NOT AGAIN!!!" The redhead screamed, snapping out of the illusion that had been placed on him, somehow, and swinging his bat around wildly, just _hoping_ he would hit the one who caused the genjutsu in the first place.

"Whoa!" Nataro, who had been standing in front of the young redhead in the hopes of knocking out his teeth, had to jump back so he wouldn't get his arm broken in half. Hanzo had just barely jumped away, only gaining himself a slight pain in his ribs. He skidded backwards from Jintaro and bent over, holding his stomach.

'_Man, that thing packs a blow!'_ The Uchiha thought as he gritted his teeth. _'If only the genjutsu had stayed for a bit longer...'_

"**You should've killed him when you had the chance..." **The Kaijuu muttered in the back of his head.

'_We have to keep __**one**__ of them alive! Between him and the woman who could probably destroy a vault with a mere tap of her knuckles, he seems easier to take down!! And since when did you care about what I do on my missions? Butt out!!'_

"**You're certainly being rude. I was only giving my opinion on the situation."**

Hanzo got to his feet, ignoring the pain in his chest and focusing the berserk Jintaro, who was now swinging his Kanabo about wildly._ 'Keep your thoughts to yourself.'_

"**By the way, your little flaming friend is being attacked--"**

'_I CAN SEE THAT!!!'_ The raven-haired genin exclaimed as he dashed towards the red-haired lieutenant.

Kazemaru hopped back several times to avoid being struck by Jintaro. The guy was swinging like a _madman!_ He was totally berserk now and more ready to crack their skulls open than before. _'I gotta make sure he doesn't get the chance to do that, though!'_ The pyromaniac thought as he jumped onto the ledge of the bridge.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Jintaro raised his iron club over his head and brought it down on the spot Kaze had been standing on before he jumped over his head and landed behind him. A large crack had been formed right there.

'_So much for this being a valuable landmark...'_ Kaze thought as a drop of sweat ran down the back of his head. _'At least the old man's got the mountain.'_ Jintaro suddenly spun around on the heel of his foot and struck the orange-haired genin upside his head, much to the horror of his teammates. The pyromaniac was sent flying across the bridge and wound up flying into Nataro, causing both genin to fall to the ground.

"K-kaze!! Kazemaru!" Nataro shouted as he looked at the pyromanic ninja's head wound. A very _large_ head wound. Blood was now quickly seeping out of his head at a fast rate; Nataro didn't know what to do for this situation. The blonde genin placed his hand over the bleeding wound in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding, ignoring how hot Kaze's body was at the moment. It almost looked as though Jintaro made a..._dent_ in his teammate's head. Dear God, it was like the Benzaiten incident all over again...!

"Nnn..." Kazemaru managed to mumble out. "Owww... My h-head..." Tears began to flow from his eyes. _'Now I know how a banged up can feels...!'_

"You okay, Kaze?! Can you think clearly? How many fingers am I holding up?"

The orange-haired genin's vision was blurry as he sat up and tried to focus on his teammate's fingers. _'Six...? No, eight...? Oh, whatever...'_ He fell back and his head tilted over to the side.

"Aw, crap, crap!!" The blonde cursed as he removed his hand and looked at the blood. "Don't die, Kazemaru, please don't die!!" The pyromanic genin's eyes were glazed over. He was still breathing, and what Nataro didn't know was that he could still think, if not talk through the pain.

Jintaro was breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest intensely as his grip on the iron club tightened. "Okay... Which one of you...pulled that genjutsu on me? WELL?! It doesn't matter, since I'm gonna kill every last one of you idiots...but...I'M STILL PISSED OFF!!!" He charged towards Nataro and the injured Kazemaru, who was unable to actually move at the moment. "RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"H-hey, Kazemaru, don't close your eyes, okay? Don't go to sleep or try to rest for a moment, or you'll--!" Nataro raised his head and noticed Jintaro was running towards them. _'Crap! Gotta move fast!'_ He quickly tried his best to get his injured teammate into his arms without causing him anymore pain and began to channel chakra so he would be able to dodge his attack in time.

"You're mine!!" The redhead exclaimed before he felt something whiz right by his face and shuriken became embedded into his back. He skidded to a halt and turned around to glare at Hanzo, who was in the middle of forming hand signs. "DAICHI BURE-KA!!!" He shouted as he raised his Kanabo over his head and started to channel chakra. He slammed the Kanabo on the ground just as the young Uchiha took a deep breath.

Hanzo blew out several small fireballs at Jintaro just before the force of his Daichi Bure-ka approached. Hanzo jumped aside in time as Nataro placed Kazemaru back down and Jintaro dodged the fireballs. The force of the Daichi Bure-ka had struck a wall and had reduced it to rubble. The young Uchiha quickly drew a few kunai and threw them at the red-haired lieutenant, but he merely knocked those aside with his club. Jintaro charged towards him and began to swing his club wildly, still enraged from the illusion, but the raven-haired boy managed to dodge the other boy's angry attempts at striking him. It was actually quite easy--he was just striking blindly out of anger. _'If he weren't so close, I would try another genjutsu on him. But I'd need a distraction for--'_ Hanzo's thoughts stopped as his eyes widened slightly at the sight of three Nataros appearing behind the redhead and striking him one at a time before disappearing in a poof of smoke. Jintaro stumbled forward, but was knocked back by a powerful punch to the jaw by the _real_ Nataro, who had appeared in front of him in a poof of smoke and sent him back a couple of feet.

'_Ugh... That eyesore again...!'_ Jintaro thought as he touched his jaw to make sure it wasn't broken or dislocated. _'What a hit!'_

Nataro was hunched over, breathing heavily as he glared at the redhead. For a moment, his eyes almost appeared to be red, the pupils slitted, but they changed back to their normal azure blue color after a few seconds. "You bastard! You hurt my teammate... For that, I'm gonna bash _your_ head!!"

"**Heh-heh-heh... Almost there..."** The Kyuubi chuckled darkly in the back of the blonde's head as it gave a demonic grin. Its container ignored it and charged forward, azure blue eyes narrowed as he made a familiar hand sign. Several other Nataros appeared before him and began to run towards Jintaro.

"A bunch of bunshin? This is just pathetic!" The redhead exclaimed as he steadied himself. Just as he had clenched the hilt of his Kanabo again and got into a swinging stance, the Nataro clones all stopped as the real blonde jumped off of one clone's back up high into the air and the bunshins began to form hand signs.

The blonde clones took a deep breath and blew out several large fireballs towards Jintaro. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ The redhead's eyes widened for a moment before he came up with a plan. The moment the fireballs made contact, the flames rose high enough for one to see from the rooftops.

"Heh... Got 'em!" One of the clones smirked before the flames began to disappear. Spider-like cracks began to appear beneath the clones, unknown to them as they were still focusing on the dying flames of their attack. Jintaro shot up from the ground and struck a clone with the head of his club, causing it to disappear in a poof of smoke.

"No, I've got _you_!!" The red-haired boy grinned evilly. The remaining clones formed a dog pile on top of him, but he batted them all away, causing them to disappear in several poofs of smoke just as the smoke from the Gokakyu no Jutsu faded away.

Nataro, who was still in the air, formed a hand sign and a clone appeared beside him before they began to fall. The clone transformed into a large Fuuma Shuriken and the original blonde took hold of it as he landed a couple of feet away from Jintaro. He threw the shuriken at the lieutenant's back with as much force as he could muster. The redhead turned his head slightly and looked out of the corner of his eye in time to notice the incoming shuriken. He jumped out of the way in time to not only dodge the attack, but grabbed the Fuuma shuriken itself by one of its dull sides. _'So close...!'_ Nataro thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Almost... But no cigar, brat!" Jintaro smirked as he looked at Nataro. He looked aside and noticed Kazemaru was starting to sit up. The orange-haired genin was holding his aching head as the blood flow began to lessen. The redhead started to grin evilly before he threw the Fuuma Shuriken at Kaze. "Hey, Firefly!! HEADS UP!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"

"Mm?" Kaze looked up from the ground and looked at the weapon that was flying towards him. _'Oh, crap!!'_ He thought as his eyes widened. The pyromanic genin forced himself to stand up, ignoring the throbbing pain at the moment. He began to shake slightly. _'Can I even dodge that thing?'_ Before he could even try to move his legs, the shuriken disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Huh?"

"A bunshin, eh? That's pretty interesting... It would've been better for me if it was a _real_ shuriken, though," said Jintaro as he rubbed his chin in an intellectual manner. "At least I can say you guys aren't _terribly_ weak. Killing you might be more fun than I thought!"

Nataro's hand twitched before it quickly pulled out some kunai and shuriken from his back pouch. "I've had it with your mouth, you bastard!!" He shouted as he threw them at the lieutenant. He managed to dodge out of the way in time and began to run towards Kaze. "Oh, no you don't!!" The orange-clad blonde began to run after the redhead and threw a couple of shuriken at him.

Jintaro gritted his teeth before he turned around and batted the shuriken all the way off the bridge. "I have had it with you, you little piece of shi-- OOF!!" He couldn't finish his sentence as Nataro had punched him in the face with such force that he was sent rolling backwards and a few feet away from him.

"Whoa..." Hanzo and Kazemaru said with wide eyes, both their mouths hanging open.

"Grrrrr...! Little orange piece of..." Jintaro paused in his cursing as he spat something out of his mouth. One of the teeth from the back of his mouth, apparently. "You piece of shit!! I was gonna kill you after the Firefly, but now you're next!!"

"Then I guess..." Nataro spoke darkly, bangs hiding his eyes. He raised his head and revealed red eyes with slitted pupils. Three deep whisker-like markings had appeared on both each cheek. "I'm gonna have to kill _you_ first...!" He crouched down all fours as he began to growl underneath his breath.

"**Yes, yes...! Give in to your animal instincts! Reap a little blood!!" **The Kyuubi shouted in the back of his mind, all the while smiling wickedly. **"**_**This**_** is your **_**true self**_**!!!"**

Red chakra then began to surround the blonde genin's body at an alarming rate. The other three boys were immediately shaken by such a foul aura.

"Nataro! He's... His chakra's so...unreal...!" Kaze stuttered as he stared at his transformed blonde teammate. _'It's like he's a different person, or something!'_

"Well... I guess I underestimated you. Your chakra's changed and you look like you wanna rip my head off…" Jintaro smirked as he leaned his Kanabo on his shoulder. "You've got me interested in you, now, kid!"

"Wh-what a chakra...!" Hanzo stuttered as he stared at his friend's back. "When could he have...?" He suddenly felt a pain in the back of his head and fell to his knees. "Ugh! Nnnn! Aaaaaaah!!"

"**Mmmmm...! What's this chakra...?"** The Kaijuu spoke in the back of the Uchiha's head. **"So familiar...yet so different...! So...**_**wicked**_**...! I want it."**

'_Wh-what?!'_

"**The source, you waste of skin!! Eat it!! Eat the demon!! Let me see the strength of this malevolence!!" **The Beast of Heavenly Chaos roared, sending a wave of its chakra to its host.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! Grrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhh!!!" Hanzo screamed loudly, gaining the attention of Kazemaru.

'_Oh, great! Now what's wrong with Hanzo?!'_

"**Well, it seems as though that Kaijuu creature has taken a liking to my chakra...! We ought to give it a demonstration of what we can do!" **The Kyuubi chuckled darkly in the back of Nataro's head.

'_I'm not gonna let you hurt Hanzo!! You can't make me!!'_ Nataro thought as he growled under his breath in reality. "The only one I'm gonna hurt is _this guy_!!!" The orange-clad genin roared before he quickly dashed towards Jintaro.

"Mm?" Bhumi blinked before turning her head to look at the events that were going on. "What could that chakra be...? It can't be Jintaro, so it must be one of those other boys."

Tsuki snapped off the feeling that the foul chakra had brought her. She had halted in the process of her plan and the blood on her bitten finger was beginning to plop down to the ground in droplets. The purple-haired jonin rubbed her blood on all her fingers before forming the hand signs and slamming her hand on the ground.

"It's almost familiar in a way... I wonder...could it be...?" The gray-clad woman stopped speaking as the wind began to blow forcefully.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!" The Konoha kunoichi shouted as a second, large figure appeared in a poof of smoke. It turned out to be a red hawk with black tipped feathers and several black feathers circling its neck. It was taller than Tsuki and towered over Bhumi by about two feet. The summoned hawk turned an eye on Bhumi and its pupil lessened in size, as if trying to sum her up.

"Ah... You used Kuchiyose..." The silver-haired woman drawled. "That hardly seems fair. I can't even use that jutsu."

Tsuki jumped onto the hawk's back as she gave a small smirk. "Well, being a ninja isn't always about being fair... Besides, I'm not complaining about that monster strength of yours!"

"Yeah, but it's still not fair..." Bhumi muttered as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

**X-X-X**

"Ah... Home at last!" Aiko gave a sigh of relief as she slammed the door of her small home shut. She took off her shoes, biting her lower lip. "Damn that man for making me work later than I should just because Yumi was late...! I better get an addition to this month's pay," The blonde woman growled under her breath as she unbuttoned her shirt a bit. She retreated into the kitchen and began to make herself something to eat. A couple of minutes later, she was sitting down at the table with a sandwich on a plate a small cup of tea. She was just too tired to go about making anything more.

"Let's see, let's see... In a year or two more, I will be able to pay off for this house. So I must...ignore all feelings of hatred I have against my boss until I can find another job with better pay..." _'And a better boss,'_ Aiko mentally added as she took a sip of her tea. She stared at the inside of her cup for a few minutes before she slammed it down on the table. "BUT HE'S SUCH A FUCKING PAIN!!! DAMN!!! ...Phew... Thank goodness Nataro isn't here. He'd be on me about..." Aiko suddenly squinted her eyes to try and imitate Nataro, "_'Shouting bad words in the same house as me when I can't even say 'damn!''_ Hee-hee-hee!" A thought suddenly flashed in her head about her son.

"Speaking of Nataro, he wouldn't tell me about his mission. Usually, when he doesn't tell me anything, it either means it's very important or very dangerous..." Aiko trailed off as her eyes became the size of dots. They then returned to normal and began to water with tears. "Waaaaaaahhhh!! Out of all the job professions in the _entire, damn world_, why, oh, why would he choose to be a ninja?! It's so dangerous, and there are the wars, and people usually die young for the sake of their so-called country!" The blonde shouted as rage appeared in her eyes and she began to bang her empty cup on the table. The poor, poor cup was surprisingly holding up against this abuse...unlike the other things that were broken whenever Aiko started crying about Nataro.

She placed the cup down on the table and sighed sadly before placing her hands together. "Oh...! Please, God, I beg of you: please let my baby be okay. Give me a sign that he'll be okay." Brown eyes opened. The cup in front of her suddenly cracked a bit in the center. "Huh?!" The crack then began to grow, and in a few mere seconds, it had cracked in half and fallen on the table, causing small drops of tea and a few tea leaves to stain the table. "Dear God, no...!" Aiko placed her head on the table and began to sob. _'This is a sign...! Something's happened to my baby!'_

**X-X-X**

"HOKAGE-SAMA!!!" Tsubaki cried as she kneeled down next to Naruto, who had suddenly fallen out of his chair and shaking. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Urgh...!" The Rokudaime grit his teeth and tried to get up, but he felt another violent pain erupt in his body that made him fell back down. _'Not...again...!'_

"He needs help!!"

"I-I'll go to the hospital!!"

'_Damn...! What the hell is wrong with me...?!'_ He thought as his vision went black.

**X-X-X**

In Nami no Kuni, a familiar cloaked man stood on the roof of a building, arms folded across his chest, looking out towards the Naruto Bridge. He could faintly see swirling red chakra rising up to the sky in the distance. "_Finally_... It's shown its true colors. Hm? But what's this...? Another one... Uh!" _'It's here...?!'_

**X-X-X**

"Guh... Nnnnn! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Hanzo screamed again. _'STOP, DAMMIT!!! You aren't supposed to be __**doing**__ anything!!'_

"**Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" **The Kaijuu chanted rhythmically. **"Stop resisting and just GO, you fool!!"**

'_Stop trying to take me over, you damn monster!!'_ In the real world, the young Uchiha was trembling, shaking from the force of the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu's. He was afraid that it would be a repeat of what had happened in Kagetsuchi and he'd wind up having creepy crawlies coming through his mouth again--or _worse_! _'Being in control for once...should've been enough for you!! I don't want you to get out again and hurt my friends!'_

"**Honestly... Doesn't that chakra just give you a jolt of excitement? It has such a...**_**cursed**_** aura, yes, but the fact that it could bring one of the mighty Uchiha clan to shaking like a child is interesting...thrilling...isn't it? It would be **_**such**_** a rush...to kill its source, hm?"**

'_...Buttering me up won't make me go along with this! I'm the one in control, remember? I can hold you back!'_

"**Why not just **_**admit**_** it? Your adrenaline's rushing and your heart is pounding so fast... You **_**want**_** to fight the source. **_**Face it**_**. I know what you want..." **Hanzo looked up. No longer was he in reality, but he was in his mind, in front of the Kaijuu. It bent over and stared at the raven-haired boy, the slitted pupil of its eye barely visible. **"You can push **_**me**_** back, but you can't exactly make your bloodlust disappear into thin air..."**

"C'MON, KID!!! SHOW ME A GOOD TIME! HAHAHA!!" Jintaro shouted as he held the hilt of his Kanabo tightly. "COME AND KILL ME IF YOU CAN!!!"

"**You heard him. He wants to die, then let's make that so!!"** The Kyuubi sounded uncharacteristically happy. One could almost see the mental picture of the demonic vulpine smiling.

Nataro skidded to a halt and began to make hand signs quickly, a smirk still imprinted on his face. He took a deep breath before jumping into the air and blowing out a stream of fire. The orange-clad ninja blew the fire in a straight line in front of Jintaro, but the redhead jumped to the side to avoid the attack.

"Ha! Missed!! Huh?" Jintaro's eyes widened as he saw Nataro charging towards him. He reacted too late and wound up getting slashed in the chest. A bit of blood splattered onto the ground as the redhead jumped back a few feet. "Owww...!" Jintaro glared at the blonde genin and gave a low growl.

Nataro hunched over and growled as well, his hair standing up on end as he bared his teeth. He took off towards the club-wielding redhead with a crazed look in his eyes. Jintaro ducked in time to avoid a punch to the face and swung his kanabo in an attempt to break the blonde's ribs, but he caught the club with both hands. "RRRRAAAHHH!!!" The transformed blonde raised the iron club, which Jintaro was still holding onto, and threw him to the side. Nataro pulled his weapon out of his grip and threw it aside.

"Hey!! What do you think you're doing, you bastard? That's mine!!"

Nataro bared his teeth, the canines of his teeth sharper and longer than they'd been before. His hair was bushier than it had been before and the Kyuubi's chakra was circling around his body in an erratic manner. He stomped on Jintaro's chest repetitively, causing the lieutenant to clench his teeth and resist the urge to scream. Just as the blonde had ceased in his stomping, Jintaro smirked. He jumped back and circled around the blonde to pick up his Kanabo. Just as Nataro turned and charged towards him, the redhead turned on his heel and slammed the Konoha genin upside the head.

"Crap!! Nataro!!" Kazemaru screamed.

"Now you know how your dumb friend feels, kid!" Jintaro said with a smirk as his opponent's blood flowed down onto his club. The smirk faded when Nataro started to stare at him. For some reason, looking at those Kyuubi-like eyes filled him with dread.

"Nice try..._kid_!" The blonde growled out. He suddenly punched the redhead in the stomach with enough force to make him spit out a bit of blood. Jintaro narrowed his eyes and made to knee Nataro in the stomach, but he slammed his elbow down hard onto the younger boy's knee, before grabbing his leg while he was still flinching in pain and throwing Jintaro over his shoulder, the Kanabo still in his hand. Nataro tossed the iron club aside and made his way towards Jintaro.

"Whoa...! That is..._amazing_...! Even after that, he's still standing...!" Kazemaru mumbled, wide-eyed in awe at how his teammate was faring. _'It's like he's not even Nataro anymore...!'_

'_This kid...is unreal! I even tried bashing his head in and he wasn't fazed!' _Thought Jintaro as he jumped back to his feet and got ready to fight with his bare hands for a change. A smirk suddenly appeared on his face as he dashed toward the blonde genin. _'If I can take down a guy like __**this**__, those freaks will have to start respecting me!!'_

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the bridge, Bhumi kept looking the summoned hawk up and down. "So, what can it do? Peck my heart out? Rip my flesh off of my body?" The silver-haired woman asked, not looking very terrified at the moment.

"Why not just wait and see?" Said Tsuki as the hawk began to flap its tremendous wings and took off into the air. It began to fly high above Bhumi, circling her as it did. "Hane! Let's show this woman how we do things!" The purple-haired kunoichi exclaimed as she pulled out shuriken. She stood up and looked down at her opponent, taking her aim before she threw the ninja stars at her.

Bhumi hopped back in time, avoiding each shuriken as it was thrown, but the fifth shuriken that had been thrown suddenly exploded and the force blew the gray-clad woman back, almost over the edge of the bridge before she skidded to a halt. She looked over her shoulder, down at all the water. _'That was a close one...'_ A cut suddenly appeared on Bhumi's cheek before a powerful gust began to blow. She stood against the wind, which was being generated by the flapping wings of Tsuki's hawk summon. _'Of course... Just about every bird uses wind in some way...'_ Two more cuts appeared, one a bit underneath her eye, the other on her forehead. "This is so annoying."

Tsuki began to form several hand signs quickly and took a deep breath. Hane suddenly stopped flapping his wings and she spat out a powerful, cannon-ball shaped burst of water. _'Suiton: Tsunami Taihou (Tsunami Cannon)!!'_ The water struck Bhumi, who was still standing on her spot, and sent her over the edge of the bridge.

"Well, so much for not getting wet," Bhumi spoke before she crashed into the water, the impact causing the water to rise high before settling down.

"Keep a sharp eye out, Hane. She has to come up for air eventually..." Said the kunoichi as she stared down at the water beneath them. The red hawk gave a screech in reply as he continued to circle overhead. A short time passed before bubbles began to form on the surface. Tsuki's eyes widened at the sight and she pointed down at the spot. "There! Fuuton: Kiritori Kaze Yaiba (Wind Style: Cutting Wind Blades)!!!" The large hawk screeched loudly as he began to flap his wings much faster than before. Several feather-shaped blades of wind chakra were sent flying towards the spot where the bubbles had been coming up. When they made impact with the water, a loud mild explosion occurred and the water beneath the bridge became uneasy for a while.

A dark, murky substance appeared in the water. From up in the sky, Tsuki couldn't tell whether or not it was blood. "What's that down there?" Hane flew down towards the water, circling over it as the pupils of his eyes narrowed. Bhumi came splashing up onto the surface. Spitting up blood and water. She had several cuts on her face and body, and her hair and clothing were soaked.

"I hate being pushed into water..." Bhumi mumbled before she coughed up a bit more blood. She looked up at Tsuki with the same apathetic face she had been wearing since the beginning. "Well, are you going to kill me now?" In the blink of an eye, a kunai was pressed against her throat and Tsuki was now standing in front of her. "From the look in your eyes and the kunai...you _are_, aren't you?"

Tsuki narrowed her eyes. "Trust me, for what you did to my precious memento, I would... But I need you alive so you can tell us where the missing civilians went."

"Who? Those people we took? Did you think we were going to ransom for _all _of them? No, they're long gone."

The purple-haired kunoichi's eyes widened. "_What_?"

"They're gone. They aren't here anymore. A lot of them were men that Jala caught in her spell, which she made into the soldiers that _you_ killed...and the rest aren't here anymore." Bhumi channeled chakra into her feet and managed to stand on the water. The blood from her wounds was still flowing, but she didn't seem to mind, almost as though she didn't notice it. "They belong to Akash now, to play with until they break down," the taller woman drawled after Tsuki pressed the kunai against her throat, drawing blood.

Tsuki glared at her as her grip on the kunai tightened. She suddenly heard Hane screech loudly from overhead before she felt something drive her down into the water and her world became black. In reality, Bhumi, who had been hiding beneath the bridge, had struck the Konoha jonin after she had channeled enough chakra into her hands. The silver-haired woman stood on the spot where the other woman had been, watching for some sign of bubbles.

"I guess she's not going to be coming back up. What a shame," Bhumi spoke just before Hane darted for her. She dashed underneath the bridge in time to avoid being gutted by the hawk's talons. "But her friend's still here."

Hane screeched again and began to flap his wings violently, causing a violent, chakra-filled gust. The wind from the attack managed to make small cuts in the bridge that could be easily repaired. The few that had struck Bhumi made her bleed for _real_--several parts of her robe had been cut and small bits of blood managed to seep through the thin cuts. However, she wasn't paying much attention to those minor, insignificant injuries. The silver-haired woman was, instead, standing on her spot, slowly channeling chakra into her hand.

The hawk stopped flapping its wings and perched itself onto the ledge of the bridge. "At least it's stopped... But it's gonna stay there until I come out." She jumped up to the bridge bottom, sticking to it with chakra while on her hands and knees. Bhumi slowly began to sink into the pavement until she disappeared into the bridge.

Hane was craning his head down to find the silver-haired woman just as she was starting to come up from the ground, her hand curled up in a fist. She quickly dashed forward and jumped into the air when the hawk summon turned his head around to see Bhumi coming towards him. Hane started to flap his wings as he began to screech loudly, sending blades of wind her way. Bhumi ignored the bird's jutsu cutting into her and raised her fist into the air. As soon as she came close enough, she punched the hawk with enough force that it was sent flying backwards. Hane managed to stop himself in mid-air and screeched in anger at the gray-clad woman.

"Hm... Tough bird," She mumbled as she began to channel chakra into her hand again. The red hawk screeched again before it darted towards the silver-haired woman and began to spin around quickly like a drill. "This...is not good." The woman mumbled as she began to make hand signs. Several seconds later, Hane's beak made impact upon her stomach and went right through her, followed by the silver-haired woman exploding and sending piles of mud flying everywhere. The red hawk landed on the ground and tried to shake off the mud. Bhumi jumped up from one of the piles of mud behind him and struck him in the back of his wing with a chakra-powered fist. The hawk summon fell forward, trying to take up into the air and failing miserably.

"So you've finally lost your pep, huh? That's good to see," said Bhumi as she approached Hane, who was still a bit flustered from her attack. The red hawk was still flapping its working wing as it got up, the injured wing tucked by its side. The silver-haired woman tilted her head slightly to the side. "Hawks are such proud, noble creatures, I hear. I almost feel bad for having to do this." She took a step forward, but the hawk disappeared in a poof of smoke. As the smoke cleared, Bhumi scratched her cheek in confusion, though she didn't look confused. "It's gone? It must've run out of chakra."

As the silver-haired woman was pondering the disappearance of the hawk summon, something stabbed her in the back. The stab was followed up by a kick that sent her tumbling forward.

"I have had enough of these games!!" Tsuki roared. She was soaked all over--her hair limp and wet and water dripping from her clothing. Her lavender-colored eyes were glaring at the silver-haired woman in front of her, who acted as though being stabbed in the back with a kunai wasn't painful. "If what you've said is true, and the civilians aren't here anymore...then I'll just have to make you tell me where they were taken! Otherwise..." She held up a kunai knife and pointed it at Bhumi, "I'll kill you right here and now."

Bhumi rolled her eyes before she reached behind her back and pulled out the kunai as though the wound were nothing but a splinter. "Do you really think you could kill me?"

"I have no qualms with taking another person's life."

"No, I mean...do you have the have the _ability_ to kill me?" The taller woman asked as she stared at the bloody tip of the kunai. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the blade flying towards her purple-haired opponent, but Tsuki disappeared in a blink of an eye. Bhumi ducked in time to avoid a roundhouse kick to her head and tried to sweep the kunoichi off her feet, but Tsuki back flipped at the right opportunity and landed on the edge of the bridge. She then threw several shuriken at the taller woman and she fell to the ground to avoid them.

Tsuki quickly formed hand signs and took a deep breath before spitting out a cannonball of water at Bhumi. _'Suiton: Tsunami Taihou!!'_

As the battle between the two women continued, Kazemaru finally began to gain some feeling back into his back...and gotten his senses back as well. Hanzo's screams had subsided a while ago, and so far, all he could hear was the sound of Jintaro and Nataro exchanging blows. And there he was, just standing there and not doing a thing to help.

'_I can't just stand here doing nothing!'_ The pyromanic genin thought as he clenched his fist. _'But what the hell can I __**do**__?!'_

"RRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Jintaro's roar of anger caught the orange-haired boy's attention. The redhead was trying to pummel away at Nataro. Trying being the major keyword, since he could hardly lay a finger on the orange-clad blonde. He was bleeding all over with scratches on arm, his torso and his face, and several bruises adorned his body, but Nataro looked unscathed by the few attacks that Jintaro managed to land--thanks to the Kyuubi, of course.

"**This is getting dull and...somewhat pathetic now. Without his little club, this child's not as big a threat,"** said the demonic vulpine before its container had kicked Jintaro up into the air. **"Though I'm slightly surprised that he's still going. He may not be as strong as he was before, but he's still going."**

'_So he doesn't go down quickly, big deal! That just means I can punch this loudmouth around more!!'_ Nataro shouted mentally as jumped up into the air after Jintaro. He grabbed the redhead's arm and threw him down into the ground, creating several small cracks in the bridge below. The orange-clad blonde then fell down quickly and landed foot first on top of Jintaro, a look of anger on his face.

In his head, the Kyuubi grinned. **"My, this is a surprise. It sounds like you actually **_**want**_** to kill this boy and rip him limb from limb. I'm glad that you've managed to give into your animal instinct."**

'_You haven't gotten through to me, you stupid fox.'_ Nataro jumped off of the red-haired kid and landed a few feet away from him. _'He's just been pissing the hell outta me!!'_

"**Liar. Just admit that you want to kill him. And you had better, too! I don't want to have shown you those jutsu if you aren't going to use any of them!!"**

"Hyah!" Jintaro jumped back to his feet and coughed up some blood. He bit his lower lip as he turned his head to glare at Nataro. "Damn you...! Damn you to hell!! I think you broke some of my bones...!"

"Grrrrr...!!" Nataro hunched over, teeth and claw-like nails bared for attack. "I'm through playing around with you. Now I'm gonna get serious!!"

"**Serious? Does this mean you're going to **_**kill him**_**?" **The bijuu asked, sounding rather.

Jintaro arched an eyebrow after seeing the look on Nataro's face. A fanged smile appeared on his face, which caused the redhead's blood to stop for a short time. Jintaro frowned and glared at the blonde. "What're you smilin' for?!"

The blonde suddenly ran up to the redhead with blinding speed and began to pummel him with a flurry of quick blows before delivering a powerful punch to his chest that sent him flying backwards. Nataro then bent over and held out his hand. The Kyuubi's chakra began to swirl around him violently.

"Hm? Oh, shit!!" Kazemaru shouted as he jumped out of the way in time to avoid being knocked over by Jintaro. The redhead fell to the ground and skidded to a halt, causing gravel and dust to rise. The orange-haired genin landed face down on the ground, cringing because of his broken ribs and the forceful contact. "Pain... Lots of pain..." Ignoring the pain, Kaze pushed himself up and looked in the direction that Jintaro had come from. "Damn... Nataro's been working out... ...What the _hell_ is he doing now?" _'Shouldn't he be coming over here to finish beating up this guy?'_ The pyromanic genin stared down at Jintaro and poked him with his foot. "If he's still...awake...or alive after that beatdown. The jerk looks like he got put through the ringer."

The red-haired boy began to stir, which caused Kaze to jump slightly. His clothes were bloody, with holes and claw marks that revealed bruises and wounds. Jintaro stood up shakily and began to shake his head. "Man, that hurt." He then noticed Kazemaru out of the corner of his eye and began to smirk when the Konoha ninja hopped away from him. "Well, if it isn't the Firefly? Decided to gain some backbone and help out your friend? That's not gonna help either of you..."

Kazemaru drew a pair of kunai from his back pouch and got into a fighting stance. "Heh... You're pretty cocky for someone who just got their ass kicked around! Maybe I should just kill ya now. Nataro won't mind..."

"Rrrrrrr...!" Nataro growled to himself as he crouched forward and held out his hand, concentrating his chakra in his hand. A ball of chakra had been formed, spinning rapidly in the palm of the blonde's hand. The Kyuubi's chakra was coated over the spinning blue ball, giving it a sort of purple color. "Ready or not...HERE I COME!!!" He began to run in Jintaro's direction, the ball of chakra in hand.

Kazemaru gritted his teeth and was about to strike when he saw Nataro running towards them. _'I guess he does mind!'_ The blonde was quickly running towards them. _'I should move before he almost kills me!'_

Jintaro turned around in time to see Nataro. "The hell...?" Just seconds after those words left his lips, the blonde had rammed the sphere into his stomach. Its intense spinning force was starting to rip away at his insides. The redhead could feel a couple of bones breaking and an organ or two get damaged.

"Rasengan!!"

Kaze's jaw dropped in awe as the Rasengan faded away and Jintaro was sent flying away several feet, skidding to a halt face first. "HA!! In your face, _kid_!! You just got the smackdown of a lifetime!!" The pyromaniac exclaimed as he gave a thumbs-down at the lieutenant. "Nataro, you have _got_ to show me your jutsu! When'd you get so tough and strong and..." He looked the blonde up and down, "And all wild and shit?! I swear, if you don't show me that one with the ball thing, I'll fug you up _so_ badly--!!" He couldn't finish his sentence as Nataro jumped out of the way to avoid being struck by a flurry of kunai and shuriken. The weapons hit Jintaro's unconscious body instead. "Huh?! Wh-where'd that come from?!"

Nataro's eyes widened slightly as he turned around to see Hanzo. A dark chakra was circling around the young Uchiha as he bowed his head, eyes hidden by his bangs. "Hanzo..."

"I...I'll...DEVOUR IT!!!" Hanzo shouted loudly as he glared at his blonde teammate. His once brown eyes were now entirely black, even the whites, and the pupils were red and slitted--he had the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu's eyes. "I'll kill...YOU!!!" He ran towards the orange-clad ninja with bloodlust in his eyes.

Kazemaru stared in shock at the young Uchiha. "H-hanzo?! What're you talking about?! FAN BOY!!!" He shouted loudly as a vein began to throb on his forehead. "Don't tell me that damn demon's taken control of him again!! Only this time, he looks like he's _really_ gonna kill us, Nataro! ...Nataro?" He turned his head to look at the blonde.

Nataro was staring at the raging Hanzo. He had tapped into the Kaijuu's chakra. It had managed to warp his mind. It was trying to make his best friend kill him and yet...and yet...the thought of digging his claws into Hanzo's was almost exciting. Invigorating. ...Why the hell would he think _that_? Was the Kyuubi trying to make him fight? Or did _he_ want to?

"**You want you...! You want to show this demon and its foolish host their place! Show them who the **_**true**_** demon is!!"**

Ignoring every bit of his humanity, the orange-clad blonde dashed forward at such an inhuman speed that Kazemaru could hardly see him. As soon as he approached Hanzo, Nataro gave him a powerful punch to the face that would make any normal person fall, but Hanzo was still standing before he countered with a knee to the stomach, followed up by a kick into the air.

The raven-haired genin began to form hand signs and took a deep breath before blowing out a large fireball. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_

Nataro managed to roll aside in the air in time to avoid the fireball and began to form the same hand signs. He took a deep breath and blew out a large fireball.

Hanzo simply stood there and allowed the fireball to engulf him. Kazemaru's jaw slackened as he stared in horror.

"NATARO!!! WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YOU _DOING_?!? YOU JUST TURNED HANZO INTO A CRISP!!!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he shook a fist at his blonde teammate. The flames cleared and nothing was there but a big scorch mark on the ground. Kaze let out a small sob. "Oh, Hanzo... Crap...!"

Nataro's eyes narrowed and looked up in time to have Hanzo's foot crash into his head. The raven-haired boy followed up by raising both hands into the air and striking the blonde, sending him flying into the bridge. Hanzo landed a few feet away from him and smirked before dashing back towards Nataro. He pulled back a fist and punched the orange-clad genin in the face. Nataro countered by clawing at his face and aiming to scratch Hanzo's eye, but the raven-haired boy pulled back his head and pushed the blonde's arm aside the same time, and followed up with a knee to the stomach that made Nataro double over, then a headbutt that made the blonde genin stumble back.

Nataro slashed his sharp, almost claw-like nails across Hanzo's chest before the raven kicked him in the rib and tried to chop him in the neck, but the blonde grabbed his hand and held onto it tightly as he used his free hand to scratch Hanzo's face. The Uchiha kicked Nataro far away from him and dashed towards him with blinding speed before punching him in the face. The blonde stumbled backwards, but Hanzo grabbed his arm and threw him aside. He drew several kunai and shuriken and threw them at the orange-clad boy. Nataro hopped out of the way in time to avoid the attack before rushing over to Hanzo kicking him into the air. The blonde held out his hand and started to form the Rasengan in his hand.

Hanzo looked down and saw what the blonde was doing, but had no idea what it was. Nataro jumped into the air, up towards the raven-haired genin and struck him in the stomach with the Rasengan. "Rasengan!!" He shouted as the power of the spiraling sphere began to turn around the Uchiha's insides.

"No..." Kazemaru's eyes widened as the attack faded and Nataro threw Hanzo to the ground. The raven began to stir a bit, but the pain of being attacked like that was great. The act of standing took a lot of effort and willpower to not cry out in pain. "Why're they acting like this...? It's like...like they aren't even _human_ anymore... Like they just snapped!" The orange-haired genin whispered as shock appeared on his face. This was much different than what had in Dokutsu no Kuni, and whatever the hell was happening with Hanzo and his inner demon must have been the same with Nataro. _'But how could Nataro be acting like this in the first place?! It's not like he's got a demon in him, too!'_ As he clenched his fist, something struck against his head and sent him flying over to the edge of the bridge.

"That's right... They aren't human anymore... They're...practically..._monsters_!" Jintaro gave a wicked grin as he leaned his Kanabo against his shoulder. His clothes were mostly ripped due to the force of the Rasengan and his stomach had a spiral pattern on engraved into it. "Akash would love...to play around with guys like _that_!" The redhead breathed out as he limped in the direction of the two possessed genin.

"Aw, damn it!! Can't he just _die_ already?!" Kaze spoke through gritted teeth as he got up and tried to ignore the pounding pain in his head again. "And he hit the same spot as last time! FUG!!" He wobbled slightly as he tried to maintain his balance. _'Ugh... Maybe this guy could make Nataro and Hanzo stop fighting each other and kill __**him **__instead!'_

Hanzo skidded backwards, away from Nataro, after the blonde had punched him so hard he was sent back a few feet. He noticed Jintaro approaching them out of the corner of his eye. Nataro jumped over his head and ran over to Jintaro.

"Don't you know when to give up?!" Nataro shouted as he ran to the red-haired boy. "This'll make you stay down--_permanently_!!!" He brought back his open hand, and when he was close enough, he stabbed it right through Jintaro's chest--a couple of inches away from his heart. The blood spilled on the ground and stained it with drops of red.

"**At last!! It was so easy! You should have done it sooner!"**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

On the other side of the bridge, Tsuki and Bhumi, the purple-haired kunoichi was getting tired. Her hair had been cut loose from its ponytail, so it was now hanging down past her shoulders. Bhumi, on the other hand, didn't seem to look too tired. But she was getting a bit tired of this fight. Each woman had bruises and injuries all over their body, but neither seemed to want to back down.

However, after hearing Jintaro's scream, Bhumi looked in the direction of the scream. "Jintaro?"

Tsuki's eyes narrowed as she dashed towards the silver-haired woman with a bloody kunai in her hand. She tried to stab Bhumi in the chest with the knife, but she disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Where'd she go...?"

Nataro pulled his hand out of Jintaro's chest, sending flecks of blood all over and bits and pieces of flesh and intestine all over the ground. "Hmph! You aren't so tough now, aren't you?" The blonde muttered as he pushed redhead down. In the blink of an eye, Jintaro was on the shoulder of Bhumi, who had suddenly appeared in front of Nataro. "Hm?" _'The woman... There's something weird about her, too.'_

"Little boy... You're an odd one... Like a monster, really," Bhumi mumbled as she stared at the blonde.

"Who you callin' a monster, you freak?!" Nataro shouted as he threw a punch at Bhumi. The silver-haired woman caught it in her hand as she closed her eyes. "What the hell?"

"So familiar... But I guess you're not the one..." She opened her eyes. They were now entirely black except the pupils, which were light blue-gray. She pushed the blonde genin back with amazing force and quickly began to form hand signs. She then pressed two fingers against his hitai-ate and channeled her chakra into him. The blonde's pupils became smaller before he started to fall backwards. As soon as he hit the ground, he became unconscious, the Kyuubi's chakra fading away.

"What the hell?!" Kazemaru shouted. _'What did she do?! Nataro should've beaten the crap out of her like he did that Jintaro guy!'_

Bhumi's eyes quickly returned to normal. She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Interesting child... I'd like to take you now, but I have to tend to Jintaro. But maybe we will meet again." She then looked at Hanzo for a moment. _'That boy... He looks familiar, too.'_ She then disappeared in a poof of smoke. As soon as she did, Kaze ran over to his unconscious teammate.

"NATARO!!!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he skidded to a halt in front of the blonde. "No... Nataro, what did she do to you?" He bent over and began to slap Nataro across the face several times. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, you idiot!! Ramen Breath, you better not die on me or...something...!" Kazemaru sniffled as he stared at the orange-clad blonde.

Hanzo suddenly twitched and grabbed his head as the Kaijuu's dark chakra faded away. "Ugh... Wh-what? What happened? I..." The Uchiha looked around, his eyes now back to their normal brown color. His eyes widened in realization at what had happened. "Oh... Oh, no...!" _'The hell?! What did you do to me?! What the hell is __**wrong**__ with you?!'_ He then noticed Nataro and Kazemaru and ran over to them. "Kaze! Nataro!"

"Huh?" Kazemaru immediately drew a kunai and stood in front of Nataro, ready to attack his teammate if he had to. "H-hey, hey! Don't you _dare_ take another step closer!!"

"Kazemaru, I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't _my_ fault! It was the Kaijuu's, I _swear_!" The Uchiha pleaded as he grabbed his orange-haired teammate by his shoulders. It hurt a little to see how Kaze flinched from his touch.

"All right, all right!! I get it!" Kaze mumbled as he put away the kunai. "I'm just...being on the safe side. You and Nataro went a little crazy there for a second and started fighting each other... I swore you were gonna try to kill me...!"

Hanzo felt his heart sink a little more. Had they really been that bad?

"And then...that weird woman came up and did something to Nataro after he killed that guy. Then she just took off... Wait a minute, where's Tsuki-sensei? May-maybe she could wake Nataro up!" The pyromanic genin stuttered. "Hanzo, look after 'em, okay? And don't do _anything_!!" He ran to the opposite side of the bridge.

Hanzo knelt down beside his blonde teammate and started to channel his chakra. He placed his hands on Nataro and started to channel his chakra into him. "C'mon... Wake up! This has to be some sort of genjutsu...!" After a short while, the raven-haired shinobi removed his hands and bowed his head, eyes hidden by his bangs just Tsuki and Kazemaru were running towards the two of them. Team 6 had just arrived and was running towards them as well. "Nataro...I'm so sorry...!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Usually, if something like a cup or plate breaks, something bad usually happens to someone that the person who's using it knows.**

**Hane means "wing".**

**In the Naruto anime, during the big fight between Naruto and Sasuke in the Valley of the End, when Naruto--who has unlocked the first Kyuubi tail--uses Rasengan, his chakra merges with the Kyuubi's and the Rasengan becomes sort of purple in color.**

**The technique Hanzo was using on Nataro was Kai (Release), which is when the user channels their chakra into someone else to disrupt a genjutsu.**

**X-X-X**

**(Blu steps into view all bandaged up with a black eye, using a crutch)**

**Kazemaru: Holy crap, what happened to you?!**

**Nataro: Wait! Don't tell us: your plan _failed_, right?**

**Blu: (T.T) I had my fingers crossed when I told Haku I wouldn't harm Zabuza… Now I wish that I hadn't…!**

**Hanzo: Well, what could _you_ do to harm Zabuza?**

**Blu: Uh, hello? All-powerful authoress here. At least he's not like Sasuke and tried to kill me ala Mangekyo Sharingan.**

**Hanzo: He doesn't _have_ a Sharingan.**

**Blu: Who?**

**Hanzo: Zabuza. Remember?**

**Blu: Wha? Oh, did I mention how hard Haku hits for a girly-looking guy? I think he messed up my memory a bit…**

**Nataro: Poor Blu…**

**Hanzo: You're gonna stop all these attempts, aren't you?**

**Blu: Yeah… I mean, the arc's over. Coming up next is a very long and somewhat explanatory chapter. Prepare yourselves—it's like two chapters in one!!**

**Kaze: Way to scare 'em, Blu. Most people already don't wanna spend their summer vacations reading anyway…**

**Blu: (Ignoring him) Remember to review and see you in the next chapter!!**


	32. Loss of Identity: I'm Naruto not Nataro!

**Blu: I would like to believe that this chapter is the longest one **_**period**_**. It was made up from not one, not two, but **_**three**_** chapters! Which makes it close to a whopping 15,000 words, I think!**

**Nataro: Wow, 15,000…!**

**Hanzo: That's a lot of writing…**

**Blu: It is. Thank God I pasted the scenes I liked from the first version or this would've taken longer! Now, let's begin the fic!**

_Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series, do you think I'd be writing fan fiction online, where the only things I have rights to are my OCs and this fic? You must be joking if you think I do._

**X-X-X**

_#32: A Loss of Identity: Nataro? I'm Naruto!_

"Ah, so you've returned..."

The cloaked man gave a nod to the figure standing in the shadows. "Yes. It revealed its true self once again at Nami no Kuni. It even fought against another like him. I think it was—"

"Never mind the other thing. Did it gain a tail?" The shadowed figure said, narrowing their eyes.

The cloaked man shook his head. "Sadly, no."

"Hmmm... That's a shame. When the Hokage was admitted to the hospital, I thought for sure that meant it got its first tail."

"Um, there's on more issue that may slow the progression of our plans."

"And that would be?"

The cloaked man wrung his hands together. "Well... The beast is in a coma."

"...What?!"

**X-X-X**

_He wasn't sure where he was, but he got this sensation, like he was floating on air. There were voices ringing through his head: one second they were familiar, the next they weren't. He couldn't remember the faces that went along with those voices. He couldn't even remember **his own **voice._

"_You never cease to amaze me."_

"_You should be training to become the Hokage rather than chasing after me."_

"_Don't worry! I'm the future Hokage and the toughest guy in the universe!"_

"_Ah! Are we going on a date?!"_

"_NO, WE'RE NOT GOING ON A DATE!!"_

"_You honestly want to be my friend? Even after I ignored you?"_

"_Yeah, yeah! Let's be friends!"_

"_Dead last."_

"_Bastard!!"_

"_Moron."_

"_Weasel Girl!!"_

"_Because...you're like a brother to me..."_

"_For my precious people, I would gladly give up my life!!"_

"_My dream is to become the greatest Hokage that ever lived!!"_

**X-X-X**

In the real world, Nataro was lying unconscious in a bed at the Konoha hospital. He had been knocked out for days after the mission failure. The kidnapped citizens were long gone and most of the residents of Nami no Kuni were furious because of that. Some even blamed the ninja for being too slow to actually find the missing people and claimed it was their entire fault, but things eventually cooled down between Konoha and the capital city.

"I just can't understand this...!" Matsu, a feminine-looking man with long pale blue and blue eyes and wearing the mandatory white jumpsuit, looked down at the medical chart in his hand. "We've been trying to release him from a genjutsu, but perhaps he's not under one..."

The blonde nurse, Yamanaka Inomi, pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose before she took the chart from Matsu's hands. "If he's not under an illusion, what do you suggest is wrong with him? He's in a _coma_? That seems so...unrealistic."

The blue-haired medic gave the blonde half-hearted glare. "Well, there have been cases of genjutsu so strong that they seem to put their targets into a permanent coma-like state. Illusions that cannot be broken even if you cause yourself to feel pain or someone in reality tries to release it. You can ask anyone from the Kurama clan about that sort of thing..."

"I get it, I get it! But what can we do about a coma? Most comas last for months, even _years_!" Inomi sighed and placed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "The most we can do is wait a see if he wakes up. If he doesn't...we'll have to...you know: _pull the plug_."

The feminine-looking man seemed to flinch. "I hate it when we have to do that...especially with one so young."

"Haven't you gotten used to seeing genin die?"

A knock came from behind the two medics. Shizuka was standing in the doorway. "Inomi-sempai, Matsu-sempai, there's a problem downstairs. It's, um...Aiko-san."

Matsu narrowed his eyes. "Again?"

"She's been coming here every day ever since her son was admitted, _pestering_ the nurses and the rest of the hospital staff to let her see him!" Inomi sniffed as she adjusted her glasses. "You'd think after being forced out of the hospital for the last three days, she'd get the picture! Oh, well... If no one else is gonna deal with her, _I'll_ do it!"

"Huh? You're not going to _hurt_ her, are you?"

"Oh, no! Don't do that!" Shizuka interjected. "Aiko-san is only acting like this because she hasn't seen Nataro yet. Maybe...we should just...let her see him." She looked Nataro's unconscious body. "That way, she'll see that he's okay, and she may not be such a problem anymore—oh!!" Inomi hadn't been listening to her, though, and had just walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Sempai?"

"Come, Shizuka-chan! We have to _take care_ of our minor problem..." The blonde medic spoke in a low tone as she dragged the blue-haired girl out of the room and down the hall.

"What are you going to do, sempai? Inomi-sempai!"

Matsu sweatdropped as he stared at the empty doorway. "Oh, boy. Don't do anything _too_ risky!" He called out. _'Even if that woman is a tad bit annoying.'_ He looked down at Nataro and had a sad look in his eyes. "Then again, I'd be upset if one of my relatives was in a coma..." The blue-haired man stared at the genin a while longer before he walked out of the room. "I need a break. Hikari can take care of the rest..."

After Matsu had closed the door, Nataro moved around in his sleep. "Sa...su...ke..."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in another part of the hospital, Sakura stood next to Naruto's bedside with an intimidating look on her face. The Rokudaime, on the other hand, was watching the television set up in the corner of the room. "_Naruto_..."

"Hm?" Naruto stopped flipping through channels to look at the elderly pinkette. He arched an eyebrow. "What's with that look?"

"_What_ have you been doing with the nurses coming into your room?"

"Nothing..."

"Oh, _really_?" Sakura folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Because from what _I've_ been hearing, you've gotten a bit clumsy during your stay here."

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I guess so. Must be the medication or something."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's the fact that you like it when they bend over," she spoke deadpanned. A vein then popped up on her forehead as she exploded, "You oughta be ashamed of yourself!! The Hokage doing such lecherous things!! You're nothing more than a dirty-minded old man!!"

"I can't help myself, Sakura-chan!" The dirty old man—

er, Rokudaime pleaded as he started to poke his index fingers together. "I've been cooped up in this room for days and you won't let me get up and walk! I need to do _something_ to relieve tension and that won over sneaking out and mixing up patients' medical charts!"

The head medic's eye twitched. "That reminds me: the medical charts were mixed up. And to think I chewed up Shizuka-chan about it when it was all _you_!!" She punched him in the arm.

"Ow!! You shouldn't hit one of your patients!!"

"I can when he's causing hell amongst the staff!!"

Naruto groaned and fell back onto his pillow. "But seriously...when can I leave?"

"You can't leave until we figure out why you collapsed."

"I know why I collapsed. I was tired."

"If you were tired, then why did your assistant say you were fine when the ANBU were chasing you around Konoha to go to a meeting that morning?"

Naruto shifted in his bed and looked away from the woman. "Then I was hungry. I didn't even have lunch; I worked nonstop through the afternoon."

The look on Sakura's face softened. "Naruto... Look at me." When he refused to do so, she grabbed his head and made it turn to face her. "If you want to leave quickly..." She suddenly got an evil smile on her face and started to pull on his cheek. "You have to stop being such a _pest_!" She then let go of Naruto's cheek and began to walk out of the room, but stopped in the doorway to call over her shoulder, "A nurse will be by to give you a checkup in a few minutes. And don't try any funny business, 'cuz it'll be a man."

After she left the room and closed the door behind her, Naruto groaned and rubbed his cheek. "A male nurse... There should be laws against that!" He muttered. A mischievous smile suddenly broke out across his face. "Heh-heh-heh...! Oh, I'll be getting out, one way or another...!"

**X-X-X**

In the Uchiha District, a woman was kneeling over a garden of flowers in the back of her parents' home. She had raven-colored hair that, while usually a few inches past her shoulders, was pinned up for her chore. She wore a simple navy blue dress and a knee-length sky blue skirt as she watered a couple of flowers and hummed to herself.

"Aunt Mai?"

"Hm?" Uchiha Mai turned her head around, onyx eyes settling on Hanzo, who was dressed up in a long-sleeved black shirt and a pair of white pants. "Hanzo? It's been forever since I last saw you! You look so _strong_ now!" She exclaimed as she stood up all the way.

Hanzo blushed and looked away from his aunt. "St-stop...! That's not true...!" He stopped blushing and looked at her in confusion. "Wait a minute... Why are you here doing work? Grandfather honestly didn't want you to work, did he?"

Mai placed a hand on her swollen stomach and frowned. "Hmph! If Dad had his way, I wouldn't be over here, _period_. Seeing as how, according to your grandmother, I shouldn't be doing too much work in my _'condition'_..." She muttered, making air quotes. "She makes it sound like I'm sick! I've been through this two times already! I _think_ I can handle myself! Hmph!" She folded her arms across her chest.

The young Uchiha sweatdropped. 'Um...but didn't Grandma complain that Amaya was born two months earlier because of stress? And Uncle Haseo said that with Shishiro—"

"Hanzo-kun, you shouldn't listen to what your grandmother and uncle says," Mai muttered as she waddled over to her nephew and placed a hand on his shoulder. "One is an overworked woman who puts stress on herself, and the other is an evil man who convinces people into doing bad things. How do you think I wound up with your cousins in the _first place_?!"

Hanzo started to blush. Thinking back, he remembered that Amaya had told him—at 8-years of age—how she was conceived in explicit detail. "Um..."

"Oh, never mind that." The Uchiha woman suddenly smiled. "Dad said you had to come see him for something, right?" Hanzo nodded quickly. His aunt's mood sure did switch fast when she was pregnant. "Well, he's in the living room waiting for you."

The raven-haired boy blinked before he found the guts to speak again. "Auntie?"

"Yes?"

"Did Grandfather tell you about what happened about a week and a half ago?"

Mai stared at him in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? Did something happen?"

"Oh, it's nothing..." Hanzo mumbled as he walked towards the house.

"**She's going to hurt her child if she keeps working so hard... But gardening is exactly hard work, is it?"**

'_**Why**__ are you speaking in my voice?'_

"**Because I like it," **said the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu. **"It makes me feel more...human."**

'_As human as a monstrosity like __**you**__ could be...which is very little.'_

"**I get the feeling that you don't have a talk. That's very rude, considering that I share a body with you."**

'_Maybe, but I was never taught to show good manners towards demons. Especially ones like you who try to get me to kill my friend! Now shut up and leave me alone...'_ Hanzo thought as he walked into the house and looked at his grandfather, who was sitting on a cushion at the table and drinking tea with his eyes closed. _'Does he even know that I'm here?'_

"Hanzo," Sasuke suddenly spoke, startling the boy out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked at his grandson. When their eyes met, the younger froze immediately. "Good afternoon."

"Huh? O-oh, right! G-good afternoon, Grandfather. I hope you're feeling well..."

"Hm..." Sasuke patted the cushion placed next to him. "Come here." Hanzo stared at the cushion until he approached his grandfather and sat on it. Sasuke placed his cup on the table and shifted himself around to face the younger Uchiha. "So, have you been having any problems with the Kaijuu demon?"

"**What does he mean by problems? I may have lost myself from the feeling of that chakra, but I'm okay now."**

Hanzo stared down at his hands as he began to wring them. "There was an...incident on the mission my team was on a couple of days ago..."

"I know. Your mother told me about what happened. How you locked yourself in your room for days and how she had to force you to eat."

Hanzo bowed his head a little more. That _may_ have been taking it too far. His mother had wanted to help him...but after what happened in Nami no Kuni, he was too afraid that he'd hurt her, too. "It started to go crazy in my head... It was trying to force me to do something for it...and it caused me so much pain..."

The retired shinobi arched an eyebrow. "What did it want you to do?"

"**Don't you **_**dare**_** tell him—!"**

"It told me to devour the source and then...afterwards, it took me over and...I started to fight Nataro. The weird thing is...it all started after Nataro's chakra changed."

The Kaijuu growled in a low tone. **"I **_**loathe**_** you..."**

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What...did you say?"

"Um... I said that as soon as Nataro's chakra changed, the Kaijuu started screaming that the source was a demon and that I had to devour..." Hanzo trailed off and his eyes widened. "Whoa."

"'_**Whoa'**_**? What about **_**'whoa'**_**?"**

'_You only started screaming about a demon after Nataro's chakra changed. So could it be...that Nataro's like me? He has a demon inside of him?'_

"**So I **_**was**_** right!! You should've devoured it when you had the chance!!"** The Beast of Heavenly Chaos roared in Hanzo's head, causing him to flinch.

"Hanzo."

"Mm?" The raven-haired boy looked up at his grandfather and froze. Eyes that were once onyx were now red with three comma-shaped markings surrounding each pupil. _'Wh-what's he trying to do?'_

"Relax... I'm not going to harm you. I just want to see this thing for myself," Sasuke said as the wheels of his Sharingan spun slowly.

"**See me? He's trying to do something! Hanzo, don't let that damn man in your head!!!"** The Kaijuu shouted.

Hanzo's pupils shrank when he found himself unable to look away from his grandfather. _'Too late...'_

**X-X-X**

Inside of Hanzo's mind, the Kaijuu, bent over the pair of Uchiha, narrowed its eyes—all three. **"I **_**so**_** loathe you..."**

"It's not _my_ fault! If it weren't for _you_ freaking out over Nataro, this wouldn't be happening!!" Hanzo shouted as he pointed a finger at the beast. "Therefore, it's _your_ fault that this is happening!!"

"**Hmph! If anyone's to blame, it's your little blonde friend…"** The Kaijuu then gave a wicked grin, baring its sharp teeth. **"What do you say about…**_**visiting**_** your little blonde friend in the hospital later on? You haven't dared to look at him after what happened…"**

"So you can kill him while he's unable to defend himself? Over my dead body!"

"**I'd prefer if it were over **_**his**_** dead body…" **It looked at Sasuke, who was staring up at him with a hard face. **"What're **_**you**_** looking at? Could it be **_**this**_**?"** The Beast pointed a claw at the Sharingan eye on its forehead. "Do you like it?"

The old Uchiha said nothing until he looked at his grandson. "Hanzo… Why does this demon have the Sharingan?"

The raven-haired genin shrugged, mumbling, "I don't know. I don't think it's real, though. It's probably just doing that to piss us off."

"**Awww, are you jealous because you can't get one of your own? After all the **_**crap **_**you've been through? I suppose we **_**all**_** can't be **_**lucky **_**unfortunate souls, right…Grandfather?"** The Beast's gaze fell on Sasuke. **"I mean, having your father die isn't as bad as having your entire **_**clan**_** killed right before your—"**

"Quiet!!" Sasuke shouted, causing Hanzo to jump slightly. He hardly ever heard his grandfather raise his voice, not even when he was arguing with his grandmother. To hear him speak in such a tone was a bit of a shock. "I don't what the hell you are, but I will _not_ stand here and let you slander my clan's name."

"**Ohhhh, such hatred! Family must be a touchy subject for you, isn't it? Yes, I can **_**see**_**…" **At this, the tomoe of the Beast's third eye began to spin, **"You've got **_**secrets**_**, don't you…**_**Grandfather**_**?" **The Kaijuu licked its mouth with its forked tongue.

"What're you talking about? What secrets?" Hanzo asked, looking back and forth between his grandfather and his inner demon.

"Nothing," Sasuke muttered as he glared up at the grinning demon.

"But—"

"It's _nothing_!" He growled as he turned his glare at his grandson. Hanzo bowed his head and kept quiet.

"**Silenced in your own mind. You're pathetic."**

"Shut up!!" The young Uchiha shouted up at the Kaijuu. He then looked at his grandfather and found the courage to speak again. "Why are you doing this, anyway? The last thing I want is to look at this…_thing_?"

"**Trust me, the feeling is mutual,"** the Kaijuu muttered as it stood up straight. **"That counts for you **_**and**_** your so-called grandfather."**

Sasuke closed his eyes. "I had my reasons," he mumbled, getting a look of shock from Hanzo.

"What? Grandfather! Did you just use your Sharingan on me because you _felt_ like it?"

"No."

"Then _why_?!"

**X-X-X**

In the real world, where less than a minute had passed since Sasuke had placed Hanzo under a trance, Mai struck her father in the side of his head with a frying pan. "DAD!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Sasuke, his Sharingan deactivated, glared at his eldest daughter while he held onto the bump on his head. "What are _you_ doing?!"

"You were using your Sharingan on your own grandchild!! For shame!!" The raven-haired woman chided her father as she wagged a finger in front of his face, ignoring his glare. Hanzo, who realized he was back in reality, stared at his aunt and grandfather.

The old man snorted as he let go of the bump. "I wasn't doing any harm to him, Mai." Only a few seconds passed after those words when Mai hit him upside the head with a frying pan.

Hanzo's eyes became as big as baseballs, white and blank. _'This pregnancy's making her act more on her impulses…!'_

Sasuke pulled the pan out of Mai's hands and slammed it down beside him while still glaring at his daughter. "_That is no way to treat your father," _He spoke through gritted teeth.

"You might have mentally harmed the boy!! Because you were poking around in his mind, he may turn out to be as warped as you—" Mai stopped speaking when she saw the look in her father's eyes. "Never mind. The point is: someone is here to see Hanzo. And when I saw your Sharingan activated, I thought you were… I'm so sorry, Daddy!" The raven-haired woman exclaimed before kissing Sasuke's cheek. She then started to fuss over him. "You aren't seriously hurt, are you?"

"Of course not. I'm used to being hit in the head. Your mother does it all the time," Sasuke spoke flatly as he gave Mai a half-lidded glare.

"Um, excuse me," Hanzo spoke timidly, afraid that either his aunt or his grandfather would injure him in some way at any moment. "Did you say that there was someone who came to see me, Aunt Mai?" She nodded. "If so, then…" He looked at Sasuke, "Can I please go now, Grandfather?"

"Hm. Fine, you can go. I doubt I could do anymore with this _headache_, anyway…" The retired shinobi muttered as he rubbed his head. His daughter was then looking at him sadly. "What?"

"I'm sorry about the pan…Father."

"The problem isn't the pan, but the woman who was holding it…" Sasuke muttered as Hanzo rushed out of the room to avoid the oncoming argument.

'_Well, that was weird and useless…'_ The raven-haired genin thought as he walked through the halls.

"**It wasn't **_**completely**_** useless. I got to meet a member of your family face-to-face for once. His eyes were very…interesting,"** the Kaijuu spoke in a low tone.

'_So…what were you talking about when you meant my grandfather's secrets?'_

"**Do you honestly think I'd tell you about it so easily? After everything you tell me? Not a chance in hell, boy."**

'_I'm simply curious…'_ The young Uchiha thought as he neared the front of the house. He stopped when he saw someone familiar standing on the stone path that led to the manor. "Kaze?"

"Hmph! It's about time!" Kazemaru said as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie jacket. "When I heard someone screaming, I thought something bad happened in there. Something wrong?"

The Uchiha sweatdropped and gave a small, nervous smile. "It's nothing. Anyway, why are you here? Is Tsuki-sensei calling us for something?"

"Nah. I just figured that we could go visit Nataro." At his teammate's confused look, the orange-haired genin waved a hand in front of him defensively. "Don't look at me like that! At a time like this, Nataro needs the support of his family and friends! It's the least we could do. Even if…he can't hear us."

"Hm…" Hanzo looked at the ground. "I don't think…I should go see Nataro. I don't want to be around if I try to kill him again."

"AW, GET OVER YOURSELF, DAMN IT!!" Kaze shouted loudly as he grabbed both of Hanzo's cheeks and started to pull on them hard. He let go of the other boy's cheeks as he continued, "Idiot!! That wasn't _you_ who hurt Nataro—it was that dumb demon! And I'm pretty damn sure that it was the same thing with Nataro! I'm sure! So stop blaming yourself and wish your teammate well, damn it!!!"

The Uchiha boy blinked in surprise. "Kazemaru… I never thought _you_ would say something like that. It's usually Nataro who does it."

The pyromanic genin froze at hearing those words before he let his head hang, bangs hiding his eyes. _'It's official: Nataro's infected me with his way of thinking!!'_ He raised his head to look at the Uchiha. "Damn. I guess he's rubbed off on me. So…" He arched an eyebrow. "You comin' or what?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should just stay away until he gets better…"

The pyromanic genin's narrowed his eyes as a dark look appeared on his face. "_Hanzo_…! If you don't come with me of your own free will, I'll bring you to see him by _fore_ if I have to!!" He spoke in a dark tone as he held up a balled up fist.

Hanzo's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't _dare_."

"No. But I'd sure s hell drag you there if I had to."

"What?" Before Hanzo knew it, Kazemaru had grabbed his arm and was dragging him out of the gates of the Uchiha compound. "Ka—Kazemaru!! Let go!!"

"Over my dead body!! We're gonna see Nataro whether you like it or not, Fan Boy!!" _'Nataro has __**definitely**__ rubbed off on me…!'_

**X-X-X**

Later, at the Konoha Hospital Aiko was sitting in the Waiting Room, glaring up at Inomi from her seat. Shizuka was standing behind the blonde medical ninja with a slightly frightened expression.

"Aiko-san, though you want to stay here until your son is better, I'm afraid that can't be allowed," said Inomi as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"I don't care. I want to see my son." The worried mother folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair. "And until then, I'm not going anywhere."

"We're still doing tests on him. You see, he's in a very…_delicate_ state right now. Besides, it wouldn't matter if you saw him because he isn't conscious."

Aiko narrowed her eyes. "I _said_ I don't care! So long as I can see him, I'd be glad!"

Inomi frowned as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose again. It seemed like she was starting to get ticked off. "I keep telling you that you _can't_."

A vein popped up on Aiko's forehead. "Listen to me, you bleached blonde bimbo!! Let me see my son right now, or you're gonna be _sorry_!!" She shouted as she started to pull up her sleeves.

Inomi's left eye began to twitch. "_Bleached blonde bimbo_…? Do you have _any _idea who you're talking to?"

"Yeah, a stupid blonde who doesn't get a mother's heart!! Now tell me where he is!! …Huh?" The civilian woman stared at the medical ninja as she formed a hand sign with both hands with a smile on her face.

"Inomi-sempai!! Don't do _that_!" Shizuka exclaimed.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Jutsu)!!"

Aiko suddenly froze as Inomi fell backwards. Shizuka managed to catch her sempai's body before she fell, and was panicking all the while. "Inomi-sempai, how could you do that?! Sakura-sama said that's against the rules!!"

Aiko/Inomi raised her head up slightly and smiled confidently. "Maybe so, Shizuka-chan, but this annoying woman pissed me off. How _dare_ she say my hair was bleached? It's 100 percent natural!"

'_I don't blame her. The first time I saw her, I thought it was bleached, too…'_

"Hell no! Yamanaka Inomi is a 100 percent natural beauty! No matter what _anyone_ says!! Besides, no one else is here, right now… Shizuka!" The Yamanaka-possessed blonde looked at Shizuka, who was dragging Inomi's body over to one of the empty chairs. "Make sure to cover for me, okay? If anyone finds out, Sakura-sama's gonna bite my head off…!" She mumbled as she walked past Shizuka, whose eyes were now small white dots as her mouth hung open.

"This…is _such_ a breach of protocol…" The blue-haired girl whispered to herself. "And she's gotten me stuck in this mess, too. I-it's not like I _said_ she should possess Aiko-san…! M-maybe I'll be let off easy!" She almost jumped out of her skin when someone touched her shoulder. "Eep!! I didn't do anything, I mean it!"

"Uh, what're you talking about?"

Shizuka turned around to find Kazemaru and Hanzo standing behind her. The blue-haired girl gave a mental sigh of relief as her muscles relaxed. "Oh, good afternoon, Kazemaru. Um, Hanzo. I'm glad to see you're both okay. You _are_ okay, right?"

The raven-haired boy avoided eye contact with her and decided to look at the wall out of the corner of his eye. "We've...come to see Nataro."

"Yeah, which room's he in?" Kaze then looked at the unconscious Inomi with an arched eyebrow. "Uh, what's wrong with _her_?"

"O-oh, her? Um, she's fine! Yes, she's just fine! Absolutely _nothing_ is wrong with her!" The blue-haired kunoichi exclaimed as she waved her arms in the air frantically, causing the boys to sweatdrop at her behavior.

"Uh-huh... So, where's Nataro being kept?"

Shizuka stopped panicking and moved a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry guys, but you can't go and see him."

Kazemaru and Hanzo's eyes widened a bit. "Eh? Why not?" The orange-haired genin asked.

"Well, he's still being tested."

Hanzo stopped staring at the wall and looked Shizuka in the eye. "He's been here for three days and they don't know what's wrong with him yet?" _'Is what happened to him really that serious...?'_

"So we can't see him, huh?" Kaze mumbled as he folded his arms across his chest and pouted. "...Fine. C'mon, Hanzo." He grabbed the young Uchiha's sleeve and started to drag him towards the hospital entrance.

"What? That's it? We're not going to demand that we see Nataro? Or stay until he wakes up? _Nothing_?!" The raven-haired genin shouted as he looked at his teammate with shock. _'I guess Nataro hasn't rubbed off on you all the way!'_

"Say goodbye, Hanzo!"

"Ka-Kazemaru!! What are you _doing_?"

Shizuka blinked in confusion as she stared at the back of the two genin. "...Huh. Well, now that _that's_ out of the way..." She looked down at Inomi's unconscious body and sweatdropped. "Where am I going to put her body until she releases her jutsu...?"

**X-X-X**

_He didn't think it would come to this. It was almost like Sasuke was no longer the person he had grudgingly grown to like—or was it love?—over the year. Or maybe the Sasuke he knew wasn't the real one? No, no, it had to have been…_

_He said he lost his entire family, all because his brother wanted to test his strength…and that the only reason he survived the awful ordeal was so **he** could avenge his clan. Sasuke was right—what did **he**, who had no parents or family whatsoever in all his life, know about his pain?_

_But…he had Sasuke, who was like a brother to him. The first bond he ever formed. If he lost him, that would be the same thing as losing a blood brother._

_The waterfalls roared. The sound of a thousand angry birds chirping. The sensation of heat that surrounded him, bubbling all over his body. They leapt at each other. It was like everything was in slow motion…until…_

"_NARUTOOOOO!!!"_

"_SASUKEEEEE!!!"_

_They collided, and light filled the valley before his world went black…_

**X-X-X**

Nataro's eyes slowly opened to reveal the ceiling and the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. "Where…am I…?" His eyes widened as he sat up and started looking around frantically. "Wh-what happened? This is the hospital, so…did I…?"

At that moment, the door had opened and Hikari walked into the room, focusing only on the medical chart in her hands. She looked up from the medical chart and nearly jumped once she noticed Nataro. "N-nataro! You're awake! You're actually _awake_!"

"Uh, yeah! I must have been out for pretty…long…" The blonde boy's jaw suddenly dropped and he stared at Hikari for a while.

The pink-haired Uchiha blinked as she stared at him in confusion. "Is something wrong, Nataro?"

"Sa…Sa…SAKURA-CHAN?!? I-is that you?! You got _big_!! Just how long was I out for?!" The genin shouted as he held onto his head with his hands. His eyes were the size of saucers and his mouth was still open as he looked her up and down.

"Nataro, relax! You were only unconscious for almost a week!" Hikari walked over to his bed and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't you remember? Unless…" _'He has amnesia. But I doubt something like that could happen unless the person who knocked him out in the first place used a jutsu to erase his memory… Just in case, though…'_ The medical ninja flashed the young blonde a smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Do you know who you are?"

Nataro blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"Your name," She pronounced slowly. "What is your name?"

"You really don't know?" _'I thought every adult in Konoha knew my name by now.'_ "Uzumaki Naruto."

Hikari's eyes widened a bit and she lost her smile. "Huh?"

"U-zu-ma-ki Na-ru-to," he repeated, pronouncing his name slowly and under the idea that this pink-haired woman was a bit slow.

Hikari sweatdropped. _'Okay, it's not amnesia… It's a case of mistaken identity. May as well play along to see how much damage there is.'_ "Uh-huh. And who exactly is the current Hokage?"

The blonde arched an eyebrow. _'This is one stupid lady.'_ "Granny Tsunade, of course! She just became the Godaime!" _'Everybody knows __**that**__! Maybe this lady's really a patient.'_ He thought as he stared at Hikari, looking her up and down. _'But she looks a lot like Sakura-chan. I know I've never met her family, but she could be related to her.'_

"Godaime…? And…your name is _what_ again?"

Nataro—er, _Naruto_ rolled his eyes and frowned, clearly getting upset. "Uzumaki Naruto!!"

The pink-haired Uchiha's mouth hung open. _'Okay… This is __**very**__ serious!'_ She forced a smile on her face. "Okay, Nataro—I mean, Naruto-kun. Please stay here and try to get some rest while I…inform the rest of the staff about your recovery." She then turned on her heel and walked out the door, mouthing to herself _'Uzumaki Naruto?'_.

Nataro stared at the door for some time before he sweatdropped. "What a weirdo," he mumbled before falling back on the bed and going back to sleep.

**X-X-X**

Out in the hallway on the second floor of the hospital's east wing, Hikari was mumbling to herself. "Uzumaki Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto! Oh, poor Nataro! I can only hope his delirium will fade within a few days! I need some help for this. A psychiatrist, therapist…anyone who works in the mental trauma unit will do.' She stopped walking and tapped her cheek with her index finger. "I wonder if Inomi could use Shintenshin no Jutsu to… Oh, that wouldn't work!" The pink-haired woman sighed as she disappeared around the corner.

When the sound of Hikari's footsteps faded, the door of a nearby utility closet swung open, and Kazemaru and Hanzo stumbled out. The orange-haired genin dusted himself off as his raven-haired teammate placed the mops and buckets back into the closet. "Now, which room is Nataro in…?" He looked down the hall. There were dozens of doors with several numbers. If they knew Nataro's room number, it would've been easy…but they didn't. "This…may be difficult. No matter! One of these rooms has got to be Nataro's because the lady who just passed by said his name."

"She also said that she hoped his delirium would fade in a few days…" Hanzo mumbled as he closed the closet door. "You don't think something's wrong with Nataro, do you?"

"Ah, it was probably nothing! Probably just a side effect of being knocked out for so long. He might've thought she was a giant cup of ramen noodles or something." Kazemaru stifled a laugh. "And he probably tried to eat her!" A grin broke out on his face as he turned to face Hanzo. "Ooh, you think we should've brought something for him to munch on? I always heard that hospital food tasted bad, but I've never stayed long enough to taste the stuff—"

"Kazemaru, I'm serious!!" The Uchiha exclaimed. He quickly cooled down and started to look down at his feet. "What if Nataro's…out of it? There are ninja who have gone insane after missions, you know."

"Aw, he's too _dumb_ to go insane at his age," the pyro mumbled as he approached a door and opened it. He looked around inside and saw nothing but an empty room. "Not in here," he mumbled as he shut the door. He never got to see the male attendant lying behind the door, unconscious.

"A lot of ninja go crazy from the stress of missions. Why else would this place be half hospital and half asylum?"

Kaze opened another door and peered in for just a second before he closed it. "Not in here, either… Maybe they have enough space in town for an asylum? I mean, we're supposed to have a rehabilitation center or something, aren't we?"

"Seriously, what if something's wrong with Nataro?"

The pyromanic genin turned around and pointed a finger at Hanzo, a frown on his face. "Would you _stop_ with all these bad vibes?! Honestly, you knew Nataro way before I did, and you're telling me you don't have any _faith_ in him? Some best friend _you_ are!! You should be ashamed—_ashamed_!! Taking the blame for what that stupid demon did… For the love of God, if you don't stop acting like a little bitch, I'll burn off your fuggin' ponytail!!!" Kazemaru slumped over slightly and began to pant heavily as the raven-haired boy sweatdropped and stared at him, completely silent. "You aren't the only one who's depressed about this, y'know! I'm pissed off because I couldn't do a _damn thing_ to help! I didn't do anything! So if I've gotta be Mr. Optimistic until Nataro gets back on his feet, I'll be Mr. Fuggin' Optimistic!! And if you know what's good for you, so will you!"

"Hey!! Keep it down out there!! I'm trying to sleep!!" A patient shouted from another room.

Hanzo immediately clapped his mouth over Kazemaru's mouth. "_Kaze_! You're going to make them find out we're here! It's bad enough that we had to sneak in here, but you making noise will make it _worse_!" He whispered, but the pyromanic genin pulled his hand off of his mouth and pushed the Uchiha back. "Kaze!"

"Don't you _'Kaze'_ me! I want you to stop moping around, damn it! Do I have to pull a Tsuki-sensei and threaten you with execution?"

The raven-haired boy arched an eyebrow. "You're joking."

"Hell no!! Now shut up and be happy, damn it!" Kaze shouted as he ran over to another door. "I can't stand seeing you depressed…" He opened it and a feminine shriek came from inside. A bed pan followed and struck the orange-haired genin in the face. "Ack!! Get it off, get it off!!" He shouted as he pulled it off of his head and threw it back into the room. "You're supposed to be in _bed_ when you use those, lady!" He slammed the door shut as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

Hanzo blinked in confusion. "You…really want me to be happy?"

"Sheesh, what sort of genius are you? _Yes_, I want you to be happy, stupid! I'm worried that you're gonna do something drastic…" He paused as he approached another door and looked inside. "Whoa!" He immediately slammed it shut and his eye began to twitch. "That's the kind of reason why they need _locks_ in places like this…"

"So, you honestly care about me, Kaze? That's…not like you." _'Did all those blows to the head shake up his mind?'_

The pyromanic genin frowned as he folded his arms across his chest. "Tell me about it. Either Nataro's rubbed off on me, I've had some sort of…realization, or…I could just be having head problems, seeing as how I was _hit upside the head with a steel club_—_two_ times!!" He calmed down and sighed, shaking his head. _'All I want is for everything to go back to normal between the three of us. And soon…'_ He walked over to another door and opened it. He looked inside and saw Nataro sleeping in bed. "Jackpot! Here he is!"

Hanzo approached the door and looked inside. His eyes softened slightly. "Yeah…"

They entered the room, Hanzo hesitating with every step he took. Eventually, he wound up beside the bed. "So…what now?"

"Hmmm…" Kazemaru suddenly pinched the blonde's cheeks and began to play with them. "Nataroooo! Yoo-hoo! You awake, Ramen Breath? Helloooooo in there!"

Hanzo slapped the orange-haired genin in the back of his head in order to get him to stop. "Don't do _that_! You're only gonna hurt him even more!"

"No, I won't! Besides, when could a simple cheek pinch seriously harm someone?" As if answering his question, Naruto began to stir in his sleep. The orange-haired genin blinked and released his cheeks before stepping away from the blonde.

"Ow!" Naruto sat up and rubbed his cheeks before he looked at Hanzo and Kazemaru. "Hm? Who are you guys? You don't look like..." His eyes widened slightly as he stared at Hanzo. "Sa...Sasuke!"

"Th-that's not funny, Nataro!!" The Uchiha shouted loudly as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Don't you _dare_ compare me to my grandfather!"

"Wait...you're not Sasuke."

"Thank you for noticing that!"

The blonde arched an eyebrow as he stared at the two genin. "...Who the hell are you guys?"

"You're... You're kidding, right?" Kazemaru laughed nervously. "Quit joking around, Nataro. So, you feeling better, Ramen Breath?"

"Nataro? I'm not Nataro."

The pyromanic genin blinked, confused. He looked at Hanzo out of the corner of his eye, then back at Naruto. "Okay, that's enough, Ramen Breath. You can stop now."

"I'm not kidding! Who's Nataro?"

"Kazemaru, I don't think he's joking," Hanzo mumbled as he grabbed Kaze's arm.

"Of course he is! I mean, if he isn't Nataro, then who the hell _does_ he think he is? ...Wait a minute. You don't think..." Kaze's eyes widened slightly. "That he's got amnesia or something?!"

"Amnesia?" Hanzo and Naruto mumbled as drops of sweat ran down the back of their heads.

"Yeah, that's why he doesn't know his own name anymore! That lady's jutsu made him forgot everything!"

A vein began to throb on the blonde's forehead. He jumped out of the bed and started to poke the orange-haired boy in the chest. "Hey, I remember my name!" He jabbed his thumb to his chest. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

Complete silence filled the room after that statement was made. Hanzo's eyes were wide, Kaze's eyes were reduced to little orange dots and Naruto arched an eyebrow, wondering what was wrong with these kids. The orange-haired genin spun around to whisper to his Uchiha teammate.

"Good God, that lady was right—whoever she was: Nataro's delirious."

"He thinks he's Hokage-sama? This is very serious!"

"Damn right! Nataro's finally cracked! All those blows to the head must have finally screwed his head up..."

Naruto frowned as he stared at Hanzo and Kazemaru. "Hey. I can _hear you_." Before the blonde could say anything else, Kazemaru was already shaking him furiously by his shoulders.

"Damn it, Nataro!! Come back to us! Remember who you are, Ramen Breath!!"

"D-damn it, Kaze, let me GO!!!" Naruto shouted loudly as he pushed the orange-haired genin back.

Kaze and Hanzo blinked at his outburst and remained silent for a while before Kaze started to hug him tightly. "You remember, you dumbass! You remember my name! What's _his_ name?" He pointed over to Hanzo, who was still afraid to get close to the blonde.

"Hanzo."

"Yes! And do you know who _we_ are?"

"Not a clue." Kazemaru fell backwards at that statement.

"WHAT THE FUG?!? How can you know our names but not know who _we_ are?!"

"I don't know!! I just remembered your names, that's all! Maybe we went to Ninja Academy together or something..."

"Of course we did, you idiot!! We graduated together!!"

Naruto arched an eyebrow while looking Kaze up and down. "What're you talking about? We didn't graduate together!"

"We're on the same team! Team 14? Remember?"

"Team...14?" The blonde folded his arms across his chest. "Sorry, but I'm on Team 7. And I'm _not_ this Nataro guy."

Before Kazemaru could say another word, Hanzo had grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the door. "Oh, we're sorry for the intrusion, um...what did you say your name was again?"

"Naruto."

The raven-haired genin started to nod his head as a nervous smile appeared on his face. "R-right! So sorry, Naruto-san! We'll just...try and find our friend's room, okay? You can go back to resting, now." Hanzo spun on his heel, push Kazemaru out of the door and quickly walked out.

"Dammit it, Hanzo!! Why'd you do that? I was making a breakthrough!" Kaze exclaimed as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Sshh!" The Uchiha hushed his teammate before he started to walk away from the door, Kazemaru walking behind him. "It's obvious that something's wrong with Nataro. We should leave his rehabilitation to the hospital."

"But...he remembered our _names_! How could he remember our names...but not us?" The pyro muttered as he walked behind Hanzo, arms folded across his chest. "It's pretty weird, don't ya think?"

"Maybe he only remembers a little bit. If we rush him in remembering, he might get worse."

"Yeah, but..." Kazemaru stopped walking as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head, "He thinks he's _the frickin' Rokudaime_. How can he get any worse than thinking he's a guy who's, like, a frickin' century older than him?"

"Let's hope that he'll get better soon..."

Meanwhile, inside of the room, '_Naruto'_ was lying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. "What is _wrong_ with this place? And those guys... How could I remember their names when I never even met them before?" He suddenly sat up and rubbed his temples. "Arrgh! What sort of medication have they got me on? I feel all mixed-up." He got to his feet and began to stretch. _'Everything's fine. No pains,'_ He lifted his shirt and tried to look at his body. _'No wounds, bandages or stitches...'_ "Granny Tsunade won't mind if I go out for a little walk...so long as they don't find out. Being cooped up in this place is making me feel..._weird_."

The blonde looked down at his current wardrobe: a mere blue shirt with the red Konoha swirl and a pair of boxers. "Eh? But I can't go out dressed like this! Hm!" Naruto formed a hand sign and in a poof of smoke, he was now wearing his usual outfit: an orange jumpsuit the Konoha spiral on the arms and on the back. Tied around his head was a Konoha hitai-ate. "All I have to do is get back before the Henge no jutsu wears off. Just a little walk around town, maybe some ramen at Ichiraku's and I'll be back here before anyone's the wiser..." He gave a broad smile as he walked over to the window. _'Man, am I smart or what?'_ The orange-clad blonde slid it open before jumping out.

**X-X-X**

Somewhere in Konoha, Naruto was leaning over the side of a bridge railing, enjoying his newfound freedom. It wasn't exactly hard to knock out his male nurse, sneak out of the hospital, get past the ANBU and change into some casual clothing. Of course, transforming to hide his identity was necessary for making sure his freedom lasted.

'_I don't know what Sakura was talking about… I feel just fine,'_ the Hokage thought as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. _'It was just a tired spell. Happens all the time.'_

"Come on, dear! We have to get to the graveyard before noon!" A woman called to her son from over her shoulder as she walked across the bridge.

"Do we have to? I get depressed every time we go see Dad…" The young man muttered as he walked at a slower pace than his mother, hands shoved in his pants pockets.

"Your father sacrificed his life so you could live to see another day! You oughta—"

"Be grateful and pay him back by going to see him. I _know_…" The young man muttered once he caught up to his mother and they continued walking.

Naruto's eyes softened as he looked back at his reflection. "How could I forget…? I should never have…" He pushed himself off of the railing and made his way back towards the town.

**X-X-X**

"Where are you going, Dad?"

Sasuke looked at Mai, who was holding a feather duster in her hand as she leaned over her father's shoulder. He looked away from her and continued to put on his sandals. "I'm going out for a walk."

"Oh. Are you bored?"

"Actually," The retired ninja looked up at his daughter, "I'm hoping you'll be gone once I come back." Mai pouted and bopped him lightly on the head with the feather duster. "Seriously, Mai, shouldn't you be at your own home?"

"Well...no one else is at home. Haseo's out somewhere with his friends. Amaya's on a mission. Shishiro's at the Academy. I'm just..." The raven-haired woman sniffled as her eyes began to look large and puppy-like and tears started to well up in them. "I'm so lonely!"

Sasuke sighed as he stood up and grabbed his cane. "Here it comes..." He muttered under his breath with half-lidded eyes just seconds before his daughter began to hug him from behind.

"So, I decided to pay you a visit, Daddy! So we can give each other some company, hm?" Mai's father sighed again, causing her to blink in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Unlike you, I like my solitude. I like being alone."

"Oh, come now! You don't really mean that. No one likes being alone."

Sasuke turned his head to look at his child again. "...I'm going."

"Huh? Wait!" Mai grabbed Sasuke's hand and pulled him back towards her. "Are you at least going to see Zen?"

The old Uchiha bowed his head slightly, eyes hidden by steel gray bangs.

"Today, it will have been…eight years since he died," She counted on her fingers. "You'll take Mom with you, though. Even if she always winds up breaking down…" The Uchiha woman stopped talking as Sasuke slid open the door, shaking slightly. "...Daddy? I'm sorry Daddy."

"Hn..." And with that, the retired ninja walked out of the house and slid the door shut quietly with an apathetic look on his face.

**X-X-X**

A while later at the Konoha hospital, Aiko blew her nose into a hanky as she sat in the waiting room, tears streamed down from her brown eyes. "Oh, Nataro! My baby! He's probably going to be in a coma for years—maybe forever!" The blonde sobbed some more as she wiped her tears on the sleeve of her blouse. She had been through hell—that bleached blonde bimbo, Yamanaka Inomi or whatever the hell her name was, had managed to take over her body. When Aiko had come to, she found herself lost on the other side of Konoha. It took a long time to get back to the hospital, and the worried mother was determined to stay there until her child woke up.

"Hm? What do you mean, Aiko-san? What happened to Nataro-san?" Asked Asura, who was sitting next to the older woman. The pink-haired girl had met her while she was trying to look for Nataro. When she said he was in the hospital, Asura decided to come with her because she thought they'd both go to see him. But so far, all they were doing was sitting down.

"Hm? Asura-chan, you don't know? Even though you've been here all this time?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head, "Nuh-uh."

"Nataro is... Oh... He's in a coma!" Aiko almost started to sob again, but she rubbed her forming tears on her sleeve again. Asura blinked in confusion, apparently not getting it. "Asura-chan...do you know what a coma is?"

"Coma? Coma... Oh! Comas are those little dashes that you use in sentences!" The pink-haired girl chirped, thinking that she had given the right answer.

Aiko sweatdropped as she stared at the girl with wide eyes. "No, sweetie, that's a _comma_. A _coma_ is when...is when someone goes to sleep and can't be woken up."

Asura's eyes widened. "Can't...be woken up. So that means... Nataro-san is _dead_!!" Tears began to fill her eerie eyes before she let out an ear-shattering wail, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Aiko grabbed her ears and gritted her teeth. From the sound of the pink-haired girl's scream, it could probably break _glass_! "Asura... Asura-chan! C-calm down!"

Asura stopped screaming, which was a relief to all those in the vicinity. The white-clad girl hiccupped several times as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Nataro-san is dead...!" She whined as she clung onto Aiko's arm and cried into it.

"What is all this _noise_ about?" A male voice asked as the footsteps approached the two females. Both Aiko and Asura looked up to see Matsu standing in front of them, arms folded across his chest. "Kazaki-san, what did you do to Asura-chan?" The poor medic nin just couldn't seem to get a moment of peace and quiet in this hospital today...

"_What_?! I did nothing wrong to her whatsoever! All I said was that Nataro was in a coma and may...NEVER WAKE UP!!!" The blonde began cry again and was soon joined by Asura.

"When someone never wakes up, they die! Right, Matsu-san?" The pink-haired girl hiccupped as she looked up at the blue-haired man.

"No, no! Nataro could still wake up and be just fine any day now!" Matsu spoke as he tried to get the girl to stop crying. "Honestly! He'll be back on his feet before you know it!"

Asura sniffled and hiccupped again as she pouted. "He won't die?"

"No."

"No?"

"No. He _will_ be okay." _'I hope.'_ The medic added mentally. He didn't want to tell Asura that there was a chance that Nataro would never actually wake up. The girl was fond of the loud blonde, and to say that would surely break her heart.

"Matsu-sempai."

"Hm?" Matsu turned around to see a tall young man with spiky black hair and dark purple eyes, wearing the usual medic nin uniform. "Kisho. What's the problem?" Kisho usually worked in the morgue, working on the dead bodies of ninja. The boy hardly ever came up in the daytime, which made him slightly creepy to several other people who worked in the hospital.

"Hikari-san sent me to tell you something about Kazaki Nataro," Kisho drawled, glancing at Asura and Aiko.

"Ah! Nataro? What did she say, what did she say?!" The blonde woman shouted as she jumped out of her seat, almost pushing Matsu down.

"_Kazaki-san_! ...Now, what is it about Nataro?"

"We've lost him."

At that moment, silence filled the room and a cold wind seemed to blow through it. A few seconds later, Aiko was on the floor, on her knees, crying to heavens, "Why, God, _why_?! Why did you have to take him from me?!"

"Was it something I said?" Kisho mumbled as he and Matsu stared at the crying woman.

Asura blinked, confused. "How could you lose him? Nataro-san is asleep, isn't he?"

"Oh, Asura-chan, don't you get it? When doctors say they've lost someone, that means the person is...is..._dead_!!" Aiko sobbed as she held her hand close to her chest.

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened and tears began to fill her eyes. Matsu turned around to face Kisho with a grave look on his face. "Is this true, Kisho?"

"No."

"But you said that Hikari-san said that you lost Nataro."

"Right. We've lost him. He's disappeared from his room and ran off somewhere. The window was open, so he may be in town," said the younger man.

Matsu breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness... I was worried for a minute." He turned around to face Aiko, who was still crying loudly, and Asura, who had settled to crying silently. "Aiko-san! Asura-chan! He's not dead!"

"Uwaaaaah— Huh? He's not...dead?" Aiko whispered, suddenly up in the blue-haired shinobi's face.

"No, he's alive!"

"But he said that—"

"We lost him," Kisho completed for her. "_Literally_. His room's empty and we can't find him on his room floor. We think he's somewhere outside."

Asura gave a squeal of joy as she bounced up and down in her seat. "Nataro-san is alive, alive, alive!"

"Yes! Thank God...! Wait a minute." A vein began to throb on Aiko's forehead as she glared at Matsu and Kisho. "Did you say you _lost_ my son?" She spoke through gritted teeth. Matsu and Kisho sweatdropped as they slowly nodded. "What sort of messed up hospital is this?! You'd better find my son soon, or I'm gonna put _you_ in here!"

Matsu stepped back from the woman. _'If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was a kunoichi with that temper…!'_ Kisho tapped on his shoulder, making him turn around to face him. "What now?"

"I guess this is also a bad time to tell you that Hokage-sama is also missing."

"What?!"

The mortician nodded. "I was coming up from the morgue when one of the nurses went running by saying how Homage-sama knocked him and escaped."

The blue-haired man gave a groan and rubbed the temples of his forehead. "We're having bad luck today when it comes to patients…! Sakura-sama's going to bite our heads off!"

"Bummer. It's times like this that I'm glad I work with dead people…" Kisho mumbled as he walked away.

**X-X-X**

At the moment, Nataro—er, _'Naruto' _was sitting on a rooftop somewhere in Konoha, staring up at the clear blue sky. He suddenly growled under his breath and frowned. "What the heck happened to the village?! Did they just decide to renovate all of a sudden when I was out?! First I find my apartment's gone…and I can't even find Ichiraku's!! What gives?!" He screamed up to the sky. "Has the world gone weird on me or something?!" He then looked at the mountainside monument to the Hokage and counted the heads. "One…three…four…five…_six_?!" He almost fell off of the roof when he spotted the six rock head. "Grandma Tsunade's old mug wasn't even up there when I left! Now there's a _Rokudaime_?!"

A cloud of sadness formed over the blonde boy's head as he slumped over. _'It isn't fair… __**I**__ wanted to be the Rokudaime Hokage!!'_ "But wait a minute! Just how long was I out?! Months? …_Years_?!" He grabbed his head and started to shake it wildly. "AAAAHHH!!! Damn it!! I wish I could find _somebody_ who'd tell me what the hell's going on!!"

**X-X-X**

From the moment Nataro woke up, he felt something was wrong. It was probably that big bright light that seemed to shine and stand out in the ominous darkness. "Am I…_dead_? Because they say you see a light at the end of a dark tunnel when you die… It looks so inviting…!"

"**You aren't dead,"** a familiar, nearby voice growled, making warm air waft over the blonde genin.

"Huh?" Nataro blinked and sat up. The light wasn't the light leading to the other side, but the spotlight that shone down from some unknown source. He was inside of himself, and the Kyuubi no Kitsune was standing right in front of him. "Hey. What am I doing in here?"

"**That's what **_**I**_** would like to know,"** the fox demon muttered as its eyes focused on the blonde boy. **"Do you know how long you've been lying in here?"**

"...Lying? I know I was knocked out, but…why would I wind up in _here_? Shouldn't I be sleeping _outside_ in a _bed_?" Nataro asked it with an arched eyebrow.

"**Well, you simply aren't feeling like yourself today…"** The Kyuubi chuckled darkly.

The genin stared at the bijuu for a while until his eyes grew in realization, then they narrowed as he glared at the demonic vulpine. "What did you do?"

"**Why is it that you assume that every time something bad happens to you, it's **_**my**_** fault? You're the one who taps into **_**me**_**, remember?"**

"TELL ME WHAT THE _HELL_ YOU DID, YOU DAMN FOX!!!"

"**Nothing, you ungrateful brat. Something **_**else**_** is in control of you right now. Something that's been with you from the very beginning of your life. Can you guess what it is?" **The blonde boy just looked confused. **"Your memories."**

"…What?"

"**Must I explain this to you? The memories of your old life took hold, most likely because of that bridge. It was there that something important occurred in your old life."**

Nataro blinked. "Gramps' memories…? The bridge…? But why? How could this happen? None of this is making sense!"

"**Of course not. It was only a guess, but a sound guess, after all. Besides, it doesn't make sense for a stupid human boy to house the most powerful bijuu inside of his puny body."**

The genin frowned and folded his arms across his chest before looking up at the bijuu. "I'm gonna ignore that insult in that sentence and agree with you—for once." His hands fell back to his sides and he began to pace around the steel floor in a circle. "So, in some weird way…it's like _Gramps_ has possessed me."

"**No, it's your old memories that have possessed you, **_**Naruto**_**. You just don't know which ones have done it."**

"How am I gonna gain back control?"

"**You can't."**

Nataro stopped walking in a circle and looked up at the tailed beast in shock. "What?!"

"**Unless you accept the fact that you're Naruto, you'll never regain control of this body. And since you keep denying it…" **A broad grin broke out across the Kyuubi's face. **"**_**You're never getting out**_**! Heh-heh…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"**

Nataro clenched his fists and growled. "What the hell are _you_ laughing for?!"

"**Your current circumstances! How does it feel, being trapped in here? You could only imagine what it's like to spend years in here with no one to talk to but an idiot child, then shunned and pushed down because he feels he no longer needs you!!"**

The blonde genin gave a snort as he spun on his heel and walked away. "Whatever! I'm gonna go find a way _outta this place_!" He spoke through gritted teeth as he started to stomp away from the Kyuubi. He suddenly stopped walking and turned his head to look at the bijuu. "Uh… Are there any other places in here?"

"**We're inside of **_**you**_**. You've seen it before. Nothing's inside here but me. Did you expect a passage way to suddenly pop up from out of nowhere?"**

At that moment, the sound of metal twisting and grinding loudly met their ears. Turning around, Nataro's jaw dropped at the sight of what appeared to be an archway metal forming all on its own. After a few seconds of shock, Nataro's jaw dropped. "Wow…" He cautiously approached the archway and looked inside to find several unseen spotlights from above shining light down to reveal a path. "Nothing else but you, huh?"

"**That's…interesting,"** the Kyuubi mumbled as its host walked into the archway and walked down the path. **"This place is far more interesting than I thought."**

**X-X-X**

In the real world, the memory-possessed Nataro was simply walking around Konoha, letting his feet carry him to any place but the hospital. First he went to the Academy, which looked like it was built differently. Then he got a look of the Hokage's Tower from a rooftop while wondering if he should go see the current Hokage about his predicament. He decided against it and wound up walking in the direction where he, Sasuke and Sakura had to take a pair of bells from Kakashi as part of their survival test or be dropped from the program. Now there were _two_ memorial stones instead of one—the first stone completely filled up with as many names as possible and the second filled up halfway on one side.

'_I really must have been asleep for a long time,'_ the orange-clad blonde thought as he was walking somewhere else. He looked up and saw the sign for the Konoha cemetery. A frightening thought then popped up in his mind: had any of his friends died…?

"Ha! What am I thinking? Of course they're not dead! It couldn't have been _that_ long!" His eyes darted back up to the cemetery sign and he gulped. The memory-possessed boy pouted. "Still…just to _prove it_ to myself…I'll go take a look…"

**X-X-X**

Within the cemetery, Sasuke stood in front of the gravestone with half-lidded eyes, staring down at the name Uchiha Zen apathetically. He placed his hands together and bowed his head, bangs hiding his eyes. After a few seconds, the Uchiha patriarch heard footsteps. He thought it was just another person coming to pay their respects—maybe Kotoyo or Hanzo…

"Sasuke."

"…Go…Away." Sasuke spoke flatly as he kept his eyes closed.

Naruto frowned and shifted the plastic bag in his hand. "This is a _public_ place, you know. You can't tell me to go away." He looked down at the cane lying next to the Uchiha, then at the flowers placed on the gravestone. "You didn't tell Sakura you were coming here?"

"…If you must know…whenever we come here, she starts crying and never seems to stop until the end of the day. I'm doing a favor for both of us."

"Oh. I see." The elderly Rokudaime made his way over to the grave that was next Zen's and, with some effort, got on his knees. After getting over a slight twinge of pain, he placed his hands together and began to speak. "Hey there! Sorry if I didn't come by sooner. Work has been murder, as usual…and Tsubaki-chan doesn't make it any easier. Not to mention the people at the hospital who keep saying something's wrong with me, but you don't think that…right?" He smiled as he reached into the plastic bag hanging on his arm. "Anyway, I brought you your favorite!" He pulled out a daifukumochi wrapped up in a wrapper that he got from a convenience store, still in its plastic wrapping. He opened the wrapper and put the bean cake down on the gravestone, saying, "Strawberry filling! Okay, it's not homemade, but…it's the thought that counts. I'll make it up to you next year, okay?"

Sasuke finally opened his eyes to glare at the Hokage out of the corner of his eye. "There's no point in talking to the dead."

"That's what _you_ think. But _I_ think that he likes having someone speak to him," Naruto looked at the Uchiha with a smile. "Zen might like it, too, if you actually spoke to him for once." He then arched an eyebrow as he saw someone walking towards them. His jaw dropped when the person was close enough. "What the hell?! Wh-who the hell is that, Sasuke?!"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "What the hell are you babbling about _now_…?" He grumbled as he looked in the same direction as Naruto. His eyes widened as what appeared to be a _young Naruto_ walked in their direction. "What…?" When the young Naruto got closer, the Uchiha's face went back to its usual apathetic expression. "That's only Nataro."

The young blonde's eyebrow twitched. "It's _Naruto_! Not _Nataro_!"

Naruto blinked. "Nataro? What're you doing here? You're supposed to be at the hospital!" He didn't notice the look Sasuke was giving him, as if saying _'so are you'._

"Huh?" The memory-possessed blonde stopped behind the old men and stared at them in confusion. "You talking to me, old man?"

Naruto's eye twitched. "Who you callin' _'old man',_ you little…?"

"He calls you _'Gramps'_ and it's _'old man'_ that pushes you over the edge?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"Hmmm…" Nataro stared at the fan symbol on the back of Sasuke's yukata. After a few seconds, he stumbled back and pointed a finger at the old man. "W-wait a second!! How come you have Sasuke's clan symbol on your clothes?! He's the only one who's part of the Uchiha clan!! Why do _you_ have it?!"

"Probably because _it's my clan_."

"Liar!! The only Uchiha in Konoha is Sasuke!!" In less than a second, he was whacked on the head by Sasuke's cane.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and growled, "I _am_ Uchiha Sasuke, you little _dope_! And for your information, _he's _Naruto."

Nataro looked at Naruto. "…AS IF!!! There's only _one_ Uzumaki Naruto and he's _not_ some old geezer!!"

"_Old geezer_?!" Naruto growled as a dark look appeared in his eyes, a vein throbbing slowly on his forehead. He picked Nataro up off of the ground by the collar of his shirt and got to his feet. "I can take you calling me _'Gramps'_ and you saying you're _me_, but calling me _'an old geezer'_?!" He balled up a fist and punched the boy in the head. "RESPECT the Rokudaime!!! You little BRAT!!!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the confines of his mind…or body…or soul…whatever you could call the place he was walking through, Nataro continued walking down the spiraling road that had several doors floating along the path that didn't seem to connect to a room. He opened one door and set foot inside, setting foot onto a pond without meaning to. "Wh-whoa! Oh…" He tapped his foot on the water. Apparently, he was standing on the water without trying to.

"ARRRGH!!!" A cry of pain drew Nataro's attention. The source was a young man who looked a lot like Nataro—if he was a few years older with whisker-like markings on his cheeks—wearing only a pair of boxers and a necklace around his neck. He was rolling on the ground in front of a small pond that was surrounded by stone frog statues. "I think I've got internal bleeding!"

"Are you giving up already? Jiraiya-chan never complained as much as you did," said the little green frog standing next to the young man.

"Hey! I know a better way to do this!" The blonde exclaimed as he sat up. "I'll just use Kage Bunshin, and then I'll get more experience faster!"

"But you also experience everything your clones experience. Meaning that if one of them was to turn into a frog, so would you!"

"I know that."

The old frog muttered something under his breath before he responded, "Alright, but no more than four!"

"Right!" The blonde teen formed a hand sign and three clones of himself appeared around him. The blonde and his clones began to sit completely still, as if they were meditating.

Nataro stared at the scene with half-lidded eyes. "What sort of thing is _this_ supposed to be…?" _'Looks boring to me.'_

"Ow!!"

"Ouch!!"

"Argh!!"

"Ack!!"

Nataro looked back up to find that the old frog had whacked his older look-alike and his clones with a thick wooden staff.

"This is ridiculous…! You're supposed to be training, not playing _Whack-a-mole_!" The frog berated the blonde, whose face was swollen with a lot of lumps and bruises despite only being hit once. For some reason, the old frog's eyes widened and he whacked the blonde teen on the head again.

"OW!! My face looks like this from being _hit_, not 'cuz I'm turning into a frog!!" The blonde cried as he held onto his bruised face.

Nataro had to stifle a laugh once he realized who the guy was. "Gramps? Oh, man…! Talk about hilarious!" He stepped back out onto the path and walked up to another door. "What's behind Door #2?" He opened the door just as a sunshine yellow blur zoomed past. "Whoa! What was that?"

"Hahaha!! Can't catch _me_!!"

"Get back here, Naruto!!" A tan-skinned man with brown hair set up in a spiky ponytail and a scar running across his nose, wearing the common green flak jacket and blue pants shouted as he ran past Nataro.

"Say, that's that Iruka guy I see in some of my dreams," the blonde genin said as he walked out into the hallway.

Seconds later, Iruka was walking back down the hall, holding onto the arms of a 7-year old child with sunny blonde hair and whisker-like markings wearing a white shirt and black pants. "You are going to clean up that mess you wrote on the wall outside, and _then_ you're going to apologize to Inoue-sensei!"

Little Naruto muttered something under his breath as he squinted his eyes in irritation.

Nataro walked back out into the hallway and closed the door. He looked further down the hall at the dozens and dozens of doors that lined up the path. "Are _all_ of these Gramps' memories?" _'Where are mine?'_ He walked up to yet another door and opened it to find an adult Naruto _trying_ to bath a little strawberry blonde boy that looked like him.

"Come on, get…in there!" Naruto growled as the little boy, who looked like a 2-year old, thrashed about in his grip as he held him out over the water. "Geez, you act like I'm gonna drown you or something!"

"No!!" The baby boy shrieked as he thrashed even more, trying to hit the blonde man in the face. "Lemme go!"

"Hey, cut that out! If you keep acting up like this, I'll drop you off at Auntie Sakura's and you can bathe with Naota-chan again!" The baby boy suddenly fell limp, his eyes reduced to small, blank white dots. Naruto gave a confident smile as he placed the child in the bathtub. "That's what I thought…" He scooped some water up in a small bowl and poured it onto the child's head before he started to soap it up. The kid didn't fuss about it because he was having fun playing with the rubber duck and the boat in the bathtub.

"Duckieziwa!" The baby boy exclaimed as he splashed the duck in the water, getting Naruto wet. "Duckieziwa! Duckieziwa! Duckieziwa!"

The blonde man could only smile as he sweatdropped at the child's exuberance. "I don't know who you get it from…but it's sure as hell as not _me_."

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "What is this…? Is that kid Gramps' own?" He stepped out and closed the door behind him. "Who's the mom, then?" He walked over to another door and opened it. The sight he saw made him want to go blind. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Unfortunately, his screaming wouldn't stop the two people in front of him making out on the bed in front of him. He could just barely make out Naruto's blonde hair in the moonlight, but he didn't see the woman.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!" The woman shouted as she began to reach her peak. Nataro could make out her hands gripping onto the blonde man's back from the light coming through the window as their bodies continued moving.

'_I know I should look away…! I mean, this is __**Gramps**__! But…it's like I'm watching a train wreck…!'_ A light blush appeared on Nataro's face as he heard some grunts and colorful language that he had only seen in the graphic sex books Kazemaru read—so because of that, he had a _pretty good idea_ of what was going on in the darkness.

"Na…Narutoooo!!"

"Sa…Sakura!"

Nataro suddenly froze. _'Sakura? It couldn't be...! No __**way**__ could it be!'_

"That…was…! Sasuke _never_ did it like that!" The woman gasped for breath as she sat up, the moonlight revealing pink hair and glazed over green eyes and red cheeks.

In less than a second, the orange-clad genin darted out of the room and slammed the door behind him. His breathing was heavy and his heart pounded against his chest. _'Sakura-san…and Gramps…did the __**nasty**__?!'_ "My eyes…! My poor virgin eyes…!" Nataro cried as he fell to his knees, holding onto his face. "I don't even wanna know _why_ they were doing that…! I just hope there aren't any other fresh memories like that…and I never dream about it, either!" He walked up to another door and opened it. The blonde boy stepped inside, mentally muttering, _'Please don't have any sex. Please don't have any sex…'_

Thankfully, it wasn't a smutty memory this time. Instead, it was in a hospital room, where a young Naruto, as old as Nataro was, sat in his bed covered up in bandages from head to toe. Standing at the window on the other end of the room was a tall man with long, white hair put in a long ponytail, wearing a red vest, a long-sleeved green shirt and pants the same color, red geta and a horned hitai-ate around his head.

"I came by because I have something important to tell you," the man—the name _'Jiraiya'_ pops up in Nataro's head immediately—spoke.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Important?"

"From now on, you're my only student. I need to make you a full-fledged shinobi in three years time."

A smile broke out across the bandaged up blonde's face. "F-for real?! You're really gonna train me?!"

"Yes."

"Alright!!" Naruto held up a clenched fist. "I'll train hard, so I can get strong enough to bring Sasuke back—!"

"Look…" Jiraiya spoke sternly, breaking the boy out of his thoughts. "You need to forget about Sasuke…"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wh... What?!"

"Sasuke wasn't forced to go to Orochimaru. He went of his own free will. No matter what you do, he's not going to change." The white-haired man closed his eyes. "Thinking that you can bring him back is a hopeless delusion. It's a fool's errand."

"Sasuke may not mean anything to you, Ero-Sennin, but he's my friend!! And I—!"

"Do friends hurt their comrades?!" Jiraiya shouted as he looked at the blonde boy over his shoulder, startling him. When Naruto fell silent again, he looked back out the window and continued, "It was destined to happen… Just forget about him and move on. It takes more than strength and jutsu to be a shinobi. You must also have judgment to make the right decisions. You need to become smarter. Because the longer you remain a fool, the harder it will be for you to survive."

Naruto slumped over, bangs hiding his eyes. He was shaking with Nataro thought was rage—that's what he would do if someone just told him to forget about _his_ friends. Surprisingly, though…the bandaged up blonde stopped shaking and sighed. "Alright… If that's what being smarter means…I'd rather be a fool for life!!" He shouted as he looked up at the man with a determined look in his eyes. Jiraiya looked shocked as the boy continued, "I don't care if you train me or not! I'll get stronger by myself! I'll create even more amazing jutsu, so I can bring Sasuke back!!"

The white-haired man remained silent for a while, staring out the window until he finally spoke, "Just the thought of leaving you to create jutsu on your own… The best you'd come up with is another one of those sexy jutsu…"

"What?!"

"But… This is more than just foolish—it's _colossally foolish_. So much so that it might work!" Jiraiya looked back at the bandaged up boy with a grin. "So, what do you say?"

Naruto stared at him in shock for a few seconds before he started grinning as well. "Okay!"

Nataro stepped out of the memory and closed the door behind him. He leaned against it and sighed as a sad look appeared in his eyes. "I'm starting to wonder…if I'm just a part of Gramps' soul…what am I? Should I even be existing like this…?"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the streets of Konoha, Kazemaru was holding his head. Swirls were spinning around in the pyromanic genin's eyes as he leaned against a stone wall. "I don't know how Nataro does it... Being Mr. Optimistic is harder than it looks!"

"I guess the optimism gene is something that you're born with," Hanzo shrugged. "You could still try, you know."

"Tch. Forget trying. Being optimistic just isn't in my system. I'd rather be Mr. Sarcasm any old day." Kaze mumbled as he pushed himself off the wall. "Hey, wanna go get something to eat? You'll have to chip in for your part, though."

"O-oh. No thanks. I'm just gonna go home. I really need some rest." The raven-haired genin turned his back on the pyro and started to walk away. "Later."

"Yeah, later..."

As its container walked away from his teammate, the Kaijuu spoke, **"You aren't going home. You're going to see that old man again, aren't you?"**

'_Maybe. Why do you care?'_

"**I don't. I just wonder why you would bother going back after what happened."**

'_You mean my aunt striking my grandfather again?'_

"**No, I mean your grandfather **_**trying**_** something. Like hypnotizing you into doing evil deeds for him."**

Hanzo stopped walking and arched an eyebrow. _'That sounds more like something __**you**__ would do to me.'_

"**There is **_**evil**_** in those eyes! Pure, unadulterated evil!"**

'_Considering the fact that you're __**imitating**__ those eyes, you're one to talk. And if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were afraid of my grandfather.'_

"**Me. Afraid of some old man? You must be delusional," **the Beast chuckled darkly.** "I'm merely saying is that I'm suspicious of his methods... And I didn't like the way he looked at me."**

'_I don't like the way he looks at me sometimes, either. But you don't hear me whining about it.'_

"'_**Whining'**_**? Would you like it if you suddenly had my hand coming out of your mouth, an eye, or more snakes?"**

Hanzo suddenly stopped walking. He had a tinge of blue on his face as an air of gloom surrounded him. "Ugh..."

In the Uchiha's mind, the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu nodded approvingly. **"That's what I thought."**

"Damn beast...! Pull something like that in public and we'll _both_ be in trouble!" He whispered to himself as he shook at the thought. He wondered if Nataro had to go through what he did or if he just found out about the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Before he could think any further on the subject, the young Uchiha was pushed forward and almost fell down. "H-hey, who did that...? Ina."

Ina stood behind her cousin, an apathetic look on her face that reminded the boy of their grandfather. "Hanzo. Finally decided to stop being a crybaby and come outside, huh?"

"Uh... Y-yeah."

"So, how's Nataro?"

Hanzo blinked at his cousin's question. "Huh? Why are you asking me?"

The Uchiha girl stepped up to him and leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "Because I know you've been to see him. That's probably the only reason why you came out in the first place."

"...Yes," he lied. The only reason he came out was because his mother had sent him to his grandfather's. If not for that, he would've stayed inside of his room with the window shut and his door locked. "But...why do you want to know how Nataro feels? I thought you hated him."

"Sure I do. But after what I heard about what he did in Nami no Kuni...I'm interested in him." Ina placed a loose strand of hair behind her hair while her cousin arched an eyebrow. "You know what he did, don't you?"

Hanzo froze in fright, appearing slightly blue in the face. If his thoughts _were_ true, then that would mean that Nataro held the Kyuubi no Kitsune and if he told someone that, then who knows what would happen? "Um..."

"Hanzo. I know that _you_ know what happened. Now tell me, or I will resort to methods that are _very_ harmful to your _health_," the Uchiha girl spoke darkly as a small vein throbbed on her forehead. Her eyes narrowed and Hanzo felt his blood run cold for a split second.

"**What sort of weakling are you? Afraid of a girl when she said she would hurt you... I'm **_**ashamed**_** that I was reborn inside of you..."**

"_Hanzo_."

"I'm...not sure _what_ happened, actually. Nataro snapped and he just started to go wild on that ninja." Hanzo shrugged as gave nervous smile. "Sorry I couldn't be of any help. Bye." He turned around to leave, but Ina merely grabbed the back of his ponytail and tugged on it hard. "Ack!!"

"I know you're lying, idiot!"

"Honestly, I'm not!! I'm telling the truth!"

"Liar! You must know because you'd be one of the _first_ to go see him!"

"I couldn't even see him _now_. He's...not right in the head!"

Ina stopped pulling on her cousin's ponytail and arched an eyebrow. "Not right in the head?"

"Y-yeah... He's a bit...weird right now. At least, that's what Aunt Hikari told me when I tried to go see him." The young Uchiha gave a sigh of relief. His statement caused the Uchiha girl to release his ponytail.

"...Okay." The Uchiha girl folded her arms across her chest. "But you _better _tell me when he's out of the hospital. I've got a couple of questions for him." She then turned around and walked away as thought nothing had happened.

"Geez...! Some times, she can be so violent..." He started to dust himself off as the Kaijuu chuckled darkly in his mind.

"**You are **_**so**_** pathetic! But...it's so amusing to watch you fail!"**

The young Uchiha narrowed his eyes as a vein throbbed on his forehead. _'I'd love to see __**you**__ try to handle her. Just for that, I hope Grandfather does something to you!!'_

**X-X-X**

Naruto and Sasuke sighed for what the still-possessed blonde boy thought was the hundredth time since they came to the park. The two old men decided that rather than disturb people who were visiting the cemetery, they would interrogate Nataro somewhere else.

"I'm starting to think that this is all just a dream…" The boy mumbled as he sat in the middle of the bench. "Or there's something wrong with you old geezers. What's the big deal just dragging me over here when I keep telling you that _I'm_ Naruto?!"

"Would you be quiet, you little brat?!" Naruto hissed as he bopped Nataro on the head. "You keep saying that you're me, but I was never that annoying when I was your age!"

Sasuke gave him a half-lidded stare. "You must be going senile if you honestly believe that."

"I wasn't!"

Nataro arched an eyebrow and began to stare at the Rokudaime. "What're you trying to say? You're my future self or something…?"

"I never said that! We're not related in _any_ way, whatsoever!" Naruto exclaimed.

Unfortunately, Nataro wasn't listening as he was busy smiling and thinking aloud. "You said you're the Rokudaime! That means I finally became Hokage, right? So everyone's gotta listen to _me _from now on! Heh-heh-heh!"

"Didn't you hear me? I'm _not_ your future self!"

The orange-clad genin stared up at him with squinted eyes. It was weird how much Nataro resembled him at the moment. "Eh? But you look so much like me if I were old! All old and wrinkly…" The boy started to tug on Naruto's cheek until his hand was slapped aside. "And Sasuke looks old and wrinkly, too!" He exclaimed, taking hold of Sasuke's free hand. "He's even got liver spots like old man Sandaime did…!"

Though his face was apathetic, a small vein throbbed on Sasuke's forehead. Electricity surged from his hand and into Nataro's, sending several volts into the boy's body. When the boy fell on the ground, he just leaned back and sighed.

"How could you do that, Sasuke?! Shocking the poor, deluded boy!!" Naruto shouted with wide eyes. "I didn't think you were so sensitive about your age."

"I am not. He was asking for it. Besides, a little shock might help him recover."

"Yeah, or make him _worse_…" The Rokudaime leaned back and sighed, closing his eyes. "But still…how did he know about all those things?"

"Hanzo must have told him. Sakura always tells the kids about our childhood."

"She wouldn't tell them about that…_thing_!" Naruto cringed.

Sasuke's eye twitched. That _thing_ was a dreaded event from their childhood they had hoped was forgotten over the years…and it seemed that Nataro wished for that, too, from the expression on his face when he spoke.

"That awful kiss…! Only the people from our class know about that…and I'm pretty sure that Sakura immediately pushed that out of her mind…" _'I kinda envy her for that.'_ "How can you explain _that_?"

"What do _you_ think he is? A _clone_?" The Uchiha Patriarch snorted. "Don't be so stupid."

Nataro suddenly sat up. "I…I remember something…! The last thing I remember was fighting with Sasuke at the Valley of the End…and he used Chidori…and rammed his hand through my shoulder." He flinched as if the wound was still there.

Naruto stared at the boy, wide-eyed. Sasuke simply arched an eyebrow. "Which shoulder…did he hit in…?" The elderly blonde mumbled.

"Up…here…" At the same time, Naruto and Nataro's hands reached up to and held their left shoulders. The thought of that day made the older blonde think the pain was still there.

"What _are_ you…?" He spoke softly.

"I keep telling you that I'm Naruto! Why don't you believe me already?!"

"The Valley of the End is the last thing you remember? Honestly?" Sasuke asked the boy. "Then you can't possibly be Naruto—at least, not the _real_ one, since that happened over 50 years ago."

Nataro growled under his breath and jabbed a thumb to his chest. "Damn it!! If I say I'm Uzumaki Naruto, then I _am_!! Who _else_ would I be?!"

"The question would be _'what else would you be?'_."

**X-X-X**

Nataro didn't know how long he had been searching for a way out of this…_place_. Probably hours, or days, maybe even _months! _…Well, maybe not months exactly, but it sure felt like a hell of a long time since he'd started looking in on Naruto's memories. It probably only felt like it was taking forever because he had been through so many doors that he had lost count.

The young blonde had seen Konohagakure being invaded by Otogakure and Sunagakure, Naruto learning how to perform a jutsu called the Rasengan—which Nataro made a mental note of to try learning it once he was free—the climactic showdown with Sasuke in the Valley of the End, yelling at a strawberry blonde man for not giving him grandchildren, his first day at Ninja Academy, his return to Konoha after three years of training with Jiraiya, his childhood attempt at getting Sakura to kiss him, his mourning someone in a state of drunkenness, and—a surprise for Nataro—him catching a 5-year old Nataro pre-Academy, stuck on the Rokudaime's face on the mountainside monument to the Hokage…among many others that seemed to be getting lost amongst the new ones with each intake. But the bizarre thing was that these memories weren't placed in any clear order. It was like someone was everything was all jumbled up, like his memories were placed in any old spot in no order whatsoever.

And yet…Nataro hadn't seen any of _his_ old memories. He wasn't even sure if the last one had counted since it was Naruto's as well. The young blonde leaned against the steel door and stared down at the path sadly with half-lidded eyes. "Why is it that only Gramps' memories are here…? I haven't seen any of mine… I wish…I had something that proves that I'm _me_…" Nataro looked over at the door on the other side of the path. _'Maybe there's something in there.'_ He walked up to the door and touched it. _'Show me that I'm me!'_ He pushed it open and ran inside into…nothingness. Red and black rippled in the void where nothing seemed to be. "What…?"

"Is this going to work…?" He heard a voice echoing. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, though. "I mean…if it wasn't so small, I would feel comfortable about this…"

"It_ will_ work. Even if it's just a small piece of the original's soul, there will still be a link between them," another slightly distorted voice spoke. "That way, it will be able to get stronger by drawing from the original."

"That makes sense…I guess…"

"Now, be quiet and concentrate…"

Nataro looked around frantically. "What's _this_…? What're they talking about…?" His vision suddenly became blurry, and then it became black. "Hey!!"

What followed was the sound of a baby crying that startled Nataro as he felt something touching him.

"Look at him… So small…" He heard a woman speak softly, sounding tired. He felt someone touching his hair, running their finger across his face. Eventually, he opened his eyes—he didn't even remember closing them—and found himself staring up into the face of a tired-looking woman with blonde strands of hair stick to her face with sweat, whose golden brown eyes stared down at him lovingly. "What lovely eyes my baby has…"

The baby stopped screaming just as Nataro realized something. _'Mom…'_

**X-X-X**

"For the last time, what are you?" Sasuke grumbled as he glared at Nataro.

The blonde boy narrowed his eyes and frowned. "I keep telling you! I'm Na—" He suddenly stopped speaking and his eyes glazed over.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Nataro?" The blonde boy suddenly fell over. "Nataro!!"

**X-X-X**

"Nnn…" Nataro blinked his eyes open and was happy to see fluorescent lights on a white ceiling. He was back in the hospital…and back in control of himself. He tried to sit up, but found himself unable to. Looking down, he could see why. He was strapped down to the bed. "What the hell?! Don't tell me they thought I was crazy so they strapped me down!!" He struggled to sit up a bit.

At that moment, the door was forced open and Hanzo and Kazemaru rushed inside frantically, Tsuki walking in behind them.

"NATARO!!!" The purple-haired woman screamed. "What the hell were you thinking when you broke out of the hospital or something?! Did you think it would be _cool_ or something?! HUH?!"

"Sensei, there's no point in screaming! Nataro's not even awake!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he tried to hold back his buxom teacher. Whether he could have down that without putting his face into her breasts, who knows?

Hanzo blinked as he looked at the blonde boy. "He's awake!!"

"What?! Uh-oh…!" Kaze was then pushed aside by Tsuki, who made her way over to her blonde student and flicked him in the forehead.

"Ow!! Tsuki-sensei! I have something _incredible_ to tell you!"

"It better be why you ran away from the hospital and _not_ that you're Uzumaki Naruto!! Or else…" She leaned closer towards him, narrowing her eyes. "_Execution_!" She hissed.

Rather than quake in fear of his sensei, Nataro sniffed. "Sensei…why does your breath smell like saké?"

"Sorry, Nataro. When we went to find Tsuki-sensei, she was a bit…tipsy," said Hanzo as he tried to pull the woman away from his teammate's bedside.

Tsuki bopped the Uchiha on his head, and then grabbed his ponytail. Nataro could see the light red blush on her cheeks. "I am _not_ tipsy!"

"We found you drinking out of a jug of saké," he responded flatly.

"…Touché." She released his ponytail and sighed. "So, what was it that you wanted to tell us, Nataro?"

Nataro took a deep breath as his sensei and teammates gave him weird looks. "You guys remember what happened in Nami no Kuni, right? The truth is that…I'm like Hanzo. I have a demon inside of me, too… The Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"…I think he's still got some head problems," Kazemaru whispered to Tsuki and Hanzo.

"Nataro, are you _sure_ you're okay?" The raven-haired boy asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Of course he's not okay! He still thinks he's Hokage-sama!"

"No, I don't!! I'm just a part of his soul!" The blonde blurted out. Once again, his sensei and teammates looked at him like he was some sort of freak. "It's true!! How is it that you'll believe that Hanzo has a demon in him, but not _me_?!"

"Probably because you're saying that the same demon that's been sealed in our Rokudaime Hokage for the last 60-something years is inside of you." Tsuki gave her student a false smile and ruffled his hair. "You're obviously still confused. Just get some rest and try to clear your mind…okay?"

"I'm not confused!! I'm telling the _truth_!!" Nataro screamed as he struggled against his bindings, shaking the bed in the process while Tsuki and Kazemaru walked out of the room. He noticed Hanzo was still standing there. "_You_ believe me…don't you, Hanzo?"

The raven-haired boy looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Well… With all the stuff that's been happening lately, I'm not sure what to believe in. This thing about you having the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of you and being a part of Hokage-sama is confusing and unreal, but…" He started to smile. "You're still Nataro to me."

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "So you believe me?"

Hanzo shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. I need to see it to actually believe it…" He started to walk out the door, calling out, "See ya!"

"Yeah… See ya…" As the door closed, Nataro fell lied back down with a look of frustration on his face. "Well…I told them and they didn't believe me. But maybe it's for the best…"

**X-X-X**

"Are you absolutely certain?" A figure in the shadows spoke with a voice that was quite young.

"Uh-huh." Bhumi nodded her head slowly. "When I got close to him, I recognized that he looked a lot like that guy…"

"Not about that!! The _other_ thing!!" The figure in the shadows shouted.

"Oh, right. Yeah, he smells like her. I wonder if he freed her…"

"I don't care if he freed her!! I just want to know where she is!!" The figure in the shadows coughed violently.

The silver-haired woman wagged her finger at the person. "Careful: act like that and you may cough up a bladder or something..." A cup hit the wall behind her, but Bhumi remained unfazed.

Red eyes widened and became bloodshot as their owner shouted, "SHUT UP!!! All I want...is to have her back with me, as she's supposed to!!"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Hurray!! I'm done at last!! Here's hoping that we'll at least make it to the end before the next arc!!**

**Nataro: The horror…! Oh, the horror!**

**Blu: Are you _still_ scarred by seeing Naruto and Sakura having sex?**

**Nataro: How could I not?! I keep playing it over and over in my head!**

**Blu: Be grateful that you saw them while they were young and not when they were old.**

**Nataro: Ohhhh, my god!! Now _that_ image is stuck in my head!! Get it out, get it OUT!!!**

**Blu: (Sweatdrops) What an idiot…!**

**Naruto: (Blushing with a perverted grin) Hee-hee-hee!! I'm gonna do Sakura-chan in the future!**

**Blu: Hey, we don't know that!**

**Sakura: (Blushing) I-if that _does_ happen, alcohol better be involved!!**

**Blu: Oh, well… I hope you guys will be kind enough to review and tell me what you think! See ya!**


	33. Search for the Mad Genius

**Blu: For those Kira fans, the time has finally come! I have nothing spectacular lined up for this author's note because who needs one when the spectacular Kira is going to appear?**

**Blu(?): Hey!! What do you think you're doing?!**

**(Blu transforms into Kira)**

**Kira: What? It's true, isn't it?**

**Blu: Oh, shut up and say the disclaimer!!**

**Kira: (Rolling eyes) Oh, fine… Blu Rose doesn't own the Naruto series or any of its characters, because if she did, she'd have fulfilled a bunch of your fan fiction fantasies. But she only owns her OCs and this fic, so sucks for her! Now on with the fic!!**

**X-X-X**

_#33: Search for the Mad Genius_

"Asahara Tsuki…!" A vein throbbed on Naruto's head as he glared at the jonin standing in front of him. "Where the _hell_ have you been for the last _six days_?!" Despite the fact that he was now out of the hospital, he was still sore about what had happened to him after bringing the unconscious Nataro back to the hospital, only to be punished by Sakura and treated with a sedative when he tried to explain what had happened. Sasuke wasn't any help, seeing as how he just stood there and said that Naruto's mind was going…the bastard. So it wasn't uncommon for the Rokudaime to snap at someone for the smallest of reasons.

Tsuki rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly and stuck her tongue out cutely. Her hair was slightly messy, her clothes were wrinkled, and her eyes had bags underneath them, suggesting that she hadn't gotten much sleep. "Um…around?" A few more seconds under Naruto's glare and she cracked. "Okay, okay!! I was out drinking my sorrows away!!"

"For a _week_?!"

"Oh, please forgive me, Hokage-sama!" Tsuki bowed. It may have looked like she was trying to gain back some of her leader's respect, but in truth, she was trying to hide the waterfall of tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's just that I've been having a very hard time ever since my last mission and I've lost control! Please forgive me!!" A chibi Tsuki cried, now on her knees and banging her head on the floor.

Naruto frowned, but it soon dropped and he sighed. "Stop that!" She immediately stopped banging her head on the floor and stood up straight, arms at her sides and a focused look on her face. The only thing that stood out was the large bruise on her forehead. _'She definitely takes her failures seriously… A little __**too**__ seriously.'_ "I have a mission for you, Tsuki. It's nothing too serious, but it concerns someone you know. Here…" The Rokudaime pulled out a file and took out a photograph from it.

The jonin blinked as she took the photo from him. She stared at it for a while longer. "Him!"

"Exactly." The blonde Hokage leaned back in his chair. "You know that Nami no Kuni isn't the only country that has had people abducted. Here in Hi no Kuni, we've been getting mission requests involving missing people and there are squads who have reported a member or two disappearing while on missions."

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "So?"

"So…the Village Council and I believe that there's a good chance that Kira might be abducted soon. And you already know how he feels about the Oni. Besides…" Naruto's eyes suddenly narrowed. "He's gone _far over_ the time we gave him to get over it…!" _'I wonder if he even remembers it exists!'_ "Your mission is to bring him back to Konoha."

"Br…bring him back?! No offense, sir, but…I don't even know where he _is_ right now! For all I know, he's probably not even on the continent!"

"You don't have to worry, Tsuki. What Kira _doesn't_ know is that we've had an ANBU member follow him. To keep tabs on him and makes sure he keeps his promise."

"Uh…once again, no offense, but an ANBU member _should_ have been able to drag him back to Konoha."

Naruto sweatdropped before clearing his throat. "Yes, well…he _has been_ trying, but Kira always seems to evade him. It seems that something happened to him and now he can't convince Kira to come back. Considering your history together, perhaps _you_ could convince him to come back."

Tsuki slumped over as a heavy sigh escaped her lips. _'Why…? Why me? Why __**him**__?'_ She thought as an air of gloom surrounded her. She then looked at her leader with half-lidded eyes. "Isn't there someone _else_ who could do this, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto smirked. "It's either you or Sasuke~."

"I'll do it!!" The purple-haired kunoichi shouted immediately. "If Sensei does it, then all hope would be lost!!" Tsuki snatched the file off of the Hokage's desk and gave him a salute and a grin. "No need to worry, Hokage-sama! I'll bring that idiot back to his senses even though he lacks them!" And with that, she disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto's smirk turned into a smile. "I knew she'd see it my way!"

**X-X-X**

Later that day, Team 14 was already waiting in front of the gate. Well, it was three-fourths that had already arrived and were waiting for Nataro to arrive.

"Alright! Team 14 is back in action and we're gonna do _ten times as good_ as we have before!!" Tsuki shouted loudly with flames burning in her eyes. In the background, her two students sweatdropped and stared in a shock at their sensei.

Kazemaru leaned towards Hanzo and whispered into his ear, "Tsuki-sensei seems really…_pumped_ about this mission…"

"Pumped is an understatement. Today's Sunday and she's not drunk," the Uchiha mumbled. _'But then again, she __**did**__ say that she drank the entire week away after we came back from Nami no Kuni…'_

"This must be a sign. A bad omen! Something bad's gonna happen because Tsuki-sensei's happy and sober!"

"I HEARD THAT!!!" The purple-haired kunoichi shouted, causing both boys to jump up in fright. "For _your_ information, I'm just happy. _Thrilled_, even! I must redeem myself to and…myself!!" She exclaimed as a Bishojo-esque background appeared behind her, sparkles surrounding her.

"Erm, don't you mean you want to redeem yourself to the _village_? Or the _Hokage_?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, it's not like they're ashamed of me because of my fuh…fail…failure…! To rebuild confidence in myself, I must regain my perfect record of successful missions!"

"Wow, you sure are…" Kaze paused to find the words to describe his sensei's current attitude. "Uh…you're really dedicated to having a perfect record, aren't ya, sensei?"

"Of course! I'm one of the best ninjas in this village! I was _trained_ by two of the best ninjas in this village! I was born into a family of...well it wasn't so much of a family, if I can remember… _But_, to not have a perfect record: to me, that's just asking to get demoted down a couple of ranks in the BINGO books of enemy nations!" Tsuki shouted yet again, this time her body was totally in flames by the power of her determination.

"She's on fire today!" Kaze squeaked, his eyes reduced to little orange dots.

Hanzo sweatdropped, his eyes reduced to little brown dots. "Literally... Where is Nataro? He should be here right now."

"Maybe he was kept back in the hospital. I mean...he _did_ say he was the reincarnation of Uzumaki Naruto and the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune…." The pyromanic genin stifled a laugh and started to shake his head slowly, "I mean, if you say that you're the reincarnation of a guy that's _still alive_…who the hell do you think you're fooling?! HAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!" He fell to his knees and started to laugh, attracting looks from the two ninja who were watching guard over at the Konoha gates and the civilians who were passing by.

"You shouldn't talk like that. Reincarnation _is_ possible."

Kaze stopped laughing and looked up at the Uchiha with an arched eyebrow. "What the...? What the hell are you talking about, Fan Boy? You actually believe in that junk?"

The raven-haired boy shrugged and mumbled, "I dunno. My Aunt Shitomi once sent me a book a long time ago when I was a kid: it had information on ghosts and demons and spirits, spells and curses and junk."

"Your aunt gave you something like _that_ when you were only a kid?" Tsuki asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't think it was anything serious. I swore it was some sort of fiction book at first. Anyway, I started to look through it and the book said that the soul can be recycled over the years, possibly split and form separate beings and even be pulled out of a person's body."

"You're actually gonna believe what a _book_ your weird an' creepy aunt gave you?" Kazemaru got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Talk about stupid."

"Come now, Kazemaru! There are religions in the world who believe that you can be reborn in another life." His purple-haired sensei explained.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't change the fact that Nataro's insane for thinking he's Rokudaime-sama. And if you think I'm gonna play along with his foolishness and call him _'Naruto-sama,'_ you've got another thing coming."

**X-X-X**

Nataro, dressed in his normal outfit, sneezed and started to sniffle. "Oh, great. Now I'm getting a cold! Just great..." He looked down at Asura, who was on the ground on her knees, arms wrapped around his waist. "Asura-chan! Let me go, I've got to meet the others for a mission!"

"Nuh-uh! You're probably still sick!" The pink-haired girl exclaimed.

"Come on! People are starting to think we've got..._something_ going on between us!" He looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed two ladies whispering to each other as they looked at him. "So let me go—_now_!"

Asura puffed her cheeks slightly. "No!"

"Asura-chan, don't make me pull you off!" As soon as the orange-clad blonde said that, her grip got tighter. "Ack!"

"NO!! I'll never let you go, Nataro-san!"

"Asura-chaaaan! I _mean_ it!" He tried to pull her off of him, but the pink-haired girl was persistent and had a grip like a _vice_! She'd probably break his bones if she wasn't trying to _"protect him from the dangers of the world"_. "Fine then! I'll just drag you with me out of town!" And with that, he started to walk down the street, dragging her along with him. "Asura, let _go_!!"

"Never!!!"

"I don't want to hurt you!"

"And _I_ don't want you to get hurt!"

"JUST LET GOOOOO!!!"

**X-X-X**

Over half an hour later, Team 14 was still waiting for their loud blonde ninja. Kazemaru, who was sitting on the ground cross-legged, yawned and stretched his arms as Tsuki leaned against the wall and Hanzo kept staring into the crowd for a view of orange and yellow.

"Is he even coming?" The orange-haired genin asked as he placed his hands behind his head and looked at his raven-haired teammate from the corner of his eye. "It's probably useless to even try and find him in the crowd..."

"Of course! The hospital said that Nataro would come out today."

"Maybe they kept him back. Y'know? Because he kept saying he was Uzumaki Naruto?"

Hanzo looked at Kaze out of the corner of his eye. "He said he was a part of his soul."

"Tch. That's the same thing. I bet they're keeping him the mental ward for the hospital." Kaze stood up and dusted himself off. "Maybe we should go to the hospital...just in case."

Tsuki looked up and pointed behind the two boys. "Don't think so, Kazemaru. Here he comes now. ...What's that attached to his leg?"

"Is that..._Asura_?!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed as he stared at the approaching blonde, who was still dragging the pink-haired girl clinging onto his leg. "...Nataro is a _freak_..."

"Um, I'm sure there's a...reasonable explanation for that." His purple-haired sensei said with wide eyes.

"I think Asura clinging onto his leg's enough of an explanation!" Kaze exclaimed with a perverted grin as he wiggled his eyebrows. He was soon slapped in the back of his head by his irritated sensei. "No... No, it's not a good explanation."

Meanwhile, Nataro was getting tired from dragging his leg across town without even stopping. He could see the gate leading out of the village already, but with Asura still clinging relentlessly to his leg, he probably wouldn't be able to leave. "Asura-chaaan! For the hundredth time: _please_, let go of my leg!!"

"Are you going to go on your mission if I do?"

"Yes."

"Then no." A small vein began to throb on Nataro's head as he gave a low growl. Asura rubbed her face into his leg, a cute pout on her face as she said, "I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Alright, you leave me no choice! I didn't wanna have to resort to force, but I have a mission to do!!" The orange-clad ninja made a familiar hand sign as five kage bunshins appeared around them. The pink-haired girl blinked in confusion as the clones walked over to her and began to try and pry her off.

"Huh? What are you doing? Ooh! St-stop! That tickles!" Asura giggled as a clone wrapped his arms around her waist. The clones formed a chain and began attempting to pull the pink-haired girl off the original blonde.

"Nng! It's no use! She's stuck to him like glue!" Said one Nataro clone as they continued to pull.

"Don't think like that!" Said another bunshin. He then tightened his grasp on the clone in front of him. "Gather all your strength and pull! Ready? 1...2...3..."

"PULL!!!" All five bunshins shouted as they managed to pull Asura off Nataro's leg with one powerful tug, sending them all flying backwards. The Nataros landed on top of each other in a pile just seconds before Asura crashed into them, causing the clones to disappear in a poof of smoke.

Nataro started to run towards his teammates as he waved his arms frantically. "HEY!!! I'm here!!"

Hanzo stared at the orange-clad genin in awe, his mouth slightly open. "What...just happened there?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean Asura-chan? She's all upset because she thinks I'll get seriously hurt again. Her heart's in the right place and everything, and I'm glad she cares, but...she's just overdoing it—" Before the blonde knew what hit him, he was on the ground, with Asura gripping him tightly.

"I will not let you go!!"

Nataro spat out some dirt before turning his head to the side. "Oh, for the love of— Asura-chan! Now you're _really_ overdoing it! You're almost as bad as my mother!"

"Asura-chan. Sweetie? You have to let Nataro go. We have a _mission_ to accomplish." Tsuki grabbed the white-clad girl's arm with a smile on her face, "So, if you'll just let go..." She started to try and pull her off, but Asura clung tightly onto the blonde boy. "Asura, let go of him."

"No!"

"You'll get in _so_ much trouble for this, missy!"

"I don't care!!" The pink-haired girl shouted as tears began to form in her eyes. "I love Nataro-san, and I won't allow him to hurt himself again!! I won't, I won't!!" She started to cry again and buried her face into Nataro's back.

A cherry-red blush appeared on Tsuki's cheeks and she started to giggle uncontrollably. "Awww, that's so precious! I can't bear to tear apart such a happy couple!"

Hanzo and Kazemaru, who were standing behind the jonin, sweatdropped. The pyromanic genin stifled a giggle before he fell to his knees and started to laugh loudly as he held his stomach.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! Nataro _sure_ is a lady's man! Hahaha!"

"Tsuki-sensei...I don't think Nataro can _breath_," Hanzo told his attractive sensei as she continued to swoon. His blonde teammate was starting to turn blue in face from the lack of oxygen caused by Asura wrapped her arms around his neck.

Tsuki snapped out of her reverie and noticed this as well. "Oops." She looked at the two jonin who were watching over the gate and said, "Get me a crowbar, please."

**X-X-X**

Tanzaku Gai—a large city that was once home to the historic Tanzaku Castle before it was destroyed. This was where our team of heroes came after several days of traveling.

"You know, there used to be a castle in the center of this city," said Hanzo as Team 14 walked down the street. "But it was supposedly destroyed by a giant snake monster."

Kazemaru and Nataro each arched an eyebrow as the pyro spoke, "Giant snake monster? Sounds like something from one of those old black and white movies."

"Orochimaru did it." The blonde started to nod his head, his arms folded across his chest. "Yeah, I think he was the one who summoned the monster in the first place."

"Hmph! Like you were here when it happened..."

"I saw it through Gramps' eyes when I was comatose."

A small vein began to throb on Kaze's forehead as he glared at Nataro. "Oh, no you don't! Don't go on about you being Uzumaki Naruto _again_. I gotta say, Ramen Breath, it was funny the first time, but it's getting old."

"And for the last time, I'm telling the truth! What, you'll believe in gigantic tailed demons but not _this_?!"

"YES!!! Because there's _proof_ of the demons!! Who's ever heard of someone being the reincarnation of a person who's still alive?! Tell you what, when you get some _real_ proof, come see me, REINCARNATION BOY!!!"

Nataro snorted and spun on his heel, looking away from his orange-haired teammate as he folded his arms across his chest. "Damn idiot...has no imagination..."

Kazemaru imitated the blonde and did the same, though instead he placed a hand on his hip and closed his eyes—though the left one occasionally twitched.

Tsuki groaned as she rubbed her temples. "Hanzo. Be truthful with me: people are staring at _us_, right?"

"Yes...Tsuki-sensei," the young Uchiha spoke before the people finally decided to go back to their normal lives.

"You know..." Kaze's left eye opened and he turned around slightly so he could see Nataro's back, "If you keep talking like that, you're gonna wind up in an insane asylum."

"If you keep talking like _that_, you'll wind up in the infirmary," The orange-clad blonde muttered. He started to imagine himself beating the crap out of Kaze and grinned wickedly.

"Alright, boys!!" Tsuki exclaimed as she held up four small photos. "Our mission is to find _this_ man. I thought it'd be best if we split up to find him, seeing as how he's good at just...disappearing sometimes." She handed the three genin three of the photos. It was of a young man in his early twenties with messy black hair and dark blue eyes, grinning and giving the peace sign as he wore the normal Konoha chunin uniform.

"Alright! Who is this guy, some kind of criminal?" Nataro's eyes brightened at the thought of meeting a strong nukenin.

"**You want to fight again after being beaten into a coma?"**

'_I wasn't beat— Oh, shut up...!'_ "So, what'd he do: steal something? Kill someone important? Ran away from the village?"

The purple-haired woman blinked. "God, I hope not..."

"Eh? What was that, Sensei?"

"O-oh! Nothing! Um, he's not a criminal, Nataro. He's a Konoha shinobi who was on leave because of...certain problems. I'm not at liberty to explain what said problems were, but the point is that he's gone over the time limit Hokage-sama and the village elders gave him for his..._'vacation'_."

Hanzo blinked as he stared at the man's picture. "He looks kinda familiar to me... So, how long was he supposed to be gone?"

"He was supposed to be gone for 2-3 years. Instead, he left for 8."

All three genin's eyes widened. "8 years?!"

"That's a hell of a long time to take a vacation..." Kazemaru mumbled, his eyes reduced to little orange dots.

"Tell me about it... You'd think the Village Elders would try to drag him back after the third year, but apparently they lost track of him for a while. Not even the ANBU they sent to look after him knew where he was for a while."

Nataro blinked. "Uh, did you say _ANBU_? I'm not complaining about getting a mission so soon, Tsuki-sensei, but if there's a ninja from ANBU following that guy, why doesn't _he_ bring that guy home?"

"Here's the thing: wherever he fights, there tend to be certain..._incidents_. And by _incidents_, I mean explosions and craters aplenty. It's like wherever he goes, something bad has to happen..." She noticed that her young students' faces became slightly blue at the thought of such a man. "Oh, but don't worry! He's such a softy: he won't kill innocent women and children!"

'_That's a relief!'_ Kaze and Nataro though as they started to breath again.

"We'll all go our separate ways to try and find him. We will meet up in front of our hotel in...2 to 3 hours. If you've found him first, convince him to come back with you and wait for the rest of us to come. And if he doesn't come peacefully...well, you may have to resort to _other_ methods."

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "_Other_ methods?"

The purple-haired kunoichi began to smile wickedly and the genin began to wonder if she'd lost a couple of brain cells after drinking so much...

**X-X-X**

"8 years… What a long time to go away on vacation. He probably doesn't even look like this anymore," said Nataro as he stared at Kira's photograph. _'But…he looks kinda familiar…'_

The young blonde was currently in one of the areas of western Tanzaku Gai. There were plenty of restaurants, hotels and bars open, and if he was lucky, he might be able to find whether or not that guy was here or not. "But where to go first? Uh…" He looked down at the photo again, hoping to see what sort of guy the man in it was. "…I got nothing," he muttered as he slumped over in defeat. "Why couldn't Tsuki-sensei have given us something besides a picture of the guy? Like a _name_!"

Nataro began to walk down the street, thinking about anything else that Tsuki had told them about their target. He suddenly stopped walking and his eyes widened in realization. "Hey, wait! Sensei said that things like explosions and craters happen whenever he fights and bad things usually happen when he's around!"

In the blonde's mind, the Kyuubi snorted. **"You honestly expect that you'll find him through an explosion?"**

'_What? If what Tsuki-sensei said was true, then there should be some sort of trouble!'_

"**Of course! That's perfectly sensible and logical…"** The demonic vulpine rolled its eyes. **"You don't honestly expect an answer to your problem to just fall from the sky, do you?"**

At that moment, someone ran into Nataro, causing both of them to fall down. Dust rose as a result and the young blonde and the unidentified person began to cough. "Watch where you're going!!" They both shouted, not looking at each other yet. "You watch where _you're_ going!!"

"Who do you think you are?! Quit copying me!!" Nataro shouted as he stared at the person who was on top of him. He was around his age, 12 or 13 years old with short, blue-tinted white hair that spiked up slightly n the front and dark blue eyes, wearing a tight, sleeveless black shirt with a high, wide bowl-shaped collar, dull white pants that reached his ankles, black wristbands and a large blue scroll on his back. In his hand was a half-empty bag of food—most of which had fallen on the ground and what appeared to be a spring roll was in the blonde's hair. _'Who's __**this**_ _guy?'_

"You watch where _you're_ going, _Leaf_!" The white-haired boy muttered as he got off of him, a vein throbbing on his forehead as he bared his sharp teeth. "Acting like you own the street and everything…! Sheesh…!" He started to walk off until Nataro got up and ran in front of him. The white-haired boy stopped walking and growled. "What, what?!"

"What's _your_ problem? I'm just wondering if you've seen _this_ guy!" The blonde genin held up the photo for the scroll-wearing boy to see. "Just tell me if you've seen his face before."

"Hmmm…ah!" The scroll-wearing boy snapped his fingers in realization. "I know someone who looks a lot like this guy! You lookin' for him?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Nataro nodded enthusiastically. "Could you take me to him? This is pretty urgent!"

The boy smiled, cocking his head to the side slightly. "So, you're gonna just go ahead and trust me knowing where I'm from? How nice…!"

"I dunno where you're from," Nataro deadpanned, squinting his eyes like a fox. "Did we meet before?"

"What?! Are you blind— Oh, wait…I lost that." The white-haired boy sweatdropped. "Never mind, then. C'mon, let's go! I'll take you to meet him!" He grabbed Nataro's arm and ran off, dropping the plastic bag on the ground in the process.

"Eh?! Hey, hey!! Let me go, you loony!!" The blonde shouted loudly. _'Great! I'm being hauled off by some crazy kid! Could this day get any better?'_

"**Considering that it's **_**your**_** life…I doubt it,"** the Kyuubi spoke. **"This could be fun."**

'_Fun for you or for me?'_ The nine-tailed bijuu chuckled and Nataro sweatdropped. _'Never mind, I already know…'_

**X-X-X**

Several minutes later, the two boys were standing in front of a small, broken down old house. The paint was peeling, there was a hole in one of the windows, and it simply looked rundown. In fact, it looked like no one was even living there.

Nataro turned to the scroll-wearing boy, his eyes half-lidded. "…Is this a joke? If you don't know where he is, you should've told me!!'

"He's in here. He was sleeping when I left," he said as he opened the door and walked in. Nataro walked up to the doorway and peered inside. The house looked as bad on the inside as it did on the outside. The paint was peeling off the walls, there was dust on the floor and cobwebs in the corner. Two sleeping bags, a traveling bag and some clothes were lying on the floor. But it appeared as though no one was there. "Where'd he go?! I told him I was gonna get us something to eat and he left!"

"Great… And here I thought that my mission was over with," the blonde muttered. He then felt something touch his shoulder and jumped slight. He spun around to see someone standing behind him, his hand still in the air.

"Yo."

Nataro's jaw dropped. "It…it's…IT'S _YOU_!!!" He screamed as he pointed a finger at Kira, his eyes large and blank. "Kira-sensei!!"

A vein throbbed on Kira's forehead. "Didn't I tell you to knock it off with the _'sensei'_crap? By the way, what're you doing here, so far away from Konoha, kiddo?"

"Don't _'kiddo,'_ me!! You just left Konoha all of a sudden…and never told me that you were leaving!! Didn't you care how I _felt_?! Huh?!"

"Who cares about your feelings?!" The blue-haired boy shouted as he pushed Nataro aside. He pointed a finger at the mad man, his eyes as large and blank as Nataro's had been. "What were you doing?! I told you I was going to get us lunch, you jerk!!!"

Kira stared at the boy for a while before arching an eyebrow. "Really? So where's the food?"

"Uh…I dropped it."

The mad genius's eye twitched. "I see… You realize you're gonna be _severely punished_ for that, right?"

"Bring it on!! I can take anything you can dish out at me!" The blue-haired kid proclaimed before Nataro pushed him aside.

"LISTEN!!! Be honest here!" The orange-clad blonde pulled out the photo and held it up to Kira's face. "Is this really you? Because you don't look anything like _this guy_—because _he _looks sane."

"Of course I do. That's the picture I took when I became a jonin.

The scroll-wearing boy snorted. "They made a guy like you a jonin? Konoha must be crazier than I thought."

"Can it, Shark Boy. Or should I call you _'Mr. I-forgot-lunch-because-I-dragged-home-a-stupid-genin'_?" Kira looked down at the blonde genin. "No offense, kiddo."

"The name is _Ringo_!!"

Nataro blinked. "This makes no sense… In the photo, you don't look so..._weird-looking_."

The black-and-white-haired man grinned and patted the boy on the head. "There's a reason for that. You wanna know what it is…?"

"What…?" The blonde boy felt something strike him in his stomach. Kira stepped away as he fell to his knees. "Ugh… You bas—" He couldn't finish his sentence after Kira kicked him in the face, fully knocking him out.

"What the hell did you do _that_ for?!" Ringo screamed as he shook a fist at the man.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm not going back there until I get some answers."

"From _where_? Come to think of it, do you even know where you're going?" The blue-haired boy arched an eyebrow as Kira picked Nataro up and slung him over his shoulder. "Now what're you doing?"

"I'm real sorry, kiddo. But I've got business to take care of before I come back from my vacation," the white-and-black-clad man spoke as he walked past Ringo and placed Nataro onto a sleeping bag, looking down at him sadly. "Please forgive me. 'Kay?"

'_What's the point? He can't even hear him right now...'_ Ringo thought as he watched Kira's back. As the older man turned around and held up a hand, grinning, he blinked in confusion. "What? Is there something funny about this?"

"...I found a lead, I think. Do you know that people are disappearing mysteriously as of late?"

"Yeah. What's so important about that?"

Kira held up a finger. "Ah, the same thing happened to me! Although I kinda...went with them of my own free will—but that was before I knew what they were up to! Don't judge me!!" He shouted at the young boy as he shook a fist at him. "But, uh, anyway, I'm pretty sure that if we can find the guys who are abducting people here, I'll get my answers."

Ringo arched an eyebrow. "_We_? Who is _we_? All we do is bump into each other."

"Because you stalk me like those other guys...who probably want me dead," Kira muttered under his breath. "But the point is that we're going to look for clues!! End of discussion. We'll leave the kid here and hope nothing bad happens to him." He walked up to Ringo and grabbed him, dragging the sharp-toothed boy out of the house.

**X-X-X**

Nataro's eyes slowly opened, his vision clearing up. "What the…? Ah!!" He immediately sat up and looked around. Kira and Ringo were gone. "That jerk!! He knocked me out!!" He jumped to his feet and ran out of the old house. "Damn it!! When I find him, I'm gonna beat the crap outta him!!" He stopped running and smacked himself in the head. "But how the heck am I gonna find him? He's gotta be around here…_somewhere_."

"URGH!!!"

"Are you gonna talk or what?"

Nataro blinked. He looked in confusion at the alley where all the noise was coming from before walking slowly towards it. When he was close enough, the blonde managed to see Kira sitting on top of a man, gripping onto his arm tightly and trying to force it to bend in an odd direction. _'It must be my lucky day!'_ "HEY!!! You bastard, why'd you go an' knock me out for, huh?!?" He shouted as he ran over to the older man. "And what're you doing beating up some poor guy?!"

Kira blinked as he stared at Nataro. "You're up…? I was hoping that you would be knocked out for longer than a few minutes. Perhaps I've trained you _too _well... Excuse me for a minute." He looked back down at the man and continued to bend his arm. "Are…you…gonna…say something?!"

"I-I told you, I'm not doing anything! Honest!" The man gave a small grunt of pain as the black-and-white-clad man elbowed him in the head.

"Really? Is that so? Then what were you doing harassing that kid a while ago, huh? Those friends of yours who ran off and left you behind…I bet _they_ know. Why don't you tell me where they went, hm?"

"Friends? Those guys weren't my friends!" Kira struck the man again and decided to pull his arm. ARRRRGH!!"

"It's not nice to lie, you know? I'm not a guy who's all for fighting on his vacation, but if I have to hurt you, I _will _hurt you." Kira flinched and bit his bottom lip. _'Not now! Please not now!'_ He used his free arm to grasp the other one. He bowed his head slightly as the aching arm began to shake.

Nataro arched an eyebrow as he stared at the older man. "Hey… Are you okay?" _'He doesn't look so good…!'_ Kira said nothing, so he spoke again in a louder tone as he slowly walked towards the black-and-white-clad man. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Kira bellowed as he ripped the man's arm off of his torso. Blood spilled onto the ground and droplets landed on Nataro's clothes and shoes. The blonde's eyes widened and he instinctively hopped back as Kira held the arm up in the air. The man was screaming and crying and trying to move underneath the black-and-white-clad man, but he wouldn't move. He remained still and started to breath heavily, ignoring the man's cries as his black and white eyes were wide with shock.

"Oh, God!! Please, don't kill me!! I beg of you!!" The man screamed through the pain he was feeling at the moment.

Kira gulped as he stared down at the man, his breathing returning to normal. He blinked. "That depends… Are you gonna answer my questions or not…? If not…I'm just gonna have to do something I'll regret." In a split second, a shuriken whizzed past his face, missing his nose by only a few inches. He turned his head to look at Nataro, who was holding a handful of shuriken. "What…the _hell_ are you doing?"

"_I'm_ the one who should be asking that!!" The blonde genin shouted loud enough for anyone a mile away to hear. "You just _tore a guy's arm off_!!! You're insane!! You're a killer!!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kira exclaimed as he frantically waved the severed arm in the air, sending small droplets of blood all over. "Seriously, kiddo, there's a reasonable explanation for _all _of this that I'll tell you—"

"I'm not falling for that again!!" Nataro shouted as he threw the shuriken at Kira. The older man disappeared in a poof of smoke, along with the injured man, before the shuriken could hit their target. _'Crap! Where'd he go?!'_

"Look out below!!"

"Eh?" The orange-clad genin looked up, but soon landed face first on the ground. Kira had dropped down on top of him, grinning stupidly as he scratched the side of his head with the man's severed arm.

"I warned you…"

"G-get off of me, you psycho!!"

The mad genius pouted. "That guy managed to run off—which I admit's a real feat since I tore off his arm—and it's _your_ fault that he got away!" He bopped the blonde boy on the head with the severed arm. "Stupid. Do you know how close I was to getting something? It may take me forever to find him again! Just for spite, I oughta make you help me out."

"What makes you think I'm gonna help you after what I've seen?!"

Kira flashed a smile. "Aw, come on, kiddo! I'm your master! And master and student are supposed to have the same ideals, aren't they? Besides, in a way, I'm helping Konoha out with its problems."

Nataro blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard? People are being kidnapped and are disappearing and stuff?"

The young ninja's eyes widened at those words. "Say what?" _'That's what happened in Nami no Kuni!'_ He turned his head around as much as he could to see Kira's face. "You know something about it?"

The older man looked out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe… Tell ya what: take me to your sensei, we'll chat, and I'll convince him to tell the Konoha Village Council to leave me alone for a while longer. 'Kay?"

"Her."

Kira arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"My sensei… He's a she—I mean, she's a woman!"

"A…woman… Huh." _'That makes it even easier to convince her! Jackpot!!'_ The black-and-white-haired man smiled as he jumped off of Nataro. "Alright, kiddo!" He tossed the arm into a nearby trashcan and smiled. He then grabbed the collar of Nataro's shirt and lifted him up to his feet. "Let's go!!"

'_I can already tell…'_ Nataro thought as he stared up at Kira, who had a sort of evil glint in his eyes as he chuckled to himself. _'It's gonna be a __**loooong**__ day…'_

"You okay, kiddo? You look like you're sick," Kira said as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"No! Because I'm taking a psychopath like you to see my sensei!" The genin snapped, baring his teeth and growling.

"My, aren't _you_ cranky…?" The man looked out of the corner of his eye, up at the rooftop. "What's the matter, you didn't get your daily requirement of ramen?"

Nataro turned around and looked up at the roof. "What're you looking at? Nothing's up there."

"Really? I could've sworn that my sanity was flying up there for a while."

"Your _what_?!"

"I'm joking! I'm joking! You just lead the way you your sensei, kiddo!" The older man grinned as he patted the genin on his shoulders.

Nataro glared at him half-heartedly for a while before they walked out of the alleyway, unaware of the figure watching them from the roof with a single red eye visible. The figure stared for a long time until Kira disappeared from sight, then he disappeared as well.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Nataro and Kira were standing in front of the hotel, waiting for the rest of Team 14 to show up.

"So, tell me, kiddo. What's your sensei like?"

Nataro glared at Kira with half-lidded eyes. "Why do _you_ wanna know?"

"No reason. I just want to see if she's somebody I know. An old friend or maybe…" The older man stopped talking and started to grin and giggle with a cherry red blush on his cheeks. "Hee-hee-hee!"

"If you think you can score a date with Tsuki-sensei, you're crazier than I thought."

"Who says I'd want to _go out_ with— Wait, did you just say _Tsuki_-sensei?" The blonde boy nodded. "As in _Asahara Tsuki_?"

The orange-clad genin nodded again. He was still a bit wary of the black-and-white-clad man after he'd ripped off a man's arm. "Yeah. So what?"

Kira's eyes widened to the size of baseballs, white and blank. "She's a sen… _She's_ a sen… God, I can't even say all of it, it's just too funny! _Tsuki_?! In charge of a bunch of _genin_?! Dear God, those kids are gonna turn out worse than I did! Hahahaha!!" He was rolling on the ground laughing, tears of laughter brimming in his eyes. Several people in the street stared at him for a second before they decided to ignore him. In the short while he had been in Tanzaku Gai, a lot of people were used to seeing the seemingly insane man and knew not to come too close to him when he was having his moments.

"KNOCK IT OFF!!!" Nataro screamed before he kicked Kira in the stomach while he was rolling on the ground. "People are starting to look at us funny!"

"Oof!! T-take it easy, kiddo! You nearly hit my family jewels…" The older man stood up and began to dust himself off while smiling evilly. "Kukuku…! I'm gonna have some _fuuuuun_…!"

The blonde boy sweatdropped. _'Why the hell is it so important for us to find __**him**__? I mean… I know he's some sort of elite ninja…'_ His train of thought stopped as he looked at Kira, who was now rubbing his hands together and laughing in a low, evil tone while his eyes glowed an eerie yellow. _'But why would they want a weirdo like him as a ninja ever again?'_

"Say, kiddo? Why don't we have a conversation?"

Nataro looked at Kira, who was now leaning against the wall of the hotel with his hands in his pants pockets. "Huh?"

"We may be here for a while, so why don't we…you know, talk?" The older man grinned stupidly again, making the blonde arch an eyebrow. "What? I need _something_ to do or I'll crack! So, what do you say? You can tell me all about you, your teammates, your…_sensei_…" Kira stifled a giggle after saying that last word.

"Okay… First off, my name is Kazaki Nataro. _Not_ kiddo."

"But I like calling you kiddo. It's not like you mind, do ya? Anyway, my name's Kira. _Just_ Kira. I don't have a last name because I don't have a family. Don't ask why, though. When'd you become a genin?"

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "Um, months ago. The Chunin Exams I was training for a while back was the first one we entered."

Kira sucked his teeth and bit his tongue a bit. "Right, right. That means you went through the Forest of Death? Man, that was horrible for me. I woke up one morning during the Second Exam and found a _huge_ bug sleeping on top of me. I swore, I thought the thing was gonna try and lay its eggs in me! …So I put it on top of my teammate and she screamed like a bitch. Hee-hee!"

"Uh-huh… So, how exactly do you know Tsuki-sensei?"

"What? She never told you about me?"

"No. She's never mentioned you before, but then again, she never mentions her old genin squad."

Kira started to shake his head slowly while muttering curses under his breath. "Damn her… Well, you won't know until I scare the crap out of her once I meet her again. Kukukuku…!"

Nataro sweatdropped before he started to slowly shake his head. _'Why's he such a total head case…?'_ He thought as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

**X-X-X**

A while later, the conversation had somehow managed to switch to Kira telling Nataro about all the places he'd been to and all the things he'd somehow managed to destroy.

"Wow... You sound like a trouble magnet..." _'Now I'm __**really**__ curious about why they'd want him back. He must either be very important...or they don't want him destroying more stuff.'_

"Hey, the breaking of that antique sword—the one over in some Tea Country shrine—was _not_ my fault! It was the guy who tried to use it _on_ me. He should've known that thing would break when he stabbed me with it," mumbled Kira, who was now sitting on the ground with his arms folded across his chest. "It was pretty painful for such an old sword, though."

The blonde genin standing next to him opened his mouth, but didn't get to say anything when something knocked him in his head. "Ow! The hell?!" He spun on his heel to glare at Kazemaru, who was giving him a half-lidded glare. "Oh, it's just you, Kaze."

"Who the hell is _that_?"

"Who?"

"_That! _Him! The guy with the yin-yang style going on!!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he pointed a finger at Kira.

Nataro looked at Kira, who was now mumbling things to himself, out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, him? This is Kira."

Kaze blinked and stared at the blonde before pulling out the photo that Tsuki had given them. He showed the photo to his teammate as he gave him a half-lidded look. "_This_ is Kira, stupid. I don't know who that guy is, but that's not him."

"That's what _I_ said, but he says that's his picture before his looks changed and that he knows Tsuki-sensei."

"I know that girl like the back of my hand!!" Kira exclaimed as he looked at the back of his hand. His eyes suddenly widened. "Eh? What's thi— Oh, it's just some dirt. False Alarm!"

"So...you know me, do you?"

The young genin blinked before they turned around to see the newcomer. Tsuki was standing in front of Kira with Hanzo and a third person. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties with short, dirty blonde hair that had a short small braid tied in the back and bright green eyes, wearing a long, dark blue cloak with short sleeves, a white shirt with long sleeves underneath.

"Ah, Tsu-Tsu!! It's so _nice_ to see you again, and why didn't you tell your cute little students about me?!" The black-and-white-haired man screamed.

"Did he just call Tsuki-sensei _'Tsu-Tsu'_?" Nataro asked to no one in particular as he stared at Kira and Tsuki.

"Did he just call us _cute_?" Kaze growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Mm? Tsu-Tsu" Tsuki blinked and she leaned down to look at the man with wide eyes. "Dear God... Kira?! What the hell did you _do_ to yourself?"

Kira smiled before giving Tsuki a peck on the lips. The three genin and the unnamed woman's eyes became the size of saucers and their mouths hung open seconds before the purple-haired jonin stomped on the black-and-white-haired man's...family jewels. Kira fell over, clutching his..._jewels_.

"D...damn you, Tsuki! I may still want kids someday!"

"What sort of self-respecting woman would even _date_— Don't answer that question, Kira, or I _swear_ I'll rip those things out of your crotch!!"

"My, so touchy. Just because _you're_ infertile doesn't mean you can go around damaging other people's baby-making equipment. Is it that time of the month again, Tsu-Tsu?"

"AND STOP CALLING ME THAT, DAMMIT!!!" A vein began to throb on Tsuki's head as she started to breathe slowly. _'Of all the people they chose to do this, it had to be me...'_ "_Inside_, Kira. I don't want to make a further spectacle of myself."

"Awwww! But _I_ do!" Kira whined, his eyes large and puppy-like as he stood on his knees in front of the kunoichi. "Pretty please, Tsu-Tsu? Let me strip and streak down the road!!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru sweatdropped. _'__**This**__ is the guy we've been sent to find?'_ Thought the Uchiha.

'_He's more of a freak than Nataro and Hanzo...'_ Thought the pyromanic genin.

'_He's...nuts...!'_ Thought the blonde as his sensei started to drag Kira into the hotel.

'_Oh, Kira-senpai...'_ The blonde woman sighed as a sweat drop ran down the back of her head.

"Boys!! We're going inside."

"Y-yes, Sensei!"

**X-X-X**

Later, inside of the hotel, the group of six was sitting around a small table in Tsuki's room.

"So, you guys are gonna drag me back to Konoha now, aren't you?" Kira sighed as he looked over at the blonde woman, who was sitting between Nataro and a blushing Kazemaru. "Are you just gonna let these guys do your job for you, Hanasotsu."

"Eh?" Kaze blinked in confusion before he started to stare at the blonde woman. "Hana...sotsu? But that sounds kinda...boyish. What sort of name is Hana_sotsu_ for a girl?"

"Oh, that's 'cuz he's a girly-_boy_."

"WHAT?! You mean he's a...a _guy_?!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed, his eyes the size of saucers.

"Kira-senpai! Why must you always call me that? It's very rude!" Hanasotsu cried as Kira sipped his tea nonchalantly.

"It's also very true. You're a boy who looks like a girl and has a girly-sounding name. So there. _Deal with it_."

The blonde man sat in the corner, tears streaming down his cheeks as he placed his head on his knees. "It's not my fault I was born looking like this...or for the way my mother named me!"

The older man gave the younger a half-lidded look. "It's a wonder they let you into the ANBU... Get over it, damn it!!" He threw the empty cup at the back of Hanasotsu's head, the cup breaking upon impact and creating a bump that bled slightly.

"O-ow!! Hey, that hurt!"

"My, aren't _you_ acting smart all of a sudden, Hana-chan!" Before Kira could say anymore, Tsuki smacked him in the back of his head.

"Shut up, would you? You're acting like a baby..." The kunoichi stringed her hands together and placed her head on her head. "So, Kira. What's with your new hairstyle?"

"What, you're not gonna ask me about my eyes?" He pointed to his bi-colored eyes as a question mark floated above his head.

"Actually, I was trying to _ignore_ that because I can't even fathom how you can change your eye color without the use of contacts. Those _are_ contacts, right?"

The black-and-white-haired man shook his head, a big stupid grin on his face. "Nope! All natural. Well, okay, it didn't happen _naturally_, but it's a funny story. However," He pointed a finger at the three genin and Hanasotsu. "I don't want those guys in here!!"

"What?! Why not?!" Nataro shouted. Kazemaru would've shouted, too, but he was still crying over the fact that Hanasotsu was a man.

"What, you wanna stay and hear my saddening story?" Kira sniffled as he wiped an imaginary tear on the back of his head.

"Uh...yeah. If it'll explain why you act like a weirdo!"

Kaze snapped out of his mourning long enough to mutter, "Takes one to know one."

"What'd you say?!"

"Tch. Whatever... But if you burst into tears, it's all your fault. Hmmm, but where to begin...? So much has happened with all the weird stuff that happened to me." The black-and-white haired man scratched his cheek for a few seconds before banging his fist on the small table. "Aha! It all started when I volunteered to take part in an experiment."

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "Experiment?"

"Yeah, see, there was this guy going around asking for people to test out a sort of drug. I thought it'd be cool, so I tried out. But, when I woke up...I was in a cell, I think. And, uh...I think they tattooed me in my sleep. See?" He pulled up the sleeve on his left arm a bit, showing a bizarre, black pattern that was proceeding down the arm.

"Th-that doesn't look like a tattoo!" Hanzo exclaimed while Nataro and Kazemaru made gagging noises. "That looks more like a seal or something!"

"Do you honestly have to show that, Kira-senpai...?" Hanasotsu sighed as Kira rolled the jacket sleeve back down.

"Anyway, what happened next was kinda blurry and I can barely remember...but I think I killed some people, freed some people and squashed someone's head. Then, after that, I remember waking up in a hotel with Hanasotsu taking care of me."

"I lost track of him for months..." The blonde man cried as waterfall-like tears ran down his face comically. "I thought I'd get in trouble for letting Senpai out of my sight, but I managed to find him somewhere in Rai no Kuni of all places disturbing the temple closest to the border—"

"Because _somehow_, bounty hunters managed to find out my new appearance and _boom_, those guys came back a'runnin'," Kira interrupted.

"—And he actually tried to kill me and it took forever to convince him I was his babysitter—"

"You're not my babysitter, you brat!"

"—But the bizarre thing was that he couldn't even remember where Konoha was..."

"I still don't remember much. My memories are pretty much a blur..." Kira mumbled as he scratched his head.

"You...don't know where Konoha is...anymore?" Tsuki asked in awe with wide eyes.

"Nope. Nothing."

"Liar!! You came to Konoha months ago during the Chunin Exams!!" Nataro screamed as he pointed a finger at Kira.

"While I remember that I went there to look for...someone... I forgot how I got there. My memory, like glory, is fleeting. Not to mention fuzzy."

"Do you remember _anyone_ from Konoha besides me?" The black-and-white-haired man shrugged and she got a sly look on her face. "Well, I guess it's a _good_ thing that you don't remember Sasuke-sensei since…"

"DAMN YOU, OLD MAN!!!" Kira suddenly shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "Shocking your students is _not_ simple punishment!! They may be electrocutions filled with _love_, but they hurt!"

Tsuki stared at him with half-lidded eyes. "...You had some mixed feelings about him."

Nataro blinked. "So, Kira was your teammate when you were a genin, Tsuki-sensei?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Before the kunoichi knew it, Kira was hugging her tightly. "Ack!"

"I'm so _ashamed_ of you, Tsu-Tsu! How could not even tell your cute little students about us."

"We are _not_ cute, weirdo..." said Kazemaru and Nataro while Hanzo remained silent, his eyes reduced to dots.

"Um...excuse me. Did you happen to know Uchiha Zen?"

"Mm?" Kira started to stare at the young Uchiha for a long time. The genin began to sweat as the older man got to his knees and leaned forward, narrowing his eyes in the process. "Z!!!" Before anyone knew what he was doing, Kira had pounced on top of Hanzo.

"Oof!!"

"What the hell?!?" Nataro and Kazemaru shouted as their eyes bugged out.

"Ki-kira-senpai! What are you _doing_?!" Hanasotsu shouted as he tried to pull Kira off of Hanzo.

"Tsuki, look!! Zen's come back from the dead!! But why'd you grow your hair out? You look like a girl!!""

A vein began to throb on Tsuki's head. "_Idiot!_ That's not Zen, that's Hanzo!"

Kira stopped hugging the air out of the Uchiha and blinked in confusion before observing him more closely. "...Who?"

"_Oh, for the love of_— He's Zen's kid!"

"Oh. ...Who?" He repeated as he rolled off of Hanzo. Nataro and Kazemaru were immediately at his side.

"Fan Boy! You okay?"

"Say something, Hanzo! Say _anything_ to let us know you're alive!"

"...I think...I saw that light at the end of a long tunnel...people always talk about…" The young Uchiha whispered, still slightly blue in the face.

"Oh, I remember, now. Zen knocked up a girl in some town when we went to celebrate his first mission as a chunin!" Kira exclaimed, suddenly chibified. "Then he said she was his fiancée. So basically, this kid _must_ be the result of his marriage!!"

"Oh, my God..." The pupils of Hanzo's eyes became small before he fainted.

Tsuki threw a cup at Kira's head, snapping him out of his chibi-form. "Idiot! Stop messing around with the boys' mind. He already has problems... So, now that _that_ is out of the way, how long will it take you to pack your things for the trip home?"

"Huh? Home? What _is_ home, Tsuki? Home is where the heart is. It's where people think about you each and every day. It's where family and friends surround you and nothing can hurt you—"

"Does this have a _point,_ Kira?" The kunoichi asked when an arched eyebrow.

The black-and-white-haired man began to slowly shake his head. "Tsuki, Tsuki, Tsuki... I'm not going back. I still have things to do, like find out who keeps trying to kidnap me and who the hell gave me this weird tattoo in the first place, because...I think it's making me crazy or something."

"Oh, brother, this mission's gonna take longer than I thought...!" Kazemaru mumbled as he laid his head down on the table.

Nataro, after finally bringing Hanzo back to consciousness, looked at Kira in confusion. "You mean people actually tried to kidnap _you_?"

"Well, maybe not _people_. One guy keeps stalking me and a bunch of people that he probably doesn't work with keep trying to capture me. Something about...successful experiment or something."

"Kira. If there's a problem with that..._seal_ of yours, you should come back to Konoha for some tests. Besides, you've gone over the time period of your vacation. 8 years is long enough to piece your mind back together."

The black-and-white-haired man began to nod his head. "...Nope. This crazy tattoo's just made me worse."

"Ugh..."

"M-maybe it's for your own good, Kira-senpai," said Hanasotsu. "You've been acting a bit...off as of late. And you _have_ said that your arm was bothering you—" He stopped speaking as he noticed Kira was glaring at him. "Um..."

"Hana-chan... Shut _up_! This is none of your business, anyway, you little bitch... I don't want to bring anyone else into this. I don't even want _you_ stalking me!!" The older man growled as he rubbed his left arm.

The blonde looked at Tsuki with worry. "See what I mean? Next thing you know, he'll do something drastic!"

Kira started to smile again and popped up next to Hanasotsu, hooking his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Aw, don't worry, Hanasotsu! I admit, this is quite a problem, so I'll go back to Konoha."

"Then again, it may be shorter than I thought!" Kaze exclaimed as Nataro stretched his arms.

"Aw, man! I was really hoping I could've beat 'em up since he punched me out..."

Kira stared at the young genin in amusement. "Awwww! Still upset about that? You _really_ wanna beat me up until I'm black an' blue, kiddo?"

"Yeah, you jerk!"

"Kukuku...!" The black-and-white-haired man suddenly appeared next to him and started smile happily. "Well, in that case, how about a game? You try and catch me and I'll let you beat me up!"

Nataro blinked as he stared at the older man. "A...game? Right now?"

"Right now."

"This is ridiculous..." Tsuki muttered as she glared at Kira. "You're only doing this so you won't have to go back to Konoha so soon! I bet you'll try to skip town as soon as you start to play your so-called game."

"Oh, of course not, Tsu-Tsu! I wouldn't want to get in any more trouble with Konoha! Then they'd _permanently_ revoke my ninja license."

"It doesn't matter anyway because we aren't playing."

Kira eyes widened in confusion. "What?! You can't do that! We're already playing! I'm about to explode right now! I _mean_ it!!" He cried as he waved his arms about in the air.

The purple-haired kunoichi stared at him with half-lidded eyes. "Quit acting like a baby." She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "You can whine all you want, but you're coming back home whether you want to or not."

"Hmph! Fine then, don't believe me! Sucks to be you, Tsu-Tsu!" The black-and-white-haired man held up three fingers. "Three...two...one!!" And suddenly, in a pop of smoke, he turned into a large plushie of himself with its tongue sticking out.

Everyone in the room stared at the doll in complete silence. After a few seconds, a cry of "WHAT THE FUCK?!?" could be heard from outside the hotel. And for once, it wasn't Kazemaru who was cursing.

"All I _wanted_ was an _easy_ mission and for _him_ to come back _without resistance_!!!" The jonin grunted as she punched away at the Kira plushie. "_Why_ must he _always_ do these sort of _things_?! I bet he wouldn't act like this if he was talking to Hikari or Sasuke-sensei!! UGH!!!"

Meanwhile, her three genin students were slightly shaking in fear of their sexy sensei. Hanzo gulped as he dared to crawl over to Tsuki. He was shaking all over and feared that, in her anger, she would hurt him. "Tsu... Tsuki-sensei? Um, you've punched all the stuffing out of that doll. S-sensei...?"

"Ahem… Well-observed, Hanzo..." Tsuki mumbled before she tossed the plushie aside, a sweat drop running down the back of her head. She got to her feet and held up her fist. "Okay, now I'm angry! Kira has gone _too_ far, so now we'll drag him back by _force_!!"

"How do you get a plushie of yourself that's _exactly_ your height?"

"I dunno. Maybe he made it himself or had it specially made or...something."

"KAZEMARU!! NATARO!!"

The two genin suddenly stood up straight, Nataro still holding onto the plushie's arm. "Yes, Tsuki-sensei!"

"Put down that damn doll and let's get going! We have to find Kira or else we'll loose him!"

"W-wait! Let me help you!" Hanasotsu exclaimed as he walked over to Tsuki. "I mean, it's part of my mission to look over Kira-senpai."

"Especially since you couldn't bring him back home in the _first_ place, Girly Man," Said Kaze as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine, whatever! Let's just GO!!" Nataro shouted, causing all eyes to look at him. "I just wanna beat up the guy and drag his ass back home!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**According the myths of Japanese magic called Kido (demon magic) it was possible for someone to summon the soul of a person who was still living.**

**For those who didn't get where Ringo is from, it's Kirigakure. (Sharp teeth… That's like a staple amongst swordsman over there for some reason.) His name means "Apple" (though if written differently, it can mean "offering of peace") like the Mist swordsmen whose names seems to relate with fruit.**

**Hanasotsu means "flower boy".**

**Kira replacing himself with a giant plushie was inspired by an episode of Tenchi Muyo. Why did I do it? Don't ask, because I don't even know.**

**Tanzaku Gai was the city where Tsunade was found in the first part of Naruto. Orochimaru destroyed Tanzaku Castle with one of his snake summons and an area near the city was the battlefield for the Sannin's three-way showdown.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Well, we're done with this chapter! I just hope you guys remember to review! Remember: Blu Rose thrives on your comments!**

**Kira: If you love Kira, you will review! REVIEW, I SAY!!**

**Blu: Damn straight!! Review for the sake of Kira and Blu!! See ya in the next chapter!!**


	34. That man!

**Blu: I almost hate chopping the story arcs down to size. Sagas that were once close to four or five chapters long have now been reduced to at most two chapters!**

**Hanzo: But they're shorter now. That means no more lagging.**

**Blu: Maybe so, but an authentic arc should be more than two or three chapters long. Ohhh, the shame! I need to go wallow in my pit somewhere…! (Runs offscreen)**

**Nataro: (-.-) What a crybaby.**

**Kaze: And to think: _she_ gave us life.**

**Hanzo: Uhhh… I guess that in Blu's absence, I should tell you all that she doesn't own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic.**

**Kira: SOOOOO, ROLL IT!!!**

**Nataro: AAAHHH!!! Where'd _he_ pop up from?!**

**Kira: Do you _reeeeally _wanna know?**

**Nataro: …No.**

**Kira: Then shut up and roll the fic.**

_#34: That Man…!_

Kira was walking through the crowds in the streets of Tanzaku Gai, trying to keep an eye out for something. Or rather, for someone.

"Where could he _be_? Of all the times to take a break from stalking me, he chooses _today_?!" He hissed as he tried to look through the crowd. _'He's not supposed to be this hard to find!!'_ "Ooooh! What's this, what's this?" He looked up at the rooftops and, for a second, noticed a figure staring at him from the roof of a building. "Heh-heh…! Gotcha!" Kira jumped onto the roof, ignoring the way the people below were looking at him. "It's about bloody time I found you! Do you _know_ how long I've been looking for you again?"

The person he was talking to was a man who appeared to be in his late 20's and was slightly shorter than him. He had shoulder-length raven-colored hair and red eyes—the left eye having a black comma-shaped mark at the bottom of its pupil, the right eye two comma-shaped marks at the top of its pupil. He wore a sleeveless black shirt that was zipped up half-way, showing a fishnet shirt, loose black pants and boot-like black sandals.

"Say, you've changed your clothes again. Rob someone else of their clothes?"

The black-clad man said nothing as he stared at Kira with a look of melancholy.

"Look, I've got not time for small talk. I'm gonna be dragged back home by my traitorous teammate and that irritating kid, but before that, please tell me what _this _is." He started to pull down the sleeve of his jacket, but the raven-haired man moved forward to punch him in the face. Kira side-stepped in time to avoid a blow to the face and hopped aside, nearly falling off the other side of the roof. "Whoa! H-hey, what're you doing?! If you wanna fight, let's do it somewhere that's—" He somersaulted off the roof in time to avoid behind hit and the shorter man's fist went through the roof itself, creating a large hole. Kira landed on his feet and looked up at the rooftops. "If you wanna fight, let's do it somewhere that's less crowded!!"

By the time he finished speaking, the other man had jumped off the roof, aiming to kick Kira in the head, but the black-and-white-clad man jumped out of the way in time to avoid being struck and wound up walking back into a wall. When the raven-haired man landed on the ground, he dashed towards Kira and balled up a fist. He attempted to punch the taller man, but Kira ducked in time and his hand went through the brick wall.

"Damn, you're as determined as a bounty hunter, man! Shut up and listen to me, damn it!!" Kira punched the shorter man in the ribcage, causing him to spit up some blood. He didn't seem to mind it so much, though, as he simply pulled his arm out of the wall and jumped back to avoid a kick to the crotch. "Hey, short stuff!! If you wanna fight me, then let's head somewhere else! A place this big and crowded doesn't let me _express_ myself the way I want to."

The man's reply was a fist in Kira's stomach. The black-and-white-haired man suddenly exploded, sending the raven-haired man flying back into the building. The raven clenched his teeth before he glared up at Kira, who was standing on top of the roof frowning.

"Man, _stop that_! Do you know how noisy an exploding bunshin is?! At this rate, Tsuki and her brat pack are gonna find me—" He stepped back for the shorter man to jump onto the roof, which he did. "Hey, are you even _listening _to me?"

The raven-haired man turned his back on Kira and easily jumped over to another rooftop. He turned around to look at the black-and-white-haired man melancholically.

"What? You want me to follow you? …Alright. But this better not be a trick."

The creepy-eyed man said nothing and continued to hop over the rooftops, Kira on his tail. The black-and-white-haired man smirked as he looked at his back.

'_You…are so like him. I know you're him. And as soon as I beat you back to your senses, you'll see it, too!'_

**X-X-X**

Kazemaru sighed as he stood on one of the highest rooftops in the city with Nataro and Hanasotsu. "I can't believe this! Here I thought this would be an easy mission, but it turns out to be more complicated than I thought it would. Who does that weirdo think he is?!"

"I know… You'd think an ex-captain would be more mature…" Hanasotsu mumbled. The two genin started to look at him with interest. "Huh? What is it?"

"Captain of what?" Nataro asked in a flat tone.

"Um… I-it's nothing of importance! Really!"

"If he was a captain, it _must_ have been important! Now _spill_, Girly Man!!" The younger blonde shouted, pulling on the elder's clothes.

"He…he was an ANBU, okay? Satisfied?"

A light bulb suddenly appeared over Kazemaru's head. "Aha! So he was in ANBU, huh? Well, that explains it…"

Nataro looked at the pyromanic genin in confusion. "Huh? What's _that_ explain?"

"It explains…that he's crazy. He probably went insane from the stress of such an important job. They do top-secret, high-priority, dangerous missions!" Kaze waved a hand carelessly in the air. "Oh, yeah. Heard about it a dozen times."

"I don't think that it's the job that made him like that…it was some sort of trauma…" said Hanasotsu as a sweat drop ran down the back of his head. "Hokage-sama and the Village Elders temporarily revoked his shinobi license so he wasn't allowed to go on missions, but his condition just worsened. They decided to send him away on a vacation so he could recover, but it was only supposed to be three years at the very most…though senpai probably just milked it to see if they would actually want him back."

"Trauma…?" Nataro mumbled. _'So he's acting like this because of something that happened to him before he left? I wonder what it was…'_ He was immediately forced out of his thoughts when someone tackled him from the side and made him fall.

"There you are!!" Ringo shouted down at the orange-clad genin that squirmed beneath him. "You know where that Kira guy is, don't you?!"

"No!! And get the hell off of me!!" Nataro screamed. For some odd reason, he thought the boy smelled strongly of blood.

"Who the hell is _this_ weirdo?" Kazemaru asked flatly as he pointed down at the blue-haired kid.

"Who're you calling a weirdo?! The name's Ringo, Carrot Top!"

"_Carrot Top_? Is that what you called me?" The pyromanic genin asked as a vein popped up on his forehead and he cracked his knuckles. "Call me Carrot Top again, you pointy-toothed bastard!"

Said pointy-toothed bastard gave Kaze a half-lidded stare. "I've got no time to deal with you."

"What?!"

Ringo held Nataro's head to the ground. "Just tell me where that weirdo went! Don't _make_ me get physical…!"

"Grrrr! Huh?" The orange-clad genin blinked as he saw a flash of black-and-white on a rooftop below. "Hey, I think I found him!!" He exclaimed, pushing Ringo off of him and standing up.

"Are you sure, Nataro-kun?" Hanasotsu asked.

"Yeah! I saw a black-and-white spot hopping around on the roofs following a black spot!"

"That's not exactly accurate, y'know!" Kazemaru pointed out.

"Well, how many _normal_ people jump around on houses, huh?!"

Hanasotsu grabbed the pyromanic genin's arm. "We can't take any chances. Where is he heading, Nataro-kun?"

"Um…" Nataro looked back down at the houses. "It kinda looks like they're heading out of the city."

"That yin-yang bastard really _is_ skipping town!!" Kaze shouted before the Konoha ninja jumped off of the rooftop.

A small vein throbbed on Ringo's forehead as he glared down at the Leaf ninja. "Hey!! I'm coming, too!!" He shouted before following them.

**X-X-X**

Later, outside of Tanzaku Gai in a forest clearing, Kira and the raven-haired mystery man jumped out of the trees and landed on the ground. The black-and-white-haired man started to grin crazily as he took off his jacket, revealing that the black pattern was appearing all over his arm as black chakra was coming from it. The raven-haired man didn't seem to be the least bit fazed by it as he continued to look somewhat depressed.

"Damn you... Whenever this thing goes off, it makes me pissed off..." The black-and-white-haired man spoke in a low, dark tone as he held his arm. "And every time that we bump into each other, it hurts even _more_! I want this thing _off_, and you're gonna tell me how to do that!" He exclaimed as he pointed the marked arm at the shorter man. "Otherwise, I'll have to get violent with you on my vacation."

The raven-haired man said nothing as he got into a fighting stance.

"Oh, so you won't tell me anything, huh? Fine... But you're gonna be sorry when I pound the life outta you _punch by punch_!!!" Kira shouted loudly as a small vein throbbed on his forehead. He winced slightly from the increasing pain in his arm. The pattern almost appeared to be growing as it crept down to his wrist. Ignoring it, he ran towards the shorter man, balling up his marked fist. "RRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The Sharingan-eyed man started to form hand signs quickly. As he formed the final hand sign, a small hurricane formed with him in the eye. When Kira slammed his fist into the hurricane, the force sent him flying back. The black-and-white-haired man managed to land and regain his balance as the hurricane disappeared.

"C'mon!!" Kira held out his tattooed arm as chakra began to spin around his hand like a small hurricane. "Shippuu Kobushi (Hurricane Fist)!!" He quickly ran towards the shorter man with chakra-enhanced speed, gritting his teeth all the while. The raven-haired man began to form the hand signs again and the hurricane-like shield started whirling around him again. "That's not gonna save you this time!!! YYYYYAAAAAHHHHH!!!" He punched the shield as the forceful power of his Shippuu Kobushi struck the wind shield. Small cuts were made on Kira's arm before the shield finally gave out and the red-eyed man was punched in the chest. The jutsu's force was so great that it sent him back quite a bit, raising up some dust.

The raven touched his chest. His clothes were slightly messed-up, meaning that the attack wasn't meant to be deadly. He looked up at Kira, who had taken up a fighting stance again. He gave the man a depressed look before he stood up straight again. He made several hand signs and his hand began to glow bright blue.

'_My Shippuu Kobushi didn't push him back as far as I thought it would.'_ The black-and-white-haired man thought as he gritted his teeth. He stared at his opponent's glowing hand as the pain in his arm increased. _'And he's picked up some new moves since our last meeting. Guess I'll have to bring out the big guns!'_

**X-X-X**

"I don't think it was such a good idea to leave without Tsuki-sensei and Hanzo!" Said Kaze as he jumped through the trees with Nataro, Ringo and Hanasotsu outside of Tanzaku Gai.

Hanasotsu, who was all the way in front, looked back at the genin. "There's no time to find them! If the person he's with is who I _think_ it is, then we have to find him before something bad happens!"

"You mean the person Kira was following?"

"What do you mean by that?!" Nataro exclaimed as he stared at the older blonde's back. "I thought that weirdo was supposed to be an ex-ANBU captain. He can take care of himself, can't he?"

"Yes, but that man has been following Kira for some time now and they always fight and cause destruction whenever they do. The last thing I want is to get in trouble because he destroyed something or kill someone!!"

Ringo blinked. "Oh, are you talking about that guy with the weird-looking eyes? Kira's been looking for him…but he doesn't say why."

The orange-clad genin blinked in confusion. _'Is the guy...one of the bounty hunters he was talking about?'_

"He's not like all the others who come after him. _They_ want him only because of his rank in the BINGO books and the bounty on his head. _He_, on the other hand... I think all he wants is Kira himself."

Nataro and Kaze's eyes widened as the same thought came through their minds. If what they thought was true... _'Whoever Kira's fighting is probably the same as those guys from Nami no Kuni!!'_

**X-X-X**

In the outskirts of Tanzaku Gai, Kira and the raven-haired man were staring each other down. The short of the two's hand was glowing chakra as his Sharingan eyes focused on the black-and-white-haired man. He balled up his fist before dashing towards the older man, apathy still apparent on his face.

Kira smirked as he made a hand sign and two shadow clones of himself appeared beside him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" All three Kiras jumped high into the air and started to descend upon the raven. The first Kira to reach him tried to punch the shorter man, but he was swiftly kicked in the stomach before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

The second Kira began to form hand signs and swung his hand, releasing a blast of crescent-shaped wind towards the raven-haired man. _'Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Style: Sword of Wind)!!'_ "Try dodging _that_, big shot!!"

The raven-haired man's eyes widened and he skidded to a halt at the sight of the approaching chakra blade. His eyes narrowed before he flipped over the blade of wind chakra. He then jumped into the air and punched the bunshin in the face, sending it flying past the real Kira before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'_Should've known he would see that coming,'_ the mad genius thought as he looked over his shoulder for a second. When he looked back down at the man with the Sharingan eyes, he felt something punch him in the stomach. It turned out that the shorter man had struck him in less than a second. _'He's faster now, too.'_ Kira started to grin. "But can you escape _this_?!"

Before the raven knew what hit him, Kira exploded. He fell to the ground and landed on his back with a thud. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he heard someone laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Bunshin Bakuha (Clone Explosion), baby!!" Kira shouted from on top of a tree branch. The black chakra continued to seep from his arm, but he ignored the pain as he gave a stupid grin at his rising opponent. "And now…" His grin turned into a smirk as he held up an arm. He swung his arm and a powerful amount of wind blew throughout the area. The raven-haired man received several cuts on his body as he tried to guard himself from the attack. Small pieces of grass, rock and gravel flew in the air while Kira grinned like a madman.

As the wind died down, the raven-haired man stood there, covered in several cuts and scratches…but he had only been moved a few inches. _'More resilient, too. Maybe he's getting used to my fighting style too much… That won't do!!'_ Kira jumped off of the branch and landed in front of the shorter man. "C'mon… It's your turn. Hit me with your best short." He tapped his cheek as he slapped a stupid grin on his face. "One hit. Gimme your best shot, short stuff!"

The raven-haired man gave him a depressed look before he ran towards Kira. He quickly dashed towards the black-and-white-haired man like a black blur, but he soon disappeared, leaving an afterimage. Kira looked to his left and he noticed that he was still running towards him. He disappeared, leaving another afterimage.

'_What's he up to?'_ Kira was then given an uppercut that sent him flying up into the air by the raven, who had managed to appear beneath him in the blink of an eye. The effect sent him flying into the air. _'Very nice… And I bet now, he's gonna—'_ The raven then jumped up into the air and gave him a bone-breaking kick to the ribs that knocked him back down to the ground. "Do…_that_…" Kira coughed up some blood before he sat up straight. The red-eyed man landed nearby him and attempted to stomp his foot into his stomach, but the ex-ANBU captain rolled out of the way to avoid the blow.

"Nice one…" Kira mumbled as he wiped the blood off of his chin. He smirked again as he got to his feet, his left eye twitching. "You're starting to piss me off, you know. If I didn't want you alive, you'd be dead by now! The silent man remained silent, prompting a growl from the black-and-white-haired man whose tattooed arm twitched. "Damn you!! At least tell me your name!"

The red-eyed man still didn't answer. He started to make several hand signs with a melancholic look in his eyes. He took a deep breath and blew out a huge fireball at Kira, who stared at in awe for a few seconds.

The taller man began to smile insanely to himself. "Heh-heh…! HAHAHAHAHA!!! I knew it!! That jutsu!! You're from Konoha!!" He exclaimed before the fireball completely engulfed him. Flames rose to the sky and burned for some time. As they faded, nothing was left on the spot Kira was standing on.

The raven blinked several times before he felt arms wrap around his body. He looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed a slightly burnt Kira grinning like a madman as he kept him in his grip. He tried to get out, but the taller man had the advantage here.

"You're from Konoha… You know Gokakyu no Jutsu! You've got to be him! You're _Zen_!" He breathed out while grinning stupidly.

The shorter man looked out of the corner of his eye and stomped hard on Kira's foot, causing him to release him. A swift turn followed up and a powerful left hook that broke his nose sent Kira stumbling back. The black-and-white-haired man used his thumb to push his nose back into its normal position, wiggling it to make sure it was fine.

"Damn…That was one tough hit! The last person who broke my nose like that was Hikari. You remember her, right? Your sister…?" Kira raised his arm in time to block a kick from the raven-haired man. "Why don't you just admit it? Tell me your name, bastard!!" He shouted as he punched the shorter man in the face with his tattooed arm and sent him flying back into a tree. "Gurk! Arrgh!!" Kira fell to his knees and grasped his tattooed arm in pain. The dark chakra continued to seep from it at an increasing rate. "Ugh… Stupid thing… Are you driving me crazy or killing me slowly…?" He mumbled as he stared at his arm from the corner of his eye.

Before Kira could stand up, the shorter man had stomped his foot in his face. The black-and-white-haired man didn't move an inch, which may have slightly confused his opponent. His mark hand, which was twitching slightly from the pain—grabbed his leg and gripped onto it tightly. "RRRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" He tossed the other man up into the air with monstrous strength as a vein bulged on his forehead, his eyes wide and livid. He started to form hand signs quickly and grabbed his hand. Wind chakra began to circle it quickly, though it was spinning more violently than the first time. "Here it comes!!" He screamed as the shorter man started to fall. "Katto— GAH!!!" He didn't finish his sentence because something struck him in the back of his head. Or rather, a pair of someones.

"We've finally found you, you weirdo!!" Ringo exclaimed as he kicked Kira in the back of his head.

"You've got some nerve! Running off when I hadn't hit you yet!!" Nataro shouted as he punched the mad man in the back.

As Kira's jutsu faded away and swirls began to spin in his eyes, he fell to the ground when Kazemaru and Hanasotsu landed behind them. "Screw that!! He shouldn't have run off in the first place!" The pyromanic genin stepped up to the fallen ex-ANBU captain and stomped on his leg. "Quit wastin' our damn time or else I'll burn ya to a crisp!!"

'_Damn brats found me already…!'_ Though Kira as Nataro pulled on the white half of his hair and Ringo pulled on the black half. He reached behind his back and grabbed the loud blonde and the sharp-toothed bluenette with his tattooed arm, pulling them off just as his raven-haired opponent recovered from the blow and landed on the ground. "Look what you've done, you little bastards! You just had to _butt in_ and get up in my business! I'm so angry, I've got no qualms about beating all you brats _black and blue_!" He spoke in a dark tone as his arm twitched.

The three boys stared at him in confusion before they noticed his marked arm. They stared at it in awe as Hanasotsu took a few steps forward.

"Kira-senpai… Your arm…"

"What?" The older man held up his arm to show the blonde ANBU. "This? It's nothing. You've seen this happen before…"

"But it didn't cover that much of your arm! Let me fight for you—just don't use that arm again!!" Hanasotsu grabbed Kira's shoulder and tried to pull him back. "Can't you see? You're in pain! Anymore of this and who knows what'll happen!!"

"Ugh…!" Kira grasped his aching arm and looked at the raven-haired man out of the corner of his eye.

Kazemaru narrowed his eyes as he looked at the arm. "I think he's right. That thing looks…weird. Just looking at it gives me goosebumps."

"Yeah… It's unnatural…" Ringo mumbled.

"**It's radiating with an inhuman chakra,"** the Kyuubi spoke in Nataro's mind. **"It almost feels familiar…but I wish I could remember its source!"**

'_Inhuman chakra…?'_ The blonde genin stared at Kira's tattooed arm. _'The chakra's just pouring outta him. Does he have a bijuu inside of him?'_

"**If it **_**was **_**another bijuu, the chakra would have come from his entire body and not just his arm. No, it's something else…"**

Hanasotsu grabbed Kira's arm and once again tried to pull him away. "Kira-senpai, Please!! We don't have to fight! Don't—!" Kira punched him in the face before he could continue and jumped away from him. The blonde ANBU wiped the blood streaming down his mouth on the sleeve of his cloak. "Kira-senpai!"

"Shut _up_, Hana-chan!!" The older man shouted, looking livid as he held up his marked fist. "I am _way_ too busy and too pumped up and too _pissed_ to just stop fighting!! I have business to take care of dealing with that guy!!!" He shouted as he pointed at the raven-haired man.

Kazemaru and Nataro blinked in confusion. They looked over at the man at the far end of the clearing who was staring at the group. "Who's that?"

Ringo looked in the same direction. "That must be the guy that he said he's been lookin' for!"

The blonde leaned forward and narrowed his eyes as he tried to get a good look at him. "Well, he doesn't look so tough!"

"We didn't think that Bhumi chick was all that tough until we saw her make a crater in the ground," The pyro whispered to him with half-lidded eyes.

"Oh, right. I, uh, still can't forget about that. But either way, he's alone against an ANBU, an ex-ANBU—"

"And two genin, of which one barely survived the last time because some _jerk _pounded his head in with a steel _club_!!" Kaze shouted as flames burned in his eyes, causing Nataro to sweatdrop. "I don't wanna be in danger of getting a steel plate in my head again!! He better not have any weapons...!"

Nataro opened his mouth to say something, but both genin were suddenly pulled back by Kira and held up by the back of their shirt collars. "Hey!"

"'_Hey'_ yourself, brats! Beat it!!" The black-and-white-haired man threw them aside, causing them smash into Hanasotsu and fall down. He then grabbed Ringo, who bit down on his arm, and still managed to toss him onto the dog pile. He turned back to his raven-haired opponent and got into a fighting stance. "I've got answers to beat out of someone!"

"What're you talking about?! We've fought against guys like this before and lived! We can handle him!" Nataro shouted.

"Besides, Tsuki-sensei fought against a chick like him and she had a tough time beating her!" Kaze added as he sat on Hanasotsu's leg. _'Even if she didn't kill her...'_

"Tsuki and I are not the same person…" Kira started to grin manically. "Cuz I'm a _genius_!! And you're just a couple of stupid kids, so get lost!!" He then hopped over to his raven-haired opponent and slipped back into a fighting stance.

"Genius? More like _crazy_!!"

"Who're you telling to get lost?! I'm the guy who managed to kill a hundred men in one day!! A fight like this is too easy!" Ringo exclaimed as he pounded a fist on his chest.

"A hundred men… You're as bad as _that_ psycho!!"

The orange-clad genin growled under his breath as he made a familiar hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" About 50 or so shadow clones appeared in the area, all wielding a kunai as they glared a hole in Kira's back. "Haven't you learned by now that I'm not some stupid kid?!"

Hanasotsu stared at Nataro in amazement. "Astounding... A kid who could make a Kage Bunshin is talented... And he's made so many, too!"

Kazemaru sucked his teeth in irritation. "Tch. Don't get _too_ impressed—Nataro's stupid. I don't know how he learned that jutsu, but Tsuki-sensei says that he just has more chakra than an average boy should. But aside from that, Nataro's an idiot." As soon as those words left his mouth a clone kicked him in the side of his head. "Oof!"

"I _heard_ that, Pyro Freak!" Nataro glared at his orange-haired teammate from the corner of his eye before he and his clones dashed off to help Kira...and maybe accidentally injure the older man. "Here I come, jerk!!"

A small vein suddenly appeared on Kira's face as the chakra coming from his arm became more intense. The other man stared in non-visible confusion at the young blonde who had summoned such a vast amount of clones. "_Little brat_... WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE, DAMN IT?!?" He spun on his heel and began to form several hand signs. He took a deep breath and blew enough wind to force the Nataros to fall down. He turned around in time to feel the bone-shattering punch that his opponent had given him. The punch made Kira stumble to the side a bit, but he recovered quickly enough to duck a quick roundhouse kick. The raven-haired man's eyes widened as Kira punched him in the stomach and clenched on tightly to him. "Take _this_!!" He tossed the red-eyed man up into the air again and quickly formed a hand sign.

Meanwhile, Nataro jumped back to his feet and growled. He'd already dismissed his bunshins after Kira's wind attack. "Damn bastard... Why won't he let me help him?!"

"Because he's a _'genius,'_" said Hanasotsu. "Though for the past couple of years, he's been more like a _mad_ genius. It may also be because he's so obsessed with the mark on his arm and that man!! The best we can do right now is wait for him to stop fighting."

"We can't wait!! H-he could be killed!!"

Kazemaru tugged on Hanasotsu's braid so he could get some attention as well. "Besides, you said that arm of his causes him pain. You said it didn't get like that before and that you don't know what could happen! Don't ya think that allows you to _stop _him, Girly Man?!"

"All right!!! Let's do this!!" Two more Kiras had appeared seconds ago and were quickly forming a long string of hand signs as they stood in a triangular pattern. The first clone spat a large bullet of water up in the air at the raven-haired man. It made contact and he was glad to see the shorter man wince slightly. The second clone followed up with a crescent-shaped blade of wind, but he somehow managed to roll over in time to get only a deep cut on his arm. _'That's no good... Gotta finish him off quick!!'_ The original Kira took a deep breath and was about to breathe out a large fireball when he realized something. _'What the hell am I doing?! I don't wanna kill 'em!'_ He suddenly turned his head and spat the fireball out at his clone. The bunshin disappeared in a poof of smoke before it even had a chance to burn.

"What is _wrong_ with me...? I'm not gonna kill Z!" The ex-ANBU captain flinched and immediately grabbed his arm. He fell to his knees, as did the bunshin, who started to groan in pain as the dark chakra that came from the arm faster. "Aaaarrrrrgh!!" Kira started to pant heavily as his grip on the arm tightened. The pain was intense...and appeared to be spreading throughout his entire body. "This...is not...good...!" He spoke through gritted teeth as his entire body started to shake in pain.

Nothing less than a second had passed when Hanasotsu suddenly appeared at his side, looking at the older man's arm. "Kira-senpai! Are you okay?!"

"DO I _LOOK _OKAY?! _STUPID_!!" The older man shouted before giving a groan of pain.

"See?! I warned you about this and you still wouldn't listen!"

"Just sssshhhhut up and fix this...!"

Hanasotsu paused and looked up at the sky. The raven-haired man was nowhere in sight. "Where did he go?"

Kira's eyes widened slightly as he stared forward. "In front!"

"Hm? Ah!" The raven-haired man was running towards them. The blonde ANBU quickly got up and tossed something into the air... Dozens of small white flowers floated between the two opposing sides.

"Flowers?! He really _is_ a Girly Man..." Kazemaru sweatdropped as Nataro and Ringo stared at the flowers in confusion. The flowers floated on the breeze until one floated down onto the raven's shoulder. It quickly exploded, setting off a chain reaction among the others.

"_Exploding_ flowers... The jutsu that foreigners come up with…!" The blue-haired boy muttered with half-lidded eyes.

As the flowers were done exploding, the red-eyed man was shown standing with several marks on his body. Though the thing that probably shocked Hanasotsu was that he was still _standing_. _'That jutsu should have taken him out! Those explosions at such close range should have fatally injured him!!'_ He noticed that the raven was now staring at him as he slowly started to walk then run over to them. At least, he was until over a dozen Nataros appeared and tackled him to the ground. "Na... Nataro-kun?! St-stop, you'll get hurt!!"

"That's it!! Hold 'em down!" The real Nataro shouted as he and Kazemaru started to form hand signs at a quick pace.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!" Both genin each breathed out a large ball of fire in the direction of the bunshin pile. Both fireballs made contact and the flames of the combined Katon jutsu rose to the sky. Both genin grinned as the flames faded and nothing remained.

"Hey, that was pretty easy!" Said Nataro as he looked around. "It doesn't look like he's still alive— Gurk!!"

The raven-haired man appeared before them and clotheslined the two genin before they could defend against it. They both fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Kazemaru opened one eye and stretched his arm out. He grabbed the raven's leg and suddenly activated his kekkei genkai. The pyromanic genin smirked as he made the raven's pants leg smoke and flames radiated from his being. "How do ya like _that_, creep?! I'm gonna burn you down to the bone!" He released his hand and rolled out of the way in time to avoid being stomped on his back just as Ringo pulled the scroll off of his back and opened it, touching the symbol.

The orange-haired boy jumped away from the raven just as a zanbato with a rectangular blade that was as tall as he was appeared in the blue-haired boy's hands. He jumped forward and took a swing at the red-eyed man, but he ducked in time to avoid the blade and punched him in the gut with enough force to send him flying back into a tree.

Nataro formed a familiar hand sign over a dozen Kage Bunshin appeared around him. The bunshin charged forward and attempted to hold the raven-haired man back while another bunshin began to form something in Nataro's hand as its hands moved over it quickly. The raven-haired man began to tear through the clones like a charging bull as the remaining Nataros stood in front of the original and another bunshin as they focused on creating a Rasengan.

"C'mon... C'mon…! Ready!!" The clone that was helping him form the Rasengan disappeared in a poof of smoke, as did the clones that had managed to trap the red-eyed raven in his place.

Kaze arched an eyebrow as he stared at the Rasengan. "Eh? What's _that_ thing?" _'Nataro couldn't have thought up some new jutsu while he was unconscious...could he?'_

'_Take this, freak!!'_ The blonde thought as he dashed forward with the Rasengan spinning around in the palm of his hand. He extended his arm in an attempt to shove the Rasengan into his opponent's chest, but the raven somehow managed to grab his wrist and flip him over his head with monstrous strength that the blonde never guessed he had. Seriously...the guy didn't look like the type to have such strength unless... Thoughts about the feats that Tsunade, Sakura, and most recently that Bhumi raced through his head as he crashed into a tree and came to a realization, _'This guy could kill me with one blow...like __**them**__!'_

The force of the Rasengan had hit the tree first and resulted in creating a spiral marking that looked like it had been carved in the trunk of the tree. Kazemaru stared at the marking in shock while Kira only stared at him from out of the corner of his eye, still twitching in pain from his marked arm.

'_That kid... How the hell did a genin get __**that**__ jutsu?'_

"Whoa... Ah! Nataro!!" Kazemaru came back to reality as he jumped over to his blonde teammate, not even caring about the older man that had done that to him. Nataro was on his knees, blood going down in front of his bare forehead. His hitai-ate laid on the ground, apparently coming off after he made contact with the tree. "Are you okay, Nataro?!"

"As okay as I could be after ramming my head into a tree... Ugh..." The orange-clad blonde grabbed his hitai-ate and got to his knees. He wrapped it around his head slowly, wincing slightly as he tightened it.

Kaze stared at the mark that his Rasengan had made in the tree. "What kinda jutsu is that…?"

"Rasengan. It's a technique I—I mean, Gramps learned when he was a kid... I saw it when I was in that coma."

"...Oh, here we go again...! You shouldn't be making up stuff at a time like this!!"

"I'm _not_ making this up, dammit!!"

"We have a psycho with monster strength about to kill us and you're standing here making up stories—!" He suddenly stopped talking as he looked over at the man in confusion. "Uh, he's not coming after us. What gives?"

"Because it's not _us_ he wants," said Nataro as he stood up, a throbbing pain in the center of his forehead. "He wants Kira, remember? But, if he's anything like the guys we met in Nami no Kuni, he may try an' kidnap us."

The orange-haired boy turned blue in the face. "_Not again_..."

The Sharingan-eyed man continued to stare at Kira, who was still on his knees but staring at _him_ as well. He saw the black-and-white-haired man stand up slowly, clenching his arm while the blonde man at his side tried to get him to sit back down.

"What are you— Don't, don't!! You're going to hurt yourself!" Hanasotsu exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Kira's waist and tried to coax him into resting. "You don't _have_ to act like the big hero, you know! Seriously, I could fight him for you! In case you've forgotten, I'm a part of the ANBU, too—a part of your old squad! Remember Kira-senpai?!"

"Hana—"

"You might make fun of my fighting style, but I'm a good ninja! If I wasn't, would they put me on a squad with a mad man like _you_ leading?! Oh, honestly, just relax and let me fight _for_ you!"

"Hana—"

"It's not just a matter of my mission anymore!! Kira-senpai, I'd be broken if you died!"

A vein started to throb on Kira's forehead slowly as he growled under his breath. "Hanasotsu, SHUT UP!!!" He punched the blonde man in his face _much_ harder than he intended, and the result was that Hanasotsu was now only semi-conscious. "What do you think this is, an anime show?! Quit showing your emotions so openly like that and spouting off your so-called emotional speeches in a battle or you're gonna get us killed!!"

"Oh... Ow..." Hanasotsu sat up and began to massage the bump on his head as swirls spun in his eyes. "But...Kira-senpai—"

"Besides of which, if I let some homosexual boy fight for me, imagine what people would be saying about me. They'd think I was a wimp!"

"...Did you just call me a homosexual?"

"Nuh-uh!! No way!! I'm Kira: the risk-taking mad genius of Konohagakure!!! I have a reputation to uphold!!" The ex-ANBU shouted loudly as he pumped a fist in the air.

Hanasotsu sweatdropped._ 'Yes. A bad reputation.'_ "Really? How are you gonna uphold your reputation when you're struggling to stand up?!"

True, it looked as though Kira was forcing himself to stand. His legs were shaking and the fist he had in the air for a short second was immediately clenching his tattooed arm again. "I…may be a little tired...but I'll still succeed because I'm a Genius!! Everyone says so." He held out his hands shakily and started to form hand signs. He clenched his tattooed arm as wind began to circle his fist violently. "Katto Shippuu Kobushi (Cutting Hurricane Fist)!!" Several small, insignificant cuts appeared on his arm before he dashed towards the raven, almost a blur of black and white. "I'm gonna get something from you whether you want to or not!!!"

**X-X-X**

"_Right... Let's start with introductions. I'm Uchiha Sasuke, but you will refer to me as Uchiha-sensei. What I like and dislike are none of your business as are my goals and aspirations for the future."_

"_Huh? Why Uchiha-sensei? Why can't we just call you Sasuke-sensei? Or better yet, Sasu-sensei!"_

_Sasuke gave the blue-eyed boy with the spiky black hair who had suggested that a look. 'So __**he's**__ the highest scoring student in the class? The Number 1 Rookie of the Year? ...Konoha's standards must be dropping.'_ _He would have considered the boy to be an average genin or the dead last student from the stupid grin on his face. "Fine. Call me Sasuke-sensei."_

"_What about Sasu-sensei, Sasu-sensei?"_

"_Would you stop with the stupid nicknames? That's not cool," said the purple-haired girl sitting on the step beneath him. You wouldn't think she was a girl considering that her hair was short and boyish, she had a very flat chest and a punch like a hippo in Kira's opinion. She was also the second highest-scoring student in their entire class._

"_But Tsu-Tsu—!!"_

"_And for the last damn time, don't call me that!!"_

"_...Introductions?" Sasuke asked with an arched eyebrow as Tsuki held onto Kira's shirt and was about to punch him. She released him and sat back down._

"_Right! I'm—"_

"_I'm Asahara Tsuki, age 11—but I'll be 12 in a couple of months! I like candy and sweet things. I hate bland food and boring people and loathe Kira. I don't really have a goal or anything—I'm just doing this for the money."_

_Kira glared at the purple-haired girl while Sasuke stared at her with an arched eyebrow. "For the money?"_

"_Yeah, Jonin get paid a ton of money—which I need very quickly and can't get from working in a restaurant or on a paper route." Tsuki shrugged as she held up her hands. "And I'll quit just as soon as I get enough money."_

_The Uchiha opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. 'Stupid girl...'_

"_HEY!! I'm next! Me, me!!" Kira shouted as he raised his hands in the air and waved them about, trying to get Sasuke and Tsuki's attention. He jabbed a thumb in his chest and grinned. "I'm Kira! I __**loathe**__ Tsuki...and being ignored when I want attention! I like proving to people that I'm fearless and brave enough to take any challenge! Oh, and Hikari-chan—I __**really**__ like Hikari-chan. And I'm gonna be the strongest, bravest ninja in the entire world! Then Hikari-chan will fall in love with me!!" The spiky-haired kid never noticed that every time he mentioned Hikari, his new sensei's eye twitched as a small vein throbbed on his head._

'_She's only 12...and already she's attracting the wrong type of boys...!'_ _Thought Sasuke as he tried hard to not glare at Kira. "And you? Who're you?"_

_Kira and Tsuki blinked, wondering who was talking to. They turned their heads and looked up. Sitting a couple of steps above and a little bit away from them was the third member of their genin squad. He was 10 years old—two years younger than most of the students in their class were—with shoulder-length raven hair whose bangs hung in front of his face, almost hiding his dark green eyes. He had brought his knee up to his face, arms wrapped around them as he stared off into space._

"_Oh, it's that kid! He's...uh...what's his name?" Kira mumbled to himself as he searched his memory for any sign of the boy's name._

_Tsuki glared at him in annoyance. "Moron!! You keep saying you're gonna marry Hikari, but you don't even know her siblings! He's Hikari's little brother, Zen. You know: the one the girls always crowd around when his sister's not around and coo all over him? The one who gets beat up by the guys in our class at an average of two days a week? Zen?"_

"_Oh, you mean the kid who always sits in the back and never speaks! What a weirdo."_

"_You're one to talk..."_

_Ignoring his female teammate, Kira moved over to Zen and poked him in the leg. "Hey... Hey! Stop daydreamin' and tell us about yourself!"_ _Kira's eyes narrowed and he bopped Zen on the head lightly with his fist. "Hey!!" It appeared to get the young raven's attention, since he looked at the taller boy from the corner of his eye. "Tell us about yourself. ...Really? Why do you wanna be a ninja? ...Is that so..."_

_Tsuki and Sasuke sweatdropped. "Um, Kira. What are you doing?"_

"_Having a conversation with Z."_

"_A conversation is when more than one person talks. What you're doing is just plain weird. And who're you calling 'Z'? His name's already short as it is!"_

"_Aw, come on!" Kira turned his head to look at Sasuke, a question mark floating over his head. "Sasu-sensei, is it true that you hate Zen because of those times that his sisters made him put on dresses?" He gave a stupid grin at Sasuke's upset expression as Tsuki turned red in the face._

"_What...sort of idiocy are you spouting?!"_

_Zen remained wordless as he gave a look of confusion._

**X-X-X**

"Because I refuse to believe what everyone else says!!"

**X-X-X**

"_This is just too weird..." Tsuki muttered as she stared at Kira and the rarely-talkative Zen. The taller of the two had been chattering off his mouth and he actually took Zen's pauses of silence as statements. "Seriously, if he doesn't speak, then you shouldn't make up stuff!"_

_Kira arched an eyebrow as he stared at his purple-haired teammate. "What are you talking about? That's what he wants to say but can't say. I can see it in his eyes because we're friends and I'm a genius!!"_

_Zen merely gave a half-lidded look as he arched an eyebrow. Tsuki scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Genius my ass!! Just admit that you're making this up! Right, Zen?" The raven-haired boy shook his head as a 'no'. "Huh? He...he's right?!"_

"_Ha!! Told ya!" The dark-haired boy started to hug Zen tightly, the shorter boy's eyes widening at such contact. He usually would have pushed someone away by now, but Kira had a grip like a grizzly bear. "We're best friends. So there. Nyah!" He stuck his tongue out at Tsuki, which caused the purple-haired genin to jump on him and attempt to pummel the crap out of him with Zen in between them._

_Sasuke appeared in a poof of smoke behind them, but even after clearing his throat they hadn't noticed him yet. He noticed Zen in the middle of the brawl and arched an eyebrow. "Okay, break it up!"_

_The genin squad immediately stopped fighting and formed a straight line. Kira looked hardly mussed, Tsuki had a small vein ticking underneath her eye as the opposite eye twitched, and Zen looked like **he** was the one who'd gotten beat up by Tsuki._

"_...Still a genius."_

"_DAMN IT!!!"_

_And then it started all over again. Just like it did every damn day... He only had these kids for a month and they'd given him a chronic headache whenever he saw or heard either of them. 'Damn you, Naruto…' Sasuke looked at Zen, who had the sense to step away from the dust cloud that the fight was now in. "What happened **this** time?" He didn't know why he asked. The kid never talked outside of home, and when he did it was always a few words alone._

_The young Uchiha looked up at his father and said, with half-lidded eyes, "He called me his best friend."_

**X-X-X**

_A 17-year old Zen arched an eyebrow as he stared at his teammates and they stared at him. He had his arm around a girl's shoulders while Tsuki's face was slightly red and Kira...didn't have on pants, wearing only a pair of boxers._

"_What the hell happened to you two last night?" The Uchiha asked as he observed them._

"_Big party last night, Z! You should've been there!" Kira giggled like a madman. Obviously he was still slightly drunk. Actually, he had to be more than slightly if he hadn't noticed that he was wearing only boxers in the broad daylight._

"_It was so much **fun**, but when I woke up I was sleeping in bed with **two** guys! **Two**!! And Kira...I found Kira outside in a dumpster with a tattoo on his back." Tsuki added before stifling a giggle._

"_Tattoo? When the hell did I get a tattoo?! Huh?" Both ninja stared at their younger teammate's fiancé. "Who's that?"_

"_Mmm... This is my fiancé, Kotoyo. Kotoyo, these are my teammates, Kira and Tsuki."_

_The girl with the long dark hair and dark brown eyes bowed slightly. "Pleased to meet you."_

_Kira looked stunned into speechlessness...until he opened his mouth and shouted, "Z!!! YOU KNOCKED BOOTS WITH HER AND SHE FORCED YOU TO MARRY HER BECAUSE YOU IMPREGNATED HER!!!" Kira shouted loudly as he pointed a finger at Kotoyo._

_Tsuki frowned as she smacked him in the back of his head. "Idiot! You watch too much television! Is it so hard to think that maybe Zen fell in love over night?"_

"_YES, because Z's...Z's not good with girls!! Hell, he even dressed like—" He never got to finish his sentence as Zen punched him in the face and sent him flying back into a building._

**X-X-X**

As Kira came close enough, he brought back his fist and more little cuts appeared on his arm. The raven-haired man in front of him brought back his fist as well and punched Kira in the face...just seconds before the taller man's attack hit him in the stomach. Only a few droplets of blood fell on the ground before the ex-ANBU captain was sent flying back. His hand was covered in his opponent's blood and spilled on the ground as the raven fell on his back with a grunt of pain.

"Ow…" Kira mumbled as he stared up at the sky. He sat up slowly and touched his bruised cheek before staring at the fallen man for a while. He struggled to get to his feet and walked over to the red-eyed man. "So...how about you tell me about this?" He held up his tattooed arm for the fallen man to see. "But not before you tell me your name."

The raven-haired man quickly sweep-kicked the white-and-black-haired man, causing him to fall down. He jumped away from Kira and stared at him with melancholic eyes before he formed a hand sign and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

'_Damn... I missed you again, Zen...'_ Kira thought as he stared up at the blue sky and sighed. Hanasotsu was then standing over him, green eyes staring down at him. "What're you looking at?"

"The mark is starting to recede again... Who knows what might have happened if it stayed for much longer. ...Are you okay, Senpai?"

"Tch! Of course!!" The ex-ANBU got up and dusted himself off before folding his arms across his chest. "You're talking to Kira, the Mad Genius of the Leaf. It'll take more than a dinky little tattoo to kill _me_."

The blonde stared sadly at his once-superior as he thought about how he acted before. _'I'm worried about your state of mind more...'_

Nataro and Kazemaru suddenly popped up next to Kira and began to poke his arm. "It's gone back to normal. I think that's what it normally looks like, but I've only seen this thing today," said Kaze as he stared at the tattoo.

"Forget the tattoo, I wanna know about that awesome jutsu you did! It looked like you were practically cutting into him...but you cut up your arm, too." Nataro intentionally poked one of the thin cuts in his arm and waited for him to wince in pain. The older man didn't seem to be affected by it, so he tried doing it several more times until Kira brought his fist down on his head.

"Would you quit it?! That hurts!"

"If it hurts, why aren't you _acting _like you're hurt?!"

"I'm a super strong ninja!! Little cuts like this don't hurt me!" Kira shouted as he jabbed his thumb into his chest. He suddenly felt the pain in his arm and grasped it tightly before turning into a super-deformed chibi version of himself and started to cry. "Owwwww!!"

The genin sweatdropped, their eyes reduced to dots as Hanasotsu stared at his ex-superior in disbelief. "Some super strong ninja you are..."

"It's not the cuts! My arm just hurts me very, very much," Said the older man as he rubbed his arm.

"And you don't think this has something to do with the cuts?"

Kira opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a punch to the face by Tsuki, who somehow just appeared before him in the blink of an eye. "OOF!!"

"I'VE GOT YOU NOW!!!" The purple-haired kunoichi exclaimed as she jumped on top of him and glared down at him, a small vein throbbing on her forehead.

"You should've seen how she acted when we were searching for him in town," said Hanzo, who had just appeared beside his teammates and frightened them. "It was...scary, for lack of a better word."

"Tsu-Tsu, you're late! What sort of jonin are you to be late to a fight?" The black-and-white-haired man asked as he looked up at his old teammate with innocent eyes.

"...Fight?" The young Uchiha looked at his teammates in confusion.

"Hanzo...you probably may or may not like what I have to say, but..." Kazemaru jabbed his thumb at Kira, "That guy is a bigger freak than you and Nataro."

"But you've gotta admit that he's got some cool jutsu...!" The blonde added fondly, thinking about what he could do with such techniques.

"Yeah..."

Both genin suddenly started to daydream about being able to use some of Kira's jutsu and Hanzo sweatdropped as he stared at them in confusion. "Oh, dear..." Hanasotsu mumbled. "It looks like Kira-senpai has touched the hearts of children...somehow."

"They aren't kids, they're little freaks! That's what they are!!" Kira exclaimed. A split second later, kunai flew past his face.

"Who're you calling freaks?!" Shouted Kazemaru as his Houka no Seirei activated. "You're probably the biggest weirdo in all of Hi no Kuni!!"

"Yeah, bastard! Want me to beat you up just to show you how tough I am?!" Nataro shouted as he formed a hand sign. A dozen Kage Bunshins appeared around him and they all jumped in the air. "ATTACK!!!"

"You're in for it now..." Tsuki mumbled with half-lidded eyes. A split second before the Nataros, armed with kunai and shuriken, landed, she disappeared in a poof of smoke just in time to avoid being at the bottom of the orange dog pile. She reappeared next to Hanasotsu and smiled as she put a hand on her hip. "Well, I guess Nataro can deal with him before I do... Be sure to keep him alive for me to beat him up, Nataro!!"

"What about me?! He insulted me, too!"

"Fine, Kazemaru, you can burn him up for a bit, but don't do it too badly!"

"...Did everyone go crazy while we were gone?" Hanzo asked with half-lidded eyes as a drop of sweat ran down the side of his head.

Hanasotsu smiled and laughed nervously. "Heh-heh... That's just part of Kira-senpai's charm..."

Underneath the tree, Ringo stirred and blinked his eyes I confusion at what was going on. "Hey. Don't tell me the fight's over…"

**X-X-X**

Much later, after everyone had their way with Kira—with the exception of Hanzo and Hanasotsu—the Konoha ninja were standing outside of the old house Kira had holed up in as the black-and-white-haired man stepped out.

"There, I'm all packed!" Kira exclaimed happily as he held up two scrolls and had a particularly large one strapped to his back. "I was gonna tell Ringo if he wanted to come with me, but apparently he still wants to travel, the little pointy-toothed twerp. He took half of my money when I wasn't looking, too."

Tsuki arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me… You keep all of your stuff in a scroll…"

"_Scrolls_. Plural, Tsu-Tsu. It's easier and lighter than carrying a big bag of clothes, weapons and..._souvenirs_ all over countries and cities. I've been to a lot of places and realized that no matter where you go...there are bastards who have no respect for privacy and try to steal your stuff when you aren't looking! At least like this, you'd need some of my blood to open the seal on the scrolls. ...Well, goodbye!" Kira turned on his heel and started to walk away from the group until Tsuki dropkicked him in the back.

"Do you think I'm dumb?! I already told you that you're coming back to Konoha whether you want to or not! Don't make me use poison on you! I will if I have to!!"

"Okay, okay! OW!! Stop it, Tsuki! That's a tender area— Hey, what're you doing?!" The purple-haired jonin was already starting to drag him by his legs, gritting her teeth as he desperately tried to claw his fingers in the ground. "Tsu-Tsu, you're so fresh! If you want me to take off my pants, you could've just asked!"

"Could one of you boys make yourself useful and stuff something in his mouth, please?" She asked with a sweet, yet scary in her voice. "Maybe an Explosion Note?"

"If the mission alone was chaotic, the journey home will be even worse," Kaze groaned as his shoulders slumped.

"I hope I get paid for going for going through this for 8 years..." Hanasotsu mumbled as he scratched his cheek. "Let's see: 8 years of my normal pay..."

"Kira-san is very...bizarre, isn't he?" said Hanzo as Kira somehow managed to get out of his pants and was now running away from Tsuki in his boxers. "I wonder how my father and grandfather could stand him?"

"Well, he may be kinda weird, but he has his cool moments!" Nataro said with a grin. "As weird as he is, he used to be an ANBU captain! He's an elite!"

Their pyromanic teammate started to pat the blonde on his shoulder. "Well, look at it this way, Nataro: if someone like _Kira_ could become an ANBU captain, then maybe there's hope for you to become Hokage!"

"Uh...wait, what?! Are you comparing me to _him_?!"

"Duh! You two or so alike it's scary."

"We are _not_ alike!! Come here and say it to my face, Pyro Freak!!"

"I just did, dumbass!!"

Before the two genin could start fighting, Kira was sent flying into them. The black-and-white-haired man had swirls in his eyes and was still wearing his boxers as he laid on top of the boys. He shook his head and the swirls in his eyes disappeared as he glared down at them. "What's this about not wanting to be like me, kiddo? I'm the man who saved your ass."

"You didn't save my ass, you weirdo! You didn't save anything! All you did was throw us aside like we were a pair of old shoes!!" Nataro shouted. In a matter of seconds, Kira was hugging the both of them, lifting the genin off of the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" He cried, waterfall tears streaming down his cheeks comically. "It's just that...the tattoo and that guy, I...I couldn't control myself! Forgive me, kiddo and...kiddo's teammate!!"

"Kazemaru..." Kazemaru's statement was muffled because he had his face in Kira's chest.

"We forgive you, just let us go and put on your damn pants! This looks like you're some sort of pedophile or something!!" The orange-clad blonde shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

Tsuki threw his pants in Kira's face and folded her arms across her chest. "Hurry up and put 'em on! We have no time to waste. I have to get back on the track of a perfect mission record..."

"Aye-aye, Tsu-Tsu!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, far from Tanzaku Gai, the raven-haired man was sitting on the branch of a large tree, leaning against the trunk as he stared off into space. His eyes were entirely black with green pupils, but it soon returned to its normal Sharingan red, then dark green. The wound in his chest had already disappeared and the only signs that it was made in the first place was the hole in his outfit and the blood that stained it.

"So, this is where you were."

The raven-haired man looked down at the ground and saw Bhumi looking up at him with a bored expression.

"What were you doing, anyway, fighting that man? Was it because you thought he was one of us? It's only his arm, you know."

He looked away from her and went back to leaning against the tree, folding his arms across his chest.

"Akash said he wants you back. Things have changed since you were sealed up, Shiva... If you don't come back with me of your own free will, I guess I'm gonna have to beat you up a little..." She drawled as she continued to look up at him.

The raven Shiva jumped off the tree branch and landed beside Bhumi, showing apathy at her last sentence.

"Great. I didn't have to do anything. Lemme show you the way home…" The silver-haired woman turned on her heel and started to walk away. Shiva looked back at the far away dot that was Tanzaku Gai for a second before walking after her.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Shiva is named after the Hindu God, Shiva the Destroyer, the last member of a triad of Gods that represent the main God of the world. The first is Brahma the Creator, second is Vishnu the Preserver, and third is Shiva the Destroyer, who starts the process all over again.**

**Akash means "sky" in Hindi, I think.**

**Rasengan tends to make a spiral marking on just about anything it hits.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Nothing much to say except "Review for the sake of Blu". See ya in the next chapter.**


	35. Kira's Konoha Khaos!

**Blu: Compared to the last two chapters, this chapter is very short. So, I see no reason to put in a fancy opening. I may not even put in an ending.**

**Kaze: Really? But you usually say that a fancy author's note is what draws people in!**

**Blu: I know… But I'll be going away next week and I'm in a rush, so I'm just gonna upload as many chapters as I have on my computer right now—two or three at a time. To that end, I hope you guys enjoy the fic and remember to review at the end without a reminder. Remember: this story thrives on your reviews!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#35: Kira's Konoha Khaos!_

"Rasengan!!" Yet another ball of spiraling chakra was pushed into an unfortunate tree trunk. By now, it was covered with spiral marks and looked like someone had been marking into it. In fact, dozens of other trees had those same markings, all made by his Kage Bunshin.

"Why are you beating up the trees, Nataro-san? You're gonna get in trouble with whoever does the gardening…" said Asura, who was sitting on a rock. The pink-haired girl had been there since before he came, sleeping peacefully until he started to train.

The blonde turned away from his work as he looked at the pink-haired girl. His Kage Bunshin were still practicing using the Rasengan. "What does it look like? I'm training!"

"But...how come there's so many of you doing the exact same thing?"

The original Nataro folded his arms across his chest and grinned. "That's a part of the training method! Whatever my clones learn, I know when they're dispelled. That makes training a heck of a lot easier!" _'That's probably one of the few good things I learned while I was in that coma! Heh-heh-heh!'_

Asura blinked, and then she started to smile as she clapped her hands together. "Nataro-san, you're one of the best ninja _ever_, huh?"

"Hahaha! You could say that again!" Nataro blushed slightly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, you're certainly not a normal kid."

"Ack!!" The orange-clad genin nearly jumped out of his skin, thinking that it was whoever the field was assigned to. When he turned around, he saw that it was just Kira. "Kira-sensei!!"

Kira wordlessly glared down at the blonde before poking him in the cheek. "Oh, so now you go back to calling me _'sensei'_? I think I preferred _'psycho'_ more…" He slipped his hands into his pants pockets. "By the way, where'd a runt like you learn such a powerful jutsu?"

Nataro scratched his head and scrunched up his face in thought. "I…saw it in a dream. Well, when I was in a coma, actually."

The mad genius arched an eyebrow. "Really. Learned it in a coma, huh?" In the blink of an eye, he was holding the genin up off the ground and shaking him. "I'm crazy, but I'm not _stupid_ crazy! Now, if you don't tell me _who_ taught it to you—"

"W-wait a second!!" Nataro pointed a finger at the black-and-white-clad man. "Aren't you supposed to be going on trial or something?" That was enough to get Kira to drop him.

"Ohhh, _great_. You just had to remind me of that…_horrible_ trial! At first, I thought they were gonna punish me with something serious like prison, but then Old Man Hokage tried to defend me and when that didn't work, I decided o use my two best aces in the hole that _aren't_ related to combat: begging and lying!"

Nataro frowned and folded his arms across his chest, looking up judgingly at his former master. "You lied to Gramps and the guys on the Village Council?"

Kira suddenly slumped over as his bangs hid his eyes. _'Don't remind me…'_ "Well, I _tried_ to lie…but I may have gotten my information screwed up. I give you a tip: never say you were kidnapped by men from another country for _ten years_ when you've only been gone for _eight._ But my punishment didn't turn out to be jail time. I…I got something worse…!"

The genin blinked in confusion. "What could be worse than prison?"

"They're withholding my ninja license until I can _'mature'_ and I've gotta do com…COMMUNITY SERVICE!!!" The mad genius cried in an overdramatic fashion as he fell to his knees and started bawling like a child. "Of all the things…they use to punish me with! _Me_! One of their best ninja since the days of the legendary Sannin!! Something like," he spat on the ground, "_Community service_ is for criminals and juvenile delinquents like you!!"

"WHO'S A JUVENILE DELINQUENT?!?" Nataro screamed.

"Well, ya look like a delinquent. Young and stupid." Kira turned his back on the orange-clad genin as he folded his arms across his chest and rubbed his arm, ignoring how the boy was glaring at his back. "Anyway, as I was wondering what I'd do for money, I started to think about my unfair community service, which led to me thinking about how that old bastard of a Hokage could allow them to do such a thing to me, which led me to start thinking about _you_. Because, you see, you interest me even more now than you did before."

"Exactly _how_ do I interest you?"

"Ooooh, maybe he wants your autograph, Nataro-san!" Asura exclaimed as soon as she popped up between the two of them.

"Oh, please! If anything _he_ should be asking for _my_ autograph!" The man snorted as he rubbed his arm. "Uh… Who are you, by the way?"

"I'm Asura!" She did a curtsy with the hem of her short white dress, which would allow anyone to see her underwear. "Pleased to meet you!"

"A-Asura-chan!! Didn't they tell you to wear shorts or something whenever you wear dresses that short?!"

"Mmmm, I forgot! I was in a rush, Nataro-san, and Cat-sand was going to come back to check up on me in a couple of seconds."

"Cat-san? Not a real cat, I hope. 'Cuz then I'd think that this girl escaped from the nuthouse."

The orange-clad blonde shook his head slowly as he sighed. "I think it's the guy who's supposed to look after her, but I can't tell if it's always the same guy or just different people wearing the same mask…"

Kira arched an eyebrow. "Cat? Mask? Are you trying to say that this cute, weird-looking girl is under watch by the ANBU?"

"_An_ ANBU, actually. And I don't know! I keep trying to ask Gramps why Asura-chan can't hang out with me longer and why I can't visit her in the hospital anymore, but he keeps sayin' it's classified and that I shouldn't worry!! I keep asking Hikari-san and the guys at the hospital the same thing, but they say the same thing!"

Kira suddenly twitched. Did you just say…Hikari? As in _Uchiha_ Hikari?"

"Yeah. Why— Mmph!!" Before Nataro could say anything more, Kira slapped his hand over his mouth.

"Now that I think about it, I've been feeling a bit _sick_ lately…" The ex-ANBU gave a fake cough as he looked off to the side, hiding his blush. "Besides, my arm's been hurting me and Hokage-sama _did_ tell me that I have to get my arm checked weekly. Perhaps I'll go to the hospital." He looked down at Nataro and asked flatly, "Which way's the hospital?"

"MMMFF?!?"

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

The blonde genin pulled the older man's hand off of his mouth as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "First of all: don't do that!! I don't know where that hand's been!" He wiped off his mouth before continuing, "Secondly: what do you mean which way is the hospital?! It wasn't _that_ long ago that you were here!! Should I start calling you _'Old man'_?" He ducked in time to avoid a blow to the head.

"I _told_ you: my memory's a little screwed up. Some things I remember, but anywhere else, I get lost. How else did you think I wound up here?"

The genin frowned. "I thought you said you came to see _me_!"

"Actually, Tsuki sent me to find you. She told me to tell you to get your ass back to your own training area before she destroys your clone and comes after you next."

Nataro gulped and started to sweat. _'How the heck did she find out?!'_

"So, anyway, can you take me to see Hikari—I mean, to the hospital?"

Nataro stopped sweating and stared up at Kira. "You mean right now? But you said that Tsuki-sensei—!"

"Pssht! You're already in trouble. What's a little more gonna do?"

"It'll make her torture the living hell outta me, that's what!!!"

Kira sucked his teeth as he started to rub his arm again. "Sheesh, stop being such a crybaby! We'll go and see Tsuki and save your ass if it'll make you feel better. But I swear to God that if I miss Hikari's shift, I'm gonna take it out on your ass!!"

**X-X-X**

"Hokage-sama…please tell me that you're not serious about this," Hanasotsu spoke in a flat tone with half-lidded eyes as he stared at Naruto. "_Please_ tell me you're not serious."

"I know that you were to be assigned back to your original schedule after Kira returned, Hanasotsu, but considering his current condition, we need someone to keep an eye on him."

"But…why _me_? Surely there are other ANBU in the village who can do the job!"

"I considered that, but you're the closest to Kira since this incident with that mark on his arm."

The blonde ANBU blinked. "I…guess that's true."

"With his…_altered_ personality, you know what sort of stunts he'd pull. That's why we need _you_ for this mission."

Hanasotsu cringed. "Ugh… I accept my mission, Hokage-sama." He saluted the Rokudaime. "I will keep a close eye on Kira-senpai, sir! But, may I ask something, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto blinked. "What is it?"

"Exactly what was Kira-senpai's punishment? Nothing _too_ harsh, I hope."

"Ugh…!" Naruto started to rub his forehead. "We told him that we would withhold his ninja license until we were sure he was back to normal…" _'Or as close to normal as Kira can get.'_ "…And that he would have to work to earn the money to replace anything valuable he destroyed. He kept crying and saying how it was unfair that we're making him do that and called it _'community service'_ for some reason. Sheesh…"

'_I __**told**__ him Konoha wouldn't replace those things even if he sent them a bill!'_ Hanasotsu thought as a small vein popped up on his forehead for a moment. "But how is he going to earn the money without missions…? Any normal or mundane thing Kira-senpai tries to do, he usually ditches out of boredom or because something happens like somebody tries to kill him or he witnesses a murder or something!"

Naruto smiled broadly as he pointed at Hanasotsu. "That's why _you're_ going to look after him, Hanasotsu!"

"It's bad enough without you having to remind me, sir…"

**X-X-X**

Much later, at Team 14's usual training ground, Nataro was doing pushups with Tsuki's foot on his back. Hanzo, Kazemaru, Asura and Kira were sitting underneath a tree watching them. Actually, the kids were watching them. Kira was sleeping with a pair of shades over his eyes.

"80...81...82...83...84... How many am I supposed to do again, Tsuki-sensei?!" Nataro gasped as he sweated, red in the face.

The purple-haired jonin looked down at her blonde student with a creepy smile on her face. "You forgot?"

"Um... No, no!"

"You know what _that_ means...! Start over!!

"Nooooo!!" Nataro cried as waterfall tears streamed down his cheeks. "I-I remember how many I'm supposed to do, Sensei! Honest! Don't make me start over, pleeeease!" His reply was a stomp on his back that pushed him face down into the dirt.

"If you didn't want to do pushups, then you shouldn't have _ditched_ in the first place. Now...get back to work!!"

The orange-clad blonde pushed himself up and spat out some dirt. "Yes, m'am..."

Kazemaru smirked as he leaned back against the tree. "Heh-heh! No matter how many times this happens, it's _still_ funny! Exactly how many pushups are he supposed to be doing?"

Hanzo blinked as he thought back. "120."

"Aw, I hoped it was gonna be longer!"

"I don't get why she's so pissed off," mumbled Kira as he finally woke up and stretched his arms. "He was training while he was gone, so that should make up for whatever the hell he missed here."

"I don't think so. Tsuki-sensei is _really_ strict when it comes to our training since what happened in Nami no Kuni. She doesn't want anything to bad to happen to us again like what happened then."

The black-and-white-haired man removed his sunglasses and made a kissy face, his eyes reduced to little black and white dots. "Awww, isn't that _sweet_? Tsu-Tsu wuvs you all bunches! You're probably gonna be the closest things to kids that she'll ever get."

Kaze pouted as he folded his arms across his arms. "Why is that? If Tsuki-sensei wants kids, why doesn't she just...adopt one? Or do one of those things I've seen on TV where they put a sperm in you?"

Hanzo gave the pyromanic genin a look. "What sort of thing do _you_ watch on TV?"

"Well..."

"For your information, Tsuki...um...well..." Kira scratched his cheek as he tried to figure out a better way to say it. "Tsuki... Well, you know that when a man and woman want a baby, they..." He held up to hands and started to rub them together. The boys and Asura looked at him confusion. "And... Well, Tsuki can't _do_ _this_...anymore. Because... Think of sex as a sport. And Tsuki had her equipment _fixed_. You get what I'm saying?"

Asura shook her head as a bright red question mark floated over her head. "No... What is sex? And how do you play it?"

"It's not _really_ a sport, Pinkie," Kazemaru told the pink-haired girl with half-lidded eyes. "He was just using a...symbiosis to compare the two."

"Simile." Hanzo corrected.

"Whatever! The point is that sex is not something you play. Not unless you're one of those weirdoes who have bedroom fetishes..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And what Kira-san was trying to say was that she...can't participate in the sport anymore."

"But I thought sex _wasn't_ sport!"

"I-it's not!"

"What Kazemaru is trying to say is that Tsuki-sensei had her tubes tied. She can't have children anymore."

Asura's eyes widened in realization as she pounded her hand against her open palm. "Ohhhh, I see! She thinks of you as her children at time because she loves you and cannot have children of her own! Thank you, Hanzo-san!"

Kira and Kazemaru stared at the young raven in disbelief. "What do _you_ watch on TV?" The orange-haired genin asked as he stared at Hanzo with an arched eyebrow.

"Kira-san, why exactly was Nataro training on his own?" The Uchiha asked quickly.

"Don't try and change the subject—!"

"Ooh, I know!!" Asura exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and pumped a fist in the air. "He made a lot of clones and kept yelling _'Rasengan'_ and kept making marks in trees!"

"Rasengan...?"

"Oh! I know what she's talking about: that weird jutsu he used when we fought that weird guy." Kaze explained as he held out his hand. It was kinda like a ball of chakra, I think. And it made this awesome mark on a tree once it made impact! I would've given _anything_ to see what it's like when it hits a person! It'd probably grind their meat and bones like some sort of machine...!"

Asura started to fade out as her eyes glazed over. "Mmmm..."

"Yo, Pinkie! You okay? You're looking a bit funny, and not in the good way." The orange-haired boy poked the pink-haired girl in the arm and jumped when he heard a loud growling sound. "Wh-what the hell?"

"...I'm hungry. When can Nataro-san finish his punishment so we can go for ramen?" She pouted as she stroked her hair.

"You poor, poor girl... Nataro's already started to corrupt your mind. Soon you'll start wearing orange and performing Oiroke no Jutsu." Kaze's eyes suddenly widened in realization as a cherry-red blush appeared on his cheeks. "Heh-heh, actually, I wouldn't mind seeing _that_!"

Kira rolled his eyes before he got up and walked over to Tsuki and Nataro. "Hey, Tsu-Tsu! As much fun as it is watching him eat dirt, I really need Nataro to show me the way to the hospital. You can give him twice the hard punishment tomorrow, but my arm hurts like a _bitch_ and I need to have it looked at as per Hokage-sama's orders. Otherwise, I'll go crazy and kill you all before dinner."

Tsuki narrowed her eyes as she glared at her old teammate. "Liar. You just want to see Hikari before she finishes with her shift."

"You know when she finishes her shift?! Tell me!"

"Like hell I will!!"

Kira started to rub his arm again. "Seriously! My arm's been hurting me for a long time. The last time it did that, I was around Zen!"

"For the last time, Kira: that was _not_ Zen. Zen is dead."

"No. Zen went missing. And he's been reappearing before me trying to kill me or somethin'. Either way he's alive and my arm hurts and I need to go to the damn hospital, already!!!" The ex-ANBU captain exclaimed as flames burned in his eyes.

The purple-haired kunoichi glared at him. "_No_! Nataro has to learn to take responsibility for his actions. I don't care if he was learning some jutsu that would...rid the world of hate and misery!! If he skips training, he'll have to relive the training all over again." She started to glare down at Nataro as she said this. "Is that clear?"

"Crystal...m'am..." The blonde breathed out before he collapsed facedown in the dirt again. Kira walked over to him and poked him with his foot. "Ow..."

"Well, he's still alive. But seriously, give him a break. Ramming things into trees is tiring. Believe me, I know because I've rammed _many_ things into trees before. And look at him...he's more pathetic before than when we first met."

"Hate...you..." Nataro muttered as he glared at Kira from the ground. What he mumbled next was unintelligible, but he may have been insulting Kira's appearance or his mother.

Tsuki looked down at the genin and folded his arms across his chest. "It depends: have you learned your lesson, Nataro? ...Nataro?"

"Zzz... Zzz..."

Hanzo and Kazemaru sweatdropped. "I...think he went to sleep..."

"What hinted that? His _snoring_?"

Tsuki's eye twitched and she lightly dug the heel of her sandal into his back. "Nataro... Wake up."

"Nnnn, is it morning? Already?"

"Nataro!"

"I can't help it, Sensei!! I shouldn't be punished this hard for missing just one training session. I _swear_ I've learned my lesson and will work twice as hard tomorrow!!" Nataro pleaded as he managed to put his hands together, mentally praying for her to have mercy.

"Geez, Tsuki!!" Kira shouted as he continued to rub his arm again. "This is harsh. You missed _way_ more training sessions than he did when we were genin..." He smiled when her eyes widened in fear.

"Don't you _dare _say anything, Kira!"

The mad man seemed to hesitate for a moment, until… "Did she ever tell about that incident that happened in our genin days?"

"Dammit, Kira!!" Tsuki shouted as she dug her heel deeper into Nataro's back, earning her a grunt of pain from the boy. "Sorry, Nataro."

"Just...t-take your foot off of me!"

In the blink of an eye, Kazemaru was standing behind the black-and-white-haired man with wide, hopeful eyes. "I just need to know one thing: is this an embarrassing story?"

Kira gave him a thumbs-up. "Grade-A humiliation! For Tsu-Tsu, at least."

"Cool!! We hardly know anything about Tsuki-sensei!"

"Aside from the fact that she drinks a lot on Saturday nights," Said Nataro, who was now sitting on the ground and rubbing his aching back. _'I think she broke my back bone...!'_ "Hurry, tell us! It may get my mind off this pain...!"

"Well— MMFFF!"

Tsuki held her hand over her old teammate's mouth, a small vein throbbing on her forehead as she glared at him. Flames were practically burning in her eyes as she gritted her teeth, causing the man and children to stare at her with fear on their faces. "_Kira_..."

"Mm? Mmmm! Mmmmph! Mmmmmfff!!" The jonin removed her hand so that he could speak properly. "Okay, okay! Geez, you're cranky today. Are you eating enough fiber or is it _that dreaded time of the month_ again? ...What? Don't look at me like that! I won't say anything about how you kept missing our team training for the first three months after graduation." His eyes widened in realization and covered his mouth. "Whoops!"

"KIRA!!!"

"Wow. I didn't skip _my_ classes until I got a taste of 'em for a day or two." Kaze stared at Tsuki in disbelief.

Nataro, now free of any aches or pains, got up in his teacher's face as he arched an eyebrow. "What was wrong, Tsuki-sensei? Didn't you like your squad? Did you think Kira and Sasuke-san were bastards?" She started to blush a cherry red color. "Well?"

"O-of course not! It's nothing; don't listen to that idiot Kira!" Tsuki stuttered as she gave a stupid grin.

"She said she always forgot when and where we met up and trained! And the funny part's that it happened for 3 months! _3 fucking months_ until Sasuke-sensei decided he'd come and pick us up from our homes! Hahahaha!!" Kira started to roll around on the ground. "She had to make up her training in the dead of night with Sasuke-sensei for the following 3 months until he was sure she caught up! I think when we went on to water-walking, she had to do it at night, half-naked because she got her clothes all wet on the first try so her breasts sort of—"

"How the hell do you know—?!" Tsuki's eyes narrowed. "You pervert!!! You were spying on me the entire time, weren't you?! I thought I heard laughing that night!"

"Don't blame just me. Zen told me where you and Sasu-sensei went."

"He did what?!"

Hanzo and Nataro's eyes were wide as saucers, their faces as red as cherries. Kazemaru was also blushing, though most of the blood was coming out of his nose at the thought of Tsuki's visible chest on a chilly night.

"Kaze? You okay?" Nataro asked as he poked the pyromanic genin.

"Hee-hee-hee!" Kaze giggled as he wiped the blood from his nosebleed on the sleeve of his jacket. "I'm fine, just peachy! Now quit interrupting with my fantasy!"

"Perv..."

Tsuki shook with rage as she glared at Kira. For a moment, one could swear they saw the fires of hell burning in her eyes. "_Kiraaaa_!!"

"Aaaand that is my cue to leave. C'mon kiddo!" The black-and-white-haired man grabbed Nataro by arm and started to run away. A kunai whizzed by his face, followed by a string of curses from the kunoichi behind them. "Boy, it's great to be home again!" He laughed as several shuriken flew over his head.

"DAMN YOU KIRAAAAA!!!"

Hanzo closed his eyes and sighed. "That means that training is over for today..."

**X-X-X**

A little later in town, Nataro was pulling a shuriken out from Kira's back. He stared at the bloody end and turned slightly blue in the face. "How could you _not_ notice this thing was in your back?"

The older man pointed at his arm. "Thank this thing. Ever since I got it, my mind and body have been totally screwed up. Although...it _has_ allowed me to change my fighting style quite a bit. The only parts that suck are that it hurts like hell and my memories are a bit fuzzy. Nothing that a visit to the lovely Hikari couldn't fix."

"Do you know Hikari-san, Kira-san?" Asura asked, suddenly popping up beside Kira.

"Huh?! Where'd you come from, you freaky little...!" Kira took a few steps back as he started to rub his arm again. "Ah, crap!"

"I followed you. I wanna go eat somewhere with Nataro-san," she said as she grabbed hold of said genin's arm.

"Oh yeah? Well _I_ need him to take me to the hospital. Wait your turn, Pinkie!" The black-and-white-haired man started to pat her on the head. "You'll have plenty of time when I'm done with him."

The pink-haired girl looked at Nataro as she tilted her head to the side. "Everybody wants a piece of Nataro-san today..."

The blonde slumped over slightly as he mumbled, "I'm not sure that's a _good _thing."

"Stop being like that! You should be glad you get to spend some time with an elite mad genius such as I." Said Kira with half-lidded eyes as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I'm sure you're mad. Not so sure about the genius part, though."

"Whatever, _kiddo_!" The older man spoke, imitating Nataro as he narrowed his eyes in a fox-like manner. "You can go out with your little girl—Asura-chan, was it? Yeah, you can go out with _Asura-chan_ on your little date after you take me to the hospital, kiddo."

Nataro's face turned cherry red as he shook a fist at Kira. "Sh-she...! I...! We're not dating!! We're just friends!"

"Suuuure. That what they all say..."

**X-X-X**

"Hikari-san... Hikari-san, wake up."

"Huh?" Hikari blinked her eyes open. She was lying on her side on a hospital bed, her hair slightly ruffled. She looked up out of the corner of her eye and saw Shizuka looking down at her. "What is it, Shizuka-chan? Is it an emergency?"

The blue-haired girl started to fiddle around with the zipper of her medical ninja uniform. "Um...yeah! There's a man on the floor of the waiting room twitching and drooling! I think he's having a convulsion!"

The Uchiha woman immediately sat up, eyes wide in fright. "What?! How come no one else is doing something about this?!"

"W-well, everyone else is busy at the moment! You need to save him, Hikari-san!" Shizuka exclaimed. Hikari got out of the bed and started for the door.

"Come with me, Shizuka-chan!"

"Yes, m'am!" However, instead of following her, Shizuka stayed behind. As soon as Hikari was gone form her sight, she changed back into Nataro, who had an upset look on his face as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Man, I feel rotten about this... Lying to Hikari-san just feels so wrong! I keep thinking I'm gonna get in trouble if she finds out what we did..." He then walked out of the empty room, fear of Hikari still lingering in his mind. _'If she's anything like Sakura-san... I may be in deep...'_

**X-X-X**

For those of you who are wondering, _'where is Shizuka?'_, _'did Nataro do something to her?'_, and all the other stuff, _this_ is what was going on in another part of the hospital.

"Wh-who told you those things?!" Shizuka almost shouted, though she merely raised her voice. Her cheeks were cherry red and she was shaking from embarrassment.

"Hm? But Shizuka-san, Nataro-san and Kazemaru-san said that you had a date Hanzo-san. What do you do on a date, anyway? Are they like the ones on TV where a girl takes a shot at dating three different guys in one night and goes home with one or two of them during their date?" Poor, naïve Asura. She somehow got pulled along with Nataro into Kira's little scheme. Her part was to keep Shizuka busy somewhere _far_ away from the hospital room Hikari was sleeping in while Nataro posed as her and made up some story that would get Hikari to rush into the waiting room, where Kira was at the moment.

"Well, th-that's not true! Hanzo-kun and I have a completely platonic relationship! I don't know why people keep assuming that I like him like that!"

The pink-haired girl blinked. "Sooo you don't like Hanzo-san at all?"

"N-no! I like him, but I _don't _like him...!" The blue-haired girl's blush increased.

"You're weird, Shizuka-san. What do you mean that you like him but you don't like him? You make no sense."

Shizuka started to twiddle around with her fingers. "I...! I...! I can't lie... Can you keep a secret, Asura-chan?" The pink-haired girl nodded. "W-well...I may...sort of...have a little crush on Hanzo-kun. But the thing is that...well, he's an _Uchiha_."

"...Hm? So?" Asura tilted her head to the side slightly. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, but... The Uchiha were once this big, famous clan, I heard. The shinobi from that family were always among the elite! And me...well, my family's not much of a ninja clan. My grandmother, father, and step-mother are the only other people in my family aside from me who were ninja. And next to families like the Uchiha and Hyuga...I feel a little...under-talented. You don't know how long it took me until I could talk to my own _teammates_... Before I knew about his clan, Hanzo and I talked a lot at the Academy. He helped me out with the work that I didn't understand. I think I followed him around so much... I feel so ashamed about that now, for some reason... Do you get what I'm saying, Asura-chan?"

Asura's eyes widened as bishie sparkles appeared around her. "Shizuka-san!! Your romance is just like that one couple on the hit soap opera _Locked Hearts_! You should not feel ashamed because Hanzo-san is high-class and you're a lower-class waitress barely making it by on minimum wage after your deadbeat father left you and your sickly mother!!" The pink-haired girl cried as she pumped a fist in the air.

"What...?" Shizuka sweatdropped. "Asura-chan, that's Mayagi Aimi's character on the show. I'm not lower-class!" _'I think... No, I'm definitely middle-middle-class!'_ "Anyway...will you swear to _never_ tell anyone about this?"

"Don't worry, Shizuka-san! Your secret is safe with me until you and Hanzo-san get your feelings straight! Don't tell anyone this, but..." The white-clad girl leaned forward so she could whisper in the young medic's ear, "Hanzo-san likes you a lot, too." She spun on her heel and started to sprint down the hall, leaving a speechless Shizuka behind.

'_He likes me...? He likes __**me**__?' _She thought, face red and shaking uncontrollably. _'He likes…!'_ She fell back and fainted from the shock of the news.

**X-X-X**

As Hikari entered the waiting room, she noticed a black-and-white-haired man lying on the floor in front of the reception desk, twitching every couple of seconds. Inomi was staring down at him with a half-lidded glare from behind the desk. "Inomi!! What do you think you're doing? This man is in pain!" The pink-haired Uchiha exclaimed as she touched his shoulder.

"I wouldn't touch 'em, Hikari."

Hikari looked at the Yamanaka in confusion. "Huh? What're you talking about? He's—?"

"Look _closer_."

It was then that the man grabbed her hand and sat up, looking at her with odd black and white eyes. "Hikari... Whoo! If it's possible, you look prettier now than you did before I left!"

"Huh?" The pink-haired woman stared at him. "I'm sorry, I don't know you."

"Hikari, I'm shocked! You don't remember me? Oh, woe is me! Can't you remember my face, my name?!" He cried, suddenly on his knees as waterfall tears streamed down his cheeks comically.

"I'm telling you I don't remember you! Now let me go or else! I was up all night, dammit! I deserve a little rest!!" She suddenly froze as the man grabbed her chest.

"Do you remember me, now?"

Hikari started to shake in silent rage. Inomi, who had known the woman long enough, ducked behind the desk and sighed. "Here we go again..." The glasses-wearing medic mumbled before her superior sent the man flying across the room.

**X-X-X**

"Some genius. Did you forget you look like someone painted you yin-and-yang?" Said Nataro as he stared at Kira. "By the way, how is it that you're even conscious after being punched through the _concrete wall_?!"

Kira rolled around on the hospital bed happily, not even minding the fact that underneath his clothing was a large, fist-shaped bruise. "Ah, her love taps are as hard as ever!" He squealed with glee as he sat up and grabbed the pillow from behind him. "Oh, Hikari... I love you and your fire...!"

The orange-clad blonde stared at the older man with wide eyes before he smacked himself in the face. "Oh, brother... You call that a love tap? More like a hate fist! You told me that you and Hikari-san were going steady before you left on your so-called vacation!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at Kira.

"We are...she just doesn't know it yet."

"She... What sort of freak are you?! You're no mad genius, you're a mad _stalker_!!"

Kira threw the pillow at Nataro's head to shut him up. "Quiet, you!! I'm not a stalker! I love that girl and I know she loves me! She just needs some time to realize it."

"Time my ass!! She punched you through a damn wall!! If that's real love, then I want no part in it!"

The room door then opened and Hikari walked into the room. She looked much calmer than she had before, when she punched Kira through the wall of the hospital. "So, what exactly is the problem? Know that I'm only seeing you because Nataro-kun said there was something wrong with your arm." She spoke in a serious tone of voice as a small vein throbbed on her cheek.

Kira took off his jacket and showed her the arm with the bizarre black pattern on it. "_This_ thing has been bugging me for the last couple of years."

"Wha... How did you...?"

"It's seriously weird, Hikari-san. The tattoo actually _grows_! And he gets pretty violent, too. Plus, it hurts him." Said Nataro.

The black-and-white-haired man glared at the genin. "No one asked you...!" The Uchiha woman approached him and grabbed his arm. She started to observe the mark while he grinned stupidly. "So, Hikari... What have you been up to for these last 8 years?" He got not response, but continued to speak. "Are you married now? ...No, you aren't married, I don't see a ring."

"Kira, shut up and let me look at this."

"You don't _look_ like you've had any kids, either. Tell me: is your biological clock ticking and breakneck speed? Tick...tock...tick...tock...tick..."

"I'll clean your clock if you don't shut up!!" Hikari shouted, a vein throbbing on her forehead as flames burned in her eyes.

"Y'know, when you bend over like that, I can see down your uniform."

"Grrrrr...!" The pink-haired woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "3...2...1... Phew...!" When she opened her eyes, she gave Kira glare. "If you seriously don't shut up, Kira. I'll damage a part of you so badly you won't be able to call yourself a man again." She spoke in a dark tone.

"Hurt me, baby! I can take it!"

Nataro gave the ex-ANBU captain a look. _'Is he a masochist or something? Does he get off on having her hurt him?'_

'_Calm down, Hikari. Just ignore him like you do with your parents... Oh...! But not even Mom and Dad are as annoying as this __**'genius'**__!'_"Mm?"

"What is it? You found something?"

The medical ninja stared at the mark for some time before she spoke again, "I want you to keep coming to see me, Kira." She saw the glint in the tall man's eyes and narrowed her own. "_Not_ like that! I want to keep looking at your arm. We may...be able to help with your problem. But you have to promise to come see me twice a week and whenever your arm is paining you again. Anything else?"

"Yeah." Kira held up his tattooed arm. He started to pout cutely as he gave the medical ninja puppy dog eyes. "Can you kiss it and make it better...?"

She frowned and pointed at the door. "_Leave_…"

"Aw, I was just kidding! Just tell me: is Sasuke-sensei still alive?"

Hikari arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Why do you want to know about my father?"

The black-and-white-haired man shrugged as he started to put on his jacket. "Oh, I'm thinking I might pay him a visit and see how the old man is doing. If he's not dead, I mean."

"Right, um, I don't think that's such a good idea! Daddy hasn't been feeling very well as of late—we think he may have gotten mildly sick after…Mom's passing, and it's not well for his heart to have too many surprises."

Nataro's eyes became large and watery. "Wh-what?! Sakura-san's _dead_?! When did _that_ happen?! She was just fine when I last saw her!!" He dropped down to his knees and started to act overdramatic. "WHYYYY?!?"

Kira looked at the bawling blonde boy, and then arched an eyebrow at Hikari. "…Are you trying to lie to me, Hikari? I'm so saddened...that just makes me wanna see Sasuke-sensei more." He hopped out of the bed, ignoring the pink-haired woman as he grabbed Nataro and ruffled his hair. "You know Sasuke-sensei, huh, kid?"

"N-Nataro! No!!"

"Um...yeah..." Nataro spoke slowly as tears still welled up in his eyes, very sure what was going to happen next. Kira started to grin as he reached behind the young genin's back and grabbed his collar. He quickly walked out of the room, leaving Hikari alone.

The pink-haired kunoichi's shoulders slumped as a sigh escaped her lips. "Ugh...! Why did he have to come back, God? 8 years isn't enough...!"

**X-X-X**

"H-hey!! Sasuke-san's house is the last place we'll be going to, right? I'm hungry and I wanna treat Asura-chan to ramen at Hagakure!!" Nataro shouted as Kira continued to drag him through the hospital hall.

"Yeah, yeah, sure! Whatever. I just wanna see if I can rub something in Sasuke-sensei's face about his old age. Kukukuku..." The black-and-white-haired man laughed evilly, causing the young boy he was dragging to sweatdrop.

"Uh-huh. Lemme warn you: Sasuke-san may be old, but he can sure shock you with what he can still do. _Literally_. I'll bet he shocks anyone who pisses him off."

"Ha! I can handle that old man! If I can take Hikari's love taps without blacking out now, I won't nearly die of electrocution like I did as a genin!! Kukukuku...!"

"And stop laughing like that! You sound like a crazy person!" Kira abruptly stopped walking and let go of the young genin. Nataro blinked in confusion. _'Did I say something wrong...?'_

"Kiddo... Thank you so very much for that compliment!"

"_What_?! That wasn't supposed to be a compliment!"

"But you don't understand! To be a mad genius, like the legendary Densetsu no Sannin, Jiraiya-sama and Orochimaru—that's my dream!!"

"That's...some dream..." _'Who'd want to be like Ero Sennin or Orochimaru?'_

The elder started to stare up at the ceiling with a fond look on his face. "Great shinobi like them were frequently called mad and bizarre despite their power! I wanna be like that. I wanna make people think I'm an idiot so that when they see what I've _really_ got up my sleeve, they'll be shocked! Stunned! Mystified!"

Nataro nodded with half-lidded eyes. "Uh-huh..."

"Here's a tip, kiddo: never reveal all your cards at once. You gotta leave a trump card or an ace or two in the hole for those especially dramatic moments."

The blonde boy sweatdropped. "...Whatever. I'm leaving." He walked past Kira with the same bored look on his face. He was then pulled back by Kira and went back to being dragged again.

"Oh no you don't, _kiddo_!! You're supposed bring me to see Sasuke-sensei. I wanna make fun of him!" The ex-ANBU captain growled as a small vein throbbed on his forehead. "It's the least I can do in return for all the times he shocked me and tortured me in my childhood." He slung the unwilling genin over his shoulder and proceeded to jog out of the hospital building.

"HEY!! Put me down, you weirdo!!! I can walk on my own, you know!!" Nataro shouted as he beat on Kira's back. "I...hope Sasuke-san shocks some sense in that twisted head of yoooours!!!"

**X-X-X**

"Do you honestly think you're ready?" Bhumi asked she tilted her head to the side.

"I don't plan on using physical force. I merely want to see him for myself," said the figure in the shadows.

"Why?"

"Didn't you say that he had her scent on her? If he truly does, I want to see him for myself!"

"You may not like him. He's pretty loud...him and his friends. ...Does this mean we're going to go to Konoha soon?"

The figure in the shadows smirked. "But of course... We'll be going to Konoha soon." _'And we'll be together soon, sister dear...'_

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review for the sake of Blu.**


	36. Omake 3: Team Sasuke

**Blu: Once again, we're going back in time through the power of Omake! But this time, we'll be looking in on Kira and his team's childhood. Though, really, the main character seems to be Uchiha Zen (Hanzo's dad), because when I originally wrote this story, I was making a Gaiden for Naruto X, but I abandoned it and just went straight on to Arashiden. So, sit back and enjoy this little omake. And remember to review for the sake of Blu.**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#36: Omake #3: Team Sasuke_

Let us once again go back in time to observe the past, to see what the elite of today were like in their youth…

"Team 13: Asahara Tsuki...Kira...and Uchiha Zen."

"WH-WHAT?!" A young tomboy of 11 shouted as she stood up from her seat, her eyes wide and her mouth open on shock. "S-sensei, are you sure you got that right? _Please_ tell me you made a mistake in reading the names!" The girl had short, purple hair and wore a short-sleeved purple shirt and black shorts, her Konoha hitai-ate tied around her waist. Her name was Asahara Tsuki, the student with the second highest score in their graduating class.

"There's no mistake, Tsuki-chan. Now sit down and let me continue with what's left," Their teacher spoke.

The shocked expression remained on Tsuki's face as she dropped back into her seat. Behind her, she could hear some girls whispering, but they were talking loud enough for the purple-haired girl to believe that they _wanted_ her to hear them:

"What a perfect fit for Tsuki-chan, don't you think?"

"Yeah, a team of freaks! Hahaha!"

"An idiot genius and a dead-last mute!"

Tsuki couldn't take it anymore and dropped her head on the desk, praying for the hard blow to somehow kill her. _'Stuck on a team...with a pair of freaks!!'_

The _'idiot genius'_ had short, unruly black hair and dark blue eyes, and wore a dark blue hoodie jacket with black pants, his hitai-ate tied around his head. This was Kira—_just _Kira. Apparently the boy was an orphan and had no last name. He didn't appear to want one, either, claiming it made him unique. Kira was a genius—the highest scoring student in their class and the Rookie of the Year. Usually, the stereotypical Number 1 student was stoic, quiet and cool, but Kira broke that tradition. The boy was loud, weird, pulled pranks and stunts, and took any dare anyone would give him. Tsuki could remember how last winter, Kira sat underneath the waterfall wearing nothing but his underwear. He caught pneumonia and didn't come to class for weeks, what teachers and students considered a blessing, especially one Uchiha Hikari. Either way, Kira was definitely _not_ a normal kid.

The _'dead-last mute'_ was Uchiha Zen, the only 10-year old in the class as his parents had enrolled him early alongside his sister Hikari. Zen was small and thin with shoulder-length raven hair that hid his green eyes that were so dark that they were almost black. He wore only a black shirt and white shorts with his hitai-ate tied around his neck. Zen wasn't very strong and not exactly the talkative type. He hardly ever paid attention in class and was usually spacing out, staring at a wall or right through whoever was trying to talk to him. The only person Tsuki knew he talked to in school was Hikari, but there were girls who tried to take advantage of his cuteness before—like putting him in a dress. The _harpies_... A lot of people thought that Zen was mute, deaf, and/or retarded. Most of the kids in class chose the third and would often beat up on him and push him around, but they stopped doing so after an incident many months ago where the little Uchiha had somehow managed to put a kid in the hospital. Something about trying to beat the kid's head in with a rock...? Tsuki didn't know all the details, but she knew that the number of people who picked on the boy decreased after that and the number of insults behind his back increased.

Of course, no matter how much Tsuki could deny it, she wasn't exactly normal, either. The child of a pair of Leaf shinobi who suddenly turned rogue, leaving behind their only two children and running for the border. Because of that, she and her brother Yomi had to fend for themselves and make enough money on their own to survive. But Tsuki was somewhat forgetful, despite her rank as the Number 2 High Scorer. She often came to classes late because she forgot what time they started or where they were having class that day. It was a miracle that such a forgetful child could pass with such a high score... Then there was the fact that she was somewhat stingy when it came to what little money she had, and never spent it unless she really had to.

After their sensei finished announcing the genin squads, he went on to lecture yet again about the hardships and trials of being shinobi. The class was bored and wanted to begin doing missions as soon as possible—not listen to their teacher prattle on some more. Tsuki still had her head down on the desk, bored and upset. Kira also had his head down on the desk, as it had been from the moment they called his team. Simply put, the dark-haired boy had been asleep since he came into the classroom and sat down behind the desk, still tired from the beating he got from one of the Rokudaime's off-duty ANBU for trying to place a trap for the Hokage. Zen also had his head down on the desk, but at that moment, his mind wasn't in school. It was all the way back in yesterday, the day he had gotten his report card.

_**X-FLASHBACK-NO-JUTSU!!-X**_

In the kitchen of the Uchiha clan home, 48-year old Uchiha Sakura (though she looked more like a 32-year old) and Zen sat at the table and stared down at her son's report card. She twirled a loose strand of her short pink hair and observed the piece of paper. Zen had done something that none of his elder siblings had done before: he had gotten the lowest score in _all_ of his subjects. The teacher's statement written underneath his grades stated that Zen had started to drop in the middle of the year and showed no signs of improvement since then. There were times when he managed to pass important tests with high grades, though, and her son received just enough points needed to pass. _'What's Sasuke going to think about this...?'_

Zen stared at the ground, his hands balled up into fists that rested on his knees. "...I'm sorry, Mom..." He spoke in a small, soft voice. "I just... I tried to listen, but I can't...!"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at her son. She smiled and placed a hand on the young Uchiha's head. "There, there, Zen-chan! I'm not mad. I know you did your best and I'm happy that you passed."

The raven looked up and gave a small smile, his eyes hidden by his bangs. The smile suddenly faded and he looked back at the floor with the same sullen expression as before. "What about...Father...?"

"Hm?"

"The last time...I got bad grades...you started yelling at each other."

The pink-haired woman closed her eyes and sighed. "That wasn't because of you, Zen. It was just...your father and I had different views on a certain subject."

"I heard you." Zen looked up at his mother, one dark green eye visible through all the bangs. "You said my name a lot. You were arguing about me."

"No, we weren't. And as for your father, he knows how hard you work in class, so he won't be upset once he sees this," Sakura spoke with a smile as she ruffled her son's hair. _'I hope...'_

"When I see what?" A deep voice asked from the doorway. It turned out to be Sasuke, the 47-year old jonin (though he looked ten years younger than his age) and head of the Uchiha clan. He noticed Zen had immediately hidden behind his mother and was pushing his face against Sakura's back, as if bracing himself for when his father would explode at him. "What happened?"

"Today was the day when the kids graduated from Ninja Academy," Sakura reminded her husband as he sat down on the pillow Zen had occupied seconds ago. "Remember?"

"Mm? That was today? I've lost track of time lately. Naruto's been trying to get me to become a jonin instructor and teach a team of genin. As if I would..."

"Aw, I think you'd be a great teacher, Sasuke!" Sakura cooed, trying to get on Sasuke's good side before saying the bad news. "You could be a better teacher than Kakashi-sensei was! In terms of morality, at least..."

"Hn. Are you trying to compare me to Kakashi?" Sasuke propped his arm onto the table and laid his head in it, onyx eyes focusing on the pink-haired woman. "So, how did they do? What were Hikari and Zen's grades?"

"Well, Hikari-chan was the fourth-highest scoring student and second-highest in terms of written tests."

The raven-haired man smirked. "That's what I thought. She deserves higher, you know."

"Of course, she does, dear. And Zen managed to pass but...his final grade's not exactly high."

Sasuke blinked and sat up straight, looking at his wife in curiosity. "What do you mean by _'not exactly high'_? Is he not one of the highest-scoring students?"

"No." Sakura began to clench the report card tightly in her hands. She could feel Zen grasping the back of her apron strings.

"...That's fine. So he has a fair grade."

"Not exactly."

The Uchiha head arched an eyebrow. "What do you _mean_, Sakura?"

"He doesn't have a fair grade."

"Well, if he doesn't have a fair grade, then what _does_ he have?" As if in reply, Sakura held out the report card to her husband. He took it from her hands...opened it...read its contents...and frowned. "So...these are Zen's scores?"

"Remember, Sasuke, he tried his best! And he _did_ pass! Just...with the lowest score in the class," Sakura stated in her son's defense, since it felt like he was shaking and about to cry into her back.

"Ah..." was all Sasuke said. He placed the report card on the table, stood up, and walked out of the room, leaving mother and child alone.

"...Father hates me now, doesn't he." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Zen rested his head against his mother's back as tears trailed down his cheeks.

"No, he doesn't. Your father will always love you, no matter what grade you get," Sakura spoke as she turned around and hugged her son.

'_Then why didn't he show he was proud of me...the way he did Naota...and Ichigo...and Mai...and Hikari...?'_

_**X-KAI!!-X**_

"Now then, now that _that's_ said and done, allow me to introduce you to your new squad leaders."

'_About time!'_ Tsuki thought with a pout as she sat up straight. _'I almost fell asleep listening to Umihiro-sensei's lecture...'_

"Nn? What did I miss?" Kira mumbled as he raised his head, drool trailing down the side of his mouth. "Eh? What're all these jonin doing here?"

Zen paid no attention and closed his eyes, his head being the only one that remained on the desk.

"Team 13, your jonin sensei is...Uchiha Sasuke." Their teacher announced.

"Uchiha...?" Tsuki started as she blinked her eyes.

"Sauce-keg?" Kira mispronounced. He was still a tad bit sleepy and had yet to regain what little sense he had.

Zen's eyes widened and he raised his head. It really was his father standing before them, hands behind his sword-strapped back as his stoic visage scanned the class of genin. He noticed Hikari, who was silently thanking God for not making Sasuke her squad leader, then locked eyes with Zen. The young raven gulped as only one word came to mind. _'Crap.'_

**X-X-X**

Much later, at the Uchiha home, Zen was in his sister Hikari's room, lying facedown on the floor. He'd been in that position ever since he came back home from his squad's introduction to their sensei. 12-year old Uchiha Hikari, wearing a sleeveless dark green blouse with a beige knee-length skirt with slits in the sides that revealed her dark blue bicycle shorts and her hitai-ate on her head like a hair band, couldn't stand the sight of seeing her brother acting like this and decided to do something about it.

"Don't worry, Zen. I'm sure it won't be so bad, having Dad as your squad leader." _'Who am I kidding?! Having Daddy as a teacher would be murder! He'll put Zen and his teammates through the ringer!'_ The pink-haired girl spoke as she stroked her fingers through her short pink hair. "Besides, he's not the worse teacher in the world. I mean, I've got Lee-san for _my_ sensei, remember?" She nudged her little brother with her foot when she didn't get a response. "Zen?"

"It's _horrible_..." The young raven moaned as he got to his knees. "Father will do something to embarrass me—I just know it!"

"But he's not exactly the type who embarrasses you... Dad'll just put a lot of pressure on you! That's perfectly normal, right?"

"Why'd he have to be _my_ squad sensei? Why couldn't they have put him on another team?"

"Awww! The poor crybaby is at it again, huh?" A voice spoke, causing Zen and Hikari to look at the doorway. Their older brother Ichigo, who had recently turned 15 and had attained the rank of chunin last year, stepped into the room. He had short, red-tinted black hair and their mother's bright green eyes, and wore a dark red shirt with the Uchiha fan on the shoulders, black pants and the standard chunin flak vest, his hitai-are tied around his head.

"Get out of my room, Ichigo!! No jerks allowed!!" Hikari screeched as she threw a shoe at the older sibling.

Ichigo simply grabbed the shoe before it could hit him in the face and dropped it to the ground. Ignoring the way his pink-haired sister was glaring at him, Ichigo looked down at Zen, who was still on his knees on the floor. "Better watch out, Zen. Seeing as how Dad already knows how much your ninja skills _suck_, he's gonna run you into the ground as soon as you guys start training." He began to rub his chin in an intellectual manner. "The only way you'd be able to get out of this is if you fail the test... You know: the second test you're supposed to take to weed out the weaker shinobi."

The raven-haired boy and pink-haired girl blinked. "Hm? What do you mean by that? Zen wouldn't fail on purpose!"

"If you fail, then you wouldn't have to train under Dad. You'd get sent back to the Academy, of course...but maybe going back a second time'll make you a better shinobi then you are now."

"Stop it, Ichigo! Like Zen would actually fail on purpose just so he won't have to train under Dad..." Hikari huffed as she folded her arms across her chest. "He should just deal with it and everything will turn out fine."

"It's not for _you_ to decide, Hikari," The dark-haired boy spoke. "Zen's the one who has to choose his faith. I'm just showing him another path to take..." He spoke as he walked out of the room.

"You won't _dare_ fail on purpose, will you, Zen?" Hikari asked, her eyebrow arched and her hands on her hips.

The youngest Uchiha said nothing. He simply got to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving his sister alone and staring at the open door.

**X-X-X**

The next day, Team 13 met at the training area that Sasuke had told them about. The first to arrive were Kira and Zen, the taller boy still showing signs of sleepiness.

"How can... How can you stay awake...so early...in the morning, Z?" The brunette asked while he leaned against a log standing upright in the ground with his eyes half-lidded before a yawn escaped from his mouth.

". . ." Zen responded with silence as he sat on the ground, still thinking about what his brother had told him the night before.

"Whatcha thinking about, Z?"

". . ."

"You don't wanna pass the test? Why not?"

Zen blinked in confusion at what his teammate had said. It was almost as though he were reading his mind. Still, the young raven said nothing.

"Oh... Why? Are you afraid of Sasu-sensei or something?" Kira asked as he sat up, facing the shorter boy.

'_I'm not afraid of him!'_ Zen thought as his nostrils flared in anger, a small vein throbbing on his forehead. _'I just...don't wanna have my Father as my teacher for the rest of my time as a genin! That would be horrible!'_

"What, are you afraid he's gonna _embarrass you_ or something? He doesn't look like the type to do something like that. ...He looks more like the type who'd put you through back-breaking, grueling..._horrible_ training!" A grin suddenly broke out on the young genin's face. "Sounds like fun!"

The Uchiha sweatdropped and decided to look away from his teammate. _'Knowing Father, that's exactly what he'd do...'_

"Why are you _still_ doing that?" A girl's voice spoke. The two genin turned their heads to see Tsuki walking towards them, slightly red in the face. "Keep doing that and people are gonna think you're crazy. ...Well, everybody _already_ thinks you're crazy, but you get what I'm saying."

"Say, Tsu-Tsu, why are you only coming just now when we were supposed to all be here over a half hour ago?"

"N-none of your business!!" The purple-haired girl snapped. She then promptly collapsed on the ground next to Zen, who was staring at his female teammate with impassive eyes. She glared up at him and softly muttered, "What the heck are _you_ looking at?"

A wicked grin spread across Kira's face. "...You forgot where we were supposed to meet, didn't you?" He spoke in a low whisper, suddenly popping up beside his female teammate. "Didn't you?!"

"What's it to you, weirdo?!" Tsuki shouted as she shook a fist at the taller genin. "I oughta deck you one—!"

"That's enough," said Sasuke as he appeared before the genin in a poof of smoke, holding a picnic basket in one hand. The young shinobi backed away and stood up straight, looking at their sensei in expectation. The raven-haired man observed his squad for a while before speaking again. "As you know, if you pass this test, you'll be qualified to become Konoha shinobi. But if you fail, then you will be sent back to the Academy for retraining."

The Kira and Tsuki gulped while Zen remained apathetic as usual.

"...So, what is our test, Sasuke-sensei?" The young kunoichi asked.

"I'm glad you asked." The jonin reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a pair of small bells. The genin stared at the bells in confusion as they jangled in the wind. "The objective of this training...will be to get these bells from me. You may use whatever methods you want: weapons, jutsu, anything at all, but you have to come at me like you were trying to kill me. Each of you must get a bell before noon or else you will fail."

"...But there are only two bells. How can all of us get a bell when there are only two?" Kira asked as he tilted his head to the side.

Sasuke smirked. "Why don't _you_ figure that out?"

"...So...why did you make us not have breakfast before coming here, sensei?" Tsuki asked with an eyebrow arched. She felt a chill go down her spine as the man's smirk became wider.

"One: because you might throw up your breakfast...with what _I'm_ going to do to you lot." The genin trio gulped and turned slightly blue in the face. "And two: ...If you don't get a bell, I'll eat all this food by myself," He continued, raising the basket in his hand a bit. "If you get a bell, then you can have some. But the one who _doesn't_ get a bell will be tied up to a tree and watch the rest of us enjoy lunch."

'_So he's gonna add insult to injury, huh? He's not a nice man...!'_ Tsuki thought as her stomach gave a growl.

'_Oh, I gotta get that food!! I'll die if I don't get something to eat!!'_ Kira thought as his eyes focused on the picnic basket. _'Hang on, food! I'll be with you by noon!'_

'_So if I don't get a bell, all I'll endure is hunger until after I get home? I can handle that.'_ Zen thought with a snort. He suddenly clutched his stomach in pain, as though it were trying to eat away at itself. _'Then again, maybe it won't be so easy...!'_

Sasuke placed an alarm clock on a log and set the time. "When this clock rings, time's up. We begin...now!" In the blink of an eye, Tsuki and Kira disappeared from sight, taking cover in the foliage. Zen, on the other hand, simply stood in the same spot. "Zen. The test has started." The raven-haired jonin arched an eyebrow.

". . ." Zen merely looked at his father with apathy before he fell backwards and landed on his butt. He continued to stare at his father for some time, the older Uchiha narrowing his eyes before disappearing. _'This is going to be easier than I thought...'_ The young genin thought as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. _'All I have to do is find a place to hide until noon where Father won't be able to find me...'_

**X-X-X**

'_Who will I find first...?'_ Sasuke thought as he walked through the woods. A rustle came from the bushes nearby before a flurry of kunai and shuriken came flying out. The projectile weapons became impaled in the Uchiha's back.

"Alright!! That was too easy!" Tsuki exclaimed, running out of the bushes and towards Sasuke's body. She stopped running and skidded to a halt. "That was too easy..." In a poof of smoke, Sasuke became a rotten log. "A Kawarimi jutsu?! Urgh!" She was then pulled back by the hand of her sensei, who easily threw her backwards into a tree.

"It'll take more than _that_ to get a bell, Asahara Tsuki. Hm?" He looked down at the ground and saw Kira, on his knees and in place of the rotten log with a hand on his butt. Apparently, the jonin moved just as Kira broke his Henge no Jutsu and stretched his hand out for the bells. Unfortunately, the genin only got a handful of butt.

"Heh-heh-heh...! Hi." The boy spoke plainly, his eyes reduced to little blue dots, a blush on his cheeks, and his mouth hanging agape. He gave Sasuke's butt a firm squeeze. "Nice buns, Sasu-sensei. Do you do butt exercises or something?"

". . ." A vein began to throb on Sasuke's head and he kicked the genin in the face, causing him to fly away backwards.

'_He totally deserves that,'_ Tsuki thought as she folded her arms across her chest, still sitting on the ground. She then blinked. _'Wait, what am I still doing here?! I gotta think up another way to get those bells!'_

'_Wow, he's strong!'_ Kira thought as he managed to land and skidded to the ground. "Let's see, what did that book say? Channel chakra into the feet for greater speed?" He made a single-handed sign as he used his free hand to draw a kunai from his back pouch. He began to channel chakra into his feet and took off speeding towards Sasuke. "Here I come, food!!"

'_So he knows how to channel chakra already? And here I thought he was an idiot...'_ Thought Sasuke with a smirk. Kira jumped up into the air and began to come down, kunai first until Sasuke quickly drew some shuriken and threw them at the boy. The genin grinned as he deflected all the shuriken with his kunai and then threw it at the Uchiha leader. It was soon deflected by another kunai, owned by his sensei, who had disappeared as soon as the kunai hit. Before Kira knew it, he was lying on the ground, his mouth full of dirt and Sasuke's foot on his back. "Slow. But you're obviously pretty talented. I'm not sure about you being a genius, though."

The dark-haired boy raised his head and spat out some dirt, then began to grin like a maniac, which caused Sasuke to arch an eyebrow. "Hee-hee-hee! Watch what you say, sensei!" The boy giggled as he began to move his left index and middle fingers. The Uchiha observed the boy's hand and noticed a glint of light reflecting off of the thin piece of wire wrapped around those particular fingers. With one fine pull, a log came swinging out from a tree. _'This was how I was originally going to take you out, but I wanted to see if I could get a bell on my own!'_ Kira thought, narrowing his eyes.

"...Hmph. Nice planning." The Uchiha's hand moved to the hilt of the sword strapped onto his hilt and with a swift stroke, he cut the log, along with the wire it was on, in half. "Not good enough, though." He felt Kira shifting beneath his feet and looked down.

Kira had managed to pull out a bomb note from his pants pocket and was looking at it, his eyes reduced to little blue dots and a smile that looked like it was drawn onto his face. "You know what I was told in school? Bomb notes are basically just explosive Katon jutsu sealed into pieces of paper that can be used at anytime. Therefore, if I used this right now...and set it to explode in only a matter of minutes..."

Sasuke's eyes widened. _'What the hell?!'_

**X-X-X**

"Hm? What was that?" Zen thought as he looked at the smoke that was coming from the forest. The young raven was currently sitting at the Memorial Stones, the last place Sasuke would look, leaning on the new slab of stone that had only a few names on it. "Did Dad already start using his Katon jutsu? ...As if that matters to me." He spoke to himself as he placed his hands behind his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the picnic basket that had been placed between the two stones. His stomach growled, and Zen pouted. "...I'm going to fail, anyway. I may as well not go hungry."

The young Uchiha stood and walked over to the basket. He knelt and opened it and saw four bento boxes inside. "Mmmm... I hope Mom made these..." As soon as his hands reached inside and touched one of the bento boxes, a shadow suddenly loomed over him.

"What are you doing...Zen?"

Zen's eyes widened slightly for a second, but he quickly donned his apathetic masked when he looked over his shoulder. A slightly singed Sasuke was standing behind him, a frown on his face.

"You aren't supposed to eat until _after_ you get a bell. And yet, here you are, trying to cheat while your teammates are working hard."

'_It's not cheating if I'm only hurrying the inevitable,'_ the dark-haired boy thought as he stood up and turned around to face his father.

"...I see I have no choice."

**X-X-X**

Fast forwarding to noon, we find Team Sasuke back where they began. The genin trio was sitting by three logs. Actually, Kira and Tsuki were the ones who were sitting. Zen was tied with rope against the middle log and had been standing up for a good couple of hours. The young Uchiha was tired and his stomach was practically eating itself from hunger. The lone genin kunoichi only had a few nicks and scratches with her hair slightly mussed up. Kira looked the worse by far as a result of his crazy and dangerous attempts at getting the bells. He'd even went so far as to cut himself with a kunai in order to lure Sasuke into thinking that he had killed the boy, but that was easily fixed with a first aid kit after the dark-haired boy fainted from lack of blood.

"You have no idea how disappointed I am in you three. How exactly are you going to be shinobi when you can't even handle _me_?" Sasuke groaned as he ran a hand through his hair.

Tsuki puffed her cheeks in anger. "Hey, it's not our fault! A genin can't beat a jonin—especially when that genin's just gotten out of the Academy!"

"But you're the 2nd-highest student! The fact that you can spit out poison may not be something a normal genin can do, but that wasn't enough to even get a finger on me, was it?" The purple-haired girl hung her head in shame at those words. "And Kira, just _how _did you get to be the highest-scoring student in the class? With all the asinine attempts you've pulled, I'd think you were dropped on your head a lot as a kid."

"Hey, I resent that! Besides, today was an off day! I coulda beat you if I was on my A-game!" The dark-haired genin shouted, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Suuure..."

"Grrrrr...!" Kira stopped growling and held onto his grumbling stomach. He fell back and leaned against the log, a frown on his blue-tinted face. "My stomach..."

"And some of us..." Sasuke continued as he looked at Zen out of the corner of his eye. The boy looked in the opposite direction, "Didn't even do a thing, but decided to try and take the prize."

"Aw, that's not true, is it Zen!!" Kira shouted with his eyes wide and round like a pair of plates. "Why didn't _I_ think of that?!"

The jonin gave another groan before glaring at the three genin. "With the way you three performed, you may as well drop out of the program _immediately_."

"Come on, Sasu-sensei!! Give us one more chance, huh? We'll get those bells next time, for sure!" Kira shouted.

'_I can't just drop out!! I've gone through too much at the Academy to be anything __**but**__ a ninja!'_ Tsuki thought as fear became apparent on her face.

'_Just...drop out...?'_ Zen thought with wide eyes as he stared at the ground, bangs hiding his shocked appearance. _'I didn't think... I don't want to drop out! If I drop out, how will I be able to prove to everyone that I'm not weak? Is this...what Father really thinks of me?'_ The sound of a dull thud caused the boy to lift his head. There were two bento boxes on the ground, one in front of Tsuki and the other in front of Kira.

"...Fine. You want a second chance? We're going to have a _different_ test. A much harder one than simply grabbing a bell." He spoke in a tone that sent chills up and down the genin's spines. "You two can eat that to gain your strength, seeing as how you're gonna need it."

Kira glanced at the raven-haired boy on his right and asked, "But what about Z?"

"What about him?"

"Well, doesn't he get a bento, too?"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched before he looked at Zen. Upon making eye contact, his son masked his hunger and gave his father an apathetic look. "...Hmph. He tried to cheat and eat lunch early. Therefore, he must be punished. Zen will remain tied up and will go without food. And if either one of you two try to feed him...the consequences will be _dire_." For a moment, Kira and Tsuki swore that their Uchiha sensei's eyes had glowed red like some sort of demon. "I'm going to leave now to prepare for the test. When I come back, you'd better be done."

As soon as Sasuke disappeared in a poof of smoke, Kira and Tsuki opened their bento with a sigh.

"Aw, man!! Why does Sasu-sensei have to be so mean?" The dark-haired boy asked no one in particular before he began shoveling large amounts of rice into his mouth.

Tsuki flinched at her teammate's horrible manners and decided to eat slowly. She stopped, however, upon hearing a loud growling noise. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Zen slumping over, his face turning a shade of blue. "Uh... Are you okay?"

"Tch! Of course he's not okay, Tsu-Tsu! He's being starved by his cruel, cruel father, don't you know."

"Well, he's got no one to blame but himself. He tried to cheat and eat early, so he deserves it," The purple-haired girl spoke before she returned to eating her food. A glob of rice was soon thrown at her head. "Ack!! KIRA!!!"

"How can you say that about your own teammate, Tsu-Tsu? I mean, look at him! He's weak and pathetic and he's also the lowest scorer in our class..."

'_If that was a compliment, he's more twisted than Father,'_ Zen thought as he glared at Kira from the corner of his eye.

"But he's still our friend!"

The young raven blinked at that last word. _'Friend...?'_

"_Friend_? You're joking, right? Why would I be friends with a pair of freaks like you—" Tsuki stopped after Zen's stomach growling interrupted her again, followed by the raven's whimper of hunger. She looked at Zen and began to feel a pang in her heart from watching the pathetic boy glance at her food every 3 to 5 seconds.

"You can't help but feel sorry for 'em, can't you?" Kira pouted as he pinched one of Zen's cheeks. "This poor, unfortunate young lad who might be a sack of skin an' bones by the time Sasu-sensei comes back!! Don't you feel sorry for him, Tsuki? Well? WELL?!"

"I do! I do!" The purple-haired genin wailed as tears began to well up in her eyes. She got on her knees and faced the Uchiha, holding out her chopsticks with some rice on them. "Here! Take it! Besides, if we're a team, we're supposed to work together, right? Can't let one of the team starve!"

Zen blinked and stared at Tsuki for a while. He then took a bite of the food and immediately gulped it down, not caring if he took the time to chew or not.

"You can have some of...what's left of mine, Z! Heh-heh..."

"I'm surprised that you still have any left! You were eating like a pig..."

"Open up, Z! Say 'ah'!"

"Hey, you gotta _chew_ your food or you'll get a stomach ache!"

As he sat in a nearby tree, Sasuke smirked. "Hm. Maybe there's hope for these three after all..."

**X-X-X**

A short while later, after Kira and Tsuki had finished feeding Zen, the youngest member of their squad had fallen asleep standing up.

"Hee-hee! He looks so cute when he's asleep. Like a little baby." Amazingly, Kira was the one who said this.

"I...guess he looks cute. For a guy who's two years younger than an Academy graduate _should be_!" Tsuki mumbled as a bright red tint appeared on her cheeks.

The dark-haired genin gave a smirk. "Ahhh...! You like Z, don't you? Admit, admit, admiiiit!!!"

"Would you knock it off?! You're gonna wake Zen!"

All of a sudden, the skies seemed to darken. Kira looked up in confusion. "Eh? What's with the sudden change in weather? And the dramatic music playing in the background?"

Tsuki sweatdropped. "The only person who's hearing that music is you, you weirdo."

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke appeared before them, arms folded across his chest with his Sharingan activated. Zen chose the worse time to wake up and looked right into his father's eyes. "I saw what you did... I gave you three a second chance, and all you had to do was follow the rules! But now...for what you've done, I'm going to give you the worse punishment you can ever imagine!" Lightning began to charge around his body, causing the three genin to shiver in fear.

"I... I... SCREW YOU, SASU-SENSEI!!!" Kira shouted, giving his sensei The Bird. "Z's my teammate and my friend, and I won't let him starve to death just because you said so!!"

Tsuki gulped and began to twiddle her fingers for a bit before she went in front of Zen. "Y-yeah! If there's anything we learned at the Academy, it's that your teammates are important, no matter what the consequences are!"

"Yeah, so go ahead and fail us, BASTARD!!!"

"Hey, let's not go _that_ far!" Tsuki hissed into the dark-haired boy's ear.

Sasuke stared down at the genin. After a few seconds, his frown was replaced with a smirk. "Pass."

"...Say what?" Tsuki asked, her eyes reduced to dots.

The clouds cleared, and Kira looked back up at the sky. "Now it's all back to normal. Even the music's stopped." He then did a double-take and imitated Tsuki, staring at Sasuke with his dot-like eyes. "What'd you say, Sasu-sensei?"

"You passed your make-up test. What you were doing before wasn't how I wanted you to get those bells."

"...Oh, I get it. We were all supposed to work together, huh?" Tsuki spoke with an arched eyebrow.

"I knew that!" Kira exclaimed as he rubbed his bandaged wound.

"Sure you did, _genius_..."

The dark-haired genin got to his feet and began to untie Zen. The raven-haired young man bowed his head and began to stare at the ground. Kira gave a broad grin and slapped his teammate in the back. "Hey, hey! We made it, man! This is gonna be awesome, I can tell!"

". . ."

"Admit it! You were frightened for a moment that you were gonna fail, weren't you?"

Zen wasn't paying attention to the so-called genius that was his teammate, but was deep in thought. _'I passed...which means I'm stuck having my father as a teacher until I become a chunin. But at least I didn't get dropped from the program! I wouldn't have been able to look my father in the face for the rest of my life.'_

"Hey, Sasu-sensei! Why don't you buy us lunch as a reward for passing our test?" Kira asked, his eyes wide and sparkling as he tugged on the Uchiha head's pants leg.

"No. You just ate a while ago, anyway."

"Awww, come on!"

"You're a pig, Kira—and I mean that in the literal sense!" Tsuki exclaimed with a smirk as she folded her arms across her chest.

"And _you're_ a flatty, Tsu-Tsu!"

"What'd you call me, you little—?!"

Zen looked up and saw his female teammate throttling the taller boy. Sasuke had each of his hands around each of their necks as he attempted to pull them apart. _'Until I become a chunin, this will be my team. Team 13...'_

**X-X-X**

"So, how did your tests go?" Sakura asked Hikari and Zen that night at dinner as the Uchiha family sat down to dinner.

"I'm still in pain...!" Hikari moaned as she fell backwards. She had several bandages and bruises visible on her body. "Lee-sensei is too extreme to train genin!!"

"Poor Hikari. You've gotten a _real_ freak as a teacher!" Said 14-year old Mai, who was wearing a sleeveless ice-blue dress and black knee-length pants.

"Mai! That's no way to talk about Lee-san!" Sakura scolded her daughter.

"Sorry, mother..."

"As, uh..._eccentric_ as Lee-san can act, he's definitely a strong shinobi. He's a good teacher for you."

Hikari sat up and looked at her father with half-lidded eyes. "Is this true, Daddy?"

Sasuke placed down his cup of tea and sighed. "...Lee's a freak, but he is certainly strong. There aren't many taijutsu masters like him in this day and age."

"See? Even Dad agrees that he's a weirdo!"

"Sasuke!!"

"Hn."

Sakura glared at her husband before looking at their youngest child. "So, how did _your_ test go, Zen?"

"I bet he failed," Ichigo whispered to Mai. Sakura, however, heard it and gave them a glare that made both teens cease their snickering. 20-year old Naota, dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt with dark blue pants with his hitai-ate tied around his head, rolled his eyes at his younger siblings' behavior.

"Um... I-I passed..." Zen mumbled as he played with his food. "I mean, _we_ passed... My team and I..."

The pink-haired woman smiled. Ichigo and Mai looked shocked. Naota gave a small smile as Hikari squealed and hugged her little brother.

"_Please_ tell me that it was by a fluke that he passed, Dad."

Sasuke looked up at Ichigo, who was staring at his father in disbelief. "No. Actually, Zen might not have passed if his teammates were there to help him. If not for them, he'd have failed for sure."

Zen looked down and bit his bottom lip, hair hiding his eyes from view. _'I guess he expected me to fail...'_

"Well, you still passed, and that's what matters!" Hikari exclaimed as she hooked her arm around the raven's shoulders. "At least you got off easier than I did in terms of tests..."

"That's right. And before you know it, you'll be as skilled as Naota and Ichigo," said Sakura as she nodded her head.

Ichigo snorted and placed his hands behind his head. "As if _that's_ possible..."

"If you could become a decent shinobi, Ichigo, then Zen could surely become one as well," Naota spoke for the first time that evening.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing," said the eldest Uchiha child as he took a bite of meat. "I was just talking to myself." He ignored the second-eldest boy was glaring at him, a vein throbbing on his forehead. Mai and Hikari giggled while Sasuke rolled his eyes and Zen sighed.

'_It's going to be a long time before anyone takes me seriously...'_

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	37. The Coming Storm

_Disclaimer: By now you should know that I, Blu Rose, do **not** own the Naruto series no matter how much money I offer Kishimoto! I only own my OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#37: The Coming Storm_

"It's such a peaceful day: the sky is clear: the birds are chirping, the sun is shining brightly…but I feel as though something bad is going to happen soon. What do you think, Sasuke-sensei?"

Hanzo sweatdropped at Kira's statement from behind the door. From the moment he came downstairs, he noticed the mad genius was sitting on the veranda of his grandparents' home. Sasuke stood behind the younger man, eyes flashing red every couple of minutes—as if contemplating using the Sharingan.

"It _would_ be a peaceful day if someone would leave the place he's not wanted in…" Sasuke muttered as he practically glared a hole in the back of Kira's head.

The black-and-white-haired man shifted slightly to look at his old teacher. "Huh? Who's that?"

A vein started to throb on Sasuke's forehead. "Who do you think?"

"How am _I_ supposed to know who's hiding behind the door of _your_ house?" The mad genius pointed over to the sliding door behind Sasuke.

Without turning around, Sasuke closed his eyes. "Hanzo. Aren't you supposed to be meeting that foolish sensei of yours?" The elderly Uchiha looked out of the corner of his eye as Hanzo gave him a half-lidded glare from behind the sliding door. "Get out here."

The raven-haired boy stepped out onto the veranda. "Today is Sunday. Tsuki-sensei usually comes late to our team meetings on Sundays." _'Although, with her new attitude, she may already be there to train us ragged…!'_

Kira pointed a finger at the young Uchiha. "What're you doing here, anyway? Don't you have a mom, Little Zen?"

Hanzo's eyes narrowed slightly. "My name is _Hanzo_. And my mother went away on an important mission. She won't be back for some time, so my brother and I have to stay here with my grandparents."

"I see… You're a juvenile delinquent like your little blonde friend, so she left you in Sasuke-sensei's care. You didn't even look like the type to cause trouble…!" The ex-ANBU captain started to slowly shake his head.

"I didn't say _that_!"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "You're one to talk. Last I remember, coming into someone's home without their knowledge and consent was called breaking and entering."

"It's not when your wife's the one that let me in," Kira answered back.

"Even so, I'd still have the police arrest you."

"You can't do that!! Nobody would believe you!!"

"They'd believe me over _you_."

Kira sniffled and curled up into a fetal position, lying on the wooden floor. "You're an _evil_ old man. What's the matter: your arthritis or bronchitis or whatever got you down this morning?"

Another small vein started to throb on Sasuke's forehead as he stared at his student. His face looked apathetic but his eyes were practically burning with rage. "For your information, I'm as healthy as I was when I was a jonin. And I _don't_ have arthritis. Even if I did, that wouldn't stop me from doing _this_." He placed a hand on Kira's head and set a current of electric chakra through his entire body.

"GYAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!!!"

Hanzo sweatdropped as he stared at the events in shock—no pun intended. "I…think I _will_ go to my team meeting after all. Tsuki-sensei may come sober. See you later, Grandfather… Kira-san…"

"Have a good day," Sasuke spoke monotonously before he shocked Kira again.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

"You, too…" Not wanting to see anymore of this, the young raven turned around and ran off, determined to get out of the house before a jolt of electricity accidentally shocked him. "Now, are you going to leave now, or do I have to force you to?" The old man bent over to look at the young man. "Kira."

"Mmmm… That…wasn't as bad as I remember." Kira looked up at Sasuke and gave him a stupid grin. "You're getting soft, Sensei."

Sasuke twitched. "That does it." He narrowed his eyes as his Sharingan activated.

"Wait, you're not gonna…? Wait! Wait, you damn relic!!!"

**X-X-X**

It actually turned out that Hanzo wasn't the only one who came a little late. Both Nataro and Kazemaru had thought that Tsuki would be drunk, come late and that she would give them the day off while she recovered from her little drinking binge on Saturday night. But today...today she had actually come before them. Hanzo was late by less than half an hour. Nataro and Kazemaru hadn't even bothered to show up. That resulted in Tsuki and Hanzo having to go and pick them up from their homes.

"Honestly, Tsuki-sensei! We didn't think you'd come early today!" Exclaimed Nataro as he wrung his hands in nervousness. He was sure that another punishment was in their future.

"Yeah, usually you're drunk—" Kaze stopped talking and gasped as he pointed a finger at the jonin kunoichi in the front of the group. "Wait, why _aren't _you drunk?! Are you really Tsuki-sensei?!"

Tsuki turned around to face her students and folded her arms across her chest. "What? Of course it's me, Kazemaru. I just didn't drink myself silly last night. Is that so hard to believe?"

The genin trio all looked at each other before looking at their sensei. "Yes." They all answered before they started to sweat under the woman's glare.

"It's not that we think you're an _alcoholic_, Tsuki-sensei. It's just that...well, we're used to you coming here late on Sundays from drinking. It's normal to us. Like Nataro eating a Hagakure Special and Kazemaru reading erotic novels," said the Uchiha.

"And Hanzo...doing whatever the hell he does." Kaze added. "What made you change your mind? Are you sobering up because you feel all the alcohol in your system is what caused you to fail that mission?"

Tsuki opened her mouth to retort, but Nataro beat her to the punch by saying, "It's pretty obvious, sensei. You've been crying about it since we got back. Um...no offense!"

"Hmph! I don't think I've been overreacting..." The purple-haired kunoichi mumbled as she folded her arms across her chest. "Anyway...we have a mission. One in which we've been personally chosen by the client."

Hanzo arched an eyebrow at this. "Personally chosen? I didn't think anyone would care to know about a simple team of genin."

"But that's awesome! That means we're getting famous outside of Konoha!" Kaze exclaimed with a wide smile. "No longer are we a mere nameless genin squad. We're moving up in the ranks, baby!"

"Imagine what the mission is if they chose _us_..." Nataro tapped his cheek in concentration. "Maybe it's something super-important! Like protecting some rich person or the Daimyo!"

"I doubt that. The Daimyo wouldn't hire genin. Especially genin who just came out of the academy several months ago," said Hanzo.

"C'mon, Hanzo! Can't you just admit that maybe—just _maybe_ someone knows about us out there just a little?!" The blonde shouted as he pointed a finger at the Uchiha.

"I'm just saying—"

"Now, now, boys." Tsuki placed her hands on Nataro and Hanzo's heads. "We can find out why we were hired when we get to the Hokage's Tower."

**X-X-X**

As Team 14 approached the Administration Building, Nataro kept bouncing around with anticipation.

"Ooh, what are the chances of our mission being something cool like _assassination_?!"

Kazemaru folded his arms across his chest as he looked at the orange-clad ninja. "As cool as that sounds, I don't wanna go on some crazy assassination mission right now. I don't wanna get killed. Besides, what sort of 12-year old goes out on killing sprees?"

"Well—" Hanzo opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself in time.

"Well what?"

"Well...there _have_ been young shinobi who, when in times of war, were sent out on B-rank and A-rank missions. Though I've read that a few of them didn't mind it, most of them were mentally and physically scarred by the events."

The pyromanic genin gave Nataro a skeptical look. "See, Ramen Breath? We'll go crazy if we're sent on an assassination mission. What, you wanna go to the insanity ward in the hospital again?"

"Can it, Pyro Freak! I was just thinking out loud..." Nataro mumbled as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"Yeah, well next time, keep your thoughts inside like a _sane_ person would."

"Like _you're_ right in the head! You burn lingerie and underwear and any other crap you can find just because you're _bored_!!"

"To me, it's relaxing!!"

"To _me_, it's freaky!!"

'_And thus it begins again...'_ Tsuki thought as she grabbed the backs of both genin's shirts and held them apart, the two exchanging murderous looks as Hanzo remained apathetic in the background.

"Ah, Tsuki! I was wondering when I'd see you again!"

"Mm?" The purple-haired kunoichi blinked before turning her head in the direction of the tower. "Oh, great... It's Haseo."

"Huh?" Nataro and Kazemaru turned their heads as well to see Haseo and Team 4 approaching them.

"I haven't seen you since that last mission we had together. Did you become a shut-in for a while?" The honey-haired jonin asked the kunoichi.

Tsuki looked at him with half-lidded eyes and said in a flat tone, "None of your business."

"Come on. As your fellow shinobi, I should at least know how you've been doing."

"I don't remember _that_ being one of the 100 Shinobi Principles..."

As their teachers talked, the genin began to converse. Actually, Ina just kept looking Nataro up and down while the blonde glared at her, expecting the Uchiha to insult him. "What're _you_ looking at, Weasel Girl?"

"...I don't get it. I thought you'd look stronger, but you still look as stupid as you did before." Ina folded her arms across her chest. "_What _exactly did you do in Nami no Kuni?"

"H-hey...! Stop looking at me like that! Why do you wanna know, anyway?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Because it'd be a shame if...if..."

"If what?"

"If you were stronger than Ina," said Konjo. In a split second, he was on the ground with a throbbing bump on his head, his raven-haired teammate standing above him with a balled-up fist.

"Psh! Yeah, right!" Ina folded her arms across her chest and smirked. "Like this colorblind moron could actually be stronger than me. My _little cousins_ could beat him up without a sweat!"

Nataro gave a fox-like grin as a mischievous look appeared in his eyes. "Ohhhh, I see! You're jealous because I'm stronger than you!"

"Who exactly said _you_ were stronger. In case you don't know, I completed my Sharingan—meaning I could make your worse dreams come true!"

The blonde blinked before looking over at Hanzo, who appeared to be making conversation with Shizuka while not looking her in the eye. "Hanzo. ...Hanzo! Is that true? Did your weasel of a cousin _really_ get a full Sharingan or is she just makin' it up?"

The raven-haired boy nodded. "Yes... I think she got it on that mission in Nami no Kuni."

"And she's been practicing how to use it perfectly, lately," said Konjo as he continued to lie on the ground. "Right now she's learning how to use it for genjutsu...and for some reason _I've_ been the one she's been practicing on."

"Stop whining. You woke up, didn't you?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow as she looked down at the Hyuga.

"Yeah, after 12 hours!!"

Nataro snorted. He pointed a finger at Ina and smiled. "Big deal! You can practice all you want with your little Sharingan! You won't beat me in a million years, Weasel Girl!"

"You wanna be my new practice dummy?" The raven-haired girl frowned as her Sharingan flashed on. She was suddenly pulled back by her ponytail. "Ow!!"

"Now, now! How would you like it if I told your father you've been threatening your fellow Konoha ninja with your bloodline trait...?" Haseo told her as he lightly tugged on her ponytail.

"Ow! Stop that!!"

"I'm really sorry about her behavior. You'd think after nearly being killed, she'd learn not to be so overconfident."

Nataro smirked at the Uchiha girl. "Really...? Not so tough, weasel girl?" He was then lightly bopped on the head by Tsuki.

"You're not the only one who feels sorry about their student... But anyway, we've got a mission to claim, so if you'll excuse us..."

"_We _were personally asked for by our client." Kazemaru said with a smirk as he looked at Team 4. "Has that ever happened to you guys?"

"Um... No." Shizuka said, blinking in confusion.

'_Whoever personally asked for these freaks must be retarded.'_ Ina thought with an arched eyebrow. "Heh..."

"What're _you_ laughing at?" Nataro muttered as he looked at the raven-haired girl.

"You."

"Why you—!!" The orange-clad blonde struggled to get out of his sensei's grip as she dragged him towards the administration building, the other two genin behind her.

**X-X-X**

"Pardon me for saying this, but...why exactly did you choose that specific squad?" Naruto asked the person sitting before him. "They're talented, I know, but...for the mission you're asking, I think that another team would be best."

"Hmmm... Let's just say that my assistant has a sort of...sixth sense when it comes to hiring the best people," said the young boy—who was also the client. Yes, despite the fact that he looked as old the boys on Team 14, he was the one who had enough money to hire a team of ninja. He had shoulder-length dark red hair and bright red eyes, and wore a violet tunic with sleeves long enough to reach his wrists and dark purple pants. Sitting in the seat next to him was a woman with blue hair held up in a bun and dark brown eyes, wearing a long black dress that clung tightly to her body, traditional-looking, high-heeled black sandals, and a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

"It is a gift, Hokage-sama," said the woman as she crossed one foot over the other. "There is something _very_ special about Team 14. I can tell."

"Yes, but...are you sure you don't want another more experienced squad?"

"Not much experience is needed for something like this," Said the boy. He smiled as he placed a strand of hair behind his ear. "I just want some help and protection. Is that so wrong?"

At that moment, the door to the Hokage's office burst open and Nataro and Kazemaru dashed inside. "Here we are! Genin Team 14 reporting for duty, Hokage-sama, sir!" The blonde exclaimed energetically as he and his teammate saluted Naruto.

"Yeah!! When you put your faith in us, you've put it in the right place!!" Kaze added, and as energetic as Nataro had been.

Tsuki and Hanzo walked inside of the office, sweatdropping at the two genin's behavior. "Boys...not in front of the Hokage."

"Aw, Naruto-sama doesn't mind! Erm, right, sir...?"

"Is that...?" The red-haired boy stared at Team 14 for quite some time until he turned his head to look at the woman sitting next to him. "Well?"

She got up and walked over to the shinobi. She placed her hand on Nataro's head, which got some stares from the Konoha ninja and their Hokage as she closed her eyes. "...Yes. He's the one." The blue-haired woman bent down so that she was on eye level with the young blonde. "You've got a very special aura about you, you know."

"Um..." Nataro's cheeks reddened slightly. "R-really...?"

"**She must be talking about **_**me**_**."** Kyuubi spoke all of a sudden.

'_Butt out! You speak up now of all times?'_

Naruto cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the team. "As I'm sure Tsuki has told you, you've been hired for a special mission by Koji-san."

"Koji?" Kazemaru blinked as he looked at the blue-haired woman. "What a weird name for a woman... You're not a...guy, are you?"

"Kazemaru!!" Tsuki shouted as she knocked the orange-haired ninja upside the head. "Saying a thing like that is very rude! Apologize to...um..."

"Aoshi." The woman spoke flatly.

"Apologize to Aoshi-san this instant!"

"I was just making sure...!"

The red-haired boy got out of his seat and approached Team 14. "_I_ am Koji, actually. It is a pleasure to meet you." He bowed stiffly to the Konoha ninja.

"You will have to forgive Koji-san. He has not had much contact with the outside world for so long. His parents were quite protective of him," Said Aoshi.

Nataro's mouth hung open slightly. "..._This_ is the guy who hired us...? B-but...he's a kid!!" _'Don't tell me we're stuck baby-sitting?'_

For a split second, no one noticed that Koji had frowned and was glaring at the blonde in front of him. But as soon as he stood up straight, he slapped a smile on his face. "Hmhm! I get that statement all the time. I hired you to help me with some exploring. I've got enough money to pay for each and every last one of you."

"Koji-san is actually quite wealthy for one so young." Naruto explained. "He's offered to pay twice the amount of money that a genin squad usually counts for."

"T-twice...twice the normal amount?" Kazemaru asked with wide eyes. _'SCORE!!!'_

"And all you have to do is travel with him to explore...a cave, was it?"

"Indeed. I need help and protection as I search for something...important. Well, not dreadfully important, but it's important to me," Koji explained. "Okay it _is_ dreadfully important! I need to find a special object so I can obtain my father's money! I can't afford to keep assistants like Aoshi, you know... So," He clapped his hands together. "Shall we begin?"

Tsuki walked up to the red-haired boy. "We'll need time to...prepare for the trip, Koji-san. If you could just tell me where this cave is, exactly..."

Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru formed a huddle. "Twice the normal amount!! Did you hear that?! _Twice_!" Kaze whispered with large eyes. "Do you know how many sexual novels I could buy with that?!"

"Or matches?" The blonde genin asked in a flat tone. "Yeah, whatever. I don't feel so good about this, guys. My gut instinct tells me that there's something wrong with that Koji guy!"

"Gut instinct?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow. "Is this the same gut instinct that made you taste spoiled milk to see if it was really expired or not?"

"Aw, man! You were hurling chunks that day...!" The pyromanic genin pretended to gag, giving him a glare from Nataro.

"_I'm being serious!_ My instincts never lie! Besides..." Nataro looked behind him. Aoshi was staring intently at him. "That blue-haired lady keeps staring at me...!"

The raven-haired boy rolled his eyes. "That's just your imagination."

"Check for yourself!"

Hanzo sighed as he looked back at the woman. She was now standing at Koji's side, not even looking at the genin trio. He looked back at this blonde teammate with half-lidded eyes. "She's not looking at you. Are you sure you're okay? I mean, what with your little _'I'm Uzumaki Naruto'_ episode and what happened in Nami no Kuni…"

"Or maybe his so-called _'gut feeling'_ was just his stomach acting up," said Kazemaru. "Someone who eats as much ramen as Ramen Breath here has to get an upset stomach from time to time!"

"Boys! Attention!" Tsuki shouted. The three genin immediately got into a straight line and saluted her, causing the kunoichi to sweatdrop. "Uh, at ease." They immediately relaxed. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning to accompany Koji-san and Aoshi-san for their destination. I suggest you bring as much clothes and ninja gear as you can."

"Yes, m'am." They answered in unison.

Koji smiled at the genin. "I'm looking forward to our trip together."

Nataro frowned as he looked at the redhead skeptically. _'I don't like this guy...'_

**X-X-X**

Several days later, Team 14 and their client arrived in front of a cave opening with a stone staircase leading down into it. They had been through several towns and forests and found the cave out in the middle of nowhere. They were probably close to the border to another country by now.

Kazemaru arched an eyebrow as he looked at the cave. "What sort of place is _this _to hide something related to a ton of money?"

"My father was a bit..._paranoid_ when it came to the special things in his possession. You have no idea how long it took for me to find the map to this place." Koji said this with a smile before he started to shake. "Ooh..."

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"What is the matter, Koji-san?" Aoshi asked.

"I'm just...so excited! I've been waiting for this day for such a long time!"

Nataro looked at the redhead. "You must really want that money."

"Yes… I want that money so badly. It's a shame when a man doesn't even trust his child with his things after death..." Koji mumbled as he started to walk down the stone stairs. The others walked in after him with Hanzo and Nataro bringing up the rear.

"That's pretty harsh. Whoever his dad was, he must've been a total jerk if he didn't leave anything to Koji," the blonde whispered to his teammate.

"There are people like that in the world. They're so wrapped up in their physical possessions that when they die, they hide it away so that no one can find them. They may even have their things buried with them."

"What, like with mummies?"

"Maybe."

After a couple of minutes, they came across several caverns. "Hm?" Koji looked at all the passages before pulling out a piece of paper. His eyes narrowed after he stared at it for some time. "He didn't put an exact location!"

"What are we going to do now? Just search them one by one?" Aoshi asked as she looked at all the passages.

"That may take some time. We may have to split up," said Tsuki. "It would certainly help if we knew what we were looking for, Koji-san."

"Oh, well...um...I'm not sure if I'm at the liberty to say, but I'm certain it's a scroll. About..." He held out his arms to measure the length, "This big. It might look very old, as it's probably been hidden here for quite some time."

"Well then, we'll split up in groups of three so that we can find this scroll much faster. Two of us will have to go with Koji-san and Aoshi-san."

Koji immediately popped up next to Nataro and grabbed his arm. "I'd be willing to go with Nataro-kun."

"Huh?!"

"Um, are you sure about that? Nataro's kinda..." Kaze didn't finish his sentence due to the large amount of words that spun around his head describing the blonde.

"Of course I am! Aoshi-san herself thinks that he is quite lucky. If I'm lucky, maybe some of his luck will rub off on me!"

"He _does_ have crazy dumb luck."

"And _you're_ just crazy dumb!" Nataro shouted at the pyromanic genin as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Oh, _that's _a clever comeback..." Kazemaru mumbled as he rolled his eyes.

"Besides, why can't you just go with one of the others? They're not as good as I am, but still...!"

Koji squeezed Nataro's arm tightly. "I want _you_. So, end of discussion!" The redhead then proceeded to drag the orange-clad blonde into a cavern in the far left, the taller boy trying to free himself from his vice-like grip.

Tsuki blinked as she stared at the two boys' backs before they disappeared into darkness. "That was...weird."

"Koji-san can be a bit childish at times. If he doesn't get what he wants, he throws a fit..." Aoshi mumbled. "A _really_ big fit. Usually he just throws things that are easily replaceable..."

**X-X-X**

"Lemme go, you little...!" He resisted the urge to curse their client. If he did something wrong, then it would probably mean "bye-bye, meal ticket". _'Now I definitely don't like this guy!!'_

"**I'm starting to think that Hanzo boy was right about you being paranoid. Since when did you start questioning your clients when they fake a smile?"**

'_You mean you've noticed it?! I knew it—I'm not alone!!'_

Within its container, the Kyuubi snorted. **"Honestly... Just because he's giving you fake smiles and false compliments doesn't mean he's evil. The little boy is probably just doing it so that he won't look bad in front of everyone."**

'_Oh, no...! I know guys like him! He's just like Ina: sets you up and then prepares to make you fall flat on your face!!'_

"**Interesting..."** Nataro could mentally see the demonic vulpine arch an eyebrow in curiosity. **"I've never heard that girl say anything nice about you."**

In reality, as he was still being dragged, a slight blush appeared on Nataro's cheeks for a millisecond. _'Yeah, well... That was a really, really long time ago! She always used to tell me she liked me in private, but in front of people she always teased me and beat me up! This Koji kid's doing just the opposite: he acts nice in front of people, but as soon as we're far away from everyone, he's gonna do...__**something**__!'_

"**Are you worried he's going to deflower you before your time?" **The nine-tailed fox snickered as he smiled a toothy evil grin.

'_WHAT?!? What sort of sick, twisted mind do you have to have to think something as disgusting as that?!'_

Koji suddenly came to a halt and released Nataro's arm. He looked at the four caverns before them, most of them probably leading to unpleasant fates.

"Guess we have to pick one." said Nataro as he walked past the redhead. "Let's see...which one...? I know!" He made a familiar hand sign and three Kage Bunshin came into existence. "This is much easier! As soon as one of us knows if the scroll's here, we'll all know."

"Fascinating..." Koji spoke flatly as he folded his arms across his chest. "Well, what are you waiting for? Deploy your troops, Nataro-kun. I, on the other hand…" He pointed over to the cavern in the center, "Will be going through here."

The blonde snorted as his clones ran off into different caverns and the shorter boy quickly walked into the center cavern. "Hey, wait for me!" He caught up to the redhead and started to glare at his back. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"I can't wait. I must find that scroll or else... It's just too ghastly for me to imagine! I have to find that thing quickly!! It's a matter of _life and death!_"

"Geez, is it _that _important to find that scroll? Just to get your dad's stuff and money?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.

Koji seemed to flinch. "Y-yes! Yes, it is. Terribly important," the boy mumbled as he quickened his pace.

**X-X-X**

"Stupid kid..." A Nataro bunshin spoke as it walked through the cavern. "I can't wait for this mission to be done with. I still need to train a lot more if I wanna get up to the level I was on in my last life...not to mention I've gotta learn how to control Kyuubi all over again and learn a bunch of new stuff so that no one else figures out who I am... What a pain!" He huffed as he folded his arms across his chest. The blonde clone came to a halt as he found himself looking at a wall. Inside of the wall was a small hole with something stuck inside of it.

'_Could this be the scroll Koji was talking about?'_ The bunshin put his hand inside of the hole and pulled out a small scroll. "Huh. It's not as big as he said it'd be. Only one way to see if this thing's the real deal or not." He opened the scroll and stared at the symbol in the center that seemed to have been made up of kanji written in blood. "This looks familiar... Where have I seen this before?" The blonde's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Uh-oh!" He immediately dropped the scroll as the kanji on it began to glow. "This is bad! _Very_ bad!!"

Smoke started to come from the scroll and a figure could soon be seen in the smoke. As it faded, the figure became clearer to the blonde bunshin. The Nataro clone gulped just before a blur shot out of the smoke and struck him in the stomach, causing him to disappear in a poof of smoke.

**X-X-X**

The real Nataro suddenly halted and his eyes widened. "Whoa...!"

Koji looked back at the blonde, a frown apparent on his face. "What is it now?"

"I think...one of my clones _may_ have let something out... Either way, we've gotta be alert! That means no running off without me, okay?"

"You let...something out...?" The redhead's eyes widened. _'Could it be...?' _He continued ahead, quickening his pace and not minding Nataro one bit.

"Didn't you hear me, you little—?! Damn it!!" The orange-clad blonde caught up with his client and grabbed the shorter boy's arm tightly. "I just told you we've got trouble! You wanna get _killed_?"

"Let go of me, idiot!! I have to find it immediately! If you want your money, you'd better help me!" Koji spoke in a dark tone as he narrowed his eyes. He managed to pull his arm free from Nataro's grasp while the genin was staring at him in disbelief.

"_What_? Listen you! The money's important, but your life's more important!"

"Hmph! Yeah, right! I know you don't like me and I _certainly_ don't like you!" The red-haired boy spun on his heel and glared down into the darkness. He suddenly ran off deeper into the cavern.

"Hey, wait a minute, you little bastard!!!" Nataro shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead. He ran off after his client, growling and gritting his teeth all the while. "I knew that jerk wasn't as nice as he seemed!!" At that moment, something came through the stone wall and slammed him into the other wall. "Oof!!"

It appeared to be humanoid. Its skin was incredibly pale and riddled with varicose veins, like it had never seen the light of day, one arm was large and deformed like a claw while the other was skinny, but muscular, and it stood hunching over as several large lumps the size of Nataro's head pulsated on its back. Nataro was grateful that the thing's face was covered by what appeared to be a plain white Oni mask until the mask itself opened its mouth and roared into his face. The mask _was_ its face.

"Lemme go, you freak!!" The blonde genin shouted as he tried to push the man off of him. But he was slammed back against the wall and the white-haired man grabbed his throat. "Gurk!!"

"Asura…" It growled in a low tone.

"Asura?" His hand slowly, made its way towards his kunai holster as the creature kept glaring into his eyes. _'Even its eyes are kinda like...'_ He shook Nataro shouted as he stabbed the creature in the leg with a kunai, catching it off guard. It released him to roar in pain, allowing the blonde genin to run off. _'I gotta find Koji before that thing catches up with me!!'_

The creature pulled out the kunai and roared before licking its mouth and drooling. "Asura…!"

**X-X-X**

A while later, Nataro came to a wide cavern with several things strewn about: scrolls, pieces of papers, cages, broken glass. "What sort of place is this...?" The sound of glass breaking soon followed and Nataro tensed up, his hand immediately in his back pouch.

"Ah, damn it! Where is it, where is it?!"

"Koji!" The blonde genin walked over to a cage and looked behind it. Koji was standing behind there, tossing beakers and scrolls aside as his red eyes eagerly searched for something.

'_All these scrolls and it's not here!!'_ The shorter boy thought as he tossed another blank scroll aside.

"Look at all this junk..." Nataro mumbled as he looked around the room. _'Why would some crazy old man keep cages down here? It's like a mad scientist's lab!'_ He took a single step and felt himself stepping on something. He looked down and saw it was a folder. _'What's this?'_ He bent down and grabbed the folder, staring at the cover. The orange-clad ninja opened it and stared at the faded kanji. He could faintly make out the word _Asura_ and a long list of names with numbers next to them. "Akasha...Akash...Bhumi... _Bhumi_?!" The folder was then grabbed out of his hands by Koji, who had become aware of the blonde's presence

"What do you think you're doing, messing around with my father's things?!" The boy shouted as he got up into the other's face. He threw the folder aside and several papers scattered all over the place.

"What was _that_ for?! I was only looking! It's not like I knew what the thing was!"

"You should know not to touch things that don't belong to you!" Koji shouted as he poked Nataro in the chest. He turned on his heel and resumed searching through the piles of scrolls. "No. ...No. ...No. Ooh, this one's good!"

The young shinobi glared at the redhead's back before he suddenly remembered why he wanted to catch up to him. "Hey, hey! We've got no time to waste looking for your dad's will or...whatever the hell it is!! There's trouble coming this way!"

"Tch! Problem? What problem? I hired you to protect me so take care of it, damn it!!"

"Ugh... You little brat! Tsuki-sensei's the one who orders me around on missions, not you! That nasty-looking Oni's probably gonna come any second now and try to tear us to bits because you're too damn stupid to listen to me!!"

Koji gave a sigh of relief as he held up a scroll and opened it. "Found it..." He suddenly blinked as he registered Nataro's words. _'Oni?'_

"Asura…!" A third, unwanted voice hissed.

"Uh-oh..." Koji mumbled as he started to sweat. _'This is not good! Not good!'_

The Oni stalked into the cavern, drool dripping down the corner of its mask-like mouth, breathing loudly. "Asura…!"

'_Crap!'_ Nataro spun on his heel and immediately made a hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" Dozens of bunshins appeared around him, standing in their fighting stances. "Come and get it, you monster!! I'll beat you up a _hundred_fold!" The orange-clad ninja and his clones charged towards their opponent, wielding kunai and shuriken in hand.

The Oni held out its deformed arm and swiped at the air. A large gust of wind blew the clones back a bit.

"Grrr!!" Several clones started to make hand signs and blew out a barrage of small fireballs. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!'_

The creature jumped up into the air and clung to the ceiling with its chakra like a fly on the wall. The Nataros threw several kunai and shuriken upwards at it, and though it jumped down in time, it was injured by the projectile weapons. Some of the kunai were lodged on its arms and torso, but it didn't seem to mind. "Asura!!"

Nataro smirked. "Heh! So long!" The kunai on the white-haired man suddenly exploded, one by one. "The joke's on _you_, bastard!" The young blonde had expected so many explosions to blow off a limb or two... But instead the Oni was simply standing there, baring its many sharp teeth as blood dripped from the wounds formed from the missing chunks of its flesh. Nataro's eyes widened in shock. "What the...?!" _'It's acting like it's not injured at all!'_

"Asura…! ASURA!!!"

Koji hid behind a cage, looking at Nataro and the Oni as they battled. _'I do so hope doesn't kill that blonde fool.'_ He froze as he noticed the white-masked mutant looking at him from the corner of its eye. "Uh-oh..." The redhead started to shake his head. _'No, no, no! Don't look this way!!'_

The Oni pointed its deformed arm at the redhead. "_Asura_…!"

"YAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" At that exact moment, Nataro and his clones had jumped on top of it, forming a human dog pile. "Heh-heh... Take that!" A hundred volts of electricity went through the blonde and his clones, causing the clones to disappear in a poof of smoke and the original fell to the ground, landing in front of the Oni. "Oof!!"

The Oni bared its fangs and stomped on Nataro's back, pinning him to the ground.

"Ack!! G-get your foot off of me!!" The blonde genin shouted.

"**I believe the idiot paralyzed you." **The Kyuubi spoke suddenly.

'_P-paralyzed?! You mean I can't move?!'_

"**That's basically what being paralyzed means."**

"Asura…!" The creature walked over to the cages. "Asura…!" He noticed Koji hiding behind the cage. "Rrrrrr…!"

"H-huh?! What are you doing?! Get away from me!! Get away, get away, get away!!" Koji shouted loudly as he flailed his arms at the creature. As it man stared at him, he started to mouth something for a while.

Nataro, who was stuck looking at the ceiling in his temporary state of paralysis, growled. "Don't touch him, you monster!! Or so help you, I'm gonna—!"

"LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!" The red-haired boy shrieked. His face was red with anger before he suddenly remembered his role and curled up into a ball, arms on his head as he rocked back and forth. "P-please! Please leave me alone! I'll give you anything you want, just please leave me alone!" Koji then looked up and glared at the white-masked Oni as he mouthed the word _'Disappear'_ and a small vein throbbed on his forehead. He formed a hand sign, unseen by Nataro in his position.

The Oni suddenly fell to its knees and grabbed its head, convulsing in pain as the lumps on its backs began to pulsate at a faster rate. It kept trying to pull off the mask that was its face with its normal-sized arm, its nails digging into the flesh and drawing blood. The lumps began to expand like balloons and burst, sending blood splattering all over the place finally, the Oni dug deep into its face, and…well, let's just say when it gave one final pull, the results were gruesome and made Nataro feel his lunch rise up in his throat.

"N-nataro-kun! Are you alright?!" Koji exclaimed as he got up and rushed over to the orange-clad blonde's side, completely ignoring the corpse. "Nataro-kun?"

"Ugh...! I think I'm starting to get the feeling back into my legs." The orange-clad blonde sat up slowly and rubbed his arm, careful not to throw up. "Ow! That thing shocked me almost as badly as Sasuke-san did when I said I showed Kira the way to his house..." He looked back over to the corpse and blinked. "What happened to it…?"

"I don't know... It just started acting weird and started to die on its own…" Tears started to well up in the shorter boy's eyes. "Oh, I was right when Aoshi said you were good luck! Because of you, I'm not dead!"

"But...I didn't get to do anything to it. The monster died of natural cause, not my strength!!"

"Oh, that doesn't matter! We're alive, I've found the scroll, and now we can finally _leave _this forsaken place! Oh!"

Nataro sweatdropped as tears of joy started to stream down Koji's face. "Um...are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! I just want to get out of here before something else comes and tries to kill us! Please, Nataro-kun!" The shorter boy cried as he hugged Nataro tightly.

'_Geez! First he's a little bastard, now he's a little crybaby!'_ "Hey, stop that! You're getting snot all over my jacket!"

**X-X-X**

"Are you completely sure about what you saw, Nataro?" Much later in the city that was miles away from the cave, Team 14 were all holed up in an inn room, Koji and Aoshi occupying the room next to theirs.

"Positive! That Bhumi woman's name was on the list of people in that folder. And this thing popped up that looked like one of the Oni guys we fought in Benzaiten, but then he disappeared after Koji screamed at him." The blonde genin nodded his head surely as he pounded his fist against his open palm. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what they said!"

"If that's true, then perhaps Koji's father was involved with the Oni and the Asura! I wonder if Koji-san knows about this..." Tsuki wondered as she tapped her cheek.

"I dunno. He seemed upset when I was looking at it. Said I shouldn't be messing around with his Dad's stuff. But still, it _can't_ just be a coincidence that the name _Bhumi_ was on that list!"

"Just in case, shouldn't we talk with Koji-san?" Hanzo asked.

"What for?" Kaze replied. "You heard Nataro. He'll just start bitching off again…"

"Well, he knew where that place was. With all the cages and such. Maybe there's a slight possibility that he knew what his father was doing." The Uchiha explained as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. But if he knew, why didn't he say anything about it?" Nataro asked as he crawled over to Kaze and Hanzo.

"Who knows? Maybe he was ashamed about whatever the hell his dad had to do with those freaky Asura and those creepy Oni," the pyromanic genin said as he laid down on the floor.

"Or he didn't know _exactly_ what his father was doing. For all we know, he probably thought his father was some sort of scientist whose experiments had to be kept secret," said the Uchiha.

"There's only one sure way to know. We'll have to ask him ourselves!" Tsuki stood up and walked out of the room with her three students behind her. They walked over to their clients' room and the kunoichi knocked on the door. "Koji-san! We would like to talk to you! ...Koji-san?"

"Try knocking harder," Said Kazemaru.

"Koji-san! Aoshi-san! Is everything alright in there?" She called. The purple-haired jonin took hold of the door knob and opened it slightly, just enough for her eye to see through the crack. "...I can't believe it! They're gone!"

"I get the feeling that we've been tricked!" The orange-haired genin exclaimed as Tsuki opened the door all the way and walked inside.

"Maybe they just went out for something to eat?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow.

"But all the other times they did that, they told us and then we'd go with them. That means they know about those Asura guys!"

"Don't just jump to conclusions like that, Kaze! Maybe they did leave. It's probably because our mission is done. Our job was to protect Koji-san while he went to find the scroll left by his father. He found the scroll, which means we're no longer needed. It's just like with all our other missions."

Nataro and Kaze remained silent. _'He's got a point...'_

Tsuki came out of the room holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Well, it appears as though Koji-san and Aoshi-san _did_ leave." She held up the letter and started to read it. "_'I am terribly sorry to leave without notifying you all. I'm very excited about inheriting my father's legacy and simply couldn't wait. Aoshi-san and I will be fine on the way home. I thank you very much for your help—especially Nataro-kun. I've already paid for your stay, so no need to worry. Sincerely, Koji'_..."

The blonde genin arched an eyebrow. "His father's legacy? I thought he wanted his money."

"It must be the same thing." Kaze shrugged.

"Well, whether or not our mission is over, we still have work to do." Tsuki put the letter away, ignoring her students' looks of confusion.

"But...didn't we just walk here from the damn cave for like...3 miles?!" The pyromaniac of the group exclaimed.

"Exactly, sensei. What are we going to do now? Don't tell me Hokage-sama sent you on another mission while we were on this one!" Hanzo said.

"If he did, I'm gonna pull prank on the old man's home while he's busy!!" Nataro shouted as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Actually, I'm a bit curious about the cavern Nataro was talking about... If in case he was correct, we may be able to find out something about Asura no Bhumi and the others. We'll have to go back there quickly if we want to get back home on schedule." She arched an eyebrow as Nataro and Kazemaru slumped over. "Something the matter?"

"Tsuki-sensei, it's not like I was paying attention to where I was going! I don't know how to get back to that place!" The blonde exclaimed. _'Not to mention that after what happened, I don't wanna go back there to find God knows what else…!'_

"Do you know how big that place is? It looked small but we spent an hour inside there and it took longer to find the way back out!" The orange-haired boy added.

"Well, Nataro has his Kage Bunshin. If you two are too lazy to help your village, I suppose Nataro could just whip up two or three dozen clones of himself to search the caves.

"We'll do it." The two genin spoke flatly as an air of gloom surrounded them. "Anything to help the village..."

'_When all else fails...play the guilt card.'_ Tsuki grinned mentally. "Right! Let's go!!"

**X-X-X**

"That was close. We were nearly caught. I'm surprised that Nataro didn't find out who you are," Said Aoshi as she and Koji walked down the dirt road far away from the city.

"Hmph. They're idiots! _Idiots_, the whole lot of them!!" Koji hissed.

"Let's look at the bright side: you have that scroll you were looking everywhere for."

"Down at the bottom of the pile...! How could he put this down there like that?!" The redhead looked back at his blue-haired assistant. "I trust that you... Why are you still in that form? Change back!!"

Aoshi sighed. In a poof of smoke, the blue-haired woman was replaced with a bored-looking Bhumi. "Just being cautious. They may try to find us again since that boy found out about the old lab."

"Did you take the papers and made sure _nothing_ about the Oni or Asura was left?"

The silver-haired woman pulled out the old folder from inside of her robe. "They're all right here. It's kind of hard to look back at this stuff and not be a tiny bit nostalgic."

"Quit your blathering. It's annoying." The redhead muttered.

"I have a question though, Akash. I thought we were gonna invade Konoha or...whatever. Why hire a group of ninja to help you find the scroll and risk your plan? Not that I care or anything..." Bhumi asked, apathy still apparent on her face despite her question.

Koji—or rather, Akash, stopped in his tracks and spun on his heel to face Bhumi. "Isn't it obvious? I wanted to see the one who had my precious sister's scent. The one who's probably got her caged up somewhere, performing their cruel little experiments...! The thought's just horrific! Now that I know _who_ is, I know one person I most definitely _must_ kill when we invade Konoha! Kazaki Nataro!!" The redhead shouted as he narrowed his eyes.

"Sounds like somebody is jealous..." The silver-haired woman mumbled.

"Moron!! Like I'm jealous of some orange idiot!" Akash folded his arms across his chest. "You can be assured that Akasha would only stay with him because she had no choice!"

"Speaking of our missing siblings...I should tell you that Shiva's gone."

"_What?!_"

**X-X-X**

Several days later, Team 14 made it back home. They found no papers inside of the cavern laboratory, meaning it was a waste of time going back into the cave.

"I still can't believe it! We were so close to finding out more about those Asura bastards...! I bet it was that brat Koji who stole 'em!" Said Nataro as he and Hanzo walked down the road together.

"You've been saying that since we started to trip home and it _still _doesn't sound so truthful." The raven started to shake his head slowly. "You're obsessing over this too much. You're going to start taking this like Tsuki-sensei next!"

The blonde stopped walking and rubbed his chin in an intellectual manner. "I guess you're right. Hey, what time is it?"

"Hm? I don't know. Why?"

Nataro started to grin. "If I'm lucky, I might catch my mom on her break and we can have lunch together! It's been a long time since we last did that. See ya, Hanzo!" He turned around and started walking back, leaving his raven-haired friend alone.

"Hmm... I wonder if my mom's come back from her mission already..."

**X-X-X**

"Grandfather! I'm home!" Hanzo slipped off his sandals and pulled off his backpack. "Are you here, Grandfather?" He dropped the bag and started to walk through the hall. Eventually, he came into what Kotaro deemed as the living room—A.K.A: the only room in the house with a television that _didn't_ have a bed. His little brother was sitting next to Sakura, bawling into his grandmother's chest.

"There, there, Kotaro-chan. It'll be okay..."

"B-but Mom...! Waaaaaaahhhhh!!!" As soon as she said the word _'Mom,'_ the little raven started to cry even harder.

Sasuke remained silent but had a grave look on his face as he sat there with his arms across his chest, head bowed slightly.

"What's wrong?" Hanzo asked, immediately bringing all eyes on him.

"Hanzo..." Sasuke whispered.

"Hanzo... Hanzo, I'm so sorry...!" Sakura sobbed as tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"Sorry for what? What happened?"

"It's about...your mother..." His grandmother wiped her tears on the sleeve of her dress as Kotaro continued to cry.

Hanzo's eyes widened slightly. "What about her?"

"She's..."

"She's dead." Sasuke spoke in a somber tone. He hadn't bothered to look at his grandson as he said this, but he already knew his expression.

Hanzo stared at them his relatives in shock, eyes wide with disbelief. "Dead...? No, she's not dead. She...she can't be dead! Stop joking around! Where is she?"

"I _mean_ it. One of the members of her squad saw her die himself. He came here a while ago and told us what happened." His grandfather bowed his head in respect. "She died bravely. You should be proud. ...Hanzo?" He looked up and noticed the boy was gone.

**X-X-X**

'_It can't be true...! She can't be gone! Not her! Not my mother!!'_ Hanzo thought as he threw himself onto the bed in his guest room. Tears were starting to come to his eyes and he was forcing himself not to cry. _'True Shinobi must never show their emotions... Emotions only get in the way...! I wish I could do that right now...!'_ "Mom...!" The raven-haired boy sobs were muffled as he covered his face with a pillow.

**X-X-X**

Asura no Shiva simply couldn't get her out of his mind. That woman...that bizarre woman who kept calling him Zen, just like the man with the black-and-white hair did. He couldn't remember her and yet...there was something familiar about her... The raven-haired Asura held up his hand. It was the same hand that he had killed her with...

"...Ko...to...yo..."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**Akasha means "nothing" and is used to define aether/ether (space, air, void, etc.) in the five basic Hindu elements. Not sure if I wrote this already, but Akash means heaven or sky. **

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	38. Epitaph

**Blu: Note that in this chapter, I had to describe killing off one of my favorite minor characters, so it was pretty saddening for me. After reading, please remember to review for the sake of Blu!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own Naruto in any form, for it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. She only owns this story and the characters she created._

**X-X-X**

_#38: Epitaph_

Let us turn back the clock several days ago, in the forests Ame no Kuni with the Konoha ANBU Oinin squad that was hunting their prey: another nukenin running off to Ame no Kuni for safety and freedom after managing to somehow steal the latest stats on Konoha's ANBU squad. Things between Ame and Konoha had been a bit tense these days because of their new leader. Many of the Elders in the Leaf Village thought that one more Konoha ninja found in their midst would cause them to break off their already thinning alliance.

'_It's incredible, though. I never thought that Hisagi would turn on us like that,'_ thought Temashi Yutaro as the five-man ANBU oinin squad jumped through the trees. _'Then again, no one would think a high-ranking ANBU would run off at a time like this.'_ It was usually three or four shinobi on a normal squad, but with the current abductions that had been happening recently, Konoha didn't want to take chances with losing anymore shinobi. A team of five highly-trained hunter ninja would be able to hold off any enemies.

"You remember our objective, team?" The lynx mask-wearing leader of their squad spoke as he suddenly halted and looked around.

"To find the nukenin Kuroda Hisagi before he gets close to the Hidden Rain Village," said one of the two oinin females wearing the bird mask.

"Exactly. And we're starting to get close to Amegakure. We can't afford to be found by anyone and be questioned."

"It was hard enough getting _into_ the country. Moving around without Ame's knowledge is going to be difficult," said the second female wearing the cat mask.

"She's got a point. I heard that the security in this country is tight in every town. Even though it's lessened a little over the years, it still has the tendency to try and keep things secret from most countries," said Yutaro. "It'd be harder to look for him in one of the towns if he ever got in. Even worse if Ame ninja find him before us and they find the stolen papers on him."

"That's why it's necessary for _us_ to find him first. Let's go!" With that, the oinin squad disappeared from the branches in the blink of an eye.

**X-X-X**

At the same time in the forests of Ame no Kuni, the missing ninja Kuroda Hisagi, wearing a dark hooded cloak that hid his identity, was on a road leading to a nearby town. It was already likely that Konoha had sent oinin after him already. The little black book on the current ANBU ninja would surely help him to get on Ame's good side quickly. _'Better not waste any more time...'_ Thought Hisagi as he looked up at the cloudy sky. _'It's going to rain soon. The rain might make it more difficult for them to follow me, but I have to make it to the town in time!'_ He started to walk again, unaware of the pairing of the eerie red eyes that were following him.

**X-X-X**

Asura no Shiva was somewhat of a wanderer. He could never stay in one place for very long. It might have been a habit he picked up from always following that white-and-black-haired man around, but he tended to walk around countries and borders and such without much of a care and not a single map at all. If he had a map, he might've known that he was in Ame no Kuni. And if he had sense, he'd know how hard it was to get into a place like this.

Akash, however, didn't seem to like Shiva. The little red-haired brat would probably love to tear right into his body and test him for an experiment or two. Always wondering if it was some sort of bizarre kekkei genkai or an accident that made the red-eyed Asura so strong. If Shiva would slip up even once, Akash would probably threaten to experiment a new method on him. But...perhaps if he got him someone _else_ to play around with, like a corpse of some sort that was still fresh and somewhat alive, the little sadist would forgive him.

As if someone had been listening to him, the raven-haired Asura noticed someone walking down the dirt road near one of the many, many trees that lined it. There were plenty of trees in this country—that much he knew. Probably from all the rain it had. But still...this man would be a great way to make it up to Akash. The redhead would think that he went to get him the corpse personally as a gift of some sort and he would be let off the hook—for now at least. Shiva stood up on the tree branch he was sitting on and stared at the person through the foliage of the tree. As soon as his target disappeared from sight, the raven jumped out of the tree and landed on the dirt road behind the cloaked figure.

Hisagi immediately halted and tensed up. Was that one of the oinin? _'I didn't think they'd catch up to me so fast! But wait...they would have attacked me by now. Whoever this is, he hasn't so much as made a move yet. Is it a ninja from Ame?'_ Grey eyes narrowed underneath the hood of the cloak. _'I can't take any chances!'_ He quickly spun around and sent a barrage of kunai and shuriken flying in Shiva's direction. The raven immediately ducked, Sharingan eyes keeping track of their target. _'He's no oinin...so that means I won't feel __**too **__bad about killing him!'_ Hisagi dashed forward, a standard ANBU katana drawn as he did. He jumped into the air and swung his sword downward, attempting to cut Shiva in half, but the raven rolled back in time to avoid being struck. Shiva attempted to sweep the ex-ANBU off of his feet, but Hisagi flipped back and landed away from him.

Shiva immediately got to his feet and held an arm out. With a swing, he sent a tremendous gust of wind towards Hisagi. The wind forced the nukenin back quite a bit, and in the blink of an eye, he was knocked down to the ground by the red-eyed Asura that suddenly appeared in front of him and clotheslined him. Shiva balled up a fist and punched Hisagi in the gut. In a poof of smoke, he changed into a log. The log immediately shattered into pieces, small bits flying all over. The raven looked around for his prey, but found him nowhere in sight. He clenched his fist and punched the ground, breaking apart the earth around him. He noticed a gray eye staring up at him from a particularly large crack.

'_Shit!! What power!' _The nukenin thought with wide eyes. Shiva slowly reached down to grab Hisagi, but the ground beneath him shook slightly. He jumped away in time to avoid being impaled on a large jagged rock that had suddenly jutted up from the ground and skidded back. The sky above boomed with thunder as Hisagi climbed out of the hole. His cloak had long been discarded, showing his true appearance—a man in his late 30s with gray eyes and short, charcoal black hair. _'One punch like that and I'll be dead. Better make a compromise.'_ "Hey! What do you want from me? Money?" He pulled out a wad of bills—almost half the money he had at the moment. He tossed the money and it landed a few feet away from Shiva. The raven continued to stare at him. "Well? Take it!"

Shiva started to walk forward. After a while, he sped up and ran over the money, scattering some bills in the wind. Hisagi's eyes widened and his eyes darted over to his katana, its handle just barely sticking out of a large crack in the ground. He hopped out of the way in time before the Asura tried to knock him out with another monster punch. The ex-ANBU landed next to the crack and tried to pull the sword out, but he felt something grab his other arm tightly. Hisagi looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Shiva standing next to him just before the shorter man threw him aside into a tree.

"Ugh! Ohhh...!" The nukenin fell to the ground, blood starting to stream down his head. It started to drizzle lightly before the rain fell down heavily and the thunder boomed loudly again. Lightning flashed and Shiva's Sharingan eyes almost appeared to glow as he reached inside of the crack in the ground and picked up the katana. He slowly turned around to face the Hisagi. Hisagi slowly sat up and fingered the bleeding bruise on his head as Shiva started to walk up to him, blade in hand. The Asura's speed picked up a bit and before the ex-ANBU knew it, he had the sword thrown into his shoulder, going through the flesh and pinning it to the tree. Hisagi clenched his teeth and grasped the hilt of katana, trying to pull it out, but Shiva's foot smashed into his face before he could pull it out. The raven grasped the hilt of katana and pulled it out, a grunt of pain coming from Hisagi as he raised it high above his head, the lightning flashing and his eyes appearing as though they were glowing a bright and eerie red before the sword fell...

**X-X-X**

"It's times like these that I wish I was born in a different clan—like the Hyuga or the Inuzuka. _They_ would be able to find him quickly!" Kotoyo exclaimed from behind her bird mask as she and Yutaro jumped from tree to tree.

"Kotoyo-san...I'm not one to insult my elders, but...please _shut up_. We're on a mission..." Yutaro told the kunoichi, his dog mask dripping with rain as he stared at her back. "And slow down! We don't want to get separated."

"I wanna get out of the rain as quickly as possible. All this bad weather brings me down...!" The Uchiha woman mumbled as she stood on a branch. "Plus, I think I'm getting a cold."

Yutaro landed on the branch next to Kotoyo. "Don't get too upset. The rain may have washed away Kuroda's tracks and scent. It'll definitely take a while until we find him."

"_Great._ I always wanted to spend a week in Ame no Kuni—where it always seems to be raining..." _'At least it's quiet around here...'_ The thunder suddenly boomed as lightning flashed across the night sky, the rain falling harder than it had a few seconds ago. _'It __**was**__ quiet around here.'_

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

As soon as they heard that scream, the oinin started to quickly jump through the trees towards its source, thinking that it may have been caused by Hisagi. They quickly arrived to the roadside and saw Shiva standing over the bleeding body of Hisagi. The nukenin had a large gash in his torso and small cuts on the sides of his arms. He coughed up blood on the raven-haired Asura's pants.

"Is that...Hisagi?!" Yutaro exclaimed as they landed on the muddy ground. _'But who's the guy who did that to him? An Ame ninja?'_

Shiva raised the sword again and stabbed Hisagi in the back of his head. Blood spurted out onto the ground and Shiva's clothes. He pulled the blood-stained sword out and shook it, getting the blood off of it. In a poof of smoke, Yutaro and Kotoyo appeared beside Hisagi's corpse.

"We thank you very much for your assistance in catching this criminal," said Yutaro as the female oinin began to search the dead nukenin. "Though we would have eventually found him ourselves, you saved us the effort."

"And the kill—which was supposed to be the highlight of this miserable day," Kotoyo mumbled as she pulled out a little black book. "Found it. Now all that's left is..." Shiva raised the sword again and attempted to slash through the two hunter ninja, but they disappeared in a poof of smoke, along with Hisagi's body. They reappeared far away from the Asura, who Kotoyo started to glare at after she dropped Hisagi's body. "I never knew Ame shinobi could be violent

"I'm not so sure if he's an Ame ninja, but we don't have to necessarily deal with him. Let's just go."

The raven-haired Asura started to walk in their direction, katana still in hand. The lightning flashed and lit up the area for a moment, allowing them to see Shiva's face more clearly. Kotoyo froze and stared at him as the dog-masked hunter ninja lugged Hisagi's body over his shoulder.

"Kotoyo-san, let's go."

The bird-masked oinin ignored him and dashed towards the Asura, eyes wide behind her mask. _'It can't be...!'_

"Kotoyo!" Yutaro shouted. "Get back here this instant!!"

'_Is that really you, Zennie?!'_ She thought as she approached the raven. Her brown eyes widened as Shiva swung the katana and tried to slice her in half. The kunoichi jumped over him and landed behind him. She ducked in time when he turned on his heel to try and decapitate her. From inside of her cloak, she drew a large senbon needle. _'If you are Zen, please forgive me!'_ Kotoyo stabbed the Asura in his upper thigh and jumped away to avoid getting a sword through her back. The female oinin skidded back and kept her eyes on Shiva.

Shiva gritted his teeth and tossed the katana aside. He grabbed the large senbon and pulled it out, Sharingan eyes glowing in the dark as he gritted his teeth in pain. He looked back up, a frown on his face as he glared at the woman in front of him.

'_Zen didn't have a Sharingan…but the likeness is too similar for him to __**not**__ be Zen...!'_ Kotoyo almost felt tears in her eyes as she stood up straight. She removed the mask from her face and dropped in on the muddy ground.

"Kotoyo?! What are you doing?!" Yutaro shouted loudly. "You're supposed to keep your mask on at all times during a mission!! Kotoyo!"

She took a step forward and placed a hand to her chest. "Zen...? It's me! Remember? Kotoyo…!" She spoke as she started to walk towards him. "I'm your wife... Your Kotoyo...!"

'_I heard she wasn't exactly right in the head...but this is ridiculous!'_ The blonde shinobi thought as he rested Hisagi on the ground and whipped his head in Shiva and Kotoyo's direction. _'Does she know this man..?'_

"You don't know how much I've missed you!" Kotoyo cried as tears started to stream down her cheek, mingling with rain water. She stopped walking abruptly, closed her eyes and breathed. _'Easy, don't want to break down in front of him. Wouldn't want to look like some psycho, would we? God knows we don't want to relive __**that**__…'_ As she opened her eyes, she noticed Shiva in front of her, bright red eyes startling her before a powerful punch connected to her stomach, sending her flying back and into the mud.

Shiva held his clenched fist up as he glared at Kotoyo. He turned around in time to see a kunai whiz by his face, missing his nose by only a few minutes. The raven hopped out of the way of a flurry of shuriken and skidded back. He glared at Yutaro, who was holding a kunai in his hands. The blonde grasped his kunai and dashed towards Shiva, channeling chakra into his blade.

'_Take this!'_ He flung the kunai in Shiva's direction, but the shorter man jumped up in time to avoid being hit. The chakra-channeled kunai went straight through the trunk of a tree and continued to do so until it became lodged in a rock. Yutaro drew several shuriken and channeled some chakra into them before he threw them up at Shiva. The raven-haired Asura quickly formed hand signs and a powerful wind began to surround him, pushing back the wind-channeled shuriken. The Temashi jumped back in time to avoid being hit by the shuriken.

"Ugh..." Kotoyo sat up slowly and held onto her chest. That blow might have broken a rib or two. _'Zennie... Why are you doing this...?'_

**X-X-X**

"_Hello, I'm Yagami Kotoyo, Zen's fiancée," 19-year old Kotoyo said as she bowed to Sasuke and Sakura._

_17-year old Zen sweatdropped as he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. 'I told her that I would tell Mom and Dad about it as soon as we got here...but not so soon!'_

"_Fi...Fiancée? Fiancée?!" Sakura shrieked, feeling faint. "How the hell did you find a fiancée in less than a week?! Unless...oh, my God, Zen!! Tell me that you and this girl...! Tell me she's not...!"_

"_Why does everyone keep thinking that…? No, she isn't pregnant."_

"_Thank God...!" The pink-haired woman gave a breath of relief as her husband stared at the engaged young couple._

"_Where exactly did you two meet?" Sasuke asked with an arched eyebrow._

"_Bar," Both teens stated simply._

"_And how long have you known each other?"_

"_...I dunno," Kotoyo shrugged._

"_A couple of days," Zen quickly answered._

"_...You don't love each other, do you."_

"_You're wrong. I love Koto-chan and everything about her. Why else would I want to marry her? Certainly not to upset you, Father," Said the young raven as his new beloved started to hug him. "And I know she loves me for me. Unlike some people who married for…**other** reasons."_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly before Sakura stepped between her husband and son. "We can handle this...I guess. So, have you two decided on a date for the wedding, Kotoyo-chan?" She ignored the glare her husband was giving her for taking this so easily._

"_Um... N-not really..." The dark-haired girl blushed as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "What...what do you think would be a good month, um...Sakura-san?"_

"_Oh, no need to be so polite! We're going to be in-laws soon, aren't we?"_

"_R-right."_

"_Hm? Are you shy, Kotoyo-chan?"_

"_No, b-but, I don't like the way your husband is staring at me..."_

_Sakura turned her head to glare at Sasuke. "Sasuke...! Be nice!" She hissed as she grabbed his arm tightly enough to nearly break the bone. She started to give her son and future daughter-in-law a sweet smile. "Now, let's go inside and talk a bit. Hm?" _

_As the pink-haired woman pulled her husband inside, Zen held Kotoyo back and whispered into her ear, "Word to the wise: don't get my mother upset or else...bad things will happen."_

"_Huh? Is she really that frightening?"_

"_When she gets angry...a dark, monster-filled abyss looks nicer."_

**X-X-X**

"_Aw, you three look so nice together! Like something out of a portrait! Come in, come in!"_

_Zen blushed and scratched the back of his neck as Kotoyo gave baby Hanzo a pacifier. The brown-eyed baby looked up at his grandmother, sucking his pacifier._

"_Hi, Mom," Zen said, trying to look behind his mother. "Is Father at home?"_

"_Of course. Where else would he be?" Sakura said before she started to tickle Hanzo. "Hello, sweetie! My, aren't you adorable!" Her grandson held onto her finger and started to pull on it. She looked up at Zen and asked, "Why? Is there something you want to talk about?"_

"_Um, yeah. He's in the den, right?"_

"_Uh-huh."_

"_Thanks." The raven-haired teen walked out of the hall towards the den, leaving his mother and wife alone._

"_He's such an adorable little thing! Reminds me of the boys when they were little." Sakura sighed fondly. "God, I'm getting old…" She went back to playing with Hanzo, tugging at his feet/_

"_Sakura-san...this may sound a bit insulting but...does Sasuke-san like me? I mean...does he **really** like me?" Kotoyo mumbled._

"_Of course he does, dear. Sasuke's just not the type to show his feelings openly. He does the same thing with his own children."_

"_But...after that thing with my sister at the wedding, and what she said about the clan, I..."_

"_Tch! Oh, please! If Sasuke got upset for every time people would call him evil or horrible, he'd have grudges against a **lot** of people in the world!"_

"_That's good to know..." She mumbled under her breath as Hanzo attempted to pull on her clothes while sucking on his pacifier._

_Sakura slightly tilted her head to the side as she observed Kotoyo. "You know...I was a little skeptical about it at first, but you aren't a bad person, Kotoyo. You're not perfect—no one in the entire world is—but you're perfect for Zen and that's what counts. Love at first sight and all is truly grand..."_

_The dark-haired woman looked out of the corner of her eye as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. "Right... Love at first sight."_

**X-X-X**

The dark-haired woman started to stand up, ignoring the pain in her chest as Yutaro skidded to a halt next to her. "I'm sorry, Yutaro... I just don't know what's wrong with Zen…"

"Zen?" The dog-masked hunter ninja stared at the woman in shock. _'Does she honestly believe this man's the Zen she keeps talking about?'_ Shiva landed on the ground and then disappeared in the blink of an eye. Yutaro looked around frantically until he looked up in the sky. Shiva landed on the ground and punched it with such force that the ground around him cracked and a small earthquake was made.

'_This guy's not human!!'_ Yutaro thought as he grabbed Kotoyo and immediately channeled chakra into his feet. He jumped up high in the air to avoid getting caught in the flying debris.

"Let me go!!" Kotoyo shouted loudly as she struggled to free herself from Yutaro's grip.

"Kotoyo, what're you— Stop that!" The platinum blonde tightened his grip on her as the ground below cracked. As they started to land, he nearly lost his grip as the dark-haired kunoichi tried to dig her nails into his arm. "Kotoyo!" The moment they landed, he nearly fell into a large crack that had been made in ground.

"Let me go!! Or else!"

"Would you stop?! Think for a moment: if he was someone close to you, would he be trying to _kill you_?!"

"Shut up!" She bit Yutaro's arm, forcing him to let her go. Kotoyo stumbled forward, avoiding the cracks and holes in the ground as she approached Shiva. She straightened up and started to form hand signs quickly, her eyes closed in concentration. _'Genjutsu: Mizu Abunai no Jutsu (Illusion: Art of the Water Prison)!!'_

Shiva stared at her in expectation as he suddenly felt the earth beneath him change. He looked down and saw that a large amount of water was starting to come from the cracks in the ground, filling up the entire area as far as the eye could see. The water quickly rose up to his neck, but he continued to stare at the kunoichi, Sharingan eyes glowing underwater.

"He hasn't made a move to attack, yet..." Yutaro mumbled as he clasped his arm, which had teeth marks in it that was starting to fade. "She must have him in a genjutsu." He pulled his arm into his cloak and pulled out a kunai knife. "So what am I waiting for?"

'_There's no way he could escape from this!'_ Kotoyo thought as she stood still, her eyes closed. _'This genjutsu is high-ranking—the only way to get out of it is if someone knocked him out cold! That's what Yutaro is going to do any moment now! But I can't hold it for too long. He's supposed to think that he's underwater and unable to swim up to the surface for air, causing his body to believe he's drowning and make him suffocate. I can't do that to my Zen!'_

The raven-haired Asura stared at her in confusion before he took a step forward. Such a genjutsu...she had to have had a lot of chakra to do it. He was starting to rethink about who he was going to bring back Akash as a present. Shiva stared at the woman as he took another step forward, clenched his fist, and darted towards her both in the illusion and in reality with blinding speed. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as Kotoyo opened her eyes wide at the pain in her chest. She found herself face to face with Shiva, Sharingan red eyes staring into chocolate brown ones as his hand stuck a bit out of back

Yutaro's eyes widened in shock, as did Shiva's after staring into her eyes long enough. Kotoyo started to cough up blood as she clasped his arm, Shiva's eyes widening even more.

"_Why_, Zennie...? _Why_...?" She whispered as she looked at him sadly.

"...Kuh...Ko...to..." The Asura suddenly felt a pain in the back of his head and in his chest. "Ugh...!" He immediately pulled his bloody hand out of the woman's body and hopped away from her. He started to breath slowly and shook every couple of seconds—and he didn't even know _why_! Was this a side-effect of that genjutsu or some outside interference by the one in the mask? Shiva continued to stare at her body as she fell, only to have Yutaro appear in a poof of smoke and grab her.

"Kotoyo!! Are you alright?! Say something!"

"Zen...!" The female oinin coughed up blood again. _'Shitomi was right...'_

"Hold on, Kotoyo!!" Yutaro exclaimed as he laid her down on the ground and held his hands over her chest wound. They began to glow with bright green chakra as he stared intently at the wound, paying no mind to Shiva. _'Don't die on me, Kotoyo-san!'_

For the first time that he could ever remember, Shiva felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was that...guilt...? Sadness? He couldn't tell what either was because for as long as he could remember, he had an empty feeling inside. But either way, he didn't want to stay in this place anymore. The weather was getting worse and he hated this feeling. The raven-haired Asura disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving Kotoyo and Yutaro alone in the middle of the road.

"Zen...! Wh-where...?" The dark-haired woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Yutaro hung his head in defeat. "Kotoyo-san..."

**X-X-X**

In the present day, Nataro observed himself in the mirror. Dressed in a black suit with his hitai-ate hanging around his neck as he stared at his reflection with a somber look. Today was Kotoyo's funeral. The service would be held in the same area where the memorial stones were, then the procession would head to the graveyard to bury her. _'I never thought I'd have to go to a funeral for Kotoyo-san…'_

"Nataro? Are you done yet? I'm coming in." The door of his room opened and in walked Aiko, wearing a black dress and holding a pair of white flowers. "Well...how do I look?"

"Fine." He stared at her for a while. "...Mom? Have you been crying?"

The blonde woman sniffled a bit as she rubbed her red eyes with the back of her hand. "I can't help it. Did you know that Kotoyo was the first ninja I actually ever made friends with since we came to Konoha?" She bowed her head and started to shake it slightly. "She may have been a bit...odd, but she was so nice to me…!"

Nataro stared at his mother sadly. "Don't cry, Mom. If we're lucky, we may meet her in the next life."

"Maybe, but I want to see her in _this_ life! Oh...look at the time!" She said, looking at the clock on Nataro's dresser. "We've got to get going. The service starts in less than an hour. Here." She handed him a white flower and the young blonde started to stare at it. "What's wrong?"

"I was thinking...could we go with Hanzo and Kotaro?"

"Huh? But I thought they were going with the rest of their clan."

The blonde genin looked up at Aiko with half-lidded eyes. "I know that, but...I haven't seen him since we got that invitation to the funeral. Can we, Mom?"

"…Alright. But we'll have to hurry if we want to get to the other side of town in time!"

**X-X-X**

"_This_ is where Sasuke-san lives?!"

Nataro stared at his mother with an arched eyebrow as she stared at the ancient Uchiha mansion. "What's wrong, Mom? You looked really surprised."

Aiko continued to stare at the mansion for some time, her mouth hanging open slightly until she came back to reality and stared at her son in shock. "When you said that...that Hanzo's grandparents lived by themselves, I assumed their house would be small enough for two... So, I've been wondering...what exactly are Hanzo and Kotaro going to do now? They can't possibly live alone, can't they?" She asked as they started to walk towards the house. "One of their relatives has to take care of them, right?"

"Oh, God! Oh, God! This is bad, bad, bad!" A female voice exclaimed. The two blondes turned their heads to see Hikari run across the yard and right past them. "Where is he? Where _is_ he? How could he think of pulling a stunt like this on a day like _this_?!"

"Hikari-san?"

"Okay, think: where could he be?"

"Hikari-san? Hikari-san!" Nataro called out again, managing to get the pink-haired Uchiha's attention. "What're you doing?"

"Trouble! Lots and lots of trouble! I can't find Hanzo _anywhere_!"

The blondes stared at her in shock. "What?! What do you meanyou can't find him?!" They both exclaimed.

"Ah... I don't know where he is! I went up to his room, ask him if he's ready, he says he'll be down in a minute. Half an hour later, I go to his room and he's not there!! He's not anywhere in _this_ precise area!"

"But...he _has_ to be around here, right?" Aiko asked. "Are you _positive _you looked everywhere?"

"I said I did, damn it!!!" Hikari shouted loudly. "S-sorry... I'm just really tense. I've been in such a hurry and we're all supposed to be leaving for the funeral any second and...!"

"Hikari-san, I could go find him for you," said Nataro. "I can find Hanzo in no time flat! All you guys have to do is go to the service and you'll see us there."

"By yourself? Nataro, no, let Hikari-san handle this—"

"But Hanzo is my friend! I know him a lot better than you do! And I can spread out a lot faster, too!" The young blonde made a hand sign and a dozen bunshins appeared all over the courtyard. The Nataros hopped off quickly, leaving the two women with their mouths open slightly.

"Nataro!! Come back here!"

"Just let him go." A new voice spoke. Sasuke walked out into the courtyard, dressed in a black yukata, followed by Sakura, who was wearing a black kimono and holding Kotaro's hand as he looked down sadly at the ground. "I'm sure he'll be able to find him in time..." _'If he's not as slow now as he was before...'_

**X-X-X**

"Come on, come on! Where _are _you...?" Nataro mumbled to himself as he jumped from roof to roof. If his watch was right, then the funeral service had already started. Neither him, nor his bunshin could find him in the Uchiha district, so he had to be in town somewhere. The only other thing he could think of would be... _'No, NO! Hanzo is __**not**__ like that! He wouldn't just...leave... I gotta think! Where would Hanzo go when he's sad?'_ He suddenly skidded to a halt, nearly falling off an apartment building roof. "I got it!"

**X-X-X**

Hanzo sat on the swing at the local playground slowly, eyes hidden by his raven bangs as he bowed his head. The sky was cloudy, blocking out the sun. Funny, because he thought it was sunny a moment ago. _'I can't do this...'_ He looked up at the cloudy sky and narrowed his eyes. _'I won't say goodbye. Not after what she's done!'_

**X-X-X**

"_Mommy!! I'm sorry, Mommy! I promise I won't do it again!!" A young Hanzo cried. He was lying on the floor with his hands over his head, a bruise on his head and blood starting to pour from a wound. His mother stood towering over him, plain dark bangs hanging in front of her face, hiding her eyes as she held a pan up in the air with a shaking hand._

"_Why...? Why can't you just **try** to be normal, Hanzo?!"_

"_I promise I won't do it again!"_

"_The only way to solve this...is to nip the problem in the bud!!" The woman shrieked as she was about to hit the child again. She tried to hit him, but felt someone grab her wrist. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Sasuke glaring at her. "Sasuke...-san...?"_

"_What the hell are you doing...?!" The retired shinobi growled, his onyx eyes narrowed as his wife rushed past him and knelt down next to their grandson._

"_Hanzo-chan? Are you okay?!"_

"_Mom...!" The young raven mumbled as he grasped his head._

_Kotoyo's eyes widened as she managed to look down at her son. "What have I done...? Hanzo-chan...!" She released the pan, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter. Sasuke released her and she fell to her knees, holding Hanzo to her chest. "I'm so sorry, Hanzo-chan!! Please forgive me!"_

"_Kotoyo, stop. He's badly injured," Sakura told his daughter-in-law, but she continued to hug her child. "Kotoyo!"_

"_H-he's okay! I know he's okay! You're all right, aren't you, baby?"_

"_Uh... Uh-huh..." The young raven mumbled, holding onto his mother tightly._

"_Let him go," said Sasuke as he grabbed her by the shoulders._

"_No!"_

"_Dammit, Kotoyo, you seriously hurt him!!"_

"_I'm so sorry, baby...! Please forgive me...!" Kotoyo sobbed into Hanzo's hair as she held him tightly._

"_I forgive you, Mom...!"_

**X-X-X**

"_I want my Mom..."_

"_I'm sorry, Hanzo-chan, but your mother isn't exactly...feeling well," Sakura told the young raven as she patted his head and went back to chopping up vegetables._

"_When's Mom coming home?" Hanzo muttered as he clutched onto his grandmother's skirt. He had bandages wrapped around his head, a bruise on his cheek that was starting to fade, and a black eye. "I miss her."_

_The old woman stopped chopping once again. "...She'll be coming home soon. Just...not now. She's sick and needs some help."_

_He arched an eyebrow as he looked up at her in confusion. "But...you could help her if she wanted, right? You can make my Mom better, right, Grandma?"_

_The pink-haired woman sighed as she rubbed her temples. "I can't help her with the problems she has. I'm sorry, Hanzo-chan. But..." She started to smile down at the young boy," I'll try to see if we can go see her, okay?"_

"_W-we can go see her? Right now?"_

"_If she's not busy, maybe. Depends on what the doctors say, honey."_

_Hanzo hugged his grandmother's legs. "Thank you, Grandma!" He immediately let her go and ran out of the kitchen, past his grandfather._

"_You should've just told him the truth," Sasuke told her with half-lidded eyes._

_Sakura placed her hands on her hips as she turned around to glare at her husband. "You honestly expected me to tell him that his mother may have gone crazy... After five children, you should know that something like that could have serious effects on the child's personality in the future. Besides, how would you feel if someone you loved is being kept in a mental asylum...?"_

"_He knows now."_

"_Huh?"_

_The retired shinobi jerked a thumb in the direction of the half-open sliding door, where Hanzo's outline was apparent from the sunlight that struck the door._

**X-X-X**

_Young Hanzo ran down the halls of the Konoha Hospital, his grandparents trailing behind him. "Hey! Slow down!!" Sasuke shouted. The young raven skidded to a halt and waited for them to come closer._

"_See? You frighten the kids more than I do," Sakura giggled as she stuck out her tongue._

_Her husband rolled his eyes. "Hn…"_

"_Which room is she in, Grandma? Where is she?!" Hanzo whined as he stamped his feet impatiently._

"_She's not going anywhere, Hanzo-chan! Have a little patience." The pink-haired woman looked at the number on a nearby door. "203...and Kotoyo's in 206, so— Hanzo, where are you going?!" She shouted when her grandson started to run down the hall._

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hanzo!"_

_The young raven skidded to a halt and walked back over to his grandparents. "You're better at doing that than I am..." Sakura mumbled._

"_Hn." The retired ninja walked up to the boy and grabbed his arm, then he started to walk down with the young boy on his left and his wife on his right. "Here." He let his grandson go. "Now you can do it."_

_Hanzo dashed inside of the room before the sentence was over. His mother was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, dressed in her normal clothing, holding a clothed bundle in her arms with a serene look in her eyes. "Mom!!"_

"_Shush! Hanzo... Come here, hun." The dark-haired woman spoke as motioned for him to come forward. Her son walked over to her as she showed him the bundle. A little baby...slightly pale with small strands of raven-colored hair coming from its head. "Hanzo, meet your new little brother, Kotaro. Kotaro, this is your big brother Hanzo."_

_Hanzo climbed onto the bed and started to hug his mother. "I missed you, Mom."_

_Kotoyo kissed him on the forehead and started to ruffle his hair. "I missed you, too, hun. Mommy's all better now... Nothing like that will happen again. I swear, I will never leave you alone again, hun. I promise."_

**X-X-X**

Hanzo clenched his hands tightly around the chains of the swing. _'She lied...! She said she wouldn't leave me alone again and she did! Permanently!'_

"**I think your cousin was right about you when she said you were a crybaby..."**

The Uchiha lowered his head and narrowed his eyes at the sound of the Kaijuu's voice. "Shut up...! What would a monster like _you_ know? If you had a mother, you'd probably kill her." He started to swing slowly back and forth on the swing. "Besides, she broke her promise to me. She said she wouldn't leave me alone again...!"

"**Hmmm... I could care less about what you think of your mother, but...**_**technically**_**, it's the fault of whoever it was who killed her. Am I right? If you feel bad about her death, why don't you just...go kill them? I'd be glad to lend my assistance."**

'_No. Never. I-I couldn't do that! I don't have the heart to kill someone for revenge!'_

The Beast of Heavenly Chaos snorted within its container's head. **"Don't pretend. We both know that you're a dark, twisted little boy on the inside who only wants to make his clan proud and activate his accursed blood's ability! Revenge will just bring you one step closer to what you really want!"** It hissed.

'_I'm not like that! I don't __**want**__ that!'_

"**LIES!!! You know it to be true, so stop denying it!!"**

The young raven's grip on the chains tightened. "_It's not true_!" He spoke through gritted teeth with his head bowed down, eyes hidden by his bangs. "It's not true...!"

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Hanzo looked up and saw Nataro walking over to him and sit down on the seat next to him. "What do you want?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean _what do you want_? You're missing your Mom's funeral service." He looked at his watch. "They're probably halfway through the service already, so come on! Let's go!"

"I'm not going."

"Alright— What?! You _have_ to come!! It's not like it's some stranger's funeral! It's your _mother_, idiot!! You should respect her and go because that's what she'd want you to do!"

The raven started to stare at the ground, feeling a bit guilty about what he had said. "Yeah, well...that's because I can't do it!"

"Do what?"

"I...I can't just forgive her and say goodbye!!" He shouted loudly, making Nataro jump slightly from hearing him raise his voice so high. "She promised she wouldn't leave me! I hate her for that!!"

Nataro blinked in confusion. "Hate...her...? Why the hell would you hate her?! Do you think she _wanted_ to die and leave you and Kotaro alone?! That she _wanted_ to die?!" He shouted as he narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha, who was still staring at the ground. "Listen to me, Hanzo!! You're supposed to be smart! You know that if she dies on a mission it's not her fault! Whoever killed her is the one you should be angry at!!"

"**See? He agrees!"**

'_Quiet, you damn monster!'_

The black-clad blonde stood up and walked in front of his raven-haired friend. "Now stop acting stupid and let's go!" In a matter of seconds, he was on the ground with Hanzo on top of him. The raven-haired boy grabbed his suit as he gritted his teeth and glared into his azure blue eyes.

"What do you know?! My parents are already gone! I've got no one left...! You don't know what that's like!"

"Maybe not, but you're _not_ alone! You've got your family, remember? A big family that loves you and cares about you! And you've got your friends—including me! The last thing I or any of them want is for you to break down because of this!"

Hanzo's eyes widened slightly in realization before he rolled off of Nataro. "What is _wrong_ with me…?"

Nataro stood up and started to dust himself off. "Nothing. It's natural. Funerals make everybody a bit...sad. It's okay if you're upset since...you know. Just don't take it out on your mother, okay?"

Inside of the blonde's head, the Kyuubi gave a fake sniffle. **"My, how you've matured! From a stupid, immature brat to a stupid mature brat... I'm so proud."**

"So, you ready to go?" He mumbled as he held out a hand for Hanzo to take hold on. "By the time we get there, the service will be over...so I guess we'll have to go to the graveyard and wait for the rest of the procession."

"...I'm sorry," Hanzo whispered, bangs hiding his eyes.

"Yeah, well...if you'd done something like try an' punch me, I'd be mad. But since you didn't, apology accepted. Now come on, we gotta go."

The raven gave a small smile as he grabbed Nataro's hand and got up from the ground. The clouds started to clear and the sun began to shine again as the two walked away from the playground.

**X-X-X**

Much later, at the Uchiha mansion, Hanzo, Nataro and Kazemaru sat on the veranda, watching the setting sun.

"So, your brother was on the same squad that my mom was on, huh?"

"Uh-huh. He said he'd only been on a few assignments with her, so he didn't really know her very well...but...he said he was an interesting lady."

"Yeah, that's Kotoyo-san for you. Interesting is one word to describe her. Heh-heh..." Nataro chuckled softly.

"So, Fan Boy...!" Kaze started to stretch. "What're you gonna do now? You gonna live with your guardians—whoever they are? Probably one of your aunts or uncles."

"Of course!!" Shitomi exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her nephew's neck. She was wearing a long, skin-tight black dress and a black veil that had been pulled up.

"Aunt... Aunt Shitomi?"

'_Crazy witch lady!!'_ Nataro and Kazemaru both thought at the same time as they moved away from Hanzo.

"Hanzo-chan, it appears to me that staying in Konoha will _not_ be good for your mental state. There are...too many memories of your beloved mother...and your father. I'm willing to take you and Kotaro home with me."

"WHAT?!?" The three genin shouted. "You can't do that!!"

Shiori, dressed in a frilly black dress with her pigtails tied with black ribbons, suddenly appeared beside Hanzo and hugged him tightly. "Hooray! You're going to be staying with us? It's a dream come true!" She cried as tears started to come to her eyes.

"Like hell he will."

"Mm?" Shitomi looked over and saw Sasuke approach them. Her eyes narrowed slightly and her lips thinned. "What does that mean? If you think you can take care of him properly, you're wrong! This is all your clan's fault! Taking him and Kotaro-chan away from Konoha may make them happier!"

"You can't take them away because they're _guardians_ are here in Konoha," the elderly Uchiha stated.

"And who would _that_ be? Please tell me their names so I can compromise with them."

"Sakura is Hanzo's guardian, and I am Kotaro's."

The dark-haired woman remained silent for a few seconds before screaming, "Wh-what?! What was Kotoyo thinking when she made such a stupid decision?! Allowing a person like _you_ to have guardianship over my nephew!!" Shitomi shouted as she shook a fist up in the air, as if trying to curse her deceased sister.

"The point is that they're staying here with us," Sasuke smirked. "Too bad for you."

Shitomi shook her head. "Uh-uh! You're just _Kotaro's_ guardian. Hanzo, on the other hand, has Sakura-san, who is far more capable of a negotiation than _you_."

Sakura stepped out onto the veranda. "Did someone call me?" She looked at her husband. "Sasuke?"

"It's nothing—"

"Yes, Sakura-san!" Shitomi interrupted, getting a glare from Sasuke. "I was thinking that with everything that's happened, Hanzo-kun needs a change of scenery. He needs to get away from the shinobi lifestyle and live normally."

Sakura arched an eyebrow. "Normally?"

"Away from all the death and tragedy that comes from being a ninja. It would be best for his state of mind—and Kotaro's, too, if you could convince your husband."

"Well…that depends…" The elderly woman looked at her grandson. "What do _you_ want Hanzo? Do you really want to leave Konoha? If you do, you don't have to hide it. We won't be mad."

"_What_?" Her husband hissed as he gave her a skeptical look.

"Um..." The raven-haired boy blushed from being hugged by Shiori. "I'm sorry, Aunt Shitomi, but...I don't want to leave Konoha. All my friends and my family are here. And I couldn't leave Kotaro all alone… No offense."

The Yagami woman pouted. "Alright... I can understand that. This _is_ the place where you were born and grew up." She folded her arms across her chest and smiled. "You can stay."

Hanzo gave a sigh of relief and Shiori pouted.

"But we're moving to Konoha."

The young Uchiha blinked in confusion, as did his friends. "What?"

"Yay!!" Shiori shouted as she started to hug Hanzo again.

Sasuke sweatdropped as he stared at Shitomi with half-lidded eyes. "...Please tell me you aren't serious."

"I'm very serious. I trust Sakura-san will raise them properly, but I want to make sure that _you_," she pointed a finger at the retired shinobi, "Don't corrupt my nephews with your evil mind!"

'_If anyone's sure to corrupt them, it's you!'_ The old man thought as he rubbed his temples. "Great... I lose one in-law, and gain another—along with two kids."

"SO YOU MEAN IT?!" A group of voices shouted. They turned around to see Aiko and the rest of the Uchiha clan staring at Sasuke in shock. Aiko and the young ones stared at the old man with their mouths open.

Kazemaru turned to Nataro and whispered, "Is it really that hard to believe?"

"L-let's just say that Sasuke-san doesn't have the warmest personality..." The blonde whispered back.

Sasuke glared at the boy from the corner of his eye. "I _heard_ that."

"He's also got the hearing of a bat, apparently!"

"Mother... Father... I'm not insulting you or anything, but...I don't think you could take care of them on your own. No offense," said Naota, their eldest child. He had shoulder-length raven hair with spiky bangs covering the left side of his face and onyx-colored eyes. Despite the fact he was in his forties, he looked like he was in his early thirties.

"R-right. One of us could take care of Hanzo and Kotaro," said Ichigo, the second oldest child in his late thirties. He had short, red-tinted black hair and jade green eyes, a six-year old girl with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes hugging his legs.

"I'm sure I could look after them," said Hikari.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "What's this? You think we can't raise a pair of children anymore?"

"They think we're too old," said Sasuke as he folded his arms across his chest.

"We didn't say that!"

"But that's what you're thinking."

"HEY!! Don't I get a choice?!" Hanzo shouted loudly, causing everyone to stare at him. He suddenly started to blush. "...Please? I-I'm willing to live with Grandma and Grandfather

Nataro and Kazemaru pulled Shiori off of the young Uchiha and pushed her into her sister Shikimi before taking either side of the raven. "Uh, are you sure about that, Fan Boy? They're both kinda scary in their own special ways…"

"That's just how they are. Besides, they never get mad at _me_."

"You _really_ want to move in with them?"

"No offense, but..._why_? You're the one who said you hardly even talk to _him_ when you stayed over at his house and that _she's_ working most of the time!"

"M-maybe that'll change. Besides, he could help me with my..._problem._"

"_**You're**_** the problem, you pathetic excuse of a human being!"** The Kaijuu grumbled.

"If you're gonna live with him, at least squeeze something out of him… Ooh, ooh! Make 'em teach you Chidori or something!" Nataro exclaimed.

Hanzo and Kazemaru both arched an eyebrow. "Chi...dori?"

"Like hell I will..." Sasuke muttered.

"C'mon, Sasuke-san! I'm sure Hanzo would use it for _good_! Unlike you, who uses it to _shock me_."

In less than a second, Aiko was already up in Sasuke's face. "You _shocked_ my son?!"

"I was hoping it would activate the dead brain cells in his head," said the retired shinobi. "Sadly, there appears to be more than I thought."

"You have no right to put a hand on my son, you—!"

"I didn't touch him."

"Yeah, he just generated an electrical current after I said something about him and Sakura-san—" The blonde genin immediately put his hands on his mouth after seeing the look in Sasuke's eyes.

"_Electrical current_?" Aiko asked in a dark tone as fire appeared in her eyes. "KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Naota and Ichigo held her back while Mai and Hikari tried to talk her down.

"You know, Dear, I tolerated it when you shocked Naruto and Kira years ago, but now it's gotten irritating," said Sakura as she grabbed her husband's arm and gripped it tightly.

"Hn…"

Shitomi arched an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest. "Well... This has been an interesting evening. If that alcoholic woman and the man with the weird hair stayed, this would probably be a lot more fun!"

"Actually, Tsuki-sensei's stopped her...Saturday night drinking," Kazemaru told the Yagami woman.

"And we're not sure _what_ Kira does, but we're glad he's not here." Nataro shrugged. "Even _if_ he behaved at the funeral and the service, he'd probably just add to the problems."

'_Damn right...'_ Sasuke and Hikari thought when the mad genius's name came up.

Hanzo walked up to his grandfather and started to stare at the ground. "Um..."

"Hm?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow and turned around to look at him. "What?"

"I... Well..." The young raven started to blush. After a few more seconds, he was hugging his grandfather awkwardly around his waist. "Thank you very much, Grandfather!"

"Awww, don't _I_ get a hug?" Sakura said with a pout. She felt something wrap their hands around her legs and looked down to find Kotaro.

"Thank you…Granny…" Kotaro yawned.

"Oh, are you tired, sweetie?" She bent over and scooped up the raven-haired boy. "I'll just take you up to your new room, okay?"

"M'kay…" He mumbled as they walked past the Uchiha children and Aiko, who were still staring at Hanzo and Sasuke.

"Um, Dad? Don't you have something to tell Hanzo?" Mai asked as everyone else stared at him in expectation.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before he started to look down at Hanzo. After a few seconds, he started to pat him on the head.

"What is he, a dog? Go on! Hug him back!" Either the raven-haired girl ignored her father's glare or she was immune to it.

'_Mai...!'_ "Hmph...!"

"Don't push him, Mai! We both know that when it comes to showing love, Dad doesn't show it in front of a crowd!" Ichigo said with a grin. "I'm sure that if we weren't here, he'd hug Hanzo back and tell him he loved him." The statement also got him a glare from his father, but unlike Mai, he flinched at the sight.

A vein was starting to throb on Sasuke's forehead as he wrapped an arm around Hanzo's shoulders. "Back off! If I don't want to hug him, I don't have to!"

"That's rude, Father! He shows you his love and you push him back! He must have second thoughts about moving right about now!"

"Like he'd want to move in with _that_ insane woman. Chances are that she'll be worse than Kotoyo, God rest her soul, ever was!"

"Gran...Grandfather...! You're starting to choke me...!" Hanzo managed to breathe out as Sasuke's arm wrapped around his throat and started to cut off his air supply.

"I _think_ that's the closest to a hug Sasuke-san will ever give you, Hanzo," said Nataro as he and the rest of the group sweatdropped.

Sasuke released Hanzo and the raven-haired boy fell to his knees and rubbed his throat. The retired shinobi started to rub his temples and groaned.

**X-X-X**

"**So, have you decided what you're going to do? Are you going to sit here and curse him, or are you going to actually **_**do**_** something...?"** The Kaijuu spoke. Its container was lying down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Tomorrow, he and Kotaro would move their belongings into their grandparents' home and put their mother's into storage. Actually, it _was_ tomorrow. He had woken up around 4 in the morning. **"If the answer you choose is the one I like, I'd be glad to lend my assistance."**

Hanzo remained silent and continued to stare at the ceiling.

"**You know that's why you can't go to sleep. So what is it going to be?"**

He closed his eyes. "...All I want...is for that person to suffer what he's done."

"**Mm-hm?"**

"I want them to feel as much pain as my mother went through."

"**And?"**

"I wish they would _die_... I don't care how or when...but I want to be there to see it happen, somehow." Hanzo could hear the monster within him chuckling... "I'll make it so…"

"**Perfect… I knew you had a backbone…"**

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**I am unsure as to _how_ exactly a normal shinobi burial is done. The only one I've seen in the series was the one for the Sandaime Hokage, but I'm not sure if it was like that because of the position he held or what... Either way, please forgive me if I get it wrong.**

**I'm one of those people who believe Sasuke can show love. He just...doesn't like to do it openly in front of a lot of people. (Gotta keep up his angsty emo reputation.)**

**Sasuke and Sakura's children in order from oldest to youngest: Naota, Ichigo, Mai, Hikari and Zen.**

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review for the sake of Blu.**


	39. Festival Preparations

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. (If she did, Sasuke wouldn't be so easy to manipulate, Sakura wouldn't be so hateable by fans, and Hinata would've gotten a backbone earlier.) She only owns her OCs and this fic. (If she didn't, well...Kishi would've thrown it into the scrap pile.)_

**X-X-X**

_#39: Festival Preparations_

"Akash… When are we going to attack Konoha…?" Bhumi asked the red-haired boy with an arched eyebrow as they walked through the hallways of their underground home base, the light of the torches along the walls and the occasional ray of light coming through the cracks in the wall being the only source of light. "Not that I want to rush. The last thing I'd want to do is fight against those Leaf ninja again. But I was sure you'd want to get Akasha back as soon as you possibly could."

Akash stopped walking and turned his head slightly so he could look at the silver-haired woman from the corner of his eye. "Of course I do! We are waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, at the moment they're least expecting it! They won't see it coming until it's too late!" He turned around and folded his arms across his chest, a smirk on his face. "And I know exactly when that moment will be."

Bhumi arched an eyebrow. "How?"

The purple-clad boy smirked. "I read in one of the logs that Konoha will be holding a three-day festival."

"Festival? Are we going to crash the party?"

"Very good, Bhumi." Akash stood on the tips of his feet to pat the taller Asura's cheek. "You aren't as slow as I thought you were. Perhaps those years of being sealed away helped to make you smarter!" Bhumi remained silent. We shall attack Konoha during its moment of celebration, and during that time, I will find Akasha and _kill_ Kazaki Nataro!"

The silver-haired woman nodded slowly, eyes reflecting apathy. "Uh-huh… I still don't get why you're so jealous of him. Is it because he's with Akasha and you…aren't?"

The redhead narrowed his eyes. "_Jealous_?! Of that orange idiot! I feel sorry for my dear sister. Who knows what sort of awful things those bastards from Konoha are doing to her at this very moment…!"

**X-X-X**

In the Konoha hospital, Asura sat on the bed next to Naruto, staring at a flier. "Fes…ti…val…?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Naruto blinked. "You've honestly never been to a festival?"

"Uh-uh. What is it?"

"It's like…a fair."

"Oh. …What's that?"

Naruto sweatdropped. "It's…a celebration of something very important. This festival in particular celebrates Konoha's victory over the Kyuubi no Kitsune many years ago. We celebrate it for three days straight, because after the Kyuubi was defeated, the people did the same."

"That's your birthday, isn't it?"

The Hokage looked down at her. "How'd you know that?"

"I read it in a book. It said you were born on the same day that the Kyuubi attacked," said Asura. "That means it's your birthday."

"Ah. I forgot how much you've been reading lately…" He shifted around and tilted the girl's chin up, so he could look at her face. "How have you been feeling? Any better?"

The pink-haired girl nodded. "Mm-hm."

"Don't lie to me, now. I'd hate to have to deal with Nataro's complaining if someone told him you're in no condition to go to the festival."

"Go…? I can go?"

The Rokudaime smiled. "Of course! This will be your first festival, after all. It could be a learning experience. Not to mention, you could give poor Nataro a break and go as his _date_!"

Asura gave a nod and looked back down at the floor. "Okay."

Naruto deflated. _'That wasn't the response I was hoping to get…!'_ He sighed and stroked her hair. "Okay. I hope you get well, soon." With a grunt of effort, he got up and walked out of the room, leaving her alone.

The pink-haired girl stared down at the festival flier apathetically. She flinched for a moment as a sharp pain ran through her body. She doubled over, holding onto her stomach with one arm as she held the flier in her free shaking free hand, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"Okay, Asura-chan! It's time for your shot," Hikari said as she entered the room with a needle. Before she had time to react, Asura jumped off of the bed and tackled her back out into the hallway, the needle falling to the floor and breaking upon impact. Hikari opened her eyes, getting over the throbbing pain in her head to find herself staring into entirely black eyes.

Asura growled, a small vein popping up on her head and throbbing slowly as black chakra started to rise from her body. She bared her teeth, which now looked more like fangs, and then opened her mouth wide. She was about to bite the pink-haired woman in the shoulder when someone grabbed her by the back of her dress and threw her back into a wall. The pink-haired girl growled and immediately lunged towards them, biting down on the arm they held out in front of them.

Hikari gasped. "Hokage-sama!!"

Naruto flinched as Asura bit down into his flesh, staining the sleeve of his robe with blood. "Asura-chan…! Stop this…!"

The pink-haired medic immediately moved from her spot on the ground, her hand glowing with green chakra. She placed her hand on the girl's head as she continued to bite down on the Rokudaime's arm. After a few seconds, Asura's eyes got droopy and she seemed to calm down. Eventually, she fell back, unconscious.

"Are you okay, Hokage-sama?" Hikari asked the blonde Hokage stared at the injury on his arm.

"I'm fine… I'm fine." He looked back at the medic. "What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure…" The medical ninja knelt down beside Asura and began to check her vitals. "But…it might be as we feared."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in a building in another part of Konoha, Ina stood before Shitomi with a skeptical look on her face. "Lemme get this straight… I could make any guy fall in love with me if I just…put on _this_ stuff?" The raven-haired girl asked as the woman held up a bottle of dark purple liquid.

"Actually, it just kicks the hormones of anyone within smelling range into overdrive! There's one that attracts men," she shook the bottle with the purple liquid, "And one that attracts women," she held up an identical bottle with red liquid inside.

Ina sweatdropped. "Why are you showing me _that_ one?"

"Well, you're old enough to know what the term…_'bisexual'_ means, don't you, dear?"

"Are you trying to say that I'm _GAY_?!"

"To be honest, you're very pretty, but you…give off a butch vibe—and by _'butch,'_ I mean _'boyish'_. I mean, how you speak, your body language, and...I get the feeling that you wear boy's boxers instead of panties," Shitomi insisted.

Ina began to sputter uncharacteristically before spitting out, "I'm _straight_, damn it!!" She turned her back to the Yagami woman and folded her arms across her chest, cheeks tinged red with anger. "My grandfather was right when he said you were crazy…"

"Ohohoho! If _I'm_ crazy, what does that make _him_?" Shitomi laughed behind her hand. She suddenly stopped and cleared her throat. "I was only trying to intrigue you about this offer. You're such a pretty girl, and you've probably got all sorts of boys hitting on you, huh? But…" She leaned across the counter until her face was close to Ina's. "There's this look in your eyes… Could there be a boy you want who _doesn't_ like you back? A boy you'd like to ensnare in a web of love?"

The Uchiha girl's eyes became black dots, her mouth seemingly disappearing off of her reddening face for a moment. When she finally got over it, she slammed her fist on the counter. "Damn it, I'm not here to buy some fake love potion!! I want Hanzo!!"

The Yagami woman's shoulders suddenly slumped over and she started to pout. "Are you sure you don't want the potion?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Ina replied quickly, her voice a bit higher than she wanted it to sound.

"Oh… Well, if you want Hanzo, you'll have to look in the back…"

**X-X-X**

Hanzo sat in the closed up room, the boxes and packages crowded around him taking up most of the space. Then again, they had to, considering that it was the storage room. But either way, it was the perfect change to read the book that his aunt Shitomi had given him after she and her children—and unfortunately, their old home's spirits—had moved to Konoha. It reminded him of the book she had sent to him many years ago while he was still in the Academy, except _this_ one kept showing off spells and jutsu that might be classified as Kinjutsu—_actual forbidden jutsu_! He didn't ask any questions about it. He just wanted to see if he could actually do any of that stuff.

"Love spell… Exorcism… Curse removal… Spirit summoning… Demon summoning… Hm?" The young raven blinked as he stared at the next chapter title in the table of contents. "Vengeance spells…"

"**Hmmm… **_**Interesting**_**…"**

'_I know what you're thinking, and the answer is __**'no'**__. I will not use my aunt's gift just so I can get revenge.'_

"**It says **_**'spells for revenge'**_** as plain as day. What do you **_**think**_** they're for?!" **The Kaijuu roared.

'_The Yagami clan already has a bad reputation because of their actions in the past. I wouldn't want to make it worse for those left in the world.'_ The demon in his mind grumbled something. _'And besides, to do a revenge spell, you'd need a possession or a part of the one you're placing the curse on. I don't even know what that guy looks like…'_

The storage room door suddenly slid open and light flooded into the cramped room. Hanzo had already closed the book when the door had started to open. He blinked, trying to get used to the light again before he saw the outline of the person standing in front of him.

"How far along have you gotten?" Shitomi asked with a smile as she bent over to stroke his hair. "If you're as smart as your mother said you are, you've probably gone through half the book already."

"More than that, actually. Um…" Hanzo looked up at his aunt. "I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but, why did you—"

"Give you that book? I have my reasons." She stood up straight and held up a finger. "For you to get in touch with your Yagami heritage—which your mother _should_ have done in the first place. And also…" She bent down once more and whispered into her nephew's ear, "I know what you're thinking, and I support it fully." The young raven's eyes widened as he looked up at his aunt in shock. "I have predictions, Hanzo-chan. I told you this before, so I don't see why you're so surprised."

"If you've seen it…then could you please tell me who it was that killed my mother?"

"No."

The raven-haired boy frowned and started to glare at her. "Why not?! I thought you supported me fully!"

"I do. But you're not on par with him at the moment. If you tried to fight him as you are now, you'd be killed." That statement made the anger drain away. "That's why I gave you this book. So you could use it to avenge your dear mother...and kill the one responsible."

"Hey," a third voice spoke up. Ina, who was standing outside of the room, was looking at her cousin and his aunt with a half-lidded stare.

"I-Ina? Wh-what are you doing…here?"

Shitomi snapped her fingers in realization. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that your cousin was here."

Hanzo sweatdropped. "Huh…?"

"C'mon, we've got no time for this. We have to get downtown quickly. We have to do…_volunteer work_."

The raven-haired boy stared up at his cousin in confusion, still clutching the book to his chest. "Volunteer work…?"

**X-X-X**

Much later, on the platform being overlooked by the mountainside faces of the Hokage, the Rookie Nine—a name that Rie and Konjo were hoping to change into something far cooler—were glaring at their respective teachers, who were smiling and acting as if they had done nothing wrong. That's what Haseo and Tsuki did. Ninigi just kept quiet and hoped they wouldn't reduce themselves to throwing fits…like Rie.

"How could you do this to us, Ninigi-sensei?!" The purple-clad brunette screamed as she began to channel a fearsome aura.

"I—"

"I have things to do for the festival! I've got kimono to try on and accessories to buy!!"

"I've got dates to prepare for!" Kaoru added with a huff.

"I've got a fitting," Ina stated flatly, which resulted in the other genin staring at her. "…What?"

"What's it for, Ina-chan?" Masamune asked her with a smile.

"First of all, put a _'-chan'_ at the end of my name again, and I'll ram that sword down your throat," the raven-haired girl snapped, making the green-clad genin flinch. "Secondly, what makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Oh, that's okay! We could guess! Let's see… Since the festival is coming soon, I bet you're getting a fancy kimono, aren't you Ina-ch—MMPH!" Kaoru placed a hand over his chatty teammate's mouth and made him step away from the seething Uchiha.

"Do you have a death wish or something?!" The heavily-clothed boy hissed as he kneed Masamune in the back.

Nataro snorted and gave a cocky grin. "A kimono?! As if! Ina's not one of those girly-girls who wears dresses! The only thing that makes her look like a girl is her long hair!"

A vein popped up on Ina's head as she glared at the orange-clad blonde. "_What'd you say_…?" She asked in a dangerous tone.

"Well, c'mon… _I've_ never seen you in a kimono or a dress or anything that's even _slightly_ girly." He started to count off of his fingers, "So you've got long hair, earrings, and…other things that girls naturally have, but without those, you'd be a boy!"

"N-no, she wouldn't!" Shizuka spoke up. "Just because she doesn't have look like a girl doesn't make her a boy. W-wait! I-I meant—!"

"Pfft! What're you talking about, Dead Last? Of course that's what makes a girl!" Said Rie as she held onto her chest. "A girl's looks are what make the guy's come runnin'! You wouldn't know about that, seeing as how you couldn't attract a guy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The junior medic asked.

"I should tell this to you subtly…" The illusionist shrugged. "But I can't. You're fat."

"F-f-_fat_?!" Tears began to well up Shizuka's eyes as she began to stutter incomprehensible words.

"C-calm down, Shizuka!! It's a common fact that there are guys who like fat girls! N-not that I'm saying you're fat, 'cuz you're _not_!" Konjo spoke quickly.

"So Hanzo likes 'em big, huh? A guy with his looks, I wouldn't think he dug that sort of woman…" Kazemaru mumbled to himself.

"Quit adding to the fire!!" Hanzo shouted as he punched the pyromanic genin in the arm.

Everyone stopped talking when they noticed the fearsome angry auras being channeled by Nataro and Ina. The jonin chose not to take part in the argument—mainly because Haseo and Tsuki were betting which of their students would win the fight with Ninigi being forced into the role of referee.

"Nothing ever changes with you, does it, idiot?!" Ina shouted as flames practically burned in her eyes.

"What're you talking about?" I'm just saying, Weasel Girl, that you wouldn't know femininity if it bit you in the—"

"Asshole!! You think all women are pretty little dolls with perfect manners and charm? You'll never get a girlfriend if that's what you think! Not that it matters, though, since I doubt there's a girl in all of Hi no Kuni who could stand being next to a loud, orange waste of space like you!"

Nataro turned red in the face as his eyes became the size of saucers and blank. "Oh, yeah?! Well…you're a flat-chested weasel bitch who punches like a girl!!" He exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the Uchiha girl.

"Uh, Nataro? She _is_ a girl…" Konjo whispered into the blonde's ear.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!"

"What's the point in arguing? We all know that Ina's practically a tomboy," said Rie.

Ina snorted and placed a hand on her hip. "_I_ am not a tomboy!"

'_You could have fooled me,'_ the other genin thought as they all sweatdropped, Ina included.

"_Riiiight_… Let's leave Ina alone to wallow in her denial and get to the root of this meeting," said Haseo. He ignored Ina's glares until she started to glare at Nataro. "As I'm sure you all know, we—your loving teachers—have volunteered you all to help out for the coming festival."

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "I thought you had to _agree_ to volunteer before you could _actually_ volunteer."

The jonin sweatdropped and suddenly formed a huddle. Tsuki and Haseo whispered quickly while Ninigi occasionally got a word or two in. They turned back around to look at the genin. "Well, technically, as your jonin sensei, we basically get to choose which missions you guys volunteer for, so you guys don't really have a choice."

"Liar!! You're making that up!" Rie and Kazemaru shouted simultaneously at the honey-blonde jonin.

"Am not. Our teachers did it to us, and we're gonna do it to you," he said with a smile.

"But it's not fair! I thought we could choose whether or not to do a mission!" The brunette kunoichi whined as fake tears welled up in her eyes.

Haseo rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear what I just said a while ago? You…do not…have…a choice."

"Besides, don't you want to help the village in the celebration?" Tsuki asked the genin. "The Kyuubi Festival only comes once a year. Not only are we celebrating our ancestors' past victory over the Kyuubi no Kitsune, we're celebrating the birthday of our Rokudaime Hokage!"

Kaze sniffed and folded his arms across his chest, looking away from his sensei. "I don't wanna. The point of festivals is to have fun. Working is _not_ fun."

"Kazemaaaaruuuu…!"

"Hm?" He looked out of the corner of his eye and he saw Tsuki standing in front of him with a smile on her face that made his blood run cold for some reason.

"Listen to me, would you?"

"O-okay…"

"We're not exactly asking you to work through all three days of your festival holiday. All we want is for you to do a little bit of work. Something that doesn't take much effort. Something that won't make you whine until you finish. Basically, it's very easy," she said as she patted her orange-haired student on the head.

"Easy, huh?" Nataro mumbled. "Sounds boring."

"What are you, a danger maniac? Are you one of those freaks who get off on being on the verge of death?" Kaoru asked as he gave him a dirty look.

"No!! It's just that…nothing exciting's happened for the last couple of months! I'm getting _bored_…" The blonde spoke as he placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky.

"Staying still for a _minute_ would get you bored," said Ina as she looked at the blonde from the corner of her eye.

"There are two jobs you can do: posting fliers over town," Ninigi pointed at the pile of fliers on the ground that were held down by a rock, "Or delivering packages from downtown to the festival site," he continued. "How you go about doing them is up to you. Just finish before the end of the day."

Kaoru blinked. "Wait a second. Aren't you going to supervise us through this?"

"Aw, you're big kids! You don't need supervision for something as easy as _this_!" Haseo exclaimed. "All we ask is that you kiddies play nice and don't do anything we wouldn't do."

Tsuki smiled as she waved at the genin. "See ya!" And she and the other sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the genin alone.

"Huh… So, I guess we'll just divide the jobs between ourselves," said Shizuka as she looked at the other young ninja. "I guess I could help put up fliers."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that, too," said Hanzo.

"So will I!" said Rie as she held a hand to her chest. "Hanzo-kun will need someone _competent_ to help him!"

"Actually, you could help us carry things to the festival grounds," said Kaoru as he grabbed the brunette's arm and pulled her towards him and Masamune. "You're certainly competent enough to help us."

"You sure about that? She looks like she's got weak upper body strength," Kazemaru told the bespectacled redhead with a smirk. "And, uh, I'm pretty sure Hanzo likes strong girls—like Fatty Shizuka."

"I'm not fat…!" Shizuka whined in the background as Ina patted her back.

"Of course not."

The purple-clad illusionist puffed up her cheeks and stuck out her tongue. "You wanna see upper body strength? I'll show _you_ upper body strength!"

"Um… I'll help pick up the packages, too," said Konjo.

"I'll help put up the fliers since no one else will," said Ina as she continued to pat Shizuka on the back.

Hanzo sweatdropped in the background. "So Shizuka-chan and I don't count?"

"Then I guess I'll help pick up the pack—" Before Nataro could finish his sentence, Hanzo pulled him aside.

"No, Nataro! Don't leave me alone with them!" The young Uchiha whispered to his friend. "Ina's gonna grill me as soon as we're alone. And you already know how I feel about being left alone with Shizuka-chan. You _have_ to come with his!"

"Are you _nuts_?! You call yourself my best friend?! You know how I feel about that bitch Ina, and you're expecting me to hang around her?!" The blonde hissed.

"I'm asking you as your closest friend. _Please_! Either you do this of your own will or I'll _force_ you to do it!" Hanzo growled as he grabbed Nataro's shirt and shook him slightly, his brown eyes glaring into his azures.

Nataro gulped. "Wow. Living with Sasuke-san and Sakura-san's already starting to affect you."

The raven-haired boy slumped over and sighed. "Yeah… So are you gonna do it or not?"

"…Alright…! You're lucky that I think of you as a brother. Otherwise, I'd have said not." The blonde genin turned to the others and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I'll go an' help put up fliers…"

"You mean you're actually willing to go in the same group as Ina without anyone forcing you?" Konjo asked with wide eyes.

'_Who says no one's forcing me?'_ Nataro thought as he glared at Hanzo from the corner of his eye, the Uchiha smiling nervously.

"Let's just get started on this stupid thing. The sooner we're finished, the sooner I can leave," said Ina. She grabbed Hanzo and Nataro by the back of their collars and began to drag them away. "Shizuka. Get the fliers."

"Um…sure." The blue-haired girl sweatdropped as Masamune and Kazemaru handed her the fliers, piling them up in her arms so she could barely look over them. "H-hey! Wait up! It's hard to walk with these things!" She exclaimed as she slowly walked in the direction of her group.

Konjo sighed and shook his head. "I feel sorry for those guys… She's been acting like that ever since her father told her to get a fitting for a kimono. Haseo-sensei thinks that it's because she acted too much like a boy and now he wants her to act like a girl—at least for the next three days."

"You're…kidding. Is Ina even capable of acting like a girl?" Kaze asked, hiding his smile behind the back of his hand. "Heh-heh! Hahahaha!! …I _would_ like to see what she looks like in a dress, though…"

**X-X-X**

"Is this a good idea? Hokage-sama told us to keep an eye on them since he knows that most of them tend to…_clash_," Ninigi told Tsuki and Haseo as they walked through the streets of Konoha.

"They're big kids and they've been ninja for months. They should know that in the future, they're gonna have to work with different ninja they may not like when they go on missions," Haseo explained.

Tsuki started to nod. "That's exactly what I told _my_ students. This is something they've got to learn about eventually."

"I know… But…" As they stopped walking, Ninigi suddenly exclaimed, "We're ditching them for _this_?!" By _'this,'_ the Hyuga meant the bar that they were standing in front of. "Honestly, you've got three free days to drink yourselves into a stupor…and I thought you gave up on alcohol, Tsuki!"

"I never said that. I just stopped drinking enough to put down an elephant," the purple-haired kunoichi explained.

"And, uh…my wife's most likely gonna keep a close eye on me for the next three days since she's never forgiven for what happened last year." Haseo started to stare off into space, his eyes half-lidded. "Honestly, that woman looked _exactly_ like her from the back and I didn't _mean_ to kiss her. It's not like I was cheating on her or anything, but she overreacts sometimes and that results in me sleeping outside for a while and making sure she's not surrounded by any sharp objects—"

Ninigi raised a hand to stop the older man from speaking. "Okay, we get the idea, Haseo. Your wife is the jealous sort."

"Anyway, she won't let me drink alcohol out of her sight anymore. I've had to get drinks in other towns after completing a mission…" The honey-blonde man started to cry waterfall-like tears. "Because I'm afraid that if I drink _here_, she'll find out!"

"That's _enough_, Haseo!"

"M'kay, let's go!" The blonde exclaimed, immediately cheering up.

"Okay, guys. I give you fair warning: don't drink _too_ much or I'll kill your asses. I've made a promise to myself not to drink more than half a jug of saké," Tsuki explained to the male jonin as she walked into the bar.

Haseo and Ninigi looked at each other skeptically. "I bet you she'll get drunk in an hour," the blonde whispered.

"Somehow, I think she'll do it in less time than that…" The brunette mumbled as they stepped inside.

**X-X-X**

"_Shit_! These things are heavy!!" Kazemaru groaned as he and Konjo carried what had to be the largest crate. The two genin were walking slowly behind Kaoru, Masamune, and Rie, who were carrying smaller, _lighter_ cardboard boxes. "What the _hell_ is in here?!"

"Nngh…! Guys? A little…help would be greatly appreciated!" Konjo groaned and began to falter. He nearly let go of the crate, and Kaze almost stumbled back.

"Watch it, would you?!"

"S-sorry, it slipped!"

Kaoru stopped walking and turned to face the two boys. "Hey, you two insisted that carrying the biggest box first would save time. But so far, all you're doing is wasting time."

"Can it, you weirdo!!" The pyromanic boy shouted at the redhead. "You'd be wasting time, too, if you were carrying this monstrosity!!"

"My fingers at starting to go numb…" The Hyuga mumbled with blank eyes as he and Kazemaru continued to walk.

"You're_ soooo_ pathetic, Kazemaru!" Rie said as she gave the pair a cat-like smirk over her shoulder. "How could a weakling like you be teammates with Hanzo-kun? I bet even _Nataro's_ stronger than you!"

"A _jonin_ would have trouble lifting this thing! Whatever's in here must weigh a _ton_…!" Konjo mumbled, his cheeks red from exhaustion. "I gotta train more…"

"And who're you calling _weak_?! Just because I can't lift something that weighs a damn ton doesn't make me weak!! I'm stronger than _you'll_ ever be! As soon as I put this thing down, I'll pound you black an' blue! Don't think I'll hold back because you're a girl!"

The brunette kunoichi waved her hand nonchalantly. "Whatever! You lack _muscle_, buddy!"

Several small veins began to throb on Kaze's face as the air around him warmed up for a moment. "You little…! Grrr…! You wanna talk about lack?! You lack _chest_ to satisfy Hanzo!!"

Rie immediately stopped walking and a dark aura surrounded her body. "What…did you… _say_…?!"

Kaoru and Masamune stopped walking and sweatdropped. _'Uh-oh…!'_

"You heard me! You call Shizuka-chan fat, but you wanna know what? The fattest things on her are her _boobs_!! _Yours_, on the other hand, have made their presence as known as _you_ did yours!!" Kazemaru screamed.

"I do _too_ have breasts, you jerk!!"

"Speaking of nonexistent, I have _never_ seen you in class in all the years I attended the Academy! How is it that you managed to _graduate_, let alone be accepted into the ninja program?"

Rie's eye twitched. "I-I… I had home schooling!"

"What for?"

"None of your business!!"

"How do you even know Hanzo? Did you just see him one day on the streets and decided he was _'sooo cute'_ that you just had to stalk him?! Not that it would matter because he doesn't even know who the _hell_ you are and you turn him off! So I truthfully mean it when I say…YOU SUCK!!!" The pyromanic genin screamed.

Rie bowed her head and started to shake violently, the murderous aura around her increasing intensely. Konjo and Masamune started to sweat and tremble in fear. Kaoru frowned and rubbed his temples. Kazemaru just stared at her with half-lidded eyes.

"Rie? Are you okay?" The green-clad boy asked, slightly blue in the face but still smiling.

"K-kazemaru! Apologize to her—_now_!" Konjo demanded.

"What for? I just said the truth," said Kaze.

"Maybe so, but when girls get upset while holding large, heavy objects, they tend to _chuck them_ at the people they're angry at!"

"Like she could throw that thing at us. She's got no upper body strength!"

"Wait…_us_? She's angry at _you_, not _me_!!"

"Hey, we're standing near each other! She'll either hit you or me or nothing but air—" He didn't get to finish his sentence before Rie suddenly dropped her crate—which thankfully, didn't break upon hitting the ground—tackled him to the ground and started to pound her fists on him.

"UWAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! That's not true!! THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!" The illusionist cried loudly as she continued beating up the redhead. Her voice was so loud that it could be heard on the other side of Konoha. The people in the street were already starting to stare at her, wondering what had made the girl flip out like that.

"Rie, would you shut the hell up?! People are starting to look at us like we're crazy!!" Kaoru screamed over her wails with a vein throbbing on his forehead. Masamune had his hands over his ears, his mouth too screwed up to form a smile. Konjo had just dropped the crate after struggling to hold it up on his own, and thankfully, it hadn't broken open and spilled its contents onto the ground.

"Kaze, this is all _your_ fault!!" The indigo-haired boy shouted.

"I don't think he can hear you. She's beating him up so hard that all he could hear is her fist hitting his face…" said Kaoru as he adjusted his glasses.

**X-X-X**

It was amazing what a mere touch could do. Why… it could stir up fond childhood memories of that smart, quiet—and cute—little boy who used to help you with your class work until you were too afraid to look him in the eye, just because you found out he was from a noble—if somewhat diminished—clan of shinobi. Or memories of that shy, quiet—and cute—little girl who always came towards you, blushing and asking for help with her work until one day she just…stopped, and took to looking at you from afar. But in their current position, on their knees on the ground, her hand on top of his hand on one of dozens of fallen fliers that Nataro threw up into the air after Ina said something nasty to him, Hanzo and Shizuka couldn't quite remember that.

"Huh? What the heck was _that_?" Nataro asked, breaking out of his argument with Ina. The raven-haired girl was on top of him, her knee pushed into his stomach while her fist hung up in the air. The blonde had a fistful of her ponytail and was about to knock Ina off of him until they heard that sound.

"Sounds like a banshee wailing. Or a screaming monkey…" The Uchiha girl mumbled as she stared off in the distance. _'Whatever the hell it is, it's loud.'_

"Screaming…monkey…? …HEY!! Get off of me, you damn weasel bitch1" The orange-clad blonde shouted, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "You're not as light as you look!"

Ina's eyes narrowed as she glared down at him. They seemed to flash red for a second. "Are you saying I'm _fat_?"

"No, I'm saying you're as heavy as a hippo!! No get off!" The next thing he knew, her fist was in his face. Then his hand somehow managed to grab her arm and gripped it so tightly that his nails dug down into her skin. Whatever happened next was unable to be seen as they moved on to having a dust cloud fight. Their best friends didn't even notice them.

"I'm gonna kill you, you little orange pest!!"

"Bite me, Weasel!!"

"Freak!"

"Bitch!"

"Idiot!"

"Bitch!"

"Dunce!"

"BITCH!!!"

"You have no originality!!"

"Do, too, Flat-Chest!! …Wait a minute. Wait, wait. Something's wrong here," Nataro mumbled as the dust started to fade. He had several scratches, his hair was more mussed up than usual and his shirt had a small tear in it.

"What're you talking about?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow as she put back on her fan-shaped earring. Compared to Nataro, she came off better, with only a scratch or two and slightly mussed-up hair, as well as several bright red marks from where Nataro's nail had dug into her arm.

"They're supposed to stop us. I wanna kick your ass, but it doesn't feel right unless they're watching and trying to stop us."

The raven-haired girl arched an eyebrow. "…You can't be Nataro. He doesn't have such smart ideas."

"Shut up, smart aleck!!" The blonde shouted as he started to fix himself up. He looked in Hanzo and Shizuka's direction and saw the two genin still kneeling on the ground, staring at each other with red faces. "What…the hell…are they doing?"

"I have no idea. But I think they're stuck."

"Stuck…?" The orange-clad ninja blinked in confusion before approaching his teammate. He raised his fist in the air and after a pause, knocked Hanzo on the head. "WAKE UP!!"

"Huh? Ow! What'd you do _that_ for?!" The Uchiha boy shouted as he glared up at Nataro, a large red bump throbbing on his forehead.

"You were stuck."

"Do I look like a malfunctioning TV?! Next time you want to snap me out of something, just _pinch me_!!" He suddenly noticed Shizuka staring at him. A light red blush appeared on his face and in less than a minute, he was standing behind Nataro.

"What the—? What're you doing _now_?!" The blonde hissed as he looked back at his teammate.

"I-I can't! I just can't do it!" Hanzo stuttered.

"Can't do _what_?"

"I can't…ask…"

"Ask _what_?!"

"Hey." Ina tapped Shizuka on the shoulder, breaking the blue-haired girl out of her trance. "What's wrong with you now?"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"You just blanked out through the sound of someone murdering a cat."

"I thought it was a screaming monkey," Nataro mumbled.

"O-Oh! I did? Sorry about that. I was just…thinking about something."

"Are you thinking the same thing as Hanzo? 'Cuz you both spaced out at the same time." A bright red blush appeared on both Hanzo's and Shizuka's faces. The blonde genin squinted his eyes in concentration and started to nod his head, arms folded across his chest. "Ohhh, I got it. You two were thinking dirty things about each other at the same time. You guys…!" In a flash, he had a large, throbbing bump on his head, thanks to Hanzo.

"_You're_ the only one thinking about dirty thing!" The raven hissed, his face red from embarrassment. "Let's just get on with posting these things! We've still got a lot to go." He bent down to pick up the same flier as Shizuka. His hand hovered over her's for a second until he pulled it back. "Actually," he mumbled to Nataro, "You pick them up."

Shizuka picked up a stack of fliers and walked behind Hanzo, a cherry red blush still apparent on her face. Nataro scratched his head as Ina merely looked at the pair with apathetic eyes. "Man… What's his problem?"

Ina stared at the blonde out of the corner of her eye before shaking her head slowly. "You…are _completely_ dense."

"What's that supposed to mean?! I know that Hanzo likes Shizuka! I just wanna know why he's acting like this _now_!"

"I repeat: you're completely dense. You don't know what's happening and you don't know that the fliers are getting blown away."

"What're you talking about?" The female Uchiha pointed at the fliers, which were starting to float around on the breeze. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "HEY!!! You stupid papers!! Get back here!!"

**X-X-X**

At the reception desk in the Konoha Hospital, Inomi had her face buried in a book. Its title, _'The Hottest Summer Ever,'_ could have meant anything. But those who knew Inomi—including the hospital staff—knew that it was probably one of those cliché love novels she loved so much. In her defense, it may have been cliché, but it allowed her to get away from the stressful job of a medical ninja.

"I know that reading is fundamental, Inomi, but do you think you could help me with something?"

It helped her get away from her fellow medics as well. The blonde kunoichi slowly looked up and saw Kisho, the kid who worked down in the morgue. She'd often wondered: if he didn't like doing work on living human bodies, why'd he train to become a medic n the first place? Plus, the way he dressed outside of work usually creeped her out.

"Inomi. Help. _Now_," the purple-eyed young man commanded with a half-lidded glare.

"That's Inomi-_sempai_," she corrected, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose in an intellectual manner.

"Not on your life, Miss Piggy."

A vein began to throb on Inomi's forehead. She calmly closed her book and placed it down gently…then she grabbed Kisho's shirt and started to shake him furiously. "Who do you think you _are_, calling me that?! You little Goth freak!!"

"We've got a problem down in the morgue, Inomi-_sempai_, and oddly enough, you're the first person I came across."

"What's wrong? One of the bodies suddenly _came back to life_?"

"Actually, yeah…it did."

The Yamanaka arched an eyebrow. "You're kidding."

"Not kidding. I'm serious. Someone's down there, sleeping in one of the empty spots and they ain't dead," said Kisho with half-lidded eyes.

"The hell?! When someone's put down as _dead_, they're _supposed_ to be dead! Unless…they weren't _really_ dead." She started to shake her junior medic once more.

"Not sure about _that_. He looked alive to me." Before the dark-haired medic could say anymore, he was suddenly being dragged by the blonde kunoichi towards the hospital morgue.

**X-X-X**

"Well, this is it," Kisho told Inomi as he pointed to the drawer with the blank tag on it. "I opened it up 'cuz I heard some weird sounds coming from inside, and then I heard someone thumping against it."

"Hmph! You didn't even _try_ to check and see who was inside?" Inomi asked as she glared at the purple-haired medic.

"Of course not! I deal with the dead. Not the living dead."

The blonde woman punched him in the arm. "Wimp! And I supposed you'll let a lady do it for you!"

'_What lady…?'_ Kisho thought as he rubbed his arm.

"Fine then!" She pulled out the drawer and found… "What the hell?! KIRA?!"

Kira was sleeping soundly inside of the drawer, one of the sheets used to cover the corpses wrapped around his body like a blanket. "Zzzz… Zzzz…"

Kisho stared down at the black-and-white-haired man in mild shock. "It was the weird guy who keeps trying to hit on Hikari-san?"

"Kira!! What the hell are you doing sleeping in here?! We need these for the bodies we have to study!!" Inomi shrieked. When it appeared as though her words weren't getting through to him, she got red in the face. She crackled her knuckles and gave him a hard punch in the chest. "WAKE UP!!!"

"GUH!!" Kira's eyes snapped open and found himself looking into angry blue eyes. "Oh… It's just you. For a second, I thought my dream came true and it was Hikari punching me…" He spoke, mildly depressed.

"Shut up! Explain what you're doing down here before I kick you out!"

"Fine. If you must know, I'm hiding from Hanasotsu." Waterfall tears began to stream down the mad genius's cheeks. "He's trying to get me to work like some normal person to pay my debts…but he just doesn't get it when I say I can't act like a normal person!"

"You can say that again…" Inomi and Kisho muttered under their breath.

"I'm hiding out here until I can think of a plan to make over 190,000 ryo in less than a week! And I know that you're a sweet, kind soul, Yamanaka Inomi. Unlike that awful mother of yours, who voted alongside the Old Man and the rest of the Village Elders to subject me to this torture. So, you're gonna let me stay here! Thank you, my cute blonde piggy!"

The blonde woman huffed, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Hold on!! I'm not going to let you use our morgue as your sanctuary!"

"You mean…I can use the rooms _upstairs_?!" Kira exclaimed, his eyes suddenly large and childlike.

"Like hell you can!!" Inomi started to make hand signs and aimed at Kira. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!!" In the blink of an eye, the blonde woman started to fall over, but Kisho caught her in time.

"Great… You're gonna get in trouble for this, you know."

Kira/Inomi sat up straight and removed the sheet before getting out of the drawer. "For what? I'm removing a nuisance. Sakura-sama would understand if I told her it was Kira," he/she spoke as she started to stretch. "You better take care of my body while I'm gone. No funny business!"

As the possessed man walked out of the morgue, Kisho looked at Inomi's unconscious body in contemplation. His gaze shifted to the open body drawer and he suddenly got an idea in mind. He dragged the blonde over to the drawer and started to shove her inside when her eyes suddenly snapped open. "Ah!!"

"You bastard!! You were gonna stuff me in here, weren't you?!"

"O-of course not…! But why'd you release the jutsu so fast?" He asked as she swatted him away.

"Kira's pretty fast." Inomi started to smirk. "I managed to get far enough from the hospital so that he wouldn't come back _too_ soon."

**X-X-X**

"Damn you, Inomi…! You're as bad as Ino-san," Kira grumbled as he sat down on the ground, people walking past him and occasionally staring at him. "Damn you, old man…! How do you expect me to pay up over 190,000 ryo in less than a week?" He mumbled to himself as he knocked himself lightly on the head several times, trying to force an idea to come out. "God…I know I've never talked to you before…but I really need some help here! …Please?"

At that moment, a piece of paper hit him in the face. He pulled it off and started to look it over. "Oh… The Kyuubi Festival. I can't believe the time has come for me to once again make fun of Naruto-sama's old age! Time really does fly by…" He stared at the festival flier for some time until a light bulb appeared over his head. "Aha!! I…got it!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The people who were walking past the crazy man stared at him only for a second. A little boy asked his father, "Daddy? What's wrong with that funny man?"

"Nothing, son. He's just a little…weird is all."

**X-X-X**

**Please review for the sake of Blu.**


	40. Festival Day 1: Schemes, Scams, Scandals

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters, because if she did, Naruto wouldn't have been so obsessive over protecting Sasuke, Karin would be smart enough to leave Taka and Tsunade wouldn't be in a damn coma!! ...But she only owns this fan fiction and her OCs._

**X-X-X**

_#40: Festival Day 1: Schemes, Scams & Scandal_

Ina stood in front of the mirror, glaring at her reflection. She was focusing more on the reflection of her kimono, actually. _The damnable kimono_… It wasn't an _ugly_ kimono, per se. Her grandmother had bought it for her after being asked by her father to accompany Ina to her kimono fitting. It was a dark crimson color with a yellow flower pattern and a gold obi tied around her waist. The Uchiha clan symbol was visible on the back collar, as small as one of the flowers on her kimono. Her long raven hair was now out of its ponytail, so it was hanging loosely…and one could see just how long it was without the band—it reached her back, only several inches from reaching her waist. The Uchiha girl may have looked beautiful, but she felt uncomfortable.

She'd always had a sort of loathing for kimonos ever since she was a girl. Maybe it was because of how tight and restrictive they were—she always felt that she had to be able to move freely no matter what she was doing, just in case. Or it could have been because of her mother, Uchiha Bennihime, who also had an equal dislike for any form of dress.

One time, when she was little, she had actually heard her mother tell her father, _"I thought I made it clear that if you thought that because __**I**__ am the wife of the Uchiha clan leader that __**I**__ am going to wear yukata and kimono all over the place, you're more of an idiot than I thought!"_ Ina also remembered Naota having to fight her just to get her into a dress—curses and kunai flying everywhere until Benni was too tired to fight back and calmly managed to slip on the kimono while she was on the floor.

'_Whoever put the thought of making __**me**__ wear a kimono in father's head will __**pay dearly**__…!'_ She thought as she glared at her reflection.

"Awwww! You look so cute, Ina!" A male voice called from the doorway of her room. The raven-haired girl turned around slowly with an evil look in her eyes. "Eh? What's with the Evil Eye?"

"_You_… This is all _your_ fault, Haruhi!!" Ina shrieked as she pointed an accusing finger at the attractive young man standing in the doorway. He had short, dark red hair and black eyes, wearing a black sleeveless shirt and black leggings. The ANBU tattoo on his shoulder was apparent from the start. This handsome shinobi of 17 years old was the #1 Rookie of his graduating year, a newbie ANBU, the heir of the Uchiha clan, and the one who topped _Nataro_ on Ina's list of people who annoyed her…her big brother, Uchiha Haruhi.

Haruhi arched an eyebrow as he stared at his younger sister in confusion, his eyes reduced to little black dots. "Huh?"

"You know what I'm talking about, you no-good bastard! You're the one who told Dad I should wear a kimono!!" His little sister shouted with a vein throbbing on her forehead as the flames of Hell burned in her eyes.

"Hey, that's not my fault. _You're_ the one who acts unfeminine and shouts and curses like a man instead of acting like a sweet, 12-year old girl," the redhead grinned as he pinched Ina's cheek.

"Let's see how sweet I am when you lost that hand, bastard…!"

"Y'see? That's why you've gotta wear _this_ for the next three days! And you better wear it too! Dad paid a lot of money to but this thing, and Granny Sakura wants to see you in it, too!" Haruhi began to tug at her obi until Ina slapped his hand away. "Ow!"

"Hands off, bastard! I don't see _you_ wearing a kimono or a yukata, and you're not exactly living up to _your_ expectations, either," she grumbled, still giving her brother the _Evil Eye_.

"Oh, yes, I am! I am a talented young shinobi, practically a prodigy! I've already made ANBU—"

"And you suck at your job! One failed mission and you cried like a baby."

The redhead Uchiha glared at his little sister. "Shut up… At least _I'm_ not crying over something as stupid as a piece of clothing."

"I don't care if it's stupid! I _hate_ it!!" Ina shouted. She dove underneath her bed and pulled out a pair of zori (sandals) that her father gave her to match the kimono. "That does it, I'll kill you!!" She threw a sandal at him, hitting him squarely in the head. "Some prodigy _you_ are! Can't even dodge a damn shoe…!"

"That's because I didn't think you'd reduce yourself to doing something as stupid as throwing footwear at me!" Haruhi ducked to avoid being hit in the head again. _'I only hope she doesn't start throwing weapons at me…!'_

"Get…out…of…my…room!" The raven-haired girl growled, suddenly pulling a handful of kunai and shuriken out from beneath her bed, an evil glint in her eyes. Her brother started to sweat, a blue tint on his face as his eyes became little black dots and his mouth hung open.

'_Oh…crap…'_

**X-X-X**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN _'SHE CAN'T COME'_?! YOU PROMISED!!!"

Naruto sighed and shook his head before looking up at the boy standing before his desk. "She just can't."

"Then at least tell me _why_!! Did something happen to Asura-chan?" Nataro asked with a hint of worry.

"She…can't be allowed outside for awhile."

"But _why_?!" The genin insisted,

The Rokudaime sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You wouldn't understand. It's too complicated for a child to understand. The doctors at the hospital aren't so sure, either. But the important thing is not to worry about her."

Nataro frowned and gave a snort before marching out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind him as hard as he could.

"Would you like me to keep an eye on him, sir?" Said the bird-masked ANBU that suddenly became visible on the ceiling. "To make sure that he doesn't try anything hasty."

"Oh, he wouldn't _dare_ do— …Actually, knowing him, he just might try pulling some stupid stunt," Naruto spoke flatly.

"Will do, Naruto-sama," the ANBU spoke before sinking into the ceiling.

**X-X-X**

It was only afternoon, but there were already people going to the festival grounds to check it out early. Once it was night, just about everyone in the village would be down there. Everyone was excited about the occasion…well, except two people. Okay, one boy and one demon fox.

As Nataro walked down the street, hands shoved into his pockets, an air of gloom hung around his being. _'How can he tell me __**not**__ to worry? If I can't see her, he should at __**least**__ tell me why!!'_ The blonde genin clenched his teeth. _'Whatever! I'll just sneak into the hospital and sneak Asura-chan off to the festival! I'll just make a kage bunshin of her and leave it in her room, pretending like it's asleep. We'll play some games, eat food, and I'll bring her back to her room after the fireworks. No one'll be wiser so long as I make sure the ANBU or Gramps don't see her at the festival.'_

The Kyuubi no Kitsune snorted. **"As if a simpleton like **_**you**_** could do something so complicated. A plan like that takes stealth and intelligence—of which you have neither of!!"** It snapped. Usually, it could care less about what Nataro did, but it had been upset these last few days. Then again, that was when the village began making preparations for the celebration of the day the Kyuubi was defeated and sealed into Naruto by the Yondaime Hokage.

'_Oh, quit acting like a big crybaby! Your being insulted by the village doesn't mean you get to take your aggressions out on me!'_

"**You're the only human I **_**can**_** hurt when you don't let me possess you. Why not let me control your body for a while so I can vent my anger out on some of these insolent people?"** The Kyuubi asked as it tried to feign an innocent tone, only for it come out sounding evil.

A vein popped up on the blonde's head. _'AS IF!!! You can't hold a grudge forever, you know!'_

"**I have lived long before your beloved village was created. Trust me: I can hold a grudge forever."**

'_You still sound like your complaining like a b—'_ Before the blonde could finish his thought, a rope had been lassoed around him and he was pulled into the darkness. "What the hell?! Wha—" Before he could say anymore, someone knocked him out.

**X-X-X**

Nataro didn't know _how_ long he was knocked out. All he knew…was that someone was pulling his cheeks. "Nnn…"

"C'mon! Wake up, kiddo. Wakey-wakey, eggs an' bakey!" A familiar voice spoke. Nataro's eyes immediately snapped open and he found himself staring into a pair of bi-colored eyes.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"What? My face isn't so ugly that it'd make you scream…!" Kira muttered as he narrowed his eyes. He was standing in front of Nataro, who was tied up with a rope and hanging from a tree branch, swinging back and forth from his efforts to break free. "That's not gonna work, y'know. It's a chakra rope." He held up his pinky finger, revealing a small thin piece of rope that led back to the large rope that had been wrapped around the blonde boy. "You can't get out."

"Kira-sensei?! What's the big deal?! Abducting me off of the street like some sick pedophile!!" Nataro shouted as he swung back and forth in Kira's direction.

"I didn't abduct you. I kidnapped you. And if I was a pedophile, I would find someone _way_ cuter than you. I kidnapped you, kiddo, because I wanna hire you. Help me out with something."

Nataro stared at Kira for some time with half-lidded eyes. "Uh-uh. I've got other things to do."

"Kukuku…! You got it wrong, kiddo. I'm not _asking_ for your help." The black-and-white-haired man chuckled darkly as an evil glint appeared in his eyes.

"Like _forcing_ me to help you is gonna work…"

"Aw, come on! If you help me, I'll give you something _cool_ in return!"

At the sound of a reward, Nataro stopped swinging back and forth in his attempts to kick the mad genius in the face. "Something cool? What?"

"Oh, no! It's a _surprise_! But I can guarantee that it'll be a good one!" Kira whispered as he leaned towards the genin. He tapped his index finger against the blonde's hitai-ate and smirked. "Oh, it'll be _really_ good…!"

The genin's eyes filled with stars at the thought of what his reward might be. "Alright, I'll help! What do I gotta do? But it better not be something _lame_!"

"Uh, of course not! You're just helping me out for the festival."

"Huh? You've got a booth for the festival? I thought you were broke!"

'_Who said I wasn't…?'_ The man thought as tears streamed down his eyes in a comedic fashion. "Y-yeah. I've got booths. I need help setting them up and someone to help watch over them."

Nataro blinked. "Booths? As in plural?"

"Very good. I see you know proper grammar after all."

"Why don't you just make some Kage Bunshin to help you?"

"Don't question my methods!!" Kira shouted as he pushed the boy slightly, causing him to swing around in a circle. "Besides, I'm not even all my plans will work…"

"What?"

"Did I say that aloud? Damn!" The older man pulled out a kunai and threw it up at the rope, cutting through it and causing Nataro to fall to the ground. He grabbed the rope and started to drag him away from the forest area.

"HEY!! At least untie me!!" Nataro shouted as he desperately tried to get out of the ropes.

"No. You'll just run away. And besides, you're a ninja! Aren't you _supposed_ to know how to get out of rope traps?"

'_I never did it with __**this**__ sort of rope!'_

The Kyuubi snorted. **"Well, if you can't get out of something as simple as this, I don't see how you can expect to save your little pink-haired girlfriend."**

'_Shut up and go back to moping!!'_

**X-X-X**

Later that night at the festival grounds, we see a familiar blonde woman sitting at a table near a restaurant, eating a stick of dango. "Where could Nataro be…? He hasn't been home since he went out this afternoon," Aiko spoke to herself before sticking the stick of dango into her mouth, straightening out her lavender kimono with the multi-colored flowered design. _'He was so looking forward to the festival. Maybe he's with his friends somewhere around here…'_

"Hello there!" A male voice spoke cheerfully as someone tapped the woman's shoulder. Haseo and Mai, who was holding a bundle in her arms, smiled as Aiko stared at them. The honey-haired man wore a plain crimson red kimono while his wife wore a dark blue kimono with an orange-red obi wrapped around her waist. "You're Nataro's mother, aren't you?"

"Huh? Oh, I am! You're Hanzo's relatives, aren't you? Um…" Aiko sweatdropped and started to laugh nervously. "Heh-heh-heh… I'm sorry, but, uh… I don't remember your names."

"Oh, well, I'm Mai. This is Haseo. And _this_ is Kagetsu-chan!" Mai cooed as she smiled down at the sleeping baby boy with a few strands of raven hair.

"Oh, he's so _precious_! Is this your child?"

"Uh-huh. He's just like the rest of 'em: born prematurely because his mother refused to relax during her pregnancy," said Haseo as he started to nod his head. "Thank God he's got no birth defects…" The women, however, weren't listening to him and were paying attention to his baby son. _'What __**is**__ it with women and babies?'_

"He's such a _cute_ little boy! Wait, how can he sleep with so much noise going on?" Aiko asked Mai.

"Oh, this child could sleep through a war. He'll only get up if he's shaken, hungry, or wet. Just like his daddy!"

Haseo stared at his wife's back. "Hey, I don't wet myself!"

"Not the way _I'm_ thinking about."

"Oh… _Nasty_."

"Um, did you happen to see Nataro anywhere?" The blonde woman asked as she looked at the honey-blonde man.

"Actually, I thought I saw a boy that looked like Nataro hanging out with Kira, but I'm not sure."

"Oh, no way! Nataro is too nice a boy to hang around Kira. Otherwise, he'll be corrupted."

"Okay…" Aiko mumbled with half-lidded eyes. _'Who's Kira…?'_

Meanwhile, not too far away from the adults, Konjo, who was dressed in a simple navy blue yukata, stared in disbelief at the kimono-clad Ina, who was giving him a glare that said _'laugh and I'll kill you.'_

"W-wow, Ina… I hardly recognized you in that thing…" Konjo stuttered with wide eyes. "It's amazing! For once, you look like a girl from the front _and_ the back!" In the blink of an eye, he was on his knees, clutching his head as the large bump on it started to throb. Ina held up a fist as a dark aura started to radiate from her being.

"Hmph!!" Ina turned on her heel and stomped away. _'Damn kimono!'_

The Hyuga boy got up, still holding onto his head. "I was trying to compliment her! Girls are _so_ weird..."

**X-X-X**

"Soooo, you're serious when you say that this charm helps people fall in love with each other?" Rie cooed as she leaned over the counter of the booth, tugging at the charm bracelet.

"Uh, yeah." Hanzo fidgeted in his seat, feeling slightly awkward about being alone with the brunette, who was dressed in a dark purple kimono decorated with white flower patterns and a striped, lavender, blue and white obi, her hair set up in a bun with a purple kanzashi comb. Okay, if you counted the people passing by and the black nekomata sitting on his lap, they weren't alone, but still…!

"How does it work?" She asked, batting her eyes flirtatiously.

"Well, you have to repeat the name of the one you love three times while you're holding the charm each night for the next three nights. On the final night, you'll be brought together with the one you love."

"Is that so…?" Rie clutched the charm bracelet tightly as she leaned across the table. "Hanzo-kun…" She touched his cheek, which made the young Uchiha turn slightly blue in the face. "Hanzo-kun…" She started to pucker her lips. "Hanzo-k—!"

"Rie!! What a surprise!" A familiar voice exclaimed.

Rie fell down and landed face first on the counter. She stood up straight and turned to glare at the culprit. "_Kaoru_…!"

The red-haired boy was wearing a long-sleeved navy blue kimono with a black high-collared undershirt, still wearing his gloves. Holding onto his left arm was a 12-year old girl with short orange hair and hazel eyes, wearing a light blue with a dark blue obi. Holding onto his right was a 13-year old with long black hair and purple eyes, wearing a red kimono with white flowers. "I see you're making a fool of yourself again."

"What do _you_ want, Kaoru? Don't you have somewhere to be with your little fan girls?" The brunette asked with a frown.

"Actually, I came here to confirm something I heard…" Kaoru looked at Hanzo. "Is it true you're related to the freaks that run this place?"

Hanzo frowned. "They're not freaks. Just…misunderstood."

"I met one of those girls. She kept giving me this…_look_. Like she wanted me to drop dead. And that lady had the nerve to ask me if I needed a love potion. As if!"

The raven-haired boy sweatdropped. "W-well… They're still relatively new here. And it's not like my aunt could just know about your love life. She does it with everyone she thinks is single!"

"Do those trinkets she sells even make things from true?" The redhead persisted.

"There's only one way to find out. Buy some for you and your date—er, _dates_." He scratched the nekomata's ear and it maneuvered its tail to pick up three charm bracelets from the box next to it. The Uchiha boy picked up the bracelets and held them out to the redhead. "Just say the name of the one you love three times each night and you'll end up with them on the third night."

"Oooohhhh! Let's try it, Kaoru-kun!" The orange-haired fangirl asked.

"Please, please!" The dark-haired fangirl pleaded, placing her hands together.

"Alright... But only because you girls seem to want it so much," Kaoru mumbled as he reached into the sleeve of his kimono and pulled out the money. "Here. Keep the change."

"Thank you! Oh, and could do me a favor…?" He asked, tilting his head forward and pointing slightly towards Rie.

"Say no more. I always love helping the losers in need." The purple-clad kunoichi arched an eyebrow as her teammate whispered something into his girls' ears. "Say, Rie. Why don't you come and check out some of the other booths with us?" He asked her with a bishonen-type smile.

"_No_," the genjutsu user said bluntly.

"Aw, come on! It'll be fun!" The orange-haired girl said as she grabbed Rie's arm.

"We'll see every booth there is to see!" The dark-haired girl said as she grabbed the other arm.

"H-hey! Lemme go, you…! Let go!!" The brunette shouted as she tried to fight against the pair of fangirls, who were dragging her away from the Yagami's booth.

"Oh, man! You don't even have to repay me for doing that! The look on her face was enough," Kaoru replied as he walked away from the booth with a smirk.

Hanzo gave a breath of relief once Kaoru was out of sight and reached beside his chair. He pulled up the spell book, placed it on the counter, and opened it. But before he could start reading, a shadow loomed over him.

"You aren't being paid to read on the job, you know," a female voice spoke.

"_You're_ not the one paying me, Shikimi. For that matter, I'm not being paid, _period_." Hanzo looked up to see his dark-haired cousin standing in front of the booth, wearing a plain, dark red kimono with a black and red-striped obi wrapped around her waist, black ribbons tied in her ponytails and black geta on her feet. "You look very nice. The color suits you."

"Kissing up to me won't make me forgive you," she told her cousin as her red eyes narrowed slightly. Hanzo just sighed. Shikimi didn't want to move to Konoha for some reason. A few of the spirits living in their house claimed that it was because no one feared her as much in Konoha as they did in Kagetsuchi. So, of course, she blamed Hanzo since it was because of him that her mother wanted to move in the first place—to make sure Sasuke didn't corrupt him.

"Oh, Hanzo-kun!!" Another familiar voice shouted. The raven-haired genin turned his head in time to have an anpan shoved into his mouth by Shiori. "I wanted to get you a treat since you've been working _sooooo_ hard with helping us!" She was wearing a bright pink kimono with a white butterfly pattern and a purple obi, wooden geta on her feet and her long pigtails tied with pale pink ribbons.

Hanzo pulled the sweet bun out of his mouth and handed it to the Nekomata on his lap. "Here. A reward for a job well done." The two-tailed cat sat up, quickly snatched the bun out of the raven's hand and started to munch on it.

"But…Hanzo-kun…!" Shiori sniffled as her eyes became large and watery. "What did you do _that_ for?! I spent what was left on my money on that bun!"

"Really…? I'm sorry, Shiori-chan! I didn't think that…um…" The genin scratched the back of his head. "Look, let me pay you back for that."

Shikimi snorted and folded her arms across her chest while looking at her sister from the corner of her eye. "What for? She made it herself, anyways."

Hanzo sweatdropped, his eyes reduced to little brown dots while Shiori's jaw dropped. "Huh? M-made it herself…?"

"I did no such thing! Take that back, Shikimi!" The blue-eyed twin nearly shouted. "I-it's a _lie_, Hanzo-kun! She's just trying to botch up our relationship because she wants everyone to be like _her_: mean and gloomy!"

"First of all, aside from being cousins, you have no relationship with him _to_ botch," the red-eyed twin stated, causing her sister's face to turn red. "Secondly, you've got stains on your kimono from when you spilled the love potion. See?" She pointed at a wet spot on Shiori's kimono.

Hanzo gave Shiori a half-lidded stare. _'This is the fourth time she's tried to slip me something that was dipped or covered with a love potion! I should be used to it by now, but it's unsettling…!'_ The nekomata on his lap sat up and slammed the anpan down on the counter, hard enough to squish it and make the bean paste come out. It then burped out bubbles that shined with a purple tint as they floated up into the sky.

"Looks like yet another failure," said Shikimi as Shiori simply stared up at the sky with her eyes reduced to little blue dots and her mouth gone from her face. "Not that we weren't expecting any more from you, sister."

"Just another night with the Yagami family…" Hanzo spoke, though no one was listening to him. After the two-tailed cat curled up in his lap again, he resumed reading his book and blocked out his cousins' cries and criticism.

**X-X-X**

At the exact same time, Nataro stared down at the _merchandise_ Kira was planning to sell in shock. It was _porn_… It was all _PORN_!!! Videos, games, erotic novels and doujinshi that ranged from light to hardcore to the few that were meant for guys with strong stomachs. "You…are _sick_! A-and _twisted_! You can't sell things like this at a festival! For crying out loud, there are _kids_ here!!!"

"It's not for kids. It's for the perverted, dirty-minded populace of Konoha," Kira explained to his student. "This village is filled to the brim with perverts an' dirty-minded people—whether they wanna admit it or not."

"Says who?!"

"Says a survey done by the one and only Jiraiya-sama several years ago."

The blonde genin gave the older man a half-lidded glare. "You honestly believe what _that_ pervert says?" He deadpanned.

"Look…" The black-and-white-clad man suddenly held up a yaoi doujinshi. "Guys prefer yuri. Women prefer yaoi. The majority of both genders prefer hetero and then…there're a few freaks that prefer _both_…"

"Uh-huh. Look, what makes you so sure that this is gonna work? 'Cuz I think selling stuff that's X-rated isn't something you do in public unless you _want_ to go to jail!"

"Not _just_ X-rated. We have XXX-rated, too, for the _especially_ nasty people."

"Are you even _listening_ to me?!" Nataro shouted as a vein popped up on his forehead. In a split second, he had a doujinshi thrown into his face and saw a panel with two girls undressing each other. What happened after that was a blur, but he remembered reading 2 yuri comics, 3 hetero hentais and half of a yaoi until he got disgusted. And in all that time, no one had come up to their small booth. _'And who would? I'm surprised the police haven't come by yet!'_ Nataro thought as he slammed the yaoi down. Kira was sleeping on a pile of his video merchandise, a bit of drool streaming down his chin.

"I can't believe it! You keep calling _me_ a pervert, and here _you_ are selling _porno_!"

Nataro's eyes suddenly widened before he looked up and saw Kazemaru looking down at him. _'Oh, crap…'_ "Th-this isn't what it seems! I was _forced_ to do this!!" He shouted loud enough to wake Kira up.

"Nnnnmmm… What's goin' on…?" The mad genius muttered as he sat up, wiping the drool off of his face. He noticed Kaze. "Oh, we've got a customer. What do you want, kid?"

"H-hey!! He's only 12-years old!!"

"I am not! I'm 13!" Kaze puffed his chest out proudly as his blonde teammate rolled his eyes.

"So? You're 13, too, and I seem to recall you going through the merchandise yourself, kiddo…" Kira spoke with a perverted smirk on his face.

Nataro turned red in the face. "I-I…! There was no one coming! I had to do _something_ to keep myself from getting bored!"

"Suuuure! You say you're not a pervert, but deep down in your heart, you know you are!" Kira laughed before turning to Kazemaru. "So, what would you like? We've got videos, novels, and fan-made comics for your enjoyment."

"Um…" The pyromanic genin's eyes scanned the selection until they stopped at a novel. "Oh! Is…is that really?!"

"Hm? What is it?"

"This is the third novel for the Sakura Panic series!! This isn't supposed to come out in Hi no Kuni for another _month_!" Kaze exclaimed with wide eyes. "Is this a fake?"

"Nope! It's the real deal, alright! I have…connections. Kukukuku…!" The mad genius cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. It's a bad habit of mine… Anyway, you can get that for 250 ryo."

"_250 ryo_?!"

"Hey, take it or leave it, kid."

Kazemaru huffed before he shoved his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out the money. "Here's your money, you rip-off artist…!"

'_Woo-hoo! This plan is a success! More pervs are sure to come soon and I'll be outta debt in no time!'_ "Heh-heh-heh…" Kira began to count the money as his young customer began to read through the book.

"Ahem…"

"Huh?" Kira and the two genin looked up and saw Ichigo walking towards them, wearing the Konoha Police Department uniform.

"Hey, isn't that Hanzo's uncle?" Kazemaru whispered to Nataro whispered to Nataro, who nodded in agreement.

"Uh, yeah…" _'Don't tell me __**he**__ wants to buy some porno, too! I expected better of Hanzo's relatives.'_

Kira started to sweat and rubbed the back of his neck as he flashed a grin. "Ah, Ichigo! Would you like to sample my wares?" The Uchiha stared at him with a half-lidded gaze. "What?"

"Kira, do you have a permit?"

"Huh?"

"A _permit_. Permission to do…_this_!"

"Riiiiight…" _'I __**knew**__ there was something I forgot!'_ The black-and-white-haired man thought as he snapped his fingers in realization. "Sure, I've got a permit, Ichigo! I've…got it…" He started to search through his pants pockets and pulled out a small black ball. "So long, suckers!!" He threw the smoke bomb down and a thick, black smoke enveloped him and Nataro.

"What're you doing? H-hey!! Don't touch me theeeeeeeere!!" Nataro screamed in the middle of the havoc. When the smoke cleared, he and Kira were gone.

Ichigo simply sweatdropped as Kazemaru ran away with his precious erotic novel so _he_ wouldn't get pulled into the scandal as well. The policeman scratched his head as he stared at the contents of the booth. "Well, at least with Kira back, the festival's gonna be _way_ more interesting this year…"

**X-X-X**

"Mmmm… I forgot about the police force. And the fact that you need a permit to actually have a booth and sell things…" Kira mumbled as he sat on the edge of a rooftop. "Ah, well. That was only Plan A. Plan B is _much_ more likely to succeed." He looked down and started to smile innocently. "Oh, Nataro! I've got a job for you!"

Nataro, who was tied up in chakra rope and hanging from the rooftop, glared up at his so-called master. "NO WAY!!! I almost got arrested back there!! You think I'll just help you break the law?!"

"What? You don't want your gift? And here I was looking forward to giving it to you, kiddo!"

"If I have to get in trouble with the law to get your gift, I don't _want_ the damn thing!!" The blonde shouted as he started to swing back and forth.

Kira's eyes narrowed as an evil glint appeared in his eyes. "You know, it's a _loooong_ drop from up here… If you fell, you'd probably _die_…"

"Y-yeah, right! You wouldn't do that in such a public place! You'd get arrested!"

"Oh, please! I've been through into prison so many times for breaking into citizen's houses and stalking them as training. Do you honestly think I'm afraid to go to jail?" The black-and-white-haired man spoke in a low tone as he gave an insane smile. "If you don't wanna help me…" He stood up and took the end of rope in his hand. "Just drop DEAD!!!" He released the rope and Nataro stared to fall. Of course, several people saw the little orange blob falling like a ton of bricks and heard him screaming at the top of his lungs.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Geez, you're _loud_…!"

"Huh?" Nataro blinked his eyes open and noticed he was hanging in mid-air. Kira, who was standing on the wall of the building and holding the end of the rope, stared down at him with half-lidded eyes. The orange-clad genin glared up at the mad genius, his face turning red. "DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARD!!! When I get out of this, I'm gonna kill you! You heard me?! KILL YOU!!"

"You're _really_ loud!"

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you're doing to me, you insane, homicidal weirdo!!"

"Oh, just shut up and go get me some things, will ya?"

**X-X-X**

Kotaro, dressed up in a navy blue kimono, stared up at the hanging orange dot in the distance that was swinging back and forth. "Grandpa? Grandma? What's that?"

Sakura, who was wearing a red kimono with a white butterfly obi and a pair of sakura hairpins in her hair, looked up as Sasuke continued to sip his tea. "What are you talking about?"

"That thing! The orange thing hanging from that building over there!"

The old woman sweatdropped as a familiar voiced started shouting loudly. "Is that…?"

Sasuke, who was wearing a plain blue yukata with a black haori, looked up at the dot. "I don't even want to know what he's doing…"

"Who's doing what, Grandpa?" The young Uchiha asked.

"Never mind, Kotaro. Why don't you…go see Hanzo? You probably don't want to stay here with us," the retired shinobi said before he took a sip of his tea.

Kotaro stared at his grandfather in confusion. "Huh? You don't wanna come?"

"No." He looked at Sakura and saw the look she was giving him. "_No_." _'The last thing I want tonight is to see that witch Shitomi,'_ he thought as he stared into his cup.

Kotaro narrowed his eyes and pouted. "You're _boring_, Grandpa. Grandma, make Grandpa come with me!"

"Your grandmother could promise to stop annoying me for the rest of my life and I wouldn't go see that witch— I mean your aunt Shitomi," Sasuke deadpanned, ignoring the look his grandson and wife were giving him. "Besides, you wouldn't want to spend the rest of the night with your boring old grandparents, would you?"

"Speak for yourself!" Sakura said as she stood up. "Your _grandpa_ may be boring and lazy, but I'm not! We can go visit Hanzo and get something to eat…"

"Did you call me lazy?"

"…He's not only lazy, but slow!" The Uchiha matriarch whispered to Kotaro.

"I heard that."

"I know!" She called back as she walked off with their grandson.

Sasuke snorted and set his tea down. "Boring is one thing—boring I can deal with. But calling me slow and lazy… I have to wonder why I agreed to marry that woman."

"That's funny: I wonder why she agreed to marry _you_," a familiar voice spoke.

"Oh, no…" The old man groaned, and then he started to rub the temples of his forehead. _'I was hoping that I wouldn't have to see him for the next three days…!'_ He shifted in his seat and found himself looking at Naruto. The elderly blonde was wearing an orange and black yukata and was now sitting in the seat that Sakura had occupied. "Shouldn't you be somewhere else? Taking care of your duties?"

"That's the good thing about Kage Bunshin: I can be taking care of business _and_ lounging off and enjoying the sights…" Naruto stared at a waitress that walked by, wearing a short dress that could easily expose her bottom with a slight breeze. "Oh, the _sights_…"

Sasuke sweatdropped. "Considering the fact that you're officially _69_, I doubt she'd give you the time of day—title or not." He took a sip of his tea while the Rokudaime glared at him.

"Hmph! …So, how's it been? With Hanzo and Kotaro, I mean."

"Fine. Their aunt tried to barter with us to revoke guardianship to her, but we couldn't exactly do that. We'd be disrespecting Zen and Kotoyo's wishes. And also, there's no way in hell that I would allow either of those boys to be raised by her."

Naruto nodded. "Uh-huh. _Liar_," he deadpanned. "Why not just admit that you've grown attached to being able to raise children again?" He gave a broad grin. "Won't people be surprised when they find out that feared, legendary Uchiha Sasuke is now a soft-hearted old man! Heh-heh!"

"Well, we can't all be obvious like you. No one would be surprised if they were told that the Rokudaime peeped on the women's hot spring with a crystal ball," Sasuke as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Sssshhhh!! Are you trying to give me a bad reputation?!" Naruto hissed, shaking a fist at the elderly Uchiha.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself and start acting your age, Naruto. It's starting to look pathetic."

"That's fine for official business and all where I have to look proper, but if I acted my age, I'd be like you. And…" The Hokage looked him up and down. "That is the _last_ thing I want to be remembered as in my golden years! Take for instance this festival: you oughta be enjoying yourself!

The old Uchiha stared at him as another vein popped up on his forehead. "I _was_ enjoying myself before you came along…"

"Uh-uh! This is a celebration! Your Rokudaime Hokage's 69th birthday party!! So I demand that you break out of that uptight shell and get loose!!"

"I'm retired. The Hokage can't boss me around anymore."

"Who's talking about the Hokage? It's my birthday and you'll party if I want you to!" Naruto sat up and started waving his hand in the air in an attempt to gain a waiter's attention. "Excuse me! Over here!"

A 13-year old girl walked over, with black hair set up in two buns and black eyes, wearing a sleeveless red Chinese-style shirt with a short red skirt and holding a notepad. "Good evening, sirs! What's your order for this even— Oh, my goodness, Hokage-sama!!"

The Hokage gave her a half-lidded stare. "What's with the look? It's my birthday. I'm allowed to show my face in public, aren't I?"

"S-sorry, sir…"

"It's okay, Chao Mei-chan. My, you've grown since I last saw you!"

The dark-haired waitress blushed. 'Uh, well…that's probably because of this uniform. It's mandatory for the female employees… It doesn't help when there are guys out there who try looking up my skirt…" She started to smile again. "But enough of my problems! What will you two be having?"

"Bring us three jugs of your finest saké!" Naruto started to smirk in Sasuke's direction. "You _are_ gonna pay for it, aren't you, Sasuke? Because it'd be rude to make me pay for a drink on my birthday!"

"No."

"Then at least pay for half, you cheapskate!"

"I don't drink alcohol."

"You _still_ get tipsy quickly, huh? Haven't seen _that_ for a while." A sly smile appeared on Naruto's face. "In that case, _I'll_ pay for it! Anything to see you drunk as hell!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a wallet from his sleeve.

"You're an evil and dirty-minded old man," the Uchiha said as Chao Mei walked away. "If you expect me to get drunk and do something stupid, you'll be upset."

"Hey, if you wanna leave, fine by me. I don't need you tainting my mood."

"Alright." Sasuke grabbed his cane and started to stand up. "I'll join Sakura and Kotaro…" He was quickly pulled back down into his seat by Naruto.

"Oh, I was just _kidding_! Is it so wrong to want some company on your birthday? I think not…" The elderly blonde told him as Chao Mei was walking over towards them with three jugs of saké and two cups on a wide platter. He released the retired shinobi and held out the money. "Here you go! It better be good enough to get drunk!"

"Well, that _is_ some very expensive saké. It was made only for big celebrations like this," the waitress told her village leader. "If it isn't as good as the people who were selling it said, my boss'll flip!" She spun on her heel and walked away.

"Well now, _grandpa_!" Naruto said with a wide grin. "Let's let loose an' have fun!!" He started laughing as he poured himself a drink. When he was done, he held out the jug in front of Sasuke. "Well…?"

"…Hn." The Uchiha took the jug and poured himself some saké.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, on another side of the festival grounds, a certain madman and his unwilling blonde accomplice had set their next plan into action.

"Come, come! Gather around, one and all!!" Kira exclaimed. He was wearing a long-sleeved black gi with dark blue pants, a paper headband tied around his head and a paper fan in his hand as he sat behind the wooden table in front of an alley. Nataro, who was sitting next to him, was an identical outfit with his hitai-ate tucked away inside of the gi. A crowd started to gather around the duo and Nataro could only sigh.

'_First the porn, and now this…!'_

"Are you getting tired of all those aches and pains? Headaches, stomach aches, sore throat, queasiness, and other health problems? Well then, you need _this_!" Kira held up a small green bottle with some sort of liquid inside. "This special mixture shall cute all your health troubles, believe you me! And I'll show you! Nataro?"

"Huh?" The blonde snapped out of his thoughts in time to have a pan strike him in the head. "Guh!!" Kira then proceeded to beat the living crap out of him with the pan. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey, you never said I had to do _this_!!"

Kira suddenly stopped and tossed the pan behind him. "Tell me, Nataro. Do you have a splitting headache?"

"OF COURSE I DO!!! You just struck me in the head with a _steel pan_, you bas—!"

"Aw, don't fret! Instead of rushing home to take some aspirin or some other pill, why don't you try _this_?" The black-and-white-haired man pulled the cork out of the bottle and handed it to his blonde accomplice. Nataro stared at the bottle and sniffed the contents.

"What _is_ this stuff?"

"Just drink it, or else I'll give you something worse than a headache!" Kira hissed as an evil glint appeared in his eyes.

The blonde boy gulped and took a swig of the medicine. After a few seconds, he started to lick his lips. "Hm! Not bad… It tastes kinda funny, though…"

"Do you still have your headache, Nataro?"

"Hm? No! That's amazing! What's this stuff made of?!" Nataro exclaimed as he stared at the bottle.

"I'm glad you asked!" Kira reached under the table and pulled out a see-through plastic cage that held a large black toad inside. "This special tonic is the combination of water from a special, untainted underground spring, the sweat of this rare mountain toad, and my own secret ingredients!"

Nataro's eyes widened to the size of saucers as the toad croaked. "You mean…I drank _toad sweat_?!" He started to spit on the ground and tried to wipe the taste of the remedy on the sleeve of his gi.

Kira smacked the cage with his paper fan as he started to smile. "Yes, sir! This special remedy can cure aches, pains, even colds and the flu! Its average price is 800 ryo, but for the next hour, they're selling for 400 ryo a bottle!"

"Sounds amazing," said one man in the crowd.

"I'll take two bottles!" An old man shouted as he waved a handful of money in the air.

"How much for a pack?" A woman shouted from in the crowd as people soon began to crowd around the table.

'_Heh-heh! Plan B is a success! Nothing can go wrong now!'_ Kira thought as he rubbed his hands together in an evil manner. "Excellent…!"

"Um… Kira-sensei?"

"What'd I tell you about calling me _'sensei'_?!"

"Are you supposed to feel funny after drinking that stuff?" Nataro asked the mad genius.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm starting to feel kinda lightheaded… Actually, _every_ part of me feels light!"

"Huh? What do you mean…?" Kira mumbled as he turned to look at his accomplice, only to see that Nataro was floating slightly off the ground, and was starting to rise more and more every passing second. "Well, _that's_ a bad side effect…"

"What?" The blonde arched an eyebrow.

The black-and-white-haired man scratched the back of his head. "Whatever you do, kiddo, don't look down."

Nataro looked down. Then he did something he had been doing the entire day: he screamed. "WHAT THE HELL?! I'M FLYING!!!"

"Actually, it's more like you're floating," Kira corrected as he held up a finger. "Who _cares_ what term you use?! I'm rising and I can't stop!!" The blonde cried as tears streamed down his face comically. "Help me!! It's _your_ tonic that did this to meee!!"

'_I wonder what cause it to do that…'_ "Stop whining! You're gonna attract the unwanted attention of the _police_!"

"Do I _look_ like I give a flying fu—" Before he could finish his statement, the back of the boy's head hit the edge of the roof. "Ouch!! Grrr…! Get me down from here!!"

The crowd began to disperse and Kira sweatdropped as he stared up at the floating blonde. "Well… Plan B sucked. Plan C's my only hope!"

"Can someone get me down from here _please_?!"

"You won't _believe_ what I just saw a while ago!" Shizuka, who was wearing a lavender-colored kimono and a pink butterfly obi with her hair set up in a bun with chopsticks, told Ina as they stood in the middle of the street. "I saw Nataro _floating_!"

Ina almost chocked on her mochi ice cream. "What did you say? Nataro's floating in the air? Maybe, if I'm lucky, he'll float off into space and never return…" She thought aloud with a smirk.

"Um, I think someone held onto him to prevent that."

The smirk faded from Ina's face. "Damn."

"He looked like the same man who keeps coming to the hospital to see Hikari-san," said the blue-haired girl as she scratched her cheek. "It looked like they were selling something."

The Uchiha girl narrowed her eyes a bit as she took a bite out of her ice cream. _'That moron's up to something…'_

"Anyway, check out this cute little thing!" Shizuka held up a charm bracelet. "I got this from that booth down the street. They told me that if I say the name of the person I love three times for the next three days while holding this charm, I'll be brought together with the one I love."

"You hoping that'll bring you and Hanzo together?"

"Wh-what? O-of course not! Who said it was Hanzo, anyway?!" The blue-haired medic started blushing as she put the bracelet away.

"Whatever… Hey, would you mind telling me _where_ you last saw Nataro?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Huh?"

The raven-haired girl placed her hands on her hips. "That idiot's gotta be up to something…and I'm gonna find out what."

**X-X-X**

Kazemaru yawned as he walked down the streets. "Man, this has been one boring night! The only good that that's happened so far was me buying that book from Kira and Nataro…" He scratched his cheek. "Speaking of ol' Ramen Breath and the psychopath, where are they? Still running away from the police?" The young pyro stopped walking as he noticed a large crowd forming. "Huh? What's this?" He ran over to the crowd, which was made up of mostly men. "What's going on? Hey!! Lemme see, damn it!" He growled under his breath when he couldn't get through the crowd. He began to channel chakra into his feet and jumped up high into the air, attempting to see what the crowd was waiting for. "Hm? What the hell…?" When he fell back down, he landed on top of the crowd and they proceeded to carry him to the front. "Whoa! Hey! Don't touch _there_, freak!!"

At the front of the crowd, Nataro, back in his normal clothes, stood in the left corner of a large ring. How the ring got there, he didn't know. All he knew was that Kira had forced him into doing this, promising that it would be the last thing he'd have to do for the mad genius and that Kira would give him his reward at the end. But first…he'd have to fight.

"Why the hell am _I_ doing this?!" Nataro shouted at Kira, who was standing outside of the ring behind him. "You're bigger and stronger than me, so _you_ should be the one in here risking his life!"

"Because…I don't trust you enough to count the money and call off the fights that are too hard for me," the mad genius stated in a calm, business-like tone. "And also because I decided to let you vent your anger out on some poor unfortunate soul."

"**Excellent…!"** The Kyuubi hissed and started to chuckle darkly in its host's mind.

"The only person I wanna vent my anger on is _you_, ya jerk—HEY!! Get back here!!" The orange-clad blonde screamed when Kira walked away from him without a word.

"**Heh-heh-heh…!"**

'_What the hell are you laughing for?! Don't tell me the anger towards this festival's made you go insane!'_

"**I've wanted this for a long time now…! Do us both a favor and give in to your violent desires!!" **The nine-tailed fox shouted loudly.

Nataro sweatdropped at the Kyuubi's laughter. "Well, I'm glad _you're_ enjoying this… 'Cuz I sure as hell _don't_!" He muttered under his breath so no one could hear him.

"Ladies and gentlemen!! Shinobi and kunoichi!!" Kira exclaimed as he stood before the crowd with his arms spread out. "You've seen him in the streets! You've seen him fight in the Chunin Exams! Now, get ready to see him fight _LIVE_!! Kazaki Nataro is here, and you can fight him yourself!" He pointed a finger at Nataro. "This incredibly powerful kid is willing to take on any opponent—no matter how big, strong, or murderous they are!"

"_What_? No, I'm not!!"

"_Quiet, kiddo_! If there are any competitors, step up now and try to take him down!"

While still being carried by the crowd, Kaze's eyes widened. "For real?! I WANNA FIGHT HIM!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Fighting a little kid? Is he serious?" Someone from the crowd asked.

"Well, it _is_ Kira…"

"That poor child, being forced to fight like that…!"

"Poor child? He's the kid that beat up the Kazekage's son and tied with that Uchiha kid in the Chunin Exams!"

"He's _that_ boy?"

"Heh-heh-heh…!" Kira started to rub his hands together in an evil manner. _'Plan C has begun! Just wait'll those guys see how much of a powerhouse this kid is!'_

'_Great! People are getting into the idea of this!'_ Nataro thought as he started to sweat.

"So, this is where you're hiding out…" A female voice spoke. The crowd began to part and Ina made her way up to the ring. She jumped inside and flipped her hair over her shoulder, just as the crowd dropped Kaze on the ground in front of them. "If you wanted somebody to beat you up, why didn't you just come to see me?"

The pyromanic genin growled under his breath as he sat up, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Damn it! _I_ wanted to beat the crap out of Nataro!" He growled to himself as he slammed his fist on the ground.

"Uh…" Nataro sweatdropped as he looked Ina up and down. "Not only do I not know who you are, but…I don't think you can fight in a kimono."

Ina's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm _Ina_."

The blonde boy squinted his eyes and started to shake his head slowly. "No, you're not! Ina is an ugly-looking stuck-up weasel bitch and you're…a cute girl in a kimono."

"…Did you just call me c-_cute_?"

"Aside from the cute comment, my idiot apprentice is right, little miss," said Kira as he held up his hand. "You think you can fight while wearing…that?" He pointed at the kimono she was wearing.

"Ugh!" The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Gimme a kunai."

"Huh?"

"A kunai. I want a kunai," she said in a flat tone.

"Okay…" The black-and-white-haired man pulled out a kunai knife and tossed it over to Ina. She caught it by the blade between her fingers, gaining a few gasps and whistles from the crowd. What happened next made a lot of young men red… Ina had started to cut off a part of the kimono. When she was finished, the kimono now reached a few inches above her knees, revealing a pair of dark red bicycle shorts with a black vertical stripe on each side. The raven-haired girl tossed the removed cloth and kunai aside, and then started to smirk at Nataro.

Nataro was…well, no one knew _what_ he was thinking, since he had a sort of blank look in his eyes and his mouth was hanging open. _'What sort of crazy chick is this…?'_

"**Judging from how she's acting, isn't she that Ina girl? She **_**did**_** say she was going to get fitted for a kimono."**

'_Yeah, but Ina wouldn't be caught __**dead**__ wearing anything girly. Beside, this girl's cute!'_

"**Ugh…"** One could only imagine that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was now rolling its eyes at its container's obliviousness.

"Okay… Now that _that's_ been taken care of, I guess we can start this fight," said Kira as he held up his hands with a broad grin on his face. "PLACE YOUR BETS, PEOPLE!!"

"GOOOOOO, INA!!! Kick Nataro's ramen-filled ass!" Kazemaru shouted at the top of his lungs.

Shizuka, who was watching from the crowd, sweatdropped at her friend's behavior. _'Imagine what her father's going to do once he finds out what she's been doing... He's gonna have a fit!'_

"I've been waiting for this for a _loooong_ time..." Ina told Nataro as she cracked her knuckles, subconsciously activating her Sharingan.

'_Sharingan? Then that means...'_ "HOLY CRAP!! Ina?! You look like a _GIRL!!_" Nataro shouted at the top of his lungs as he waved his arms in the air frantically.

A vein popped up on the Uchiha girl's head. "No, duh, IDIOT!" She shouted as she charged at him.

'_Great! She's got a complete Sharingan now, which means that she can now predict my moves and, if she knows how, can cast genjutsu on me. But I'll smack some manners into that bitch nonetheless!'_ "Right! Here I go!" The blonde genin drew some shuriken from his thigh holster and flung them at the Uchiha girl. They were immediately countered by her shuriken.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to be using weapons, y'know," Kira told the two young ninja as he took money from the crowd and placed them in separate bins--and the majority of crowd was betting on Ina. But the genin were too busy dealing blows at each other to listen to him. "Oh, forget it. So long as they don't use any destructive jutsu, it'll be fine."

"You know," Nataro started as he ducked in time to avoid a kick from Ina, "I hardly recognize you in a dress. You look like a..._girl_!" He stifled a laugh just seconds before she punched him in the face, causing him to stumble back.

"Shut up!!" Ina attempted to kick him in the side, but the blonde managed to block it in time with his arm. He grabbed her leg and twisted it, causing her to fall to the ground. The raven-haired girl clenched her teeth in irritation and looked up, Sharingan eyes barely visible through her long hair. She rolled to the side in time to avoid being punched by the blonde. Ina performed a sweep kick, but Nataro jumped away in time to avoid it.

'_She can predict my every move...but she can't predict what she can't see.'_ Nataro reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a smoke bomb. "Heh-heh! Try and predict my moves now!" He threw the smoke bomb down, thick black smoke seeping out and enveloping the ring.

"Oh, great...! He wasn't supposed to use any tools! He better not attempt to use any jutsu..." _'Or else he's gonna attract the police!'_ Kira thought as he counted up the money. Several grunts and cries came from the ring, and the crowd was starting to get upset about not being able to see what was going on. "And that smoke better disperse before the crowd becomes an angry mob!"

In the ring, Ina stepped back and wiped the blood trailing down her chin on the sleeve of her kimono. "He wants to play dirty...?" She panted out. "I'll play dirty." She jumped up high in the air, avoiding another back attack from Nataro. Once up in the sky, she started to make hand signs and took a deep breath.

Kira's mouth dropped before he decided to play it safe and took a step back. _'Oh...crap...'_

'_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ She blew a large flaming fireball down at the ring. The flames rose high and just barely licked Ina's skin. As the flames died and the smoke dispersed, nothing remained of the ring but the steel poles that had connected the rope--and even those looked slightly melted. Tears were streaming down Kira's face in a comedic fashion while the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"Didn't she go a bit _too_ far?"

"I don't see the poor boy anywhere."

"She totally destroyed him! There aren't even any ashes left!"

"Whoa..." Kazemaru stared at the remains of the ring as Ina landed on the ground. "He can't _really_ be... No way, that moron's got the cockroach gene in him!" As if proving his point, a blur of orange and yellow jumped out of the ground and landed in front of Ina. _'I knew it: he survives just about everything!'_

'_That was a close one! Good thing I guessed right about deciding to burrow underground,'_ Thought Nataro as blood dripped from his hands. His clothes were totally messed up and his hands were bleeding from the digging he had done.

"Huh... He's not burnt to a crisp. He thought ahead in time to avoid being hit by her jutsu," Kira mumbled softly to himself as he rubbed his chin in an intellectual manner. "Smart move."

"Bitch! I wasn't gonna use jutsu, but you've crossed the line!!" Nataro shouted as he shook a fist at Ina, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "I'm gonna--!"

The blonde didn't get to finish his sentence as someone suddenly appeared in between them in a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, both of the genin gulped. "D-daddy...?" Ina squeaked out as she looked up at her father, wearing a black kimono with a red haori, his arms folded across his chest.

'_First the police, now an ANBU captain arrives! Who's next: the old man?!'_ Kira thought as he started to sweat.

"...Ina. _What _do you think you're doing?" The Uchiha clan head asked as he observed his daughter. "What did you do to your kimono?"

"Um..." There was rarely a moment where Ina stuttered when talking to a person. This just proved how much she respected—and feared—her father. "I-it's nothing, Father. Really, i-it isn't!"

"You call showing yourself off to half of the Konoha population _nothing_?!" Naota shouted as he removed his haori. He immediately wrapped it around Ina's waist, muttering curses all the while.

"Damn. Looks like the show's over," Kazemaru muttered with half-lidded eyes as he stared at Naota and Ina.

"Naota-san hasn't fully blown his top, yet," said Shizuka. "I don't want to imagine what'll happen when they're out of the public eye..."

"You can expect that you and I will have a talk when we get home," Naota told his daughter in a stern tone while she stared at the ground, scuffing her foot in the dirt as she bit her lower lip. "And as for you..." The raven-haired man turned to look at Nataro, who immediately started to sweat from the ANBU captain's glare.

"I-it's not my fault! Blame your weird, twisted daughter!! ...Sir. And it wasn't even _my_ idea to do this! It was all Ki...ra?" The blonde genin sweatdropped as he looked behind him and found that Kira was no longer standing in the spot he had been a few minutes ago. "Huh?! Son of a—!" He didn't get to finish his cursing as Naota had grabbed his jacket. Nataro found himself staring up into the older shinobi's onyx-colored eyes before he was flung up high into the air, over a rooftop. "UWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

A suspicious black and white dog in the crowd sweatdropped. _'The power of parenthood. As strong as any jutsu...'_ Kira-dog thought as he stared at Naota. _'I should go get the kid and make sure he's not severely injured...'_

**X-X-X**

Later, Kira and a heavily bandaged Nataro were sitting on a bench in town. The blonde had several bandages—not just from his landing, but from the Inuzuka clan members he accidentally fell on—and was eating a small fried fish on a stick. The black-and-white-haired man was beside him drinking a soda.

"I'm sorry about what happened, kiddo. Not only did I have to use the money we got to pay back for the damages…you were mauled by dogs. I sure hope you don't get rabies…"

"Those were _Inuzuka_..."

"Same thing. The point is; you showed a lot of endurance and you stuck it out until Naota went into _'overprotective father mode'_. And…well, you've stuck out with me until the end, and _that_, sure as hell, ain't easy! You've got potential."

Nataro blinked and looked up at the older man, still chewing away on the fish as he did. "And my reward?"

"…Reward? Oh, right! I, uh…I was _gonna_ willingly buy you three Hagakure Specials with some of the money we had, but we lost all of it…" Kira muttered as he tossed his empty soda can into a nearby garbage can.

The genin started to choke on his fish. He began to pound on his chest until he coughed up a piece of fish and bone. "F-for real?! Awww, man…! No one's ever offered that to me before…!" He sniffled. "It's not fair!! After all the crap I got put through, I deserve _something_!"

Kira got a soft look in his eyes for a moment before he leaned back and groaned. "Fine! If you're gonna whine about it, I'll buy you some ramen with what little money I have left! Just stop crying like a baby… You'll ruin my rep."

"Yay!!" The blonde threw his hands up in the air, throwing the stick as he did before jumping onto the mad genius. "Thank you, thank you!! I could just _kiss you_!"

"Better not! Or else people _will_ think I'm a pedophile…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, on another side of town…

"He did _what_?!" Aiko shrieked, clenching and unclenching her hands as a vein throbbed on her forehead.

"You heard me," Naota told the blonde woman. He was still holding tightly onto Ina's arm as he looked at Aiko calmly. "You should think about teaching your son some manners."

"And maybe Naota should think about teaching Ina some humility," Mai whispered to Haseo, who had been giggling ever since his brother-in-law said Ina had purposely ripped her kimono to fight.

"I think…being dragged away by Naota…taught her enough…about it!" he said between giggles.

Ina could only blush and stare at the ground in anger and embarrassment. Though she was mostly angry at what Nataro had told her about her appearance in the dress. _'The next time I see that idiot, there'll be hell to pay…!'_

"Oh, don't worry, Naota-san. I'll make sure that Nataro is justly punished for what he's done." Aiko looked over at Ina. "I'm sorry about what my son did to you, Ina-chan. If you wanna smack him around a couple of times for this, I'll understand. Just…nothing involving fire, okay?"

'_But before he knew it was me…he thought I was cute…'_ The raven-haired girl thought as she stared off into space.

"Ina."

"Huh?" She looked up at her father. "Y-yes, father?"

"What do you say to Aiko-san?" Naota asked his daughter.

Ina thought for a moment before she bowed to Aiko. "I am sorry, Aiko-san, for trying to kill your son."

"Well, at least she was honest," said Haseo as he and Mai sweatdropped.

'_Nataro, whatever the __**hell**__ you've been doing tonight, you're going to get it!!'_ Aiko thought as she cracked her knuckles, her seemingly sweet smile twitching.

**X-X-X**

Back with Nataro and Kira, who were on their way to Hagakure, the blonde boy suddenly felt a shiver go up his spine. "Aw, man! I have a feeling that I'm in trouble…"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Bennihime means "crimson princess".**

**The difference between zori sandals and geta sandals are that geta are big, wood sandals that usually have two strips of wood underneath, whereas zori look like normal sandals.**

**Mochi ice cream is basically small balls of ice cream wrapped inside a mochi covering. It comes in chocolate, mango, green tea, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.**

**Anpan is a Japanese sweet bun filled with red bean paste.**

**X-X-X**

**Be kind and review for the sake of Blu!**


	41. Festival Day 2: Of Love and Break Ins

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#41: Festival Day 2: Of Love and Break Ins_

"Ugh… Why do _I_ have to be here?" Kisho asked as he glared off into space. He was walking beside Hikari, down the hall of the hospital psychiatric ward. "My line of work doesn't extend to dealing with the living, just the dead."

"It's not as though you're about to go into surgery," said Hikari as she looked at the young mortician from the corner of her eye. "Matsu broke five of his ribs, Inomi won't even come near here after the last visit knocked her out for an hour, Sakura-sama is at home taking care of business, and any other medic, both junior and senior, is too afraid to come down here! You're the only one who agreed."

"That was _before_ I knew what I was doing!" The purple-haired young man muttered as his left eye twitched.

"All you have to do is hold her down while I administer the injection. Simple."

"Whatever… But if I get seriously injured, you're the one I'm going to blame, Hikari-san."

The rest of the walk was spent in silence until the two medics came up to a steel door. Hikari slid the small window at the top of the door open and stared inside. "It looks like she's asleep." She closed the window and looked over her shoulder at Kisho. "Are you ready?" The purple-eyed mortician nodded, his lips forming a thin line before she unlocked the latches on the door. She opened the door and walked in silently. Kisho followed and stared down at the floor.

Asura was sleeping on the floor next to the bed, her back to the door and the shinobi that had just walked in. Her normal clothes had been replaced with a hospital gown. The walls of the room had cracks in several places, some of which had small bits of dark blood from the cause pounding on it so hard. The bed sheet and pillows that were lying on the floor were ripped. And all the while, Kisho kept wondering how that naïve little girl could wind up in the psychiatric ward, even though he didn't want to find out.

"Kisho."

"Huh?"

"Restrain her," Hikari told the mortician.

"What for? She's already asleep."

"The last time we did this while she was asleep, she woke up, went into a frenzy and broke Matsu's ribs."

Kisho's cheeks gained a slight hint of blue. He didn't say a word as he got on his knees and bent over the pink-haired girl's body. He rolled Asura onto her back as gently as he could without waking her, and then he grabbed her by the arms and held her down. Asura's eyes suddenly snapped open. Before Kisho knew what was going on, Asura had him pinned down on the ground, her nails digging into his arms. Hikari had been knocked into a wall in the process and the syringe fell to the ground and broke, spilling its contents on the ground.

'_SHIT!!'_ Kisho thought as Asura stared down at him.

"Grrrr!!" The pink-haired girl growled and bared her sharpened teeth at the male medic, who was wondering whether or not to attack the girl so she wouldn't break any of his bones. She lowered herself closer to his body and opened her mouth. Kisho felt her breath on him and winced.

'_I can't hit a girl. My parents just __**had**__ to raise me up as a gentleman!'_ He thought as his eyes twitched. Just then, Asura's eyes widened. She then fell on top of Kisho, fast asleep. The purple-eyed medic looked up at Hikari, who was holding an empty syringe in her hand. "Is that a tranquilizer?"

The pink-haired woman nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Why didn't you use _that_ in the first place instead of having me hold her down?" The mortician asked in a flat tone, his half-lidded eyes glaring at her.

"It's bad enough that she's been moved down here… To use a tranquilizer on Asura-chan as though she were some sort of animal just didn't feel right," Hikari mumbled as she looked down sadly at the sleeping Asura.

"You used tranquilizers on that Kira guy days ago."

"…There's a difference between those situations. Despite what he says, that idiot _can_ control himself, but Asura-chan can't." She pulled out another syringe. "If we keep giving this to her, we may be able to stop these changes—at least spontaneously." _'If we're lucky, they may be able to stop before tomorrow. Hokage-sama told me that Nataro wants her to come to the festival with him…it would certainly be better than staying locked up in here like a prisoner.'_

**X-X-X**

"Wow…" Kotaro sat on the veranda next to Sasuke, staring at his grandfather's black eye. "How'd you get that, Grandpa?"

"From being a drunken idiot." The two of them looked up and saw Sakura frowning down at them, holding an icepack in her hand. "_Here_." She handed the icepack to Sasuke, who took it without a word.

"Huh?" A large question mark appeared over Kotaro's head as he looked back and forth between his grandparents.

"You don't have to know about these things, Kotaro-chan. Now run along or you'll be late to class."

"Okay…" The raven-haired boy mumbled as he hoisted up his bag and ran towards the gate. "Bye, Grandma! Bye, Grandpa!"

When Kotaro was out of sight, Sakura went back to glaring down at Sasuke. "What?" The elderly Uchiha asked, arching an eyebrow as he held the icepack to his swollen eye.

"You know _'what'_! Whenever someone leaves you and Naruto alone, unless _something_ brings you together, an argument begins. If alcohol is involved, a _fight_ begins! Do you know how _embarrassing_ it is to know your husband struck the Hokage?" The clan matriarch slapped him in the arm. "Be grateful that the only reason he was out cold was because of all the alcohol he drank!"

"Hn… He started it. I finished it. Nothing more to it."

"Whatever he said, you know he didn't mean it! He was _drunk_! People always say stupid things when they're drunk! He once hit on a _mop_!"

"He talked about _you_," Sasuke spoke in a dark tone.

Sakura flinched and stared down at the ground for a moment. She placed her hand on top of her husband's free hand. "Whatever he said, he didn't mean it."

"Good morning," said Hanzo as he walked towards his grandparents. "How was your time last night? Have any fun?" He spotted Sasuke's black eye. "Or _too much_ fun?"

The retired shinobi stared at his grandson for a while before he lowered the icepack. "I _hate_ festivals. So much noise…and drunks that have an excuse to drink as much saké as they want."

"Don't listen to your grandfather. He got drunk and punched Hokage-sama in the face before he got punched back. A one-hit knockout for the both of them," Sakura spoke flatly, not even aware of her grandson's shocked expression.

"He did _what_?!"

"Hn." His grandfather placed the icepack back on his black eye.

"I, on the other hand, had a nice time. I played some games with Kotaro and I met up with Ino and we chatted the night away until Ichigo told me about your grandfather."

Hanzo calmed down a bit and sweatdropped. "I see… Well, I hope you have a good time tonight." He started to walk away.

His grandmother blinked. "Huh? Where are you going?"

The raven-haired boy looked over his shoulder. "To Aunt Shitomi's. I told you that I'm helping her out with her festival booth since she hasn't been able to rope in any employees yet."

Sasuke gave a snort. "Who would want to work for that witch?"

"Besides, she said that if I do a good job and spread some good things about the Yagami clan, she'd teach me a spell or two."

"Spells? You believe that?" Sakura asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Why the hell are you so interested in learning that nonsense, anyway?"

"Because…it's a part of my mother's family's heritage." He spun on his heel to look at his grandfather. "I take pride in the Yagami clan name as much as I do the Uchiha's. I am honored to have to blood of such a clan running through me."

"I don't care if it's your heritage—I don't want you to see Shitomi or her brood."

"Y-you can't do that!"

"Yes, I can. I'm your guardian," the retired shinobi looked at his grandson now, onyx eyes locking onto him. "And I'm telling you that you can't see her anymore. I won't let that woman corrupt you."

Hanzo clenched his fists. "You're _Kotaro's_ guardian, not mine! Aunt Shitomi wants to help me!"

Sakura blinked. "Help you with what, Hanzo?"

The young Uchiha stiffened up for a moment before he relaxed. "It's nothing... Never mind." He was still staring at his grandfather, albeit apathetically. "You wouldn't understand." He then turned around and walked away without another word.

"How could you say such a thing?!" Sakura hissed once Hanzo was no longer in sight. "Kotoyo's family may be questionable, but they have tried nothing but help Hanzo! You're just being paranoid!" She stood up and stomped away in a huff.

Sasuke rubbed his temples and growled under his breath. _'Damn that stupid boy… What's he up to? Either way, this has to stop. If I can't speak to Hanzo…I'll have to speak to Shitomi.'_

**X-X-X**

Much later that day, as the sun began to set over Konohagakure, a familiar orange-clad blonde was leaning on the iron fence that surrounded the hospital roof. He had originally come to try and tip Asura off on his plan to sneak her out of the hospital for the night, but he wound searching for her the entire afternoon. When Nataro climbed up to her room, he found it occupied by another person. He tried looking through the entire ward, but he couldn't find her. And he couldn't exactly ask someone on the hospital staff, since any information concerning Asura was unspeakable.

'_They couldn't have found out what I was going to do… So, maybe something happened to Asura!'_ Nataro started to shake his head. "Nuh-uh! There isn't_ anything _wrong with Asura-chan… They probably just moved her to another location. I've gotta find out where they're keeping her before the last day of the festival!" Just then, something grabbed him from the back of his jacket, pulled him back and threw him into the door leading downstairs. The door broke down and the blonde almost fell down the stairs.

"That was _horrible_! I wasn't even _trying_ to hide my chakra. You need to work on enhancing your senses!" Kira shouted at his apprentice while he pointed a finger at him.

Nataro looked over his shoulder and glared at the black-and-white-haired man. "What…the hell…were you _thinking_?! If I fell down there, I might've seriously hurt myself!! I could've broken my neck!"

"Ah, but you didn't. That means you're pretty agile. Which is amazing since, from what I've seen, you're pretty clumsy."

"_Clumsy_?! I'm not clumsy!!" He shouted as he stomped over to the mad genius. "What're you doing here, anyway? Is it time for your _checkup _with Hikari-san?"

Kira smiled. "Of course. Sasuke-sensei threatened to feed me to a giant snake again if I stayed at his house any longer and before that, Naruto-sama was still battling a hangover from last night, so I decided to pay my Hikari a visit."

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "Y'know… There's a little thing called _'stalking'_. And you could go to jail for it."

"Tch… I've been going to jail ever since I started going to the Ninja Academy and decided to train by spying on and stealing from civilians and shinobi." Kira sniffed and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Yeah, I'm hardcore."

"Wow, you stole from ninja before you were even a ninja— What the hell am I saying?!" Nataro shouted as he stepped back, pointing a finger at the mad genius. "Hardcore? More like eccentric!"

"So, what're _you_ doing here, kiddo? Could it be that you came here to find your little pink-haired friend?"

The blonde's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

Kira flashed a grin. "I told you: I'm a certified genius! Also, you need to learn how to keep your thoughts to yourself and not say them out loud. I assume that you haven't been able to find the little pink thing?"

Nataro shook his head. "Nuh-uh…"

"Well, I'm not surprised. I heard a couple of nurses gossiping about it. Apparently, she was moved to another ward because of something that happened. I didn't hear _what_ happened though, because I was just sort of flying by after Hikari punched me." The mad genius started to shake his head slowly. "I guess your girlfriend's just taken a turn for the worse, kiddo…"

The blonde genin's eyes widened. "Something happened to her…?"

"I can tell that you're heartbroken, kiddo. I feel sorry for you..." The mad genius said with a pout as he ruffled the boy's hair. "If only there was some way I could help! Oh, wait. I do. Heh-heh."

Nataro swatted Kira's hand away and looked up at him in shock. "For real?! You know where she is?! You just said you didn't know what happened!!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Pay attention, would you, kiddo? I said I didn't know _what_ happened that made the hospital change her rooms. I never said I didn't know where she's being kept now…"

Nataro sighed as he stared up at the black-and-white-haired man with half-lidded eyes. "Alright, what do I gotta do this time?"

"Huh? You think I'm gonna hold this over your head and use it as a means of forcing you to help me make enough money to pay off my debts. I'm mad, not _evil_." The mad genius shoved his hands into his pants pockets and sighed. "I may have heard that she's in the psychiatric ward."

"Say what now?! That place is for crazy people!! Why would they stick her in _there_?!"

"Could it be that she's _crazy_?" Kira suggested as he held a finger up.

"NO, SHE'S NOT!!!" Nataro screamed loud enough to cause birds on a nearby roof to take off. "Do you at least know which room she's in now?"

"No. That's the sort of thing you keep on the down low." The mad genius suddenly got an evil glint in his eye as an evil smile appeared on his face. "Are you planning on breaking into the ward and breaking the little pink psycho out? If so…" He gave the boy a thumbs-up. "I approve!!"

"I'm not gonna do that!! Who knows _what_ sort of weirdoes and psychopaths are in there!!"

"I do. One of my friends was in there once after he saw his fiancée killed on a mission—poor guy broke down. And I was in there for a couple of months after I sort of…tried committing suicide."

The orange-clad genin did a double-take. "Suicide?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Kira mumbled as he rubbed his temples.

"Why?"

"I _don't_ wanna talk about it."

"Did something happen to you?"

"I said: I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT!!!" Kira screamed as he brought his fist down on Nataro's head. "So, shut up!!"

"Owwww!! Hey, I'm student!" Nataro cried as he rubbed the large, throbbing bump on his head. "So, shouldn't I know more about my master's past and why he's such a freak now?"

"I may act like a lunatic, but I know that I shouldn't go spilling my heard and baring my soul to some kid! I'm a mad _genius_, not a mad _moron_!" The black-and-white-haired man said as he folded his arms across his chest and walked past his young apprentice. "Maybe after you can beat me, I'll tell you my life story, kiddo."

The blonde stared at his master's back before he decided to follow him. "Hey, wait up! You're not getting off that easily!!"

**X-X-X**

Later that night, the second night of the Kyuubi Festival, it was just another time of joy, cheer, and drunk people throwing up and people getting admitted to the hospital because they had a _little_ too much fun. The Yagami clan's booth was doing fairly well for the beginning of the night. Hanzo was sitting behind the booth, quietly reading his book.

"You're _still_ reading that book?" Hanzo looked up and saw Shitomi smiling down at him. She was wearing a tight, shoulderless, crimson red kimono designed with black branches and budding flowers, a black obi, and a pair of red zori. She wore red lipstick and lavender eye shadow that contrasted with her pale skin tone. Simply put, the Yagami woman had an eerie sort of beauty about her.

"I'm reading it over, actually."

"Ah, done already! You truly are a smart boy. Maybe I should give you the second edition! Hmhmhm!" The Yagami woman noticed the somber look on the boy's face. "Aw, what's wrong, Hanzo-kun? You don't look well. Maybe you should take the rest of the night off. Enjoy the festival. Spend time with your friends."

Hanzo looked over his shoulder. "It's nothing. I'm just…feeling a bit frustrated about something."

"All the more reason that you should take the night off. I wouldn't want you to take out that frustration on the customers!" Shitomi began to pout and rested her head on her nephew's shoulder. "Hanzo… I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Well…" The raven-haired boy sighed and closed his eyes. "There's…this girl that I like. I mean, I _really_ like her. But with all the things that have been happening to me lately, I'm not sure if she'll like _me_." Okay, he was lying, but it wasn't as though Shitomi could make what happened between him and his grandfather go _'pfft'_. It would probably only lead to his aunt insulting Sasuke and offering to let him move in with her.

Shitomi, however, knew that he was lying. But Hanzo wasn't her son. She couldn't just butt into his business if he didn't want her to. Instead, the dark-haired woman sapped a smile on her face and leaned against her nephew's back. "Love problems, huh? I've got _just_ the potion for that…"

Hanzo's eyebrow twitched slightly as he stared up at his aunt. "_No potions_," he spoke through flatly. "I want her to like me of her own free will."

She frowned. "Then I've got nothing."

"Well, what did your husband do for you that made you fall in love with him?"

The Yagami woman started laughing behind the back of her hand. "I'm afraid it was the other way around! You see, Hanzo-kun, Kotoyo was lucky because your father naturally fell in love with her, but _I_ had to get my husband the same way my mother got my father: I made him drink a love potion. I was jealous of your mother, so…I took a risk and held back the potion on the month of our anniversary just to see if he loved me."

"What happened?"

"He ran off. Just like my father did after Hanzo was born," Shitomi growled as her bangs hung over her eyes, casting shadows over them. She was clenching on tightly to a wooden post as a small vein throbbed on her hand. After a few seconds of dark cursing in her mind, she noticed the confused look on her nephew's face and quickly added, "Your uncle. The one Kotoyo named you after. He passed away before your mother and father met."

Hanzo looked down at the ground for a few seconds before he dared to ask, "How did he die?"

"Oh!" Shitomi held her hand against her chest. "It's just too painful to recall, Hanzo-kun. Plus, the details… I'm not sure if you could handle hearing what _really_ happened. There _is_ a reason why Kotoyo never told you about him. I will tell you when you're older. But, tonight," she tugged lightly on his ponytail, "you have the night off. May I suggest using this time to find your lady love?"

The raven-haired boy started to blush. "B-but I—"

"What are you waiting for? Fly! Fly off, my little hawk! Your beloved awaits you outside of the nest!"

"_What_? Little hawk? What're you talking about?"

"Go and find your girlfriend!"

Hanzo gulped as he saw the evil look in Shitomi's eyes. He quickly got up and walked away from the Yagami's booth.

The dark-haired woman sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "Shiori, honey, would you please change back to normal?"

In a poof of smoke, a nearby Maneke Neko statue changed into Shiori. The blue-eyed Yagami was sitting on top of the booth counter, her knees brought up to her chin as tears welled up in her eyes. "MOOOOM!!! Why did you have to do that?! You know how much I love Hanzo-kun!" She whined.

"I'm not exactly against incest, Shiori, but Hanzo just isn't interested! There are plenty more fish in the sea," said the dark-haired woman as she leaned against the table.

"But he's the catch of the day!" Shiori exclaimed as she jumped off the table and stood up straight. "I won't give up! Eventually, Hanzo-kun will be _my_ man!" She then ran off in the same direction as Hanzo.

"_That's_ my child… Oh?" Shitomi blinked as a shadow had been cast over her. "Ah, if it isn't Sa-su-ke-san," she pronounced with a playful smirk. Sasuke only looked down at her apathetically. "Come now! During a festival, surely the two of us can get along!"

"I need to talk to you about Hanzo." The dark-haired woman stopped smiling and returned his apathetic look. "Whatever it is you're doing with him, Shitomi, I want it to stop."

Shitomi stood up straight. _'__**This**__ must be the source of Hanzo's depression…'_ "Alright then. Let's have a talk, Sasuke-san…"

**X-X-X**

"I can't believe I'm doing this. And here I wanted to feel up Hikari tonight…!" Kira groaned as he and Nataro crawled through the air ducts inside of the hospital.

Nataro, who was in front of the black-and-white-haired man and holding a flashlight, sweatdropped. "In your dreams…" He suddenly stopped moving as he came to a screen vent. He pulled out a blueprint of the hospital that Kira _'borrowed'_ from the village's records. "Let's see… We should be above the psychiatric ward by now. All I have to do is remove this screen."

"Good. Hurry up and take that thing out. There's a rat here and it's crawling next to me."

The blonde boy suddenly stiffened. "RAT?!"

"Now it's crawling into your pants leg."

"UWAAAAAH!! Get it out, get it out!!" Nataro started to move about in a frenzy, creating dents in the duct that were visible from the outside.

"Aw, quit crying! I was only kidding." Kira began to snicker as a low growl came from Nataro. "Hee-hee-hee! You scream like a pussy."

"Shut up, you! You're gonna get us caught!" The blonde genin hissed as he pulled out the screen.

"Actually, it will be an hour until somebody comes here to check on the patients. That gives us plenty of time to bust your little girlfriend out."

"I'm not busting her out tonight."

The mad genius stared at his young protégée's behind with half-lidded eyes. "Say what now? Why not?"

"I, uh…don't have anything for her to wear yet. I was gonna buy something for her today, but, uh…" The blonde jumped down and landed on his feet, and then he put the vent screen aside. "You know… I got caught up with trying to find her."

Kira jumped down as well. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with black gloves and a black bandana tied around the lower half of his mouth. "Well, why the hell did I put on my sneaking outfit for?!"

"What _are_ you doing here, anyway?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow. "You wanna help me out, Master?"

"Nah! I just _love_ breaking into places!" The black-and-white-haired man spoke cheerily as he gave the victory sign.

The blonde genin sweatdropped before he turned around to look at the steel doors lining the hall. "How many people are actually in here?" Kira walked up to a steel door and slid one of the small windows open. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Hm? If it isn't Sanju! What're you doing here, buddy?"

"Huh? Kira? A-am I hallucinating again?" The person inside the room asked.

"Nope. I just got back a couple of months ago. So, uh…whatcha doing in here?"

"I-I may have forgotten to take my prescription drugs b-before a mission a-and wound up…k-killing a third of my squad."

"Really? That's interesting. Did you kill that bitch Kin?"

"Y-yeah, I sort of k-killed her first and strangled h-her with her own intestines…"

"Ooooh! _Evil_!"

"Hey!! Stop talking to your psycho friends and let's get a move on!!"

Kira looked at Nataro from the corner of his eye. "Tch." He looked inside of the room again. "Sorry, Sanju. Gotta go. Hope your…_drug problems_ work out." He closed the window and walked over to Nataro. "So, kiddo…which one are you going to look in first?"

"Well...Asura-chan's obviously not in _that one_," the blonde boy mumbled as he scratched his head. He looked down the long hall of doors and sighed. "This is gonna take a while…" He then noticed Kira peeking inside of another room. "And it's gonna take even longer with _him_ around…! I wish Hanasotsu was around… Hey, wait a minute. What'd you do to Hanasotsu?" Nataro asked the mad genius as he shut the small window.

"Heh-heh-heh!" Kira began to smile as he looked at the genin over his shoulder. "That is for _me_ to know and for _you_ to find out, my dear kiddo…" The blonde genin began to shake slightly at the creepy tone in his voice. Satisfied, the mad genius walked down the hall and resumed peeking inside of other rooms. Nataro simply followed his lead and started to look into rooms as well.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, at the festival, a certain indigo-haired Hyuga was staring at his teammate with wide eyes. Konjo had heard from Kazemaru, as well as the occasional gossip from the Branch members, what Ina had done the night before. The raven-haired girl stood before him with her hands on her hips, wearing a plain dark blue kimono with a violet-colored obi, her ponytail tied with a violet ribbon to match. "Um… What did you say?" He asked her, blinking in confusion.

"I want you to help me with something," Ina spoke in a business-like tone.

"With…what?"

"You're gonna help me find my brother. I saw him tonight with a _girl_ in town, even though he's not _supposed to_! He's supposed to be on the job!" She exclaimed as she shook her fist in the air.

The Hyuga boy sweatdropped as he scratched his cheek. "Huh…?"

Ina frowned and folded her arms across her chest, an evil look appearing in her eyes. "Just help me find him."

"If I knew what he looked like, m-maybe I could f-find him…" Konjo stuttered in slight fear. "But, since I don't—"

"Red hair, black eyes, wearing a red high-collared shirt and black pants and a necklace with an Uchiha fan pendant hanging from it."

Once again, Konjo sweatdropped. "Right…"

"Well, if it ain't Uchiha Ina, the kunoichi stripper! Are you gonna strip?" A familiar voice snickered. The Uchiha and Hyuga looked over their shoulders to see Kazemaru walking over to them with a smirk on his face. "Huh? Hey, wait a minute! Konjo and Ina together…without Shizuka in sight…all by themselves, talking to each other." The pyromanic genin arched an eyebrow. "You two on a date?"

Konjo turned slightly red in the face and began to twiddle his fingers nervously. "Uh, y-you see…"

"Can it, Matchstick. As if I would go out on a date with Konjo." Ina's words caused the young Hyuga behind her to slump over, a rain cloud hanging over his head.

'_It may not have been true, but she didn't have to say it like __**that**__…'_

"Konjo is just looking for someone for me."

Kaze blinked. "Oh. Are you looking for Nataro? I haven't seen him all night."

"Hmph!" Ina flipped her hair over her shoulder. "As if! Nataro is a small fry. I'm hunting for _big_ fish. The jerk _I'm_ looking for is someone who isn't doing their job! And when I catch him, oooh, am _I_ gonna get him!" The raven-haired girl shouted as flames burned in her eyes. Both boys stared at her in shock before they stepped away from her.

"Uh… Whatever." The pyromanic genin turned around on his heel and started to walk away. "I don't even wanna get involved with your…whatever it is you're doing."

As soon as Kazemaru disappeared from her sight, Ina turned around to look at Konjo. "Now, isn't there something you should be doing…?" She asked the Hyuga with an arched eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest. For a moment, Konjo swore he could see flames of hell and the maw of the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune itself when he looked at her eyes!

"Um… O-okay…" The indigo-haired boy stuttered as he made a hand sign and veins appeared around his eyes. _'Byakugan!'_

**X-X-X**

"I'm so glad you could make it, Haruhi-kun. Y'know, for a second, I thought you wouldn't come," said 16-year old Chiue, who had long, auburn hair and blue eyes and was wearing a dark blue kimono with a maroon obi. She and Haruhi were sitting on a slanted rooftop eating ice cream. "The ANBU are usually out and about for this sort of events, right?"

"Yes, but…I'll make all the time in the world for you, Chiue-chan," the red-haired Uchiha spoke softly as he started to nuzzle his head against her. The cuddling was short-lived, though, because as soon as Chiue started to blush, she gave him a hard punch in the face.

"Th-that's not funny! You stood me up last time! Don't think that try to woo me will make up for that!!" The brunette shouted as she dropped her ice cream down to the ground and shook the Uchiha heir by the collar of his shirt.

"I-I can explain that!" Haruhi stuttered as he attempted to pull Chiue's hands off of him.

Suddenly, Chiue released the redhead and gasped. "Oh, no! I forgot all about my little cousin! I left him all alone…in the middle of a crowd! I've gotta find him!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Later, Haruhi!" She slid off of the roof and landed on the ground. The auburn-haired girl ran off before Haruhi could even get a word out. It wouldn't matter, though, because he was too busy touching his cheek and sighing contently.

**X-X-X**

"Wow… Your brother's a Casanova…" Konjo mumbled as a drop of sweat ran down the back of his head.

Ina narrowed her eyes. She grabbed the back of Konjo's shirt and pulled him closer to him. "_Shut up_, and tell me which direction he's in!"

"N-n-northwest! Not too far from here…!" _'Whoever thought I could go on a date with __**Ina**__ obviously doesn't know her like I do…!'_

**X-X-X**

Hanzo gave a satisfied sigh as he chewed on his grilled eel. "This is great… Aunt Shitomi was right: a little relaxation was all I needed." He was sitting down on a bench somewhere in town, simply watching people walk by as he ate. "Yup, it's just a nice, normal night for me. And nothing out of the ordinary will happen."

Unfortunately, he was wrong. Shiori was kneeling on the roof of a building in front of him, a blow dart in her hand. "Okay, Shiori. All you have to do is knock him unconscious with a tranquilizer dart and feed him my little _love bun_," she looked down at the pink, heart-shaped pastry. And then, Hanzo will be mine!" The blue-eyed Yagami bent down and blew a dart out of the blow dart in Hanzo's direction. As the dart came close, the raven-haired boy accidentally knocked down his soda can. He bent down to pick up the can and the dart hit the wall behind him. "Darn! I missed!" Shiori hissed as she snapped her fingers.

"Hmmm…! It's all gone…and I love this flavor," the Uchiha boy said as placed the empty can aside. He began to stare off into the crowd again and blinked. He thought he spotted someone familiar in the bustling crowd. He got up just in time to avoid being hit by Shiori's dart again.

"Double darn!!" The blue-eyed Yagami exclaimed as she quickly reloaded the dart and blew again. Hanzo stepped out of the way and a different person was struck in their arm.

"Ouch! Huh?" Sasuke looked down at his arm and saw the dart. He pulled it out and stared at it for some time. "A dart...? What the hell? It's bad enough that I had to talk to Shitomi, but now people are shooting darts at me."

Shiori sweatdropped as she stared down at Sasuke. "I...forgot to add the sedative to the darts...!" She started to cry silently as she threw down the blow dart.

Meanwhile, Hanzo ran through the crowd until he bumped into someone. "Oof! E-excuse me. I'm sorry—" Hanzo's face suddenly turned red after realizing he had bumped into Shizuka. And he was holding her hand. It wasn't any surprise that the blue-haired girl was blushing, too, and that Hanzo immediately released her hand.

"Um... Hi," Shizuka mumbled as she placed a loose strand of her hair behind her ears.

"Y-yeah. Hi," Hanzo mumbled. "Y-you look pretty tonight."

A small smile started to appear on the young medic's face. "You think so?" Hanzo gave a nod. "Thank you... Um, are you alone?"

"Yeah, I..." He started to rub the back of his neck. "My aunt gave me the night off, so... Wh-what about you?"

"My family's chatting with some friends, so I've been trying to find Ina."

"O-oh, so you're busy, huh?"

Shizuka blinked in confusion. "Hm? Is there something you wanted to ask me, Hanzo-kun?"

The young Uchiha's blush turned into a darker shade of red, making it even more apparent on his pale skin. "I w-was wondering... I was going to ask if you'd like to get s-something to eat."

The blue-haired kunoichi's eyes widened and her blush darkened as well. "O-okay! I love you! I mean, I'd love to go out with you! I mean...I'd be glad to!" She exclaimed as she twiddled her fingers.

On the rooftops, Shiori gave a low growl as she glared down at Shizuka. "So, _that's_ the girl who believes that she can take Hanzo-kun away from me! Well, you _aren't_ going to win!" The Yagami girl muttered as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "You little blue-haired floozy!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, with our orange-clad hero and his mad cohort, Nataro had simply been taking quick peeks inside of the padded cells, whereas Kira insisted on asking the names of the people inside of them. At the moment, he was trying to pull his hand out of the small shaft where the hospital staff usually sent food through for the patients.

"Damn it, let go of my hand!!" Kira shouted as he tried to pull his hand out. "Hey. What're you doing? …What's that you're rubbing against my hand— Oh, you better not be doing what I _think_ you're doing!!" He forcefully pulled his hand out of the shaft and immediately started to rub it against his pants leg before he walked over to the blonde boy.

"Okay… What just happened?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, um…" Kira rubbed the back of his head. "What happened to me back there is something that I'll tell you when you're mentally mature enough to stand it and _not_ get grossed out by the topic."

The orange-clad genin got slightly blue in the face. "Never mind, I don't want to know anymore. I found Asura's room, by the way!"

The black-and-white-haired man arched an eyebrow. "Of course you found it. Her name's on the little plaque thing next to the door."

Nataro pouted. "Oh, shut up!" Nataro stood on his tiptoes and slid open the window and as his master mumbled something about insulting the man who could help make him a lethal weapon. The blonde's eyes widened slightly as he noticed her sleeping on the untidy bed. "Ah! Hey! Hey, Asura-chan!"

"Nnn…" Asura's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Nataro's voice. "Nataro-san…? Is that you? I…missed you…" She spoke softly with tired, half-lidded eyes.

Nataro gave a small smile at that statement. "I missed you, too. What did you do to get transferred to this nuthouse?"

"I don't know… I just woke up here, and no one will talk to me anymore..."

'_They won't even tell __**her**__?'_ "Anyway, I came to tell you that you're coming with me to the festival tomorrow."

The pink-haired girl blinked. "Festival?"

"Yeah, the Kyuubi Festival. Tomorrow's the last day. I thought you'd like it since you've probably never been to a festival before. What do you say, Asura-chan?"

"You'll get in trouble."

"Heh-heh-heh…" The blonde gave a smirk. "As if they'll figure out _I'm_ the culprit! Anyway, I'll bust you out of here tomorrow, before nighttime, so you can dress up. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Nataro-san…"

"No problem. Good night, Asura-chan, and sweet dreams." He slid the small window shut and turned to face Kira. He stared at the mad genius intensely, which made the man arch an eyebrow.

"Okay, why're you looking at me like that?"

"Mmm…" Nataro bowed to the black-and-white-haired man. "Please, Kira-sensei, could you break Asura-chan out of here tomorrow?"

"Why me? She's _your_ girlfriend. Shouldn't _you_ be the one to break her out?"

"I _would_, but my mom's been on me ever since what happened last night! If she finds out I'm doing something like breaking Asura-chan out of the psychiatric ward, I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!!" Nataro exclaimed, but his so-called master was already walking back down the hall. "Wait, damn it!!"

"Uh, in case you've forgotten, I'm still on parole. The only reason _I'm_ not in here with the rest of the loonies is because your Hokage is such a kind man… _Damn him to hell_!" He muttered through gritted teeth.

The orange-clad ninja gave his back a half-lidded glare. _'You shouldn't be calling them that, considering that you're a loony, too!'_

"And also, now that I've broken in here, it would be dull and predictable the second time. I mean…look how easy it was to get in here!" Kira exclaimed as he waved his hand in the air. "What's in it for me, anyway? I hardly know the girl."

"W-well, if you won't do it for Asura-chan, then at least do it for me!" Nataro pleaded as he ran after the mad genius and jumped in front of him. "Pleeeeease?" He started to give him puppy dog eyes combined with a cute pout and a quivering lip.

Kira turned his back on the blonde boy before his eyes softened. "Good God, you're ugly when you do that! So ugly that you're pathetic. So pathetic that I feel like I _have_ to say I'll help you to get you to stop. _That's_ how bad you are!" What he got wasn't a shot of protest, but a flying hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" Nataro spouted out at an incredibly fast pace.

"You're not gonna try and kiss me again, are you?" Without waiting for an answer, the mad genius pushed the genin off of him and picked up the vent screen. He tossed it over to the blonde before he jumped up into the vent. _'Sometimes, I'm just __**too**__ nice…'_

Nataro was smiling widely until a loud shriek came from down the hall, followed by the sound of someone hitting the steel door of their room. _'Asura-chan doesn't deserve to be in a place like this,'_ he thought as he jumped up into the vent and placed back the vent, completely unaware that Asura was tearing her small cell inside out and growling like some sort of beast.

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review for the sake of Blu.**


	42. Festival Day 3: Like Fireworks

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#42: Just like Fireworks_

"Tonight is the night! We have to make sure this festival goes out with a _bang_!!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat up in his seat.

"Yes, sir!" Said the two chunin who were part of the festival committee.

"Everything is set, right?"

"Of course, sir!"

"_Everything_?"

The chunin sweatdropped as a perverted grin spread out across Naruto's face. Tsubaki looked at the elderly blonde out of the corner of her eye. "E-everything, sir…"

"We have the music, the performers from Benzaiten, the fireworks from Tenzaku Gai, we even managed to get that shipment of alcoholic water from Ame no Kuni!"

Tsubaki straightened up her glasses. "Hokage-sama… Are you still feeling the effects of the alcohol from last night?"

Naruto frowned and arched an eyebrow. "What are you insinuating, Tsubaki-chan?"

"If I do recall from the ANBU's report, you used Henge to disguise yourself and took part in several drinking games in a _bar_. Your alcohol level was high. Need I say _how_ high?"

"Are you trying to say I'm still drunk? Don't let my age fool you; I'm quite capable of holding my alcohol!" The Rokudaime shouted as he pounded his fist on the desk.

"Then explain why you hit on one of the ANBU."

"I was tipsy. I told her I was sorry."

"_She_ was a _he_."

Naruto flinched. "Uh… I was tipsy. I've mixed up someone's genders while I was sloshed more than once! Oh… Who cares what you think? The point is that we're going to have a spectacular ending tonight!" He glared at the chunin. "_Right_?"

The chunin gulped. "R-r-right, sir!"

Tsubaki sighed as she narrowed her eyes.

"Yes sir! Tonight is the night!"

**X-X-X**

"Are we almost there? I'm getting tired from sneaking around like this!" Jala whined as the Asura walked through an underground tunnel. "I keep getting dirt and bugs in my hair…! It'll be a nightmare trying to get this clean!"

"If you hate it _that_much, how about I cut it off for you?" Asked a short woman with dirty blonde hair that had a pair of braids hanging from the sides of her face and tied together to rest on her chest and a pair of long low blonde pigtails going down her back, dark green eyes and wearing a sleeveless green dress that had a slit in the front and back, large golden cuff-like bracelets and gold-colored sandals.

"Just try that, you little munchkin, and I'll make _it_ cut _you_!!"

"What did you call me?!" The blonde woman groaned.

"Geez, you guys are loud…" A white-haired, black-eyed young man spoke. His hair was short, just a few inches above his shoulders with some bangs hanging in the middle of his forehead. He wore a blue sleeveless shirt with a flared out collar, long dark blue sleeves that started a few inches away from his shoulders so the scars were visible, dark blue pants with blue sandals. "Do us all a favor and shut your mouths!"

Bhumi looked back at Akash as she led the group down the tunnel. "I'm surprised you haven't exploded yet. Are you ignoring them?"

The red-haired Asura smirked. "Partially… It's mainly because I can't wait for tonight. Once we arrive in Konoha, its streets will be painted red with the blood of its people!" He started to bare his teeth. "And I will kill Kazaki Nataro and bring my sister back to us!!" He shouted, his proclamation echoing through the tunnel.

"Sounds like _someone's _jealous!" said the blonde Asura with a cat-like smirk. "Personally, I can't wait to see Akasha again…so we can rub her failure in her face."

"Hmph! I don't even _want_to see that little bitch!" Jala sniffed. "They always considered Akash and Akasha to be high and mighty, and that we were like trash when compared to them."

All of the Asura stopped walking. "You _do_realize that Akash is right there, you dumb bitch?" The white-haired Asura spoke flatly as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head.

"Eeek!! Um…y-you know I didn't _mean _what I said, right, Akash?! Y-you know I didn't mean it!!"

After a few seconds of waiting for Akash to rip Jala limb for limb, the majority of the other Asura, with the exception of Shiva and Bhumi, groaned. "What's going on? Shouldn't someone's bloody corpse be eaten right about now?" A gruff voice spoke from the back of the group.

The medusa-like Asura gave a breath of relief. _'Good thing __**that**__ hasn't happened…!'_

"I'm guessing he's still excited about going to Konoha tonight," said Bhumi as she gave Akash a glance. _'What're the chances that he'll break down once he sees Akasha?'_

Shiva merely kept looking straight ahead, remaining as silent as he usually did. The word Konoha seemed familiar for one moment. The repetition of the word kept stirring up an emotion that he couldn't quite remember, but the emotion disappeared in less than a minute.

"Tonight is the night…" Akasha mumbled softly under his breath. _'Tonight is the night I reclaim what's mine!'_

**X-X-X**

"Tonight is the last night of the Kyuubi Festival. You've had more than a _week_ to get your kimono. You _said_ you were going to pay for it with the money you earned over the past couple of months from your missions. You _told_me that you were going to but it. But where is it, Nataro? Huh? _Where is the kimono_?"

As Nataro was lying facedown on his bed, speechless with an aura of gloom, Aiko wondered if her son had fallen sick.

"Nataro…? Are you okay, honey?"

The blonde boy rolled over on his side, his eyes opened half-way. "No…" He mumbled with an impassive look on his face. Impassiveness is never a good thing in children as loud and expressive as her Nataro. That was why in a split second, Aiko was sitting on the edge of his bed.

"What's the matter, sweetie? You didn't find the kimono you wanted? You didn't have enough money?" Aiko's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you trying to trick me to cover up something?"

"No, it's not that… It's just…" Nataro sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "I _really_wanted Asura-chan to spend time with me tonight at the festival, since she's probably never seen a festival before, but…Gramps and the hospital staff told me that she couldn't go outside anymore…"

"Huh? Why not?"

"I-I don't know…!" The orange-clad boy began to sniffle and tears started to well up in his eyes. He looked up at his mother and started to cry. "Why won't they let me know what's wrong with her?! I'm her closest friend!! Shouldn't I know whether or not something's wrong with her?!"

Aiko's eyes began to well up with tears as well. "Oh, Nataro…!" She squeaked as she hugged her son. "You've been so worried about Asura-chan that you haven't been able to focus on anything else, have you?"

"Nuh-uh…!"

"I'm so sorry! But…maybe you could at least bring Asura-chan something from the festival when you see her at the hospital. Like candy or maybe a toy."

Nataro sniffled again as he pulled his head out of his mother's chest. "They said that…that I couldn't see her anymore either! It makes no sense, Mom! Why can't I know why they're doing this to her?!"

"There, there, Nataro," Aiko cooed as she held him against her chest again, smothering his face and blocking off his air for a moment before her hold loosened. "You never know! You may see her again, eventually. But for now, is there anything I could do for you?"

"Y-you don't have to do anything for me, Mom!" The blonde genin rolled over again so his back was facing his mother before he started shaking. "I mean, nothing's gonna help… I don't even feel like going to the festival anymore." He rolled over again to give Aiko a forced grin. "But, that doesn't mean you have to wallow in my sadness! You should go off and enjoy the night! If you go there early, you might find a good spot to see the fireworks!"

"And leave you here all by yourself while you're like this? I don't think—"

"Aw, c-come on, Ma! I'm a ninja! I can take care of myself just fine in my opinion! Besides, big festivals like this only happen a couple of times every year. I'd hate myself if you missed it because of me…"

"Well…okay. If that's what you want." Aiko stood up and stared down at her son, biting her lower lip. "I'll cook up some food for you to eat later. Unless you'd want ramen. Or maybe you'll buy something from one of the booths outside if you get hungry?"

"Nuh-uh. I'd rather have your cooking."

"Okay." She started to walk to the door and then turned around. "You know, it's very weird for me to tell you this, since you were always telling me this since you were little, but…everything will work out. I'm positive that you'll see Asura-chan again." After that, she left the room and closed the door.

Nataro immediately sat up and gave a breath of relief. He wiped the tears out of his eyes and smiled. "Phew! That was a close one! I thought for sure that she'd see through my act. But if anybody learns about what I'm going to do, Asura-chan will get in trouble, Kira-sensei won't have a chance at getting his license back, and _I_could be stuck with D-rank missions for the rest of my shinobi career!" He scratched his neck. "Speaking of Kira, I hope he hasn't forgotten what he's supposed to be doing... This is just too important!" The blonde gave a sigh before he stood up to stretch, then he stared outside of his window. "Tonight will be a night Asura-chan won't forget!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, at the Uchiha mansion, Hanzo was sitting in his room, reading a book—the second volume of the first book that Shitomi had given him just last night after he returned to the booth.

"**How interesting…"**The Kaijuu mused in its host's mind. **"Summoning nature shikigami… Sacrifices… A chakra-draining potion and a Devil's Food Cake that will cause an actual demon to possess you… This would be **_**more**_** of an interesting read if we skipped ahead to something more advanced."**

'_That isn't going to make me skip several chapters,'_the raven-haired boy thought as he finished the fourth chapter. He was about to start the fifth chapter when the doorknob turned. Hanzo immediately closed the book upon reflex and hid it behind a pillow. When the door opened fully, Sasuke walked into the room. "Oh. Good afternoon, Grandfather," he spoke in a monotone voice, proving that he was still upset about the other day.

The elder Uchiha simply nodded as a greeting. "Hanzo. We have to talk," the old man said as he walked up to his grandson's bed.

"There's nothing _to_talk about: I won't stop seeing Aunt Shitomi."

"I know you won't. Because she's helping you, isn't she?" Hanzo remained silent and suddenly started to stare at the balcony outside. Sasuke frowned and sat down on the bed. "Is the Kaijuu acting up?"

"No."

"Then _what_is it? Why are you acting like this? You've been acting strange ever since your mother's funeral." Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly and placed a hand on Hanzo's shoulder. The boy immediately flinched upon the contact because he expected his grandfather to be rough with him. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong? I'm sure I could help you more than Shitomi… I'll understand, Hanzo."

The raven-haired boy shrugged his grandfather's hand off his shoulder while still looking out of the window. "No, you can't. You can't understand. No one can understand."

"I _might_, but only if you tell me. All I want to do is help you."

Hanzo finally decided to look up at his grandfather, though it was with apathetic eyes. "If you want to help me, then teach me that Chidori thing that Nataro was talking about."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"My mother always thought of me as a genius. She said that she would've been so proud if I became a great shinobi. To that end, I want to get stronger. To make her happy."

The retired shinobi frowned and pulled Hanzo's ponytail. "That's a lie. So that means you're still upset about your mother's death. And I suppose that now you want to kill the person who killed her to avenge her, and your twisted aunt is supporting that. Is that it?"

"I don't want to kill anyone!"

"Hanzo, it's wrong to lie to your elders. Especially to _me_. Now tell the damn truth!" Sasuke growled.

Hanzo's eyes widened and he clenched his bed sheets tightly. "S-so what? I want him to die! Where's the wrong in that?! He deserves to die for what he did to my mother!"

"Hanzo…" The old man rubbed his temples and sighed. "Don't do it. Just…don't try to get revenge. You don't have the heart or the will to do it."

The raven-haired boy stared at his grandfather. "What?! For the last time, I do _not_ want to kill him! All I want is for him to die so that my mother can be avenged! B-besides, _you_ spent just about your _entire youth_ trying to get stronger so you could get _your_ revenge!!"

"There's a difference. I _had_ to do it. You _don't_. He wanted _me_ to kill him and no one else. You don't even know who Kotoyo's killer is!"

Hanzo narrowed his eyes. "Aunt Shitomi does. And when I get strong enough, she'll tell me who it is."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Shitomi knows…" _'Is this the reason why Shitomi was helping him so much?'_

"Yeah, and she wants me to kill him—for Mother's honor! Nothing will stop me from doing that!" The boy growled. His confidence was immediately shot, however, after seeing the glare Sasuke was giving him.

"Do you honestly believe that you have the heart to go through with killing someone? Do you think you can leave behind everything you hold dear, rid yourself of almost all of your emotions, cut yourself off from the rest of the humanity, just to kill someone you don't even know?"

"I _won't_ do that. Because I'm not some obsessive fool like _you_—" The young Uchiha stopped himself just in time. His grandfather was now staring at him with his Sharingan, the comma-like wheels still spinning slowly around the pupils. He'd expected to be struck, or at least tortured via genjutsu, but nothing came. Instead, Sasuke just stood up and walked out of the room with a frown on his face, but he didn't say a word. The intensity of his stare remained in the room, though.

"**What a hypocrite,"**said the Kaijuu. **"You can't get revenge on someone who kill your mother, but as a child, he dropped everything that counted towards a normal childhood to in order to avenge his murdered clan. I suppose he thinks you should only get revenge if your **_**entire**_** family has been slaughtered. In that case…let's start with **_**him**_**…!"**

Hanzo stared at the door for a while, expecting his grandfather to walk back in and attempt to lecture him or punish him in some way. Minutes passed and Sasuke still hadn't come back into the room, and the young raven knew that he had managed to make his relationship with his grandfather worse. _'I just __**had**__ to go there…'_Hanzo groaned and then fell back.

"**You had to. He wasn't exactly making sense as to **_**why**_**you couldn't get revenge. If a young boy who probably wasn't even genin at the time could start down on the path for vengeance, then why can't a 13-year old genin?"**

Hanzo rolled over on his side. "Maybe…he really _is_ worried about me. How weird…and scary. He's trying to act like a _normal_ grandparent and help me? It sounds so odd, since Grandfather's always been so…"

"**Cold?"**

"Apathetic."

"**Call it what you want, but he's **_**very**_**good at masking his physical emotions. Unless you count those times he glared at you—which probably means that he won't be teaching you that Chidori thing you're so interested in learning."**

"Ugh…! This revenge thing is ruining my home life!" The raven-haired boy grabbed a pillow and put it over his face. "I just want him to die… Is that so wrong…?" He moaned into the pillow.

**X-X-X**

That night, after sneaking out of his house half an hour after Aiko left for the festival, Nataro snuck out to the spot where he told Kira to bring Asura—the training area where the Memorial Stones stood. The blonde genin prayed that the mad genius had remembered _where_ the Memorial Stones were…

"HEY!! Nataro! Is that you?!" Kira's voice shouted from across the field.

Nataro immediately pushed himself off of the memorial stone and in less than a minute, he was in front of Kira, baring his teeth. "_Be quiet!_ Somebody might _hear you_!!" The blonde whispered, raising his voice slightly each time he put emphasis on a word.

The ex-ANBU stared down at the boy with an arched eyebrow. "I don't know if you've noticed, kiddo, but…no one's here." On cue, some cicadas began to chirp as a breeze moved the branches. "Everybody's gotta be at the festival by now. Not counting the ANBU, since they have to be on patrol and everything..."

"Th-the ANBU?!"

"Would you relax? You seem to have forgotten who it is you're looking at!"

"I know who you are! I just don't know if you're smart enough to evade the ANBU!"

A vein throbbed on Kira's head for a moment. In a split second, he struck Nataro in the head and made him double over, clutching his head in pain. "Watch your tongue, you little…! I've accomplished my mission! I've rescued the psychotic pink-haired damsel!"

The genin stood up straight, still holding onto his head. He looked around for a moment before he deadpanned, "So where is she?"

"Are you blind as well as rude? She's right…" Kira looked down at his right and saw nothing. After a few seconds of silence, the mad genius arched an eyebrow and scratched his head. "Huh? She was right next to me a while ago…!" He patted Nataro on the head and mumbled, "Wait a minute," before he walked off in the direction he came from. He blonde genin stood there until he returned with a girl. She had long, straight, dirty blonde hair and wore a pair of large shades, a white kimono with red maple leaf designs and a dark red obi wrapped around her waist. The girl was slouching slightly and looked a bit pale.

Nataro stared at the girl with half-lidded eyes, and then he looked at Kira. "I'm not sure if you remember, but Asura-chan has _pink_ hair. Why the heck did you take some _other_ patient?!"

"She _is _your girlfriend. I just gave her a wig and some sunglasses to disguise her unique features," said Kira. When Nataro squinted his eyes in confusion, the black-and-white-clad man sighed and rolled his eyes. "How many girls do you know who have _pink hair_ and _entirely black eyes_? I know _I_ don't know any. This is just to play it safe so no one recognizes her. But aside from that…I'm kinda worried about her condition."

The orange-clad genin's eyes widened. "Whoa…! You sound like a responsible adult!"

"I know… I haven't heard myself in this tone in so long, it surprises _me_. But I'm being serious here. Asura-chan here…wasn't looking well when I went to get her out, and she looks worse even now. She was shaking when we were coming here and kept stopping to hug herself. I thought she was gonna collapse! So, you've got two choices: you two can still go out and have your little date, have some fun, and accept whatever happens to her for better or worse…or I could just bring her back to the hospital, make everything neat and tidy, and you can enjoy the night. What's it gonna be?"

Nataro stared at the ground for a moment before looking at the wig-wearing girl. "What do _you_want, Asura-chan? If you don't feel well, you can always go back."

"Nuh… N-no…" Asura mumbled after she managed to stand up straight, though she started to shake a bit. "I-I wanna go…"

"You don't have to go if you're not up to it! Really! You don't have to come to the festival for my sake, Asura-chan! It's _your_ choice!"

"I want to go…with you…" The kimono-clad girl suddenly stumbled forward. Nataro caught her just in time so that she was sort of leaning against him and standing at the same time. "I don't want to go without you…Nataro-san… I'll get better. I'll get better soon. I'm jus-just not…used to walking around yet."

"If you seriously aren't feeling well—"

"I'm fine!" She exclaimed, getting back to her feet and standing up straight without shaking. "S-see? I don't want to go back just yet, Nataro-san. I _really_ want to spend the night with you…" She started to smile, which caused a blush to appear on Nataro's face…and then Kira grabbed the two in a bear hug.

"Awwww!! What a _cute_ sight! Young love…!" The mad genius cooed as small pink hearts began to float around his head. "You might not be a virgin by the end of tonight, kiddo! Wink, wink!"

"What the _hell_are you talking about, you psycho?!" Nataro screamed as his face turned crimson red. "For the last time, she is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"Denial is more than a lake…no, it's an ocean…a stream? Oh, whatever, the point is, denial will lead to bad things. For example, if Hikari continues to constantly deny my love, bad things will happen."

"Other than you _stalking her_?"

"That only happened once when I was a pathetic, hormone-driven teenager and attempted to find the right moment to jump out and ask for a date. Now I'm direct with her. But my love life is not the subject for tonight! Tonight, it is about _you_, you crazy, freaky kids in love!!" Kira shouted loudly as he held Nataro and Asura closer to his chest.

"Arrgh! Damn it! Let us goooo!!"

**X-X-X**

Moving away from Nataro and his problems, let's see what's happening at the festival.

At that moment, Kazemaru was walking down the bustling streets of Konoha with an aura of gloom surrounding him. He had been among the few boys that had actually bothered to buy one of those love charms from the Yagami's booth—the ones that were supposed to lead you to your destined lover or some crap like that… But so far, the pyromanic genin hadn't met _anyone_so far. At least…no one who met his tastes. On the first night, he wanted a busty blonde woman ranging from early to late twenties. On the second night, he lowered his expectations to wanting a girl only a couple of years older than him. Maybe even a girl he pined for years go who had graduated from the Academy or dropped out of the program and became a normal civilian. But now, on the third night, after seeing so many couples together, he was willing to go on a date with _any_ girl!

'_Damn it! Why can't I just have a girl who'd push herself onto me? Like…that Rie chick who keeps hitting on Hanzo!'_ The flame-haired genin immediately stopped walking and turned blue in the face. "What the hell am I saying?! I wouldn't want to go on a date with that lunatic stalker!! Ohhh…" He put his hands together and bent over, as if praying. "God, I know that haven't been the…the…_nicest_ guy, but if you send me a date, I'd be willing to change my ways!" He was suddenly tapped on the shoulder and started to grin to himself. _'Praise the gods!'_ He turned around and to face the person…and his jaw dropped.

"Hi, Kazemaru!" Masamune exclaimed as he waved at the orange-haired boy. He was wearing a green kimono with black pine tree imprints on the left side.

Kazemaru immediately turned his back on the green-clad boy and glared up at the sky. "Damn it, I wanted a _girl_! A _GIRL_!!"

Masamune sweatdropped, his eyes reduced to dots, and looked up at the sky in confusion. "Um, who are you yelling at?"

"Someone who probably isn't listening…" Kaze muttered, slumping over. He gave the taller boy a half-lidded look from over his shoulder. "What do _you_ want?"

"Um… I need help…with Rie."

"I'm outta here."

"W-wait!" Masamune grabbed the orange-haired genin's arm and pulled him back over to him. "You have to help me! I don't know who else to turn to!"

"Here's a tip: look for someone…whose _face_she didn't mess up!!" Kazemaru screamed as his left eye twitched.

"But I need help! She's planning something big to confess her love to Hanzo!"

"Love? Try _obsession_!! And what's wrong with _that_, anyway?!"

"Because I saw Hanzo with Shizuka—like they were on a _date_!" The gray-haired boy cried, waving his arms in the air frantically with his eyes reduced to large white dots.

Kaze blinked. "Hanzo…and…Shizuka…?" He stomped his foot as the air around him got warmer. "Damn it!! Even Fan Boy's getting action! And _he's_ usually a wimp in the love department!! Tonight just ain't my lucky night…!" Once again, the shorter boy blinked. "How is that a problem again?"

"Because next thing you know, Rie will see them together, get upset, and then _bad_ things will follow."

Kazemaru arched an eyebrow. "Bad things?"

"_Baaaad things_…!" Masamune whispered in a low tone that made the pyromanic genin sweatdrop.

"Right… Well, I'm outta here!" Kaze turned on his heel and started to walk away again until he realized that he was being dragged away in the opposite direction. "What the hell?!"

"I'm sorry, Kazemaru, but I can't take no for an answer!!" Masamune cried as tears welled up in his eyes. He had one hand gripping tightly onto the collar of the orange-haired boy's hoodie as he flailed his free arm wildly in the air. "But when Rie does bad things, they are _bad_ _things_! _Very bad things_!!"

"Damn it, you smiling weirdo!! Lemme go already!! Hey, someone help!! I'm being kidnapped!!"

**X-X-X**

"Wait a minute… Please repeat that for me, Ina-chan," said Haseo as he stood with his wife. In front of them was Ina, who was currently frowning. She was dressed up in a dark blue kimono with a black butterfly design and a black obi wrapped around her waist. "It sounded as though…you've managed to rip every kimono your father has made you wear for the past three days on purpose." The honey-blonde man stifled a snicker, causing his niece to glare at him.

"I _didn't_rip it on purpose last night! I was going to find Haruhi and catch him in the act, but the damn kimono made me slip on the roof and tear the cloth on a jagged gutter pipe," the raven-haired girl explained. She then folded her arms across her chest and mumbled, "Besides, if there's anyone to blame, it's Haruhi. _He_was hanging out with some girl instead of doing his ANBU duties."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't make up for the fact that you still made a rip big enough for the entire population of Konoha to see. I bet everybody is starting to question the Uchiha clan's _princess_. Hahaha—! Oof!!"

Mai glared at her husband for a while, her elbow still in his gut. After a while, she looked at Ina with an arched eyebrow. "By the way, where is Haruhi, Ina-chan?"

"Doing his duty, as he should. Dad was so upset because they were on duty _together_. And all the time, the Haruhi that was with him was actually a Kage Bunshin," Ina muttered flatly. "One that he made with 55 percent of his own chakra."

"55 percent of his own chakra? He must've _really_ wanted a date. Maybe a chance to do _it_? Ow!" This time, Mai slapped Haseo upside the head. "This is spouse abuse, you know."

"You don't say that when we're in bed," the raven-haired woman muttered as she twirled a loose strand of hair around her index finger.

The honey blonde jonin stared at his wife with half-lidded eyes, a large sweatdrop running down the side of his head. "I have to wonder which one of your parents you get that from…"

Ina sweatdropped as well before she spun on her heel and walked away. "I don't want to hear anymore… Hm?" She stopped walking after she noticed a familiar blonde leading an unfamiliar blonde around by the hand. The Uchiha girl's onyx eyes widened. _'Is that…Nataro? And he's with a…__**girl**__?!'_

"Okay, Asura-chan! What do you wanna do first?" Nataro asked Asura as she readjusted her sunglasses. They hadn't noticed Ina yet, as they were on the lookout for ANBU and the Hokage.

"Ummm… I dunno…" The wig-wearing girl mumbled.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot you've never been to a festival…" The orange-clad genin began to scratch his chin in concentration, then he pounded his fist against his open palm. "Well… Let's start off by playing some games! I'll win the best prizes in each and every booth for you!"

"Prizes? What prizes?" One could just imagine that Asura had a look of confusion behind her sunglasses.

"If you do well enough at a game booth, you can win a prize like a big teddy bear or a plushie or something."

"Oooooh! I want one! I wanna play a game, Nataro-san!!" She exclaimed as she began to bounce on the balls of her feet.

"Hey, hey, calm down! You're messing up your wig!" The blonde boy exclaimed. As Asura readjusted her wig, he continued, "If you want to play a game, how about fish scooping? That's when you catch a little goldfish in a small net that can break easily. If you catch the fish, you can keep it."

"And eat it?"

Nataro sweatdropped. "Uh, no. You keep the fish as a pet."

"Oh." The wig-wearing girl shrugged. "That's okay. I don't like fish, anyway. I prefer pork…beef…cow…weasel—"

"Weasel?" Nataro interrupted, his eyes now azure blue dots.

The wig-wearing girl shrugged and mumbled, "I've never eaten it, but I read somewhere that it's one of the more bizarre cuisines of the world…and it tastes like chicken."

"Heh-heh-heh…" The blonde sweatdropped as he gave a nervous smile. _'If she develops a craving for human flesh, something worse will happen to her than getting locked back up in the psychiatric ward!'_A loud growling sound was suddenly heard that made the blonde jump. "Wh-what the heck was that?! Was that another Inuzuka dog?"

Asura grabbed her stomach and pouted, blinking behind her shades. "I'm hungry. Can we get something to eat, Nataro-san?"

"Uh, sure. You can't have fun on an empty stomach…" He took hold of Asura's hand. "Stay close to me, okay?"

From where she was standing, Ina saw Nataro and Asura walk away. _'This is interesting… What sane girl would hang around Nataro all by herself? I have to find out.'_And with that thought in mind, she walked in the same direction as the blonde and his friend.

**X-X-X**

Meeting Naruto again on the final night of the festival wasn't exactly on the top of his list, especially since the elderly blonde loved to remind him of that punch from the last night they met. At least Sakura was around to stop him from doing something Sasuke probably wouldn't regret. But somehow, without his noticing, more people seemed to have joined their table. The first one he noticed was Ino, because of that loud voice of hers, with her short gray hair dyed to resemble the bleached blonde she had in her youth and wearing a dark purple kimono with pale pink petal imprints and a lavender obi around her waist. Then there was Neji, whom he last saw at the Chunin Exams—and in the Uchiha's opinion, in his old age, the inherent Byakugan eyes combined with the long silver gray hair and aged appearance made him look somewhat creepy. He couldn't remember the last time he saw Tenten, though. The once-brunette kunoichi now had her gray hair set up in a single bun in the back of her head, and was dressed in a powder blue qipao with a dark blue design of a bird taking up most of the torso.

"Isn't this nice? It's like a little reunion!" Naruto chuckled as he swished around the saké in his cup.

"Not a _willing_one, though," Neji mumbled. His arms were folded across his chest as he leaned back in his chair, eyes closed.

"Uh, what'd you say, Neji?"

The head of the Hyuga Branch house opened his eyes. "You saw us in the crowd and dragged us over here, Hokage-sama."

"Pssh! What have I said about calling me that in public?! Call me _'Naruto'_! _Na-ru-to_!"

"Wasn't…wasn't Tenten the one who dragged you over here…?" Ino slurred before she took a sip of saké. "Like it matters! You shouldn't even be complaining! Even old _relics_like us need a little fun!! Haha!"

"Here, here!! I knew there was something I liked about you, Ino!" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed at the purple-clad Elder. "You get what I'm saying!"

"So you think you're a relic, Naruto?" Sakura asked with a broad grin and red cheeks as she leaned over to the Rokudaime. Her husband, who was sitting on her left, instinctively pulled her back over to him.

A moment of silence passed. "…HELL NO!!!"

The Uchiha matriarch stifled a laugh. "Too bad! 'Cuz I do! Haha…!" She downed another cup of saké, ignorant of the glare Naruto was giving her. "Don't feel lonely—you have Ino-bunta there with you!"

"They're the _only_relics here! I don't know about you, but I've still got the accuracy that I had years ago!" Tenten laughed, causing Naruto and Ino to glare at her. Sasuke just kept quiet and drank his saké with one hand while the other held onto Sakura's—which was on his leg and trying to move up to his crotch. The weapons mistress noticed her old teammate, sitting still and quiet. "What aren't you drinking anything, Neji?"

"_One_of us has to remain sober if things get out of hand." Neji then looked at Sasuke. "I assumed that _Uchiha_ wouldn't be doing this…"

Sasuke gave Neji a half-lidded glare as he put his cup down. "I just hope I get so drunk that I'll forget meeting all of you— Sakura,_ stop that_!"

"Ohhh, come on, Sasuke! Aren't people meant to go wild on festival nights?" His wife slurred as she rested her head on his shoulder. "You never _did_ give me a proper honeymoon…"

"What does _that_have to do with anything— Sakura, get your hand away from there!"

Sakura gave a cat-like smirk. "Not before you give me somethin' goooood!"

Naruto glared at the couple. "Do you have to rub that in my face?! If you're going to bang your wife, do it in private, for God's sake!!" He downed another cup of saké.

"Oh, you're no fun…" Sakura pushed herself off of Sasuke and placed her head on Naruto's shoulder, getting a twitch from her husband. "_Narutooo_! Remember how much fun we had last night?"

The Rokudaime blinked and scratched his head. "I don't remember us doing anything kinky last night." That statement got him a slap in the face. "Right! No kinkiness! So what'd we do?"

"We talked about our youth and all the dumb things we used to do…"

"Ohhh, right! I talked about the same thing with Sasuke two nights ago!"

Sasuke blinked before looking at the blonde man. "We talked about that?"

"What? You don't remember?"

Neji began to smirk. "Perhaps Uchiha is the first one of us to become senile. Who would have guessed?"

"I am _not_senile…! I just…drank more than I thought," the Uchiha mumbled.

"Then you've finally become an alcoholic!" Sakura exclaimed, slapping her husband on the shoulder. "I'm so proud…!"

"God, Sakura… I thought you had a purer mind that the rest of this lot. Acting like a bunch of children…"

"Well, if we don't act like children every once in a while, we'd be as bad as you and Neji," said Tenten with an arched eyebrow as she took a bite of dango from a stick. "Always ready to snap at somebody for _anything_, no matter how small it is."

"My little pinky has more fun in it than the two of you old cranks put together!!" Ino laughed as she pounded her fist on the table. "You guys should be happy you managed to live so long, considering the dangerous missions you've both been on in the past. These are our _Golden Years_! They're supposed to be fun!"

"Screw the Golden Years. What did we talk about two nights ago, Naruto?" Sasuke asked in a serious tone.

"And he says he's not senile…" Neji mumbled with half-lidded eyes as Ino and Tenten shook their heads slowly. They ignored the Uchiha's glares at each one of them.

The Rokudaime pursed his lips in concentration and brushed a few stray bangs out of his face. "I think…we were talking about everyone we knew from our old Academy class when we somehow came to Nataro. And we started talking about how the hell it's possible that he knows so much about us and I started saying things like _'clone'_…_'mutant'…'reincarnation'_…"

Sasuke slapped his forehead in embarrassment. _'Great…! Way to spill the beans, idiot!'_

"Nataro? As in _Kazaki_Nataro?" Sakura asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh, he's the boy that fought in the Chunin Exams, isn't he?" Tenten rubbed her chin in an intellectual manner. "I have to say, the likeness is uncanny—not just in appearance, but in jutsu."

"Indeed. Konjo told me about him once after he returned from a mission in Nami no Kuni," Neji closed his eyes and frowned. "He said…that Nataro's teammate said that he became frighteningly strong and the chakra around his body was visible…and red…and it felt evil."

Naruto stared at the Hyuga in shock. "_What_? Is that true?! I wasn't told about anything like that!!"

"I guess they felt it wasn't anything important to add to the report."

"Tch!" _'Red chakra…! He doesn't have the Kyuubi, so how the hell is that possible! I mean…'_ Underneath the table, Naruto pressed a hand against his stomach. _'I haven't used it for so many years… It couldn't have gotten out…!'_

"That kid sure is amazing," said Ino, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts. "He may even become Hokage!" She stifled a snicker.

The current Hokage frowned. "Hey!!"

"Well, I suppose if _Naruto_became the Hokage, he can, too! He seems a little smarter than he was as a boy…" Sakura surmised.

"_Hey_!! That's not funny!"

"It is to us!"

The only way he'll become Hokage is if he finds a teacher or has the right connections," Tenten explained. "Unless he's related to a Hokage, taught by a Hokage or taught by the student of a Hokage, the highest he'd probably get in the rankings would be…elite jonin."

Everyone looked at Naruto. He arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well…he _does_look an awful lot like you," said Neji with a frown and an arched eyebrow. "You weren't promiscuous in your youth, were you…?"

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?! I only had _one_ son, damn it!!"

"So _he_could've had a grandson without your knowledge!" Ino pointed out.

"Nuh-uh! He wouldn't do that sort of thing! He was a good boy!"

"But he was _your _son. Who knows…? He could've inherited his daddy's perverted nature and slept with more than one woman."

"I never _did_that!!" Naruto shouted through his gritted teeth, pounding his fist on the table.

"You're right. Your love life sucked. How many women have you actually held a long term relationship with: _two_?"

The Rokudaime began to seethe as he glared at the Yamanaka woman. "Ino… I think you need to _shut up_ about that…!"

"Okay, okay, okay! Then Nataro'll have to become your apprentice. I mean, Sakura's took on an apprentice or two, and Sasuke's never taken on a student of his own free will. You will not _believe_the things that Sakura told me Sasuke did just to get away from his genin squad!" Now it was Sasuke's turn to seethe.

Tenten bit her lower lip. "You want to know something _very_scary? Kira, Sasuke's old student, took on some poor genin as an apprentice. I feel sorry for that poor kid…"

Naruto flinched. "So, he says he's clinically insane, but he considers himself well enough to take on an apprentice? Geez…!"

Sasuke's eye twitched. _'Kira has a student now…? The last thing the world needs is another mad man like __**him**__.'_

"Oh, well… He can't be any worse than Sasuke, with his violent teaching methods…"

"That does it, I'm leaving." The Uchiha stood up to leave, but he was immediately pulled back down by Sakura.

"Oh, come on! You know they don't mean it, honey!"

"Yeah, quit being such a spoilsport, Sasuke!" Ino huffed.

Sasuke glared at the Yamanaka. "How would _you_ like it if I said that it was sad that you dye your hair at your age? You'll be 70 in a few more years, you know."

"Hmph!" The village Elder snorted and pretended to toss her hair over her shoulder. "Unlike you, I want to feel young."

"I can feel young _without_having to dye my hair," said Neji.

Naruto grinned. "I can do one better: I don't even _need_ to dye my hair!"

"Oh, who asked either of you?!"

In the background, unseen by the retired shinobi, Nataro sweatdropped. _'The elderly sure do get weird when they get drunk…!'_

"Nataro-san, I'm hungry…!" Asura whined as her stomach growled again, even louder than the last time.

The blonde genin sweatdropped and stared at her stomach. "Wh-what's in there? A lion?"

"Excuse me." Nataro looked up and saw a waitress staring down at him, a serving tray underneath her arm. A bright red blush appeared on his face after he realized that she was wearing a scantily-clad outfit. "_Ahem_!" The waitress cleared her throat, snapping the blonde out of his thoughts.

"I like your dress," Asura commented as she held the fringe of the skirt between her fingers. "It's very pretty." The woman immediately slapped her hand, making the wig-wearing girl pull it back.

"Well, at least one of us thinks that," the waitress mumbled under her breath as her left eye twitched. _'Damn Fujibayashi-san for making me wear this thing! It was fine at first when cute guys were hitting on me, but now it's perverted old men and little kids!!'_She glared down at Nataro, making him flinch. "Well, what do you want?" She snapped.

"Uh… I-I'll have the pork ramen. What do you want, Asura-chan?"

The girl pursed her lips as she stared at the menu. "I'll…have…everything on the right side of the menu, please." Nataro fell out of his seat. "Oh, no! Nataro-san has fainted!!" Asura shrieked as a blank look appeared in the blonde's eyes. "D-don't worry, Nataro-san! I read about CPR in a book!"

Meanwhile, Nataro was in a daze. _'Everything…on the right side of the menu…! Everything…! If she keeps it up at this rate, I'll be broke before the end of the night!'_He thought as Asura kneeled down next to him. Just as he was coming back to his senses, Nataro felt something against his lips. His mind cleared, and he noticed that Asura's lips were against his for a moment. "When she sat up, he started to blush and stutter, "Wh-wh-wh-what the hell?!"

"CLEAR!!" Asura brought her fist down hard on the blonde's chest. There was so much force that he thought she'd break a rib.

"OOF!! A-Asura-chan, don't do that!" He squeaked out, grasping his chest.

"You're alive!! Nataro-san is alive! CPR works!!"

"Of course I'm alive!! A-and don't do CPR on a person who _isn't_choking!!" Nataro hissed as he massaged his chest. When he sat up, he noticed that Naruto, Sasuke and the rest of the retired ninja were staring at him. In fact, everyone nearby was staring at him. The only difference was that where the crowd had dispersed, the old folks continued staring at the young blonde. "Aw, geez…!" Nataro grabbed a menu and hid his face, then looked up at the waitress. "Um, yeah…I'll have pork ramen and she'll have…anything that has a lot of meat in it. That okay, Asura-chan?" The wig-wearing girl nodded, readjusting her shades. "And anything with a lot of meat for her."

"Nataro!!"

"ACK!!" The blonde boy jumped as a hand came down on his head and ruffled his hair affectionately. He looked up and noticed Naruto smiling down at him, slightly red in the face. Despite that, the boy felt his heart fall into his stomach. "Gramps! Hi! Uh…long time, no see?"

"I wouldn't see that…" He noticed Asura and gave a sly smirk. "What's this? You've got yourself a _date_?!" The Rokudaime suddenly started to hug the genin. "Oh, I'm so proud!!"

Nataro sweatdropped. _'Geez, he reeks of saké! He must be drunk!'_

"Geez, Naruto! You're going to suffocate the poor kid," a new voice spoke.

Naruto pouted and looked over his shoulder. "It's rude to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation, Ino!"

"Not when one of the speakers is drunk." The Yamanaka woman noticed Nataro staring up at her and gave a warm, grandmotherly smile. "Hello there! You must be Kazaki Nataro, huh?"

"Um…yeah. Who're you, old lady?" _'Who obviously uses hair dye.'_

"This is just an old woman who tries desperately to hold onto her youth," the older jinchuuriki pointed out with half-lidded eyes.

Ino's eye twitched slightly, but she started to smile again. "I'm Yamanaka Ino. I'm a friend of Gramps' here. You won't believe how much he told us about you. The rest of our friends would just _love_ to meet you."

"Uh, but I've got to—"

"Nonsense! You're coming with us and that's final!" Naruto interrupted Nataro as he stood up, still holding onto the blonde boy. He walked back towards the others, ignoring the thrashing genin's protests. Asura followed behind him, simply staring at Naruto and Ino in confusion without a word.

**X-X-X**

"Kira-sempai, I don't get why you can't just make money _normally_…!" Hanasotsu whined as he rubbed his head. He was wearing a long-sleeved blonde cloak that was zipped up all the way with blue, boot-like shinobi sandals as he stared at Kira. The Leaf's resident mad genius was sitting behind what appeared to be a fish scooping booth with his arms folded across his chest and a small bag of popcorn on his lap.

"Feh! Normal isn't unique. Normal is _boring_! That's why _this_fish scooping booth is gonna be different than any other." He sat up and pointed a finger at the blonde ANBU. "Do you know how much money some people blow on stupid little carnival games like this? I'm surprised I didn't do this on the _first_ day! And if this plan doesn't work, there are other games I can make a quick buck off of."

Hanasotsu smacked his palm in his face. "Do you even have a _warrant_? I heard the last time you tried doing something like this, you _didn't_."

"Oh!" Kira snapped his fingers in realization. "I _knew_ I forgot something…"

"Y-you forgot the warrant for the booth?!"

"No, I forgot to get butter on my popcorn." The mad genius popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth. "I always prefer butter on my salted popcorn." He shook the bag and realized there was nothing inside but unpopped kernels. "Say, Hana-chan…" He looked up at the blonde with large, child-like eyes, "Get me another bag of popcorn? Pweeeeease?"

Hanasotsu huffed and shifted in his seat to look away from his former superior. "Get it yourself! You're a grown man, aren't you?!"

"Sheesh… Quit acting like a crybaby, Hana-chan! You need to go out, have some fun…have a couple of drinks and loosen up!"

"I _would_ if I didn't have to babysit _you_…!" Hanasotsu grumbled as he took a seat next to Kira and frowned. "As soon as you're alone, bad things happen with you being the cause of it."

The black-and-white-haired man pouted. "That's not true! I can cause bad things whether or not somebody's with me to prevent them from happening. Watch." He threw the bag of popcorn at the head of a passing civilian. "Hey, you! Tubby! How do you walk with that _gut_?"

"Ki-kira-sempai!! Wh-what are you doing?! That guy looks like he's from the Akimichi clan!"

"I don't care. The point of the matter is that I will cause destruction and chaos no matter who is in my company. All five Kage could be in my presence and I'd _still_ act like an ass!"

Hanasotsu gave a sigh of relief as the angry man walked away. "Okay, he's gone now."

"Hey!!" Kira knocked Hanasotsu on the head with his balled-up fist. "Were you even listening to me?! Geez…! No one understands a genius anymore…"

"What is there to understand about you? All you like to do is cause trouble and hurt people!" The blonde ANBU whined as he rubbed the large red bump on his head, tears streaming down his face.

"Do not. I love causing _explosions _and hurting people who piss me off—like _you_." The black-and-white-haired man suddenly became chibified, tears streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls as he fell on his knees. "It's not like I _mean_ to cause trouble…! I'm a good boy deep down! It's just the voices telling me to do bad things, and they're _so_ convincing!"

"Uh-huh. Sure," Hanasotsu muttered with half-lidded eyes as he glared out into space.

Kira frowned and flipped the bird at his _'babysitter'_. "Aw, screw you, Hana-chan! You just don't have the intelligence to see what a huge success this plan will be!! Hey, that rhymed!"

Hanasotsu sweatdropped again. "Huh? Weren't we just talking about what you do a while ago?"

"Who cares?!" Kira shouted as he threw his hands up into the air, eyes shining evilly as he gave an evil grin. "Now, let's go find some victims! I mean, customers…! Kukuku…!"

"By the way… What'd you do to this booth, Kira-sempai?" Out of curiosity, Hanasotsu looked down at the tank that was supposed to contain goldfish. All he saw, though, was water. "There aren't even any _fish_in here. Wait, don't tell me: you forgot the fish!" Before the ANBU could say anymore, a pair of diving goggles were shoved in front of his face. "Huh?" He looked at Kira, who was giving him a half-lidded stare. "What's this for?"

"There _are_fish down there, Hana-chan. They're just way, _waaaayyyy_ down there. Look for yourself and you'll find 'em."

Though his experiences with Kira told him _not_ to look inside, Hanasotsu's curiosity got the better of him. He took the diving goggles and put them on, then bent over a bit to look inside of the tank. He still couldn't see anything, but it almost looked like…the tank was _deeper_than it appeared on the outside. The blonde ANBU looked at Kira in confusion. "I don't see any fish. And why's this tank so de—"

"You aren't looking deep enough! Go deeper! Go deeper!" The mad genius exclaimed as he grabbed the back of his former subordinate's head and shoved it down into the tank, gritting his teeth in irritation while Hanasotsu waved his arms frantically and passersby were staring at them in confusion. After a while, more bubbles came to the surface of the tank and Hanasotsu managed to get his head out of the tank, knocking the back of his head on Kira's head.

"OUCH!! What the hell did you _put_ in there?! Those fish w-were _huge_!!" The blonde man cried as he held onto the back of his head.

"Yeah, well…" Kira scratched the back of his head as he gave a lopsided smile. "I wanted it to be different. Piranhas would have gotten me in trouble, puffer fish almost killed me, so…I got _those_."

"But what _are_ they?!"

"Heck if I know. But I _think_ it's a man-eating fish."

Hanasotsu's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Man-eating?! Kira-sempai, get rid of that thing! Otherwise, you'll be in even _worse_trouble with the Council and Hokage-sama will change his mind about sending you to prison!"

"The only thing I care about right now is making money, Hanasotsu. Now, _shut up_! All your blubbering's gonna scare the customers away…!"

"At it again, huh, Kira?" Kira and Hanasotsu blinked at the sound of the new voice. They looked up and saw Tsuki standing in front of the booth. Her dark purple hair was now loose from its usual style and hanging down a few inches past the bottom of her neck, and she was wearing a simple plum-colored kimono with a violet obi wrapped around her waist. Her lips had pale pink lipstick and her eyes had lavender-colored eye shadow.

Kira's eyes widened to the size of plates as a blush appeared on Hanasotsu's cheeks. "Oh, my goodness… Who are you, pretty lady? I know for sure that you cannot be Tsuki, because…you're _hot_, which is the total opposite of what Tsuki is to me."

The kunoichi started to glare at her old teammate and puffed her cheeks up a bit. "Was that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?!"

"A little of both, actually."

"W-wow, Tsuki-san! You look so lovely tonight!" Hanasotsu exclaimed as he observed her appearance. "Do you have a date tonight?"

Tsuki smiled seductively as she touched her chest. "Hanasotsu, are you _flirting_ with me?"

The blonde's entire face turned into a shade of dark red. "Fl-flirt? Me? W-with you? Never, never!" He stuttered as he waved his arms about frantically. "I-I have nothing but the utmost respect for you, m'am It's just that you look so pretty and I thought you were dressed up for someone special, and—!"

"Easy, easy! I was just playing around. And to answer your question, I don't have a date tonight." The purple-haired woman suddenly gave a cat-like smirk as she circled her finger on her chest. "You wanna be my date, Hanasotsu?" She giggled when the blonde shinobi almost fell back in a daze.

"You're a pathetic excuse of a man, Hana-chan. Then again, your name _is_pretty girly…" Kira muttered as he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. "Anyway…" He looked at Tsuki with half-lidded eyes. "Want a drinking partner, Tsu-Tsu?"

"That depends: are you going to pay for your drinks, be a gentleman and pay for _both_our drinks, or just run off like a drunken bastard and leave me with the tab?" The purple-haired kunoichi spoke as she placed her hands on her hips.

The black-and-white-haired man shrugged. "Either the first one or the last one. If I get drunk enough or don't have the money to pay, then I'll probably do the last one."

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that… Well, c'mon. The bar awaits!!" Tsuki shouted as she pumped a fist in the air.

"As does drunken bliss!!" A chibi Kira exclaimed as he jumped in front of her, waving a little paper fan about. He was soon pulled aside by Hanasotsu, returning to normal.

"You can't leave! You've got a booth to run, remember?"

"But I'm boooored!!" The mad genius whined as he stomped his foot. "Besides, all your crying has temporarily driven away all potential customers, and…"

Hanasotsu blinked. "And…?"

"And the police are coming."

"Huh?! The police?!"

"Yup." Kira pointed down the road at what appeared to be a pair of shinobi wearing the symbol of the Police Department on the shoulders of their uniforms. "Which means we must amscray before we're caught." He grabbed Hanasotsu by the collar of his cloak and began to run off, dragging the blonde ANBU behind him and raising a cloud of dust.

Tsuki simply sweatdropped and mumbled, "I _knew_ that would happen," before she walked off in the same direction as Kira.

**X-X-X**

'_Okay… Here I am. Alone. With Shizuka…'_Hanzo thought as he and Shizuka sat next to each other on a bench. Shitomi had given him another night off after Shizuka had walked up to the Yagami's booth and asked Hanzo if he wanted to see the fireworks display with her later that night. Actually, Hanzo didn't have much of a chance, since his aunt had forced him to do it and had even offered to keep Shiori away from her for the night. "Um… How long is it until they start the fireworks?"

"How long? I-I don't know. I think…at 8 or 9 o'clock," said the blue-haired girl as she looked up at the dark sky. Hanzo mumbled something and looked to the right, hoping to avoid eye contact. She held her hands together and looked to the left. Despite the loud noises that came from the people that passed them by and the rest of the festival, to the two genin, there was nothing but silence. Several minutes passed until Shizuka spoke again. "Um, Hanzo-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"I… I just…" She held onto her hands tightly and her gaze fell to the ground. "I want to thank you for…accepting my offer."

"No problem. I-I mean, this is the sort of thing you're supposed to enjoy…with others, right?" The young Uchiha mumbled, scratching his blushing cheek.

Shizuka started to blush and play around with her hands. "Yeah, but…I-I was sure that you…wouldn't want do something like w-watch fireworks with me, since that's something that…" Her cheeks became a darker shade of red as she trailed off.

"Ah… You mean like a…d-date or something, right?"

"Right…"

"But…this _can't_ be a date…because then we would have to…really like each other for it to be a date. I mean, _really like_."

The medic-in-training mumbled, "But…I really like you."

Hanzo's eyes widened and he looked at Shizuka from the corner of his eye. He had stopped blushing and was now simply staring at the blue-haired girl. "You…you like me? _Me_?" _'Is that really the best thing?'_

"**What are you talking about? I thought you were interested in this girl," **said the Kaijuu.

'_It's not that I'm __**not**__ interested. It's just…I don't know if…'_

Shizuka began to twiddle her fingers. "I…I've liked you for a really long time. Since I first met you…"

**X-X-X**

"_Ah! Oh, no!" An 8-year old Shizuka shouted. She was carrying a large pile of books—school books, books of basic ninjutsu and medical ninjutsu—when she bumped into someone. The books and her round-framed glasses had fallen to the ground. 'Oh, no…! I hope my glasses aren't broken!' The blue-haired girl thought as she fell to her knees and felt the ground for her glasses and the books._

"_Here," a young boy spoke. Through Shizuka's eyes, he was nothing but a blur of black and blue, but she saw that he was holding out something. "These are yours, aren't they?" She held out her hand and felt his hand in hers._

"_Oh!" The blue-haired girl slipped back on her glasses and blinked before she could see the boy clearly. He was the same age as her, with short raven black hair and dark brown eyes, wearing a black shirt and blue shorts. "I know you. You're Ina-chan's cousin, aren't you? The one who's always with that Nataro boy. Han…"_

"_Hanzo." Hanzo bent down so he was looking at her in the eye. "You look like you could use some help."_

"_R-right…"_

_The two students began picking up the books and putting them in piles._

"_Most these books aren't even part of the second-year course. What're you doing reading them?"_

_Shizuka began to blush slightly. "I-I'm trying to get better… My grades for last year were among the lowest, so I've been trying to bring them up. As for the medical books…I was going to take a class later on, but they keep saying you have to be **really smart**in order to pass those…" She suddenly started to smile. "But…I bet you're super smart, Hanzo-kun! If you're Ina's cousin, you must be as smart as she is!"_

_The young raven began to look out of the corner of his eye. "N-no… I'm not that smart," he lied. "My…my grades are nothing like Ina's."_

"_Oh… Well, I wish I had grades like hers… If I did, I'd be able to get into that class for sure."_

_Hanzo started to blush. "I-if you want, I could…" He gulped slightly. "I could help you with your work. I-I'm not as smart as Ina, but…I could still help you study and raise your grades."_

_Shizuka's eyes suddenly brightened. "R-really?!" She shouted, then blushed in embarrassment. "I mean… Thank you…"_

_The two kids touched the last book at the same time, their hands touching for a moment before they pulled them away. Bright red blushes appeared on their faces for a while as they stared out of the corner of their eyes._

_Um… H-hey, you probably need help carrying all those books, so…" Hanzo scratched his cheek, "Why don't I help you?"_

_Shizuka gave a small smile. "Thanks…"_

**X-X-X**

"Because of you…I managed to raise my grades high enough…and I learned enough to pass… I was the lowest scorer, but…I still passed." Shizuka mumbled as she whispered to herself. "M-maybe…if I didn't feel so bad about…y-your clan, I might've still kept going to you for help and I might have gotten a higher score. But…that doesn't matter, does it. That's all in the past."

Hanzo gulped and looked down at Shizuka's hand. It was so close to his… A blush suddenly appeared on his face as he placed his trembling hand on top of hers. "Shi-shizuka, I really like you, too, matter what grades you get, because I think you're one of the sweetest, kindest, most loving people in the world and I really, _really_ do like you!!" The raven-haired boy spoke quickly. "And-and I want you to know that I think you're a great ninja even without my help! You have the skills that can decide whether a person lives or dies, and that's something only a truly strong person could decide!"

The blue-haired kunoichi's face turned cherry red. "O-oh, Hanzo-kun!"

"**Oh, for the love of Hell… In case you don't know, I'm rolling my eyes right now. You and your sentimentality makes me **_**sick**_**… Whatever happened to that fire for revenge you had a while ago? I liked **_**that**_** obsession!"**

'_I am __**not**__ revenge-obsessed!!'_

"**Denial is never good for the soul, Hanzo. I'll just tune you out for now…"**

Ignoring his inner demon, the young Uchiha removed his hand from Shizuka's and coughed lightly, still blushing. "Um… You wanna grab a bite to eat? It's going to be a while before the fireworks start." He stood up and held his hand out to Shizuka. "Shall we?"

Shizuka blushed, grabbed his hand, and stood up.

"Hold it right there!!"

Hanzo and Shizuka flinched at the sound of Rie's voice. "Rie… What're you doing…?" The raven-haired boy turned to look at the brunette when his eyes were reduced to dots. "What the…?!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in another part of Konoha near one of the forest training areas, a pair of Konoha chunin were lying on the ground, dead, and one was currently being devoured by the white-haired man, the blonde woman and Jala.

"Mm… Oh… I haven't eaten a ninja for _days_…" The green-clad blonde spoke through a mouthful of flesh that she had ripped off of the man's now partially skeletal arm. "I've missed this chakra… I've _longed_ for a Fire type." She spotted the white-haired man eating what appeared to be the man's intestines. "Hey, save some of that for me!"

"Mmph!" The white-haired man broke off the trail of intestine and stuck out his tongue. "I called first dibs."

"Would you please stop, _children_?" Akash asked with an arched eyebrow and a frown. He turned his back on the lesser Asura and looked in the direction of the village. "This is Konoha… Akasha could be anywhere, but I'll find her…and then, we can ravage this hellhole."

"Konoha…" Shiva mumbled.

"It sounds like they're having fun with that festival of theirs," Bhumi pointed out.

"Well then, I hope they've had their fair share, because we're going to rain on their parade," Akash hissed. He pointed at the town in the distance. "Now, let's go crash those fools' party…!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**The fish-scooping game is…just what it says on the tin, folks. You scoop up goldfish in a little net, and if the net doesn't break and you can get it into a bag, you can keep it. I'm not sure what **_**exactly**_** it's called in Japan, though.**

**A qipao is a Chinese dress.**

**Originally, Kira was going to have piranha in his fish scooping tank along with goldfish, but I wanted to give him a **_**different**_** carnivorous fish (because piranhas are overdone). But aside from sharks, I couldn't think of anything, so the species of fish is unknown.**

**Though there is no information in Naruto cannon as of yet about specific classes for shinobi to learn medical ninjutsu and stuff, I've seen a small clip in the early days of the series where there were classes for Oinin (hunter ninja), so there have to be classes for other shinobi groups like interrogation squads and medical ninja squads.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Wow, I can't believe that at the time I'm writing this, I'll be going off to St. Thomas for college. I'm so nervous! My stomach is queasy!**

**Kakashi: (Pats Blu on the head) There, there, Blu. Just get out what you have to say.**

**Blu: Right… I'm gong away on a little summer vacation for a while.**

**Sai: But it'll be August by Saturday.**

**Blu: I know that!! …Anyway, I'm going on _vacation_ for a while—a day in St. Thomas and then a week in Florida, then back to St. Thomas in time to prepare for my first day of college. (Starts to shake) C-college…!**

**Sakura: There, there, Blu.**

**Naruto: Be strong!**

**Blu: I won't be able to update for a while, because I won't be able to take my laptop with me on account of never knowing whether or not the hotel staff has some kleptomaniacs and thieves on it.**

**Kakashi: Lemme guess: watching that episode of _Monk_ got to you, didn't it?**

**Blu: Well, now that you mention it… Anyway, try to hold on for a week until I get back! I need a break after spending the majority of my free time rewriting this story. I hope you guys understand and remember to review so I can have something good to see when I get back. See you in the Fall!**


	43. Festival Day 3: Like Fireworks Part 2

_Forgiveness for any grammar errors. My eyes are like the spellcheck on my Microsoft Word program--they can't spot **all** the mistakes for some reason..._

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#42: Festival Day 3: Like Fireworks - Part 2_

"Hold it right there!!" Rie exclaimed.

Hanzo and Shizuka flinched at the sound of the brunette's voice. "Rie… What're you doing…?" The raven-haired boy turned to look at the brunette when his eyes were reduced to dots. "What the…?!"

Shizuka's jaw dropped from shock. "Oh…my…!"

Rie stood before them, looking _almost_ the same as before. The major difference was that now, her chest had more…_volume_. Right there, bouncing slightly was a pair of breasts that seemed too big for a preteen girl to have. The breasts seemed to barely be restrained by the kimono itself.

"Do you like what you see, Hanzo-kun~?" The illusionist cooed, her cheeks slightly red and breasts jiggling slightly.

"Ri…Rie?! Is that really you?!" Hanzo gasped in shock while Shizuka continued staring at the shorter girl with her eyes reduced to dots. "Are those…_real_?"

Rie giggled and blew him a kiss. "They're as real as you _want 'em_ to be, Hanzo-kun. I got them _just for you_."

"Huh?"

"You see, I've been doing some research as to why you were hanging around Dead Last Shizuka and I came across something. Guys who are close to their mothers are oddly attracted to girls with big breasts! I mean, why else would you go for a _loser_ like Shizuka? Especially after your mother died, you must be longing for something like a mother figure! Well, if it's motherly loving' you want…" The purple-clad girl jutted out her chest, making its assets jiggle even more, "You should've come to _me_!"

"Stop it."

"Hm? What'd you say, Hanzo-kun?"

"I said _stop it_," Hanzo muttered with his eyes narrowed. "I've been patient with you so far and I've been trying to lightly let you down, but _this_! This crosses the line!" Rie blinked, confused as to what he was talking about. "It's bad enough that you assume that I only like Shizuka for her body, but to analyze it like it's some…psychological problem?! A maternal obsession?!"

"Hanzo-kun—" Shizuka spoke up, but Hanzo interrupted her.

"Rie, when are you going to get that I just don't _like_ you the way that you like me?"

Rie blinked. "What… What are you saying, Hanzo-kun?"

"How should I put this…? I can't stand being around someone who acts the way you do, let alone like them."

The brunette's eyes widened before she bowed her head.

"Hanzo-kun… Don't you think you could've let her down easier?" Shizuka asked. Even though Rie said nothing but bad things about her and always put her down, she never wanted any of those things to be returned.

"She left me no choice. Besides, she'll get over it," the Uchiha boy said as he took hold of her hand. "Let's get going…"

They walked past the silent brunette, the blue-haired girl glancing back at her sadly. After a few seconds, a cold wind blew through the area before tears started to stream down her cheeks. _'He…doesn't like me…?'_ Rie started to shake as the tears dripped down from her face and droplets of blood fell onto the ground.

**X-X-X**

Nataro leaned against the wall of a building and gave a sigh of relief. "Phew! Thank goodness we got away from those old fogies, Asura-chan… Although…" He gave a small smile. "There _were_ kinda funny. I never really thought Sakura-san was the type to get drunk like that... Gramps, maybe, but not Sakura-san."

"Naruto-san and Sakura-san looked so funny with their faces red like that," said Asura as she licked a large, rainbow-colored lollipop in her hand. "Mmmm, sweet…"

The blonde boy blinked as he stared at the disguised girl. "Asura-chan…Where did you get that lollipop?"

"From that booth back there," she said, pointing a thumb back at the sweets booth.

"But you don't have any money. How could you pay for it?"

A bright red question mark floated over Asura's head as she tilted her head to the side in confusion, pausing in her lollipop-licking. "Pay…? I was supposed to pay for this?"

Nataro sweatdropped and stared at the wig-wearing girl for a few seconds, then he grabbed her arm and began to run away. _'Stealing!! She just stole a sweet, and that's not exactly serious, but if she's caught, we'll both be in it __**deep**__!!'_ He thought as he ran past the lottery booth that Kira was standing in front of.

"Hmmm…" The black-and-white-haired man scratched his head as he stared down at the ground in thought. The man sitting behind the booth was glaring at Kira, his eye twitching all the while.

"Are you gonna buy a ticket or what, bub?"

"_Kira_! The last thing I remember about bars was that they had alcohol and drunks who would grab my ass without a moment's hesitation," said Tsuki as she stood behind her old teammate with her arms folded across her chest. "And I see neither one of those things here."

"Shut up! I'm trying to work on a plan!" Kira shouted as he held up a hand to silence her.

"Just how is _gambling_ a plan?"

A chibi Kira suddenly dropped to his knees and cried waterfall tears. "You don't know what I'm going through right now, Tsu-Tsu!! I've got _so much money_ to pay back for my debts and I don't have enough!! Every money-making method I've tried has blown up in my face!"

"That's because they were rush, stupid ideas," mumbled Hanasotsu, who was standing next to Tsuki, with half-lidded eyes.

"I have no choice now!" The mad genius exclaimed, suddenly returning to normal. "I have to bet my career as a shinobi—literally!"

"You could try gaining money slowly over the months and years instead of gambling or making those get rich quick schemes."

"LIKE HELL I WILL!!!" Kira shouted as he punched his former kohai in the face, making him see stars circling around his head. "I don't wanna wait any longer! Being a civilian's worse than I thought. I wanna be a ninja again!" The ex-ANBU captain shouted as flames burned in his eyes.

"Personally, I think the shinobi business is better off _without_ you, but you're a menace when you're a civilian, too," Tsuki mumbled behind her friend's back.

**X-X-X**

Half an hour and over a dozen scratched lottery tickets later…

"No… No… No…"

The two shinobi and the inactive ninja were at the bar, where a drunk Tsuki was being fondled by male and female drunks alike, a desperate Kira was scratching off lottery tickets like there was no tomorrow, and Hanasotsu was trying to stop his ex-captain.

"Please, Kira-sempai! Gambling is even worse than what you were doing before! There's no guarantee that you'll _actually_ win the lotto!"

The black-and-white-haired man snorted and tossed a losing card aside onto the pile. "Oh, please! Anybody can win the damn lottery!"

"No, anybody can _try_ to win the lottery, but in the end, it's all a matter of luck and getting the right card!" The blonde ANBU put his hands together and pleaded, "Please, Kira-sempai, stop before you wind up buying more cards and lose the rest of your money—which, need I remind you, you desperately need to pay off your debts!"

"Ha!! Do you know who you're talking to? I'm the luckiest guy in this entire damn village!" Kira paused in his card scratching to down a bowl of saké. "I've survived tons of missions that people said I won't be able to come out of sane or alive, but here I am, breathing fine and perfect sane!" That got some skeptical looks from several of the bar patrons and he sweatdropped. "Uh, okay… Maybe I'm not _perfectly_ sane, but you drunkies get the picture! I'm lucky!"

Tsuki snorted and held her hand over her mouth, almost falling off of her stool. "N…no offense, Kira, but you aren't very lucky. You've… Your debts are small only in comparison to the Godaime Hokage's! You've had a price on your head by hundreds of angry people ever since you went on your little vacation! And you still haven't _gotten lucky_ yet."

"BWAHAHAHAHA!!!" The drunks in the bar burst out laughing. "He's still a—!"

"SHUT UP!!! And screw you, Tsu-Tsu!!" Kira shouted as he threw his empty bowl at the drunk kunoichi. She leaned to the side to avoid being struck in the face by the bowl and wound up on her back on the floor, giggling and holding her stomach. "I hate you all!!"

His eyes reduced to little dots and a large drop of sweat running down the side of his head, Hanasotsu stared at Kira for a while before he managed to say, "Kira-sempai is a virg—?"

"I AM NOT!!! I've been to bed with some of the sexiest women in the Five Great Shinobi Nations!!"

"You don't have to feel bad about it, Kira-sempai," the effeminate blonde cooed to his former sempai, patting him on the shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, I'm a virgin, too." Kira slowly turned his head to look at Hanasotsu, giving him a half-lidded glare. "What…?"

"Of course _you're_ a virgin. It's painfully obvious, Hana-chan."

"You don't have to say it like _that_, sir…!"

"Ain't that a shame? He's too wimpy to admit that he's never_ done it_ with a woman! Ha!!" Tsuki laughed, still lying on the ground with her legs kicking in the air, allowing men to see her panties.

"Tsuki-san!!! Put your legs down! People are _watching_ your…your…!" Hanasotsu was immediately down on the floor and attempting to get the female jonin to put her legs down. Every time he pushed them down, she raised them back up and shook her bare feet in the air. The men—and a couple of women—were definitely enjoying the show. Kira, however, had diverted his eyes.

'_The last thing I want to see is Tsuki's panties…' _The mad genius thought as he downed a large amount of saké from a nearby jug, then returned to scratching his tickets. He didn't turn around after hearing a yelp of pain from his ex-kohai.

"Y-you kicked me!"

"No _duh_, genius!" Tsuki slurred. "And now, I'm gonna put you in a chokehold! Heeeere I gooooo!!" He legs immediately wrapped around the blonde ANBU's neck and she attempted to strangle him. "Die! Die!! DIE!!!"

"St-stop! Please—! Gack!!" Hanasotsu choked out. He was starting to turn blue in the face from lack of air. "Kira-sempai…! H-help…!"

Kira remained ignorant of the chaos and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration after he finally got to the last card. "Alright… This is the last one! My last chance of clearing my debts!" He spoke before he started to scratch off the card. He scratched off the cards and…his bi-colored eyes widened at what he saw. "I…I won. I WON!!! WOOOOOHOOOO!!! I WON!!!"

Tsuki blinked in realization, although she was still red in the face. "Really? Hey, I'm friends with a lotto winner! Hahaha!" She released Hanasotsu and jumped up, fixing her kimono and trying to regain some small amount of decency. The blonde man slowly regained some color to his face as he breathed in deeply, eyes filled with shock.

"You won…?" Hanasotsu gasped. "I…can't believe it…!"

"Yup! That prize money is now _mine_! All mine! Kukukuku…!" The black-and-white-haired man chuckled darkly as he held the winning ticket in front of his face, eyes glowing eerily. However, it stopped after the ticket was pulled out of Kira's hand by Hanasotsu. "Hey!!"

"If I remember correctly, the lottery prize money combined with the money you have already _should_ be enough to pay off your debts!" The blonde ANBU exclaimed. A blow to the head by Kira, however, removed the smile from his face. "Ow!!"

"Gimme back my money!!" Kira growled as he pointed a finger at Hanasotsu. "I'm not gonna use that to pay off my debts!"

"What're you talking about?! That was the entire reason why you even _bought_ those tickets in the first place!"

"I know, but… When you've won the lottery, you only care about _spending_ the money, not paying debts. With that much money, Hikari won't _dare_ to overlook me again! Kukuku…!"

Hanasotsu sweatdropped at the ex-ANBU captain's declaration. "What?! I doubt that! Besides, whatever happened to not wanting to be a civilian for any longer?"

Kira suddenly became a chibi version of himself, a large drop of sweat running down the side of his head. "Ohhh… That's a good point. Hikari loving me or being a ninja again? What to do, what to do…?!"

"I doubt she'd love you even if you were a _millionaire_! She'd _still_ think you were a freak of nature," Tsuki spoke cheerfully before she took a sip of some sort of drink. "Mmmm… Is this vodka?"

"I…think you've drank enough, don't you, Tsuki-san?" Hanasotsu mumbled as he twiddled his fingers together.

Ignoring the blonde ANBU, the kunoichi continued, "Besides, don't you want a relationship based on love, not money? Because as soon as you lose that money, she'll leave you."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!" Chibi-Kira shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Hikari loves me more than my money!!"

"You…both realize that none of this has happened, don't you?" The blonde ANBU mumbled as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head, his eyes half-lidded and reduced to little green dots. "Actually... Forget it. I'll just keep the ticket and cash it in myself."

"I'm _pretty _sure that it's the guy who buys the ticker that can get the money," Tsuki told him as she waved her finger at him. "Tsk-tsk, Hana-chan! Thinking about stealing Kira's money…"

"That's right! Sooo…!" Kira jumped the ANBU and pushed him to the ground, then held a broken glass bottle in front of Hanasotsu's face. "Gimme back my money, ya little prick!"

Hanasotsu turned blue in the face and gulped. "K-kira-sempai… I know you don't want to do this…"

"Like hell I don't!! Gimme the ticket, damn it!!"

"Sempai!! Oh, look! I-it's Hikari-san!!"

The madman's eyes widened and he tossed the bottle away. He looked over his shoulder and saw a glimpse of pink hair. "She's here?"

"She's here?" Hanasotsu repeated in shock. _'I was just lying in the hopes that he'd get off of me!'_

"Ah, my dear Hikari! She came to see…some guy at a bar?!" The black-and-white-haired man shouted as a vein began to throb on his forehead. "That bum's hitting on _my _woman!!"

"If I remember correctly, your relationship with Hikari is more along the lines of…you being her punching bag," Tsuki muttered, swishing some vodka around in her glass as Kira marched over to Hikari.

"You bastard!! What do you think you're doing with my Hikari?!" Kira shouted as he pointed a finger at the man who was sitting on the stool next to the red-faced Hikari.

"What's it look like? I'm having a drink with a dear, dear friend! Huh, Hikari?" Hakubo spoke, his cheeks slightly red from drunkenness.

"Oh, yes! Yes, Hakubo…Hakubo-kun!" Hikari slurred as she cupped Hakubo's cheek in her hand, getting a glare from Kira.

"Um, Hakubo-san! Hikari-san! You should stop now, before Kira-sempai does something we'll all regret," said Hanasotsu as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

"Quiet, you! Who are you? Oh, who cares, just shut up!!" Hakubo shouted at the blonde ANBU. "It's not like Hikari is his _property_ or anything. That's just inhumane!"

"Now, Hakubo… If Kira wants to be naughty and feel me up, he can!" Hikari exclaimed. Kira couldn't help but notice that the top of her red blossom-pattern kimono was opened slightly, revealing her chest.

"Y-you mean it? I can touch you?" The mad genius asked with an arched eyebrow. "And you're not gonna punch me or flip me or…_anything_?"

The pink-haired Uchiha gave a wide grin. "Nope!" She leaned forward, sticking out her chest. "Go on! Touch me! I don't mind! I'm up from grabs!!"

Kira gasped as he grabbed the bowl of saké out of Hikari's hand and threw it at the head of some unsuspecting drunk. "_Hikari_!! This sort of behavior is so unlike you! And yet..." He grabbed her hands and gave a perverted grin. "It _turns me on_…!"

In the background, Hanasotsu and Tsuki sweatdropped. "Wow. I must be _really_ drunk, because I'm seeing Kira touching Hikari's chest and not being pulverized into a bloody mess… What the hell's in this vodka?!" The purple-haired kunoichi shouted.

The blonde ANBU sighed and sat on a bar stool. "Ii give up… Apparently, even the sanest person can be affected by the vices of festival night…"

"There ya go!" Tsuki patted Hanasotsu on the shoulder, a broad grin on her face. "Take a break and drink your sorrows away, Hana-chan!"

**X-X-X**

Masamune and Kazemaru were walking through a part of town in search of Rie, the latter glaring at any couples that happened to walk past them.

'_Terrific! This is exactly how I wanted to spend the last day of the festival: walking around with Smiley Boy here in search of that lunatic Rie!'_ The pyromanic genin huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Man, this sucks…"

"Hm? Did you say something, Kazemaru?" Masamune asked, looking back at the orange-haired boy.

"Oh, nothing…" _'What you probably heard was the sound of my heart screaming.'_ "What's the point of trying to find Rie, anyway? So she'll get heartbroken when she realizes that Hanzo doesn't like her. Big whoop! Everyone goes through heartbreak!"

"Well…" The gray-haired boy pursed his lips in thought. "I'm not exactly clear on the details, but…Ninigi-sensei once told me that there's something about Rie's power… Her power of illusion. In her clan, there are sometimes people with power so great that their illusions could affect reality. This usually requires a medium, but somehow, Rie doesn't need one."

"What does _that_ have to do with why you're dragging me around trying to find her?"

"Well, if she gets depressed, she may wind up making a bad illusion that could potentially kill someone!!" Masamune exclaimed, getting a wide-eyed look from Kaze. "Now do you get it?"

"Ki…_Kill_? They let a lunatic like _that_ become a ninja?!"

"It's not her fault… It's because…" The gray-haired boy suddenly stopped walking and pointed at something in the distance. "Ah! Over there!"

"Huh?" Kazemaru looked over at a nearby bench where Rie was sitting, hunched over and shaking uncomfortably. _'Oh, boy… Did she take it __**that**__ hard?'_ He followed the green-clad boy over to the brunette girl.

"Rie…? Are you okay?" Masamune asked with a look of concern for his teammate.

Rie sniffled, refusing to look up. "Nnn… Nuh… NNNNOOOOOOO!!!" She sobbed loudly. "H-He _hates_ me!! Hanzo-kun hates me!!"

'_Ah, geez. I knew it…'_ Kaze thought as he looked down at the ground. He blinked as he noticed a large puddle of red that was collecting at her feet. _'Huh?'_ Now that he spotted the puddle, the scent of blood overcame his senses.

"He hates me…! I'm the most disgusting person in the world to him!! Even the company of that Dead Last Shizuka is better than meeee!!"

Kaze swore his vision became blurry as he saw someone else instead of Rie. A girl with abnormally pale skin, white hair with several bloody patches in it and splotches of blood on her kimono. It was only for a second, though, because Masamune immediately placed one hand over the shorter boy's eyes.

"Don't look!!"

"What?!"

"Close your eyes and turn around!!"

The orange-haired genin almost jumped at the uncommon bite in Masamune's words. "Alright, alright… Sheesh…!" He closed his eyes and turned his back to the two members of Team 6. _'I should've walked away… __**Why**__ didn't I walk away when I had the chance…?'_

"There, there, Rie! It's okay if Hanzo doesn't like you!"

"No, it's not!! Is there something wrong with me?!"

Kazemaru snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Of course there is! Compare yourself with Shizuka: do you see _her_ pushing herself on top of Hanzo and saying kinky things to him? Nope! Though it _could_ just be that he likes Shizuka because he's known her for longer, he probably doesn't like it when the _girl_ presses on and not _him_. Of course, that's just something I learned from reading _'My World, My Way'_ earlier in the year…"

"Who's talking to _you_, you loser?! What the heck are you doing here, anyway?!" He heard Rie shriek, but he didn't turn around.

"I was _trying_ to be a nice guy and help your teammate! You need some help, too—and I mean the _mental_ kind!"

"SHUT UP!!!" In less than a second, Rie tackled him from behind and sent him sprawling to the ground. She sat up and pushed her knee into his back. "Who are you to judge me, you fucking arsonist?! You don't know how hard I've had to work at trying to be everything Hanzo-kun would love in a girl!!" In another second, the brunette was on _her_ back with Kazemaru on sitting top of her, his hands pinning her arms down as his face darkened.

"Who are you calling an arsonist?! And what do you mean by _'everything Hanzo would love in a girl'_?!" It took a while for Kaze to realize that his legs were close to her enlarged breasts. He stared at them for a while before his eyes became small and blank and a drop of blood trailed down his nose. "Oh…my…God, what the _bloody hell_ _are those_?!"

"Hanzo-kun just lost his mother a month ago. He likes being around big boobed Dead Last Shizuka. Guys who love their mothers intensely are attracted to girls with big breasts! It's common psychology! His mind is supposed to work that way!!"

"Common psycholo— _What the hell_?! That's even _worse_!! You didn't just _stalk_ him; you analyzed him like some sort of guinea pig!! And you used his _recently deceased mother_ as part of that theory?!" The orange-haired genin got off of the purple-clad girl and pointed a finger down at her. "You want some advice: if you wanna have a chance at Hanzo liking you, don't do crap like research or hitting on him like a prostitute from _'P-Spot'_! Just be yourself!" He shook his head. "God, that sounded corny… Nataro really has rubbed off on me." Kaze looked back down at Rie. "And get rid of those damn boobs!! Those belong to a _real_ woman!! I'm outta here!!" He stomped away from the girl, muttering things under his breath.

Masamune approached his teammate as she sat up and brought her knees up to her face. "Rie…? Are you okay?"

The purple-clad girl glared at the pyromanic genin's back as it got farther and farther away. "_No_…!"

**X-X-X**

Later, we find Nataro and Asura sitting on the edge of the roof of a tall building.

"The fireworks are gonna start in a few minutes, and we're lucky enough to have the best seats in the area!" Nataro exclaimed. "While everybody else is down there watching from the ground, we'll be _way_ closer to the fireworks and able to see them better up here!"

"It's nice," the wig-wearing girl said as she looked up at the sky. "But we won't be able to see the stars, though… I envy stars. Stars and clouds. They can be anywhere they want, they fill up the sky, and no one minds them one bit…"

The orange-clad blonde blinked. "Uh, yeah… I guess…" _'That's a lot deeper than anything I've heard Asura-chan say before.'_ He looked up at the dark sky and his eyes softened. "This reminds me of when I was a little kid." This made Asura look at him from the corner of her eye. "I'd always climb up to the highest spot I could find—a tree or a building or a rock, just about anything…and I'd look up at the sky and wish."

The wig-wearing girl blinked. "Wish? For what?"

"Oh, lots of things. Like… To become a strong ninja and the Hokage… For my loved ones' protection… To…" He suddenly got a far-off look in his eyes before he bowed his head. "To find out what the heck I am?" Then he slapped on a false grin. "But, uh, that sort of stuff doesn't work. People say it only works on _falling_ stars, but it's just kid's stuff."

Asura's eyes softened behind her shades and she grabbed Nataro's hands. "That isn't true! Nataro-san is a powerful shinobi! His precious people are safe under his protection! He'll fulfill his dream!"

'_If only I knew if it were __**my**__ dream…'_ The blonde thought as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

"Hmmm…" Asura stood up and placed her hands together as though she were praying.

"Asura-chan, what're you doing?"

"Ssshhh! I'm wishing!" She whispered as she kept her eyes closed tightly. She then clicked her heels together, causing Nataro to look at her in confusion as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head.

"Um, what was _that_?"

"I told you," said Asura as she plopped back down next to him, "I was wishing."

"What'd you wish for?"

The wig-wearing girl pouted. "I can't tell you! If I do, my wishes won't come true!"

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "Ohhh, I understand. Your wish is something personal and private, huh? Something you really want for yourself."

"It's not for _me_…" She mumbled as she readjusted her shades. "It's for y—"

"Ah!! I forgot!!" The blonde exclaimed as he grabbed his head with both hands. "We need snacks to watch the fireworks!" He immediately stood up and looked down at Asura. "Stay here, okay, Asura-chan? And don't take off your disguise while I'm gone! I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

"Okay."

"Great." He flashed her a grin. "Be back in a flash!!" He jumped off of the rood and landed safely on the ground below before speeding off through the crowd of people.

"This looks pretty fun," Bhumi mumbled as she looked around the crowd with half-lidded eyes. "It almost makes me wanna have some fun, too… Hm?" She noticed a familiar blur of orange and yellow speed past her, not even noticing her.

"It's about time he left," Akash hissed as he glared at the blonde boy's back before he disappeared from sight. "Stall him, Bhumi. By the end of tonight, I want him to die by my hand."

"Yeah, yeah…" The silver-haired Asura mumbled, turning away from Akash. She walked away from the red-haired boy and disappeared in the crowd.

"Oh, sister dear…" The red-haired boy spoke softly as he stared up at the building. "Do not worry. I'll save you from this accursed village."

Meanwhile, on the roof, Asura fell back and grabbed her stomach. "Ugh…! It… It's happening again…!" She cried as she felt an intense pain burning up in her body. "Ugh…! Oh, no…! Oh, no, no, no, no, no, noooo…!!"

On the ground below, Akash flinched. "Huh!" _'Sister?'_ In the blink of an eye, he disappeared and reappeared on top of the roof. Asura was less than a foot away from him. The blonde wig was now lying on the ground, though the shades were still on her face. "Nataro…! Help…me…!" She whined as tears brimmed behind her eyes, hidden behind the shades.

"Hmhmhm… Doo-de-doo…" Nataro hummed as he walked down the road with two bags of popcorn in his hands—the big one for Asura and the small bag for him.

"It's almost time for the fireworks to start!" He heard a group of girls speaking. "Let's go find a great spot to see them!"

"How about the Hokage monument?"

"Nah, that's where they'll be setting off the fireworks. I heard that there's a great spot in the park where everyone's gathering."

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" As the girls ran past him, Nataro grinned.

'_At least nothing's going to go wrong tonight! No Kira to drag me into trouble or Ina to piss me off tonight!'_ He thought with a grin. _'Yup, nothing can go wrong!'_

"So, you've got a _date_, huh?" A familiar voice spoke that made the blonde flinch. "I didn't think there was a girl dumb enough to go out with you."

"Oh, no…" Nataro groaned as his left eye twitched. He slowly turned around to face Ina, who was standing behind him with her hands on her hips. "What do you want this time, Weasel Girl? Are you gonna purposely rip your kimono in public again?"

Ina's eye twitched in irritation. "Shut it, you!! Just tell me who that girl is!"

'_Did she see me with Asura-chan? Oh, crap…!'_ At that point, the blonde began to play dumb. He squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner and stared at the raven-haired girl in front of him in curiosity. "Huh? What girl? What're you talking about, Weasel Girl?"

"Don't you play dumb with me! I know what I saw!" She exclaimed as she pointed a finger at Nataro. "There was some girl with you wearing shades and eating like her stomach was a bottomless pit!"

'_Yup. She saw us.'_ The orange-clad blonde folded his arms across his chest and glared at the Uchiha. "Were you _spying_ on me or something? Were you _stalking_ me?! Man, you are _sick_…!"

Ina shrugged and smirked. "What sort of retarded girl is she if she'll go out with a moron like you? Maybe she's _blind_ and doesn't know who you _really_ are: the most hardheaded, insensitive, idiotic ninja in Konohagakure! Is that why she's wearing those shades even though it's dark out?"

"Damn it, you bitch!! Who are you to say that about her?!" Nataro shouted as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger. "What's it to you if she's my date or not? Why do _you_ care, huh?!" He pointed an accusing finger at the Uchiha. "At least she doesn't play pretend with me! At least _she_ tells me straight out that she likes me!!"

The raven-haired girl flinched and her eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed. "_You're_ one to say that sort of thing! Have _you_ straight out told her what you think of her, or do you just talk about her behind her back to your little loser friends?! All you boys are alike!"

"Are not!! You're just picky!"

"Liar!! I _heard_ you!!"

"AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!" The blonde boy shouted as he grabbed his head in aggravation. "What the hell are you _talking_ about?!"

Ina folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "You know damn well what I'm talking about!! Not even a fool like you could forget…!"

"Forget _what_?!" By now, the two young ninja had drawn the eyes of several people, but they could only focus on each other.

"You honestly can't remember…? You are the _biggest_ idiot of all time!" The Uchiha shouted as she slapped herself in the forehead. She approached the blonde until they were face to face. Nataro started to blush until Ina pushed him against the wall of a nearby house. "Lemme give you a reminder: _'Of course I don't like her,' "_ she spoke as she held tightly onto Nataro's shoulders. "_'She's so weird and a total show-off! I could never like someone like her'_! That's what you said, wasn't it? _Wasn't it_?!" Ina shouted as she pushed him against the wall again, Nataro hitting the back of his head as she did.

'_What the hell is she talking about?!'_ The orange-clad blonde thought as he glared at the raven-haired girl. _'Huh? Wait a minute! I remember now!'_

"**Really? Do tell, as I'm curious to learn the reason why you and the Uchiha girl have such a…chaotic relationship,"** said the Kyuubi.

'_It was during my first year at the Ninja Academy. The first time I met Ina, she was really quiet and kept to herself, and never really talked to anyone in class…'_ Nataro thought back. _'I was curious, so I just walked up to her one day after classes…'_

**X-X-X**

"_Hey, hey!! You! Quiet girl!" Seven-year old Nataro shouted, wearing a bight orange shirt and black shorts. "Helloooo!! Can you hear me?!" He shouted at the little girl sitting down on the steps with the boyishly short raven hair, wearing a sleeveless pale blue shirt and dark blue pants. They were both waiting outside of the Ninja Academy for their respective parents to come pick them up. Most of the kids had already left, and the few that remained were playing somewhere else. So, it was just the two of them, all alone on the steps of the Academy._

_Ina said nothing and continued to stare out into space with her face in her hand as her arm stood propped up on her knee, her free hand clutching her schoolbag._

"_Heeeyyyy!! Don't ignore me! I don't **like** to be ignored!" The little boy shouted. Still no response. "Hmph…! Fine, don't talk to me, you…um…you…you weasel!"_

_The raven-haired girl flinched. "What…did you…call me?" She spoke slowly and softly, not even bothering to look at Nataro._

"_Y-yeah! You heard me! You're a weasel! A big fat weasel girl! Nyahh!" He pulled his eyelid down and stuck his tongue out at her._

_Ina looked at Nataro out of the corner of her eye. After a few seconds, she mumbled, "Idiot," before she went back to spacing out._

"_HEY!!! Stop ignoring me!!" Nataro snorted and folded his arms across his chest. More silence followed, but he was never able to keep quiet for very long, so he started talking again. "So, uh… You wanna…play a game? Huh?" Ina remained silent. The young blonde huffed and stomped up to the raven-haired girl. He grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged it hard._

"_OW!!"_

"_Heh-heh! **Now** are you gonna pay attention to me?" Nataro asked with a smirk. Ina's eye twitched before she punched him in the face, knocking the blonde out cold._

**X-X-X**

_The next day, during lunch at the Ninja Academy, Ina was sitting alone on the swings. Well, she **was** alone until someone came up beside her. The raven-haired girl looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Nataro glaring at her with fox-like eyes. The blonde boy was sporting a black eye, courtesy of the young Uchiha herself._

"_What…what sort of freaky girl **are** you?! All I did was ask you a question and you punched me in the face!!" Nataro shouted as he gritted his teeth and pointed a finger at Ina._

_Ina turned her head to look at the blonde and observed him. "Idiot…" She mumbled before she turned her head again and continued swinging slowly. "Go away. I don't wanna catch your stupidity in case it's contagious."_

_Nataro blinked in confusion. "You! I! You…! You ugly weasel girl!! Nasty ugly weasel!!"_

"_At least a weasel is smarter than an idiot like you."_

"_Why do you have to be so mean?! It's like you **don't** want to talk to me!" The blonde boy said with a pout._

"_Because I **don't**."_

"_Huh?"_

_The raven-haired girl arched an eyebrow. "What is **wrong** with you? Do you have brain damage? In case you can't tell, I don't like you."_

_Nataro pouted and folded his arms across his chest. "How can you not like me if you don't know me?!"_

"_I don't have to know you. I can just look at you and tell that you're stupid."_

"_Well, I'm gonna be the Hokage someday! So you better be nice to me, or else!"_

"_Hokage?" Ina asked, still not looking at the blonde. "There's no way that an idiot like you could even become a ninja, let alone Hokage."_

"_Big talk coming from a stupid weasel!" He waited for a response. The raven-haired girl remained silent, merely glaring at the boy from the corner of her eye. Nataro pouted and scratched his head deep in thought—well, as deep as a little kid could think. "WHY WON'T YOU SPEAK TO MEEEEEE?!" He suddenly screamed into Ina's ear._

"_Aaahh!!" The raven-haired girl almost fell off of the sing. She suddenly started to glare at the blonde and balled up her fist. Before Nataro knew it, he was lying on his back, a horrible pain shooting through his head. Then came a pain in his stomach as Ina began to stomp on it._

"_Hey, look! That weird Ina girl's beating up the weird blonde kid!"_

"_Cool!!"_

"_Inahime! Uchiha Inahime, stop that this minute!!"_

"_Aw, it's Sensei… Just when it was getting good!"_

"_Hey, is he bleeding?"_

**X-X-X**

"_Wh-what do __**you**__ want?" Nataro asked the following day. Along with the black eye, he now had a bandage on his forehead and more hidden underneath his shirt. "Embarrassing me like that not just in front of our class…but __**two**__ classes!! You're gonna show your face to me again after that?! If you don't get out of my sight, I'm gonna kick your butt!!"_

_Ina stared at the fuming blonde with half-lidded eyes. "Are you done yet? I was going to say…I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and continued, "I'm sorry for beating up you up in public and injuring several parts of your body. But I'm not sorry for calling you an idiot."_

"_Oh." Nataro started to grin stupidly. "Okay, I guess— WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" He screamed._

"_You're an idiot because no matter what I do, you keep annoying me and shouting at me instead of doing the smart thing and ignoring me like everyone else does."_

_The blonde boy blinked, confused and half-shocked at the statement because it was longest sentence the raven-haired girl had spoke since he first heard her talk. "Uh… Why would I ignore you? __**How**__ could I ignore you? You're, like, the smartest kid in our class! It's hard not hearing all the grown-ups saying how talented and smart you are…"_

"_**That's**__ why!" Ina muttered as she folded her arms across her chest and started to stare at the ground. "They're all just jealous! That's what my Daddy said. They're jealous because they aren't as talented as I am, a-and I wouldn't play with those losers even if they begged me!"_

"_I'm not jealous of you."_

"_Liar!! Of course an idiot like you is jealous of me!" The raven-haired girl placed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "School's only been in session for two months, and you've been late to class and failing tests! At least __**I **__come to school on time and remember to study!"_

"_Hmph! No wonder you've got no friends! With an attitude like yours, nobody would wanna be __**your**__ friend." Nataro turned his back on the girl. "I can't believe I thought I liked you…" He mumbled before walking away._

_Ina blinked, her eyes widening. "He… He liked me…?" She mumbled to herself after Nataro disappeared from sight._

**X-X-X**

"**I'm still not sure how a small childhood crush could lead to a rivalry such as yours," **the Kyuubi spoke.

'_IT WAS NOT A CRUSH!!!'_ Nataro mentally shouted as he continued to glare at Ina. _'I was only interested in her because…I thought we could be friends! But after she put me in the hospital, I started to try and ignore her…but now, __**she**__ was annoying __**me**__!'_

**X-X-X**

"_Push me," Ina commanded Nataro flatly as she sat on the swing, her back facing him._

_Nataro blinked in confusion. "Huh?"_

"_Push…me," she repeated slowly, her hands gripping the chains._

"_You…**dragged** me away from my **first bento lunch box** since I started going to school because you wanted someone to **push you on the swing**?!" The blonde boy shouted. "It's the first time my lunch wasn't instant ramen in a **thermos**!!" He calmed down a bit. "Although, I was kind of hoping for miso ramen today…"_

"_Push me," Ina repeated._

"_Push yourself, Weasel Girl! Or better yet, grab somebody else and make **them** push you!"_

"_I want **you** to push me. Now, push…!" The raven-haired girl spoke, an angry look in her eyes. Most kids would have done what she said just from looking into those eyes, but Nataro merely folded his arms across his chest and snorted._

"_Make me!"_

_Ina stood up and walked up to the blonde until their faces were less than an inch apart. She didn't say a word and maintained the cool half-lidded stare that Nataro had grown familiar with._

_A light red blush appeared on Nataro's cheeks. "H-hey!! You wanna start something? Bring it on, Weasel Girl!!" What followed next caught the blonde boy off guard. It was a kiss on the forehead—because Ina was slightly taller than most girls and Nataro was slightly shorter than most boys, the Uchiha had to bend over a bit to kiss the confused blonde on his forehead. "Wh-what the hell was that?!" What happened next definitely confused him to no end:_

"_OOF!!"_

_She **punched** him in the chest and sent him falling back…yet again, into unconsciousness._

**X-X-X**

"**I'm beginning to see a pattern between the girls that you've been attracted to: you like it when girls treat you like crap and you let them beat you up."**

Nataro's eyebrow twitched, not just in annoyance at the Kyuubi, but in annoyance at Ina, who still had her nails in him. _'For your information, our 'friendship'_ _wasn't always violent. In fact, there were lots of times in the past where Ina would drag me off somewhere private and kiss me.'_

"**And…?"**

'_And later, she'd punch me in public. I didn't get why she did it back then, and I never will! It's like she expected me to __**like**__ being kissed by her!'_

"**You are starting to bore me with your pathetic love life. Just tell me what happened to make you two bitter rivals."**

The orange-clad blonde's eyes suddenly widened. "I…I remember now…!" He mumbled aloud, gaining Ina's attention.

**X-X-X**

_Young Nataro found himself in the middle of a circle of boys from his class._

"_Hey, Nataro! What's the deal with you and that freaky girl?" One boy asked as he pointed a finger at the blonde._

_Nataro blinked in confusion. "Uh… Who are you talking about?"_

"_You know who! **Uchiha Ina** ring a bell?"_

"_We all know what you two do when you think nobody else is lookin'!" Another boy stuck his tongue out. "Blech! How could you let her **kiss you**?!"_

"_That's sick, man! Sick!!"_

"_Don't you know what she is? She's a total mutant freak! Her **and** her family!"_

"_My Grandpa said the Godaime Hokage should've kicked them out before they did something **baaaad**…"_

_The blonde boy arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Geez, what's wrong with you idiots? What's so gross about kissing a girl?"_

"_It's not just the kissing! She likes to show off, too! She just likes to make people look bad! Isn't that why **she's** always bossing **you** around?"_

_Nataro stared at the ground and scuffed his foot in the dirt, his face scrunched up in thought. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it._

"_Now, tell us: do you **really** like Ina? If so, then you can hang around with **her** forever, 'cuz we won't wanna be friends with any weirdoes!"_

_The blonde boy's eyes widened slightly at those words. He gulped before he gave a fox-like grin. "O-of course not!! Why would I like a weirdo like Ina? She's a freak, a total showoff, and she just likes to hit people! I could never really like someone like her!"_

_Unnoticed by Nataro and the other boys, Ina was hiding behind the wall opposite of them, tears welling up in her eyes._

"_Ina?" The raven-haired girl spun around at the sound of her name. Young Hanzo stood behind her, staring at her. "Huh? Are you crying?"_

_She wiped her tears on the back of her hand. "No," she spoke flatly. Or at least tried to do so. Her voice, instead, rose a few notes higher than she wanted it to._

"_Did something happen?"_

"_Shut up, you stupid crybaby!! Nothing is wrong, so just…leave me alone!" She spoke through gritted teeth before rushing past her cousin._

**X-X-X**

'_So, the reason why we're acting like this is…because of me? It's all __**my**__ fault?'_ Nataro thought as Ina released her grip on him. The raven-haired girl stared at him for a while with unreadable eyes, and stepped back with a tinge of blush on her cheeks. "Ina… I…! You…!" He hung his head and clenched his fist. "Stop acting like a brat!!"

Ina narrowed her eyes. "_What_ did you just call me?"

"You heard me! Only a brat would complain about something that happened so long ago! So I said I didn't like you! Big deal! You don't like _me_!" Nataro shouted.

"That… That's not true!" The Uchiha shouted with a bright red blush on her face. "I… I…!"

"Come on, spit it out! I don't have all night!!" The orange-clad genin shouted, stomping his foot in emphasis.

"I…I really li…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in another part of Konoha, the white-haired Asura was wandering among the crowd. Everyone was smiling and happy…and quite frankly, they were making him _sick_ with their radiating happiness.

"They're all so relaxed… It's a disgrace! A _true_ ninja village should always be alert, even during times of celebration. They have to be taught a lesson…" The Asura ducked into an alleyway and bit down on his thumb, drawing blood. He pulled down his shirt slightly, partially revealing some sort of marking. He wiped the blood on the mark with a toothy smirk. "I'm gonna make this a night…" He mumbled as he started to form hand signs, "That they'll _never_ forget…!"

**X-X-X**

On the rooftops of Konoha, a group of ANBU joined up. "Sir, we have no confirmation on the intruders' whereabouts, Naota-taichou," said a female ANBU wearing a cat mask.

"We don't even know what they look like. It'd be impossible to find them before they cause any trouble," the ANBU wearing the wolf mask spoke. "Should we take Hokage-sama to a safer area for the time being?"

"Hokage-sama is already being guarded. Any possible routes of escape have been blocked. All we have to do is keep an eye out for anything suspicious," Naota spoke as he looked around. _'Where is Haruhi? He better not be slacking off at a time like this!'_ As soon as that thought came to his mind, an explosion sounded off in the distance, followed by the screams of frightened civilians.

"What the hell?!"

"I guess _that_ counts as suspicious, huh?"

"Let's move!!" Naota ordered before the ANBU disappeared in the blink of an eye.

**X-X-X**

"What the hell was _that_?!" Akash hissed as he narrowed his eyes in the direction where smoke was beginning to rise and the screams of civilians were getting closer. He soon saw tiny dots moving about on buildings below that were probably shinobi. "Don't tell me that one of those idiots decided to begin early…!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Asura's screams snapped the red-haired boy's attention back to her. "H-help…! HEEEEEEELLLLLP!!!" She screamed as she rolled around on the ground. A dark chakra was radiating from her body like an unusual mist, the shades now lying broken on the floor.

"Whatever they did, it's _their_ problem to fix! For now, I have to figure out a way to help Akasha." Akash took a few steps towards the pink-haired girl, who was now on her knees clutching her stomach. Her pale pink hair was slowly becoming white and her teeth appeared to be slightly sharper as she bared them in pain, low growls coming from her throat. "It's alright, Akasha. I'm here now," he spoke warmly. He sounded completely different from the way he usually acted. "I'll fix everything. And then, we can be together again." The red-haired Asura held out his hand to the ailing girl. "I'm right here…sister."

"Sis…ter…?" Asura—or rather Akasha pronounced slowly as jolts of pain continued to shoot through her body.

As soon as Akash took another step towards the crying girl, a voice spoke out, "Hold it right there, kid!" Upon hearing the word _'kid' _used for him, the red-haired Asura looked over his shoulder and saw an ANBU wearing a cat mask. "This girl is an escapee from the hospital. She has a currently unnamed disease, and if you get any closer to her, you may become infected."

Akash spun on his heels and narrowed his eyes at the ANBU. "A _disease_?! How _dare_ you accuse my sister of having a disease?! I ought to kill you right now—before you provoke her into killing you herself!"

"Sister…?" _'This boy's Asura's brother…? Does that mean he's like her?'_ Whether or not she's your sister doesn't matter. You have to get away from her before she hurts you."

"Heh-heh-heh… Hahahahaha!! Before _she_ hurts _me_? That's a laugh? Hahaha!! Are all you Leaf ninja this foolish?" The red-haired boy gave a toothy grin as a dark chakra surrounded his being. The chakra suddenly grew in size, and somehow, the ANBU's cat mask got cracked in between the eyeholes. "_I'm_ the one you should be worried about right now… Don't worry, though. Since I need to help Akasha, you'll be blessed with a _quick and painless_ death!"

'_What chakra…! It's…inhuman!'_ The ANBU member suddenly grabbed his mask and threw it over his shoulder, revealing the face of a smirking Haruhi. "This is the reason why I joined the ANBU in the first place…! Finally, some action!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**The existence of alcoholic drinks like vodka is...questionable. In Kurenai's character data, it said she liked vodka, so I assumed that meant it was available in the Naruto world. (I have to wonder if this series isn't set on an alternate Earth or just another world where they have only certain things found on earth...)**

**The term "kohai" is used for subordinates or those of a lower rank. I think it's used for students that are being addressed by students of a higher grade level or something like that.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Hey, everybody!! I'm finally back from my vacation to _Orlando_!**

**Naruto & Nataro: Ooh! Ooh! What'd you bring us?!**

**Blu: Oh, were you expecting me to get you something?**

**(Nataro and Naruto start to sulk in a corner, making Blu sweatdrop.)**

**Blu: Hey, how was I supposed to know that fictional characters wanted souvenirs?**

**Nataro: (T.T) If you were a nice person, you _would've_!**

**Naruto: (Sniffle) Yeah, you jerk!**

**Blu: Uh… I brought you instant ramen from Walmart?**

**Naruto: We're not gonna fall for— …Did you say _Walmart?_**

**Nataro: (Slaps Naruto in the face) Focus, man! Focus!!**

**Blu: Riiiight… Anyway, I have returned with a renewed determination and new ideas!!**

**Kakashi: At least until school starts next week Monday. Then you'll have to put all your effort on _that_.**

**Blu: _Damn it_!! You're right…! (Joins Naruto and Nataro to sulk in the corner) Waaaahhh!!!**

**Sakura: (-.-) Way to go, Kakashi-sensei.**

**Kakashi: (Reading Icha-Icha Tactics) Just doing my job.**

**Sakura: Grrr…! Ugh! (To the readers) Just remember to review for the sake of Blu, okay? She's already suffering a _biiit_ of a breakdown with school being so close… See you in the next chapter!**


	44. The Asura Invasion

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#44: The Asura Invasion_

'_Of all the nerve…! That psychotic bitch!!'_ Kazemaru thought as he walked down the street with a dark aura and the occasional blast of heat radiating from him. _'How dare she call me that?! Hanzo should've come down harder on her and just __**shatter**__ her spirit!!'_

"Ow!!" A guy who was walking past the orange-haired genin cried out as he held onto his hand.

"What's the matter?" His date asked with a curious look on her face.

"S-something burned me!"

"Oh, please! Do you see anything that could burn you here? Your mind's wandering…"

'_But how the hell did she find out…? Nataro and Hanzo wouldn't squeal, so it must've been Konjo, or Ina, or Shizuka…! But I can't imagine Konjo and Shizuka to do that…and I'm not even sure if Ina cares about my existence enough to ruin it.'_

"Kazemaru!!"

"Eh?" Kaze turned around to see Masamune running towards him as he dragged Rie behind him. "Oh, great. It's the Weirdo Patrol. I gotta go…!" The pyromanic boy turned and was about to leave when someone grabbed the hood of his hoodie and held him back. "Hey!! Lemme go you smiling son of a bi—"

"Please, don't go! At least give Rie a chance to apologize!" said Masamune as he kept a good hold on Kaze's hood.

"I don't want an _apology_ from her! I want her thrown into the clink!! Even better, the _nuthouse_!!"

"What'd you say, you no-good arsonist?!" The purple-clad girl growled with a small vein throbbing on her forehead.

"_Rie_…! You're making this difficult!" The gray-haired boy sounded as if he had a hint of a whine in his voice. "It's because of things like this that Hanzo said he doesn't like you." At this, Rie flinched. "Kazemaru did nothing wrong. Sure, he…he insulted you, but he has a point in saying you've got a problem."

"I don't _have_ a problem, you idiot!"

"Wow, now you're insulting your teammate! I'm surprised he still wants to help you!"

"Mind your business, you perverted _arsonist_!!"

At that moment, something in Kazemaru suddenly snapped. His entire body suddenly caught on fire, its heat nearly scorching Masamune's hand if the gray-haired boy hadn't released his hood in time. "You want me to be an arsonist?! _I'll_ show you _arson_!! Up close and personal!!" The orange-haired genin roared as the flames radiating from him scorched the ground and the walls of the building he was standing next to.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Rie shrieked.

Kaze looked at her from over his shoulder and gave a disturbing smile. "You keep saying I'm an arsonist…so I'm gonna _act_ like it now! Will _that_ satisfy you?" He whirled around and held up his hands, smiling like a maniac. "Will that satisfy you?! _Huh_?!"

Rie could only make a frightened squealing noise. She should've known this would have happened. Kazemaru wasn't Shizuka—tame and never physically striking back at people who insulted her. He had a history of self-started fights back in the Academy and the tendency to pummel people who pushed the right buttons. She'd crossed the line, and he was going to kill her out of rage.

"_Rie_…! Apologize to him, _now_!" Masamune growled, and for what the illusionist believed to be the first time, saw he was frowning. "You've hurt his feelings and he's not going to stop acting like this until you apologize."

The purple-clad brunette gulped and held onto her chest. Her heart was beating rapidly to her chest as the flaming demon of a boy continued to generate his flames. "I…I'm sorry, alright?! I was being a jerk and I'm sorry!!"

The flames swirling around Kazemaru suddenly died down as he folded his arms across his chest, though there was still some heated air surrounding him. "Are you _really_ sorry for what you said to me?" He asked flatly. Rie nodded. "I couldn't _hear it_ before. Mind telling me again?"

"I'm sorry…I called you an arsonist… Just don't kill me!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Fire is something more than an embodiment of hate. And there's no way I'd use my kekkei genkai to kill you… I just wanted to scare a lesson into you: _Don't…mess…with…me_." Kaze looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed the scorched stone wall next to him. "Uh… But, I _may_ have overdone it on the acting." He sweatdropped. "Ah, well! At least I didn't make a booth catch on fire!"

Rie's eye twitched. "You were _pretending_?! You—!"

"Ah-ah-ah! I'd watch my mouth if I were you! It's things like _that_ that makes you unstandable to a guy like Hanzo!"

Masamune sweatdropped. "_'Unstandable'_? Is that even a word?"

"Doesn't matter! It's the truth!!"

Rie bared her death. "Why, you lousy, no-good—! …Huh? What's _that_?" The boys turned around to see what she was talking about. There was smoke rising up from somewhere in another part of town, and the faint sounds of people screaming were heard as well.

"Sounds like someone's started playing around with some faulty fireworks or something," said Kazemaru as they all stared at the rising smoke.

"It sounds like it's a pretty big fire…" The brunette spoke softly. "What'll happen if it spreads?"

"It'll either put a damper on the party or liven it up."

Rie and Masamune gave the pyromanic genin separate looks—the former an angry look, the latter a shocked expression.

"What? It could happen…"

On a nearby rooftop, the unnoticed blonde Asura stared at the smoke as she heard the screams. "Hmmm, is that supposed to be a signal? Does that mean we can start now? Oh, goodie!" She bit down on her thumb, drawing blood, before sticking out her tongue, revealing an odd symbol that resembled a nine-point star. She pressed her bloody thumb against her tongue and started to form hand signs. _'I can't __**wait**__ to see what kinds of chakra they have here!'_ In a poof of smoke, several large yellow things dropped down from above and landed in front of the three genin.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" Rie shrieked, immediately stumbling back.

"What the hell?!" Kazemaru exclaimed. "What _are_ those things?!"

Masamune blinked. "They…kinda look like…"

"_Toads_…!" Rie shuddered, slightly blue in the face as she hugged herself.

There were 4 toads standing before them, their bright yellow flesh standing out even in the darkness and their pupilless yellow eyes glowing eerily as they croaked. There was just one problem…

"Toads?! Toads aren't supposed to be _that_ big!!" Kaze screamed as he stared at the large toads that were about the size of your average human adult.

"EWWWWWW!!! I can't _stand_ toads!!" The purple-clad genjutsu user squealed as she hid behind Kazemaru and Masamune.

"If you don't like them so much, why don't you just use your so-called genjutsu prowess and make them hop on back to their pond?"

"Are you nuts?! If I don't wanna _touch_ one of those disgusting things, I'm not gonna put my _mind_ into theirs!!"

"Um, guys… I think we may have a problem!" Masamune exclaimed as the toad in front opened its mouth and its tongue shot out from its gullet. The unique thing about it was that at the end was what appeared to be spikes. "Move!!" Masamune and Kazemaru jumped out of the way with ease, but Rie reacted a bit too slow and got struck by the tongue.

"Bullseye!! Way to go!" The blonde Asura exclaimed as she held up a fist in the air when Rie hit the ground.

"IIIIIICK!!! It just _licked_ me!!" The brunette cried as she sat on the ground, the torso of her kimono wet with toad saliva. "And…" She reached up reached up to her shoulder and pulled out a short, thin spike that had come off of the toad's tongue. "It _stabbed me_, too!"

"Who the hell are _you_?!" Kazemaru asked as a vein throbbed on his forehead while Masamune simply slapped on a smile.

The blonde Asura gave a cat-like smirk as she posed. "Hmhmhm…! _I'm_ Asura no Apsaras. And you better watch who you mouth off to, kid! I'm practically your biological superior!"

"Wait…Asura? Like _Asura no Bhumi_?" The pyromanic genin bared his teeth and pointed a finger at the blonde woman. "You're with those freaks who've abducted people in Nami no Kuni and everywhere else, aren't you?!" He held up a fist and narrowed his eyes. "You've got guts coming here after all the crap you and your friends have done!"

The blonde Asura's smirk got wider, allowing Kaze to see her slightly sharp teeth. "Oh, are you challenging _me_? You Leaf ninja are impetuous, not to mention _rude_. Keep up that attitude and you'll get what you deserve!!"

"Bite me!! You guys are gonna pay for what you've done!"

Apsaras' smirk faded from her face. "So be it! You've caused your own death, kid!" She formed a hand sign and the toads gave a series of croaks that were perfectly in sync. In the moonlight, the white and yellow Oni masks on their backs were made visible to their master. "Ready?! Give 'em a tune!"

"Geroooooo!!" The toads suddenly let out a loud bellow that unleashed a shockwave of sound. The force was enough to shatter the windows of a few buildings, make cracks in the ground and walls, and push the genin a few feet away. What few people were still in the street were now running in the direction opposite to the toads.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" Kazemaru exclaimed from his spot on the ground, holding onto his head.

"Now we certainly know that they're no ordinary toads!" Said Masamune as he started to get to his feet. "And I left my sword at home tonight… How _stupid_!"

"No time to worry about that now, Smiley! The three of us have _other_ things to worry about!"

The green-clad boy looked out of the corner of his eye. "Are you okay, Ri—?" He froze when he noticed that Rie was still on the ground, holding onto her shoulder, sweating and pale-faced. "Rie?"

"I…I don't feel…so good…!" She breathed out.

"Oh, come on! You're gonna let a little toad spit slow ya down?" Kazemaru asked as he kept his eyes on the toads. The sound of someone falling down made him look away to see Rie lying on the ground, unconscious. "Then again, maybe it _will_."

"I'm _so_ going to enjoy feasting on your lovely chakra, boy…!" Apsaras spoke darkly with a cat-like smirk.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, back at the area of the white-haired Asura's attack, there were many civilians running away in fear from a group of bizarre-looking creatures. They looked human except for their long, sickle arms that resembled a Preying Mantis' and a face that resembled a Noh mask with orange markings along the forehead and mouth, they're skin dull orange with stitches in various places. The creatures were attacking any poor soul that happened to cross their path that wasn't one of their own, and they weren't exactly merciful when they started to dice their caught prey and slowly ate them through their small, circular mouths.

The white-haired Asura was sitting the edge of a roof with a malevolent smirk on his face. "Good… Let's see how Konoha deals with _this_! So far, they seem to be doing terribly, but… Oh, what's _this_ I see? At last, the ninja have revealed themselves." His stomach suddenly started to growl and he doubled over in pain. "Guh…! Oh, man…! Just the thought of all the ninja I could devour is driving me _crazy_ with hunger! I'd take on the _Hokage_ in this state… But I need a pick-me-up snack before I can do that, or he'd just thrash me again!"

'_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ Ina blew a stream of fire at one of the creatures that had attempted to bit her leg. It struggled for a moment, still moving slowly towards her even as it gave distorted shrieks of pain, then it finally fell and began to burn away. "What the hell _are_ these things?!" The raven-haired girl looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed that Nataro was no longer beside her. "Nataro?" A creature fell from above and landed right in front of Ina. She looked up and saw Nataro standing on top of the rooftops, looking around frantically.

"Asura-chan…! She doesn't stand a chance against these things all by herself! I gotta find her!" The orange-clad blonde turned around and began to hop from roof to rood in the direction of the tall building he left Asura at.

"Where do you think _you're_ going, huh? I'm not through with you yet!"

Nataro looked over his shoulder to see Ina following him and then started to look forward again. "Whatever!! I don't care about you right now! I need to make sure Asura-chan is safe!"

The Uchiha's eyes widened a bit. _'So that's her name, huh? He must care an awful lot about her if he's willing to go through these things to find her.'_ "In case you haven't noticed, moron, we're under attack. I highly doubt your girlfriend could get out of this without a scratch."

"Don't you think I know that?! She's not a ninja!! Those things might…!" The blonde paused and shook his head before a determined look appeared in his eyes. "No…! I _won't_ let that happen!"

On the ground below, the white-haired Asura was standing over the eviscerated body of a Konoha shinobi, licking the blood off of his fingers. "Earth type… I can never get those down easily..."

"I'm glad _you're_ having fun, Rudra," said Bhumi as she approached the white-haired Asura.

Rudra looked the silver-haired woman up and down. Unlike him, she didn't have blood splattered on her clothes and skin. "And _you're_ not. What's the matter, you going on a diet?"

"I'm just a picky eater, I guess…" She mumbled as she stepped over a corpse and got close enough to see the hunger in her brother Asura's eyes. "We don't all have your incredible stomach."

"Heh-heh-heh…!"

A loud explosion sounded off from a distance and a brawny figure jumped over the roof of a nearby building, landing a foot away from Bhumi and Rudra. "YEAH!!! This is what I'm talking about!! Bwahahahaha!!" He was large, bald, seemingly all muscle and easily the tallest Asura of the group. His dark skin hinted that he was probably from another country, and he wore only a pair of loose black pants, heavy black boots, black metal armguards, and a black mask that hid the bottom half of his face. His arms and torso were covered in scars and stitches, and there was a nine-point star on his toned chest. "Asura no Agni will bring this entire village down!!" He looked down and noticed a young man staring up at him in shock. Agni grabbed the man by his head and began to squeeze it tightly as the man screamed, and then…

Bhumi inwardly cringed as bits and chunks of flesh, blood, and gray matter landed on her and Rudra. The white-haired Asura, on the other hand, was licking his lips as if he was contemplating eating the remains of the poor man's brains.

"I wonder how _brains_ taste…"

"I…have other things to deal with right now. Excuse me." The silver-haired woman disappeared in a poof of smoke, just as shinobi reinforcements arrived.

"Heh… Rudra turned around and grinned wickedly as many shinobi began to charge at him. "Are you guys strong enough to me on?!?" He shouted as markings began to appear on his body. The Asura gave a wicked grin. "Come on!! Show me what you've got!!"

**X-X-X**

"You bastards!! You think you can push _me_ around?!" Ino shrieked as she shook a fist at a group of sickle-armed and long-clawed Oni. The red tint on her cheeks clearly showed that she was slightly inebriated at the moment.

"Ino, maybe you should sit down before you hurt someone," said Tenten while fighting one of the men. She immediately slit his throat with a knife and turned around to face the old blonde. "Like yourself."

"Or _us_," Sakura muttered with a glare.

"_You_ sit down, Grandma!!" The old blonde shouted as she threw one of her empty saké bottles at the elderly weapons mistress. Thankfully, her aim was affected by all the alcohol and the bottle hit one of the Noh-mask wearing monsters in the head just before Sakura punched it in the chest with enough force to make a hole. "Bullseye!!"

"Damn it, Ino, sit down before I knock you out!!"

Nearby, the last Oni in the area fell. Sasuke dusted himself off while Naruto took a look around the wrecked area. "How depressing… To think _this_ is how we end the last day of the festival…"

"I know. I think I was actually starting to enjoy myself," the Uchiha elder spoke flatly.

"Our only choice of ending this without causing _too_ much damage to the village is if we force them to retreat. I'm off to kill all the stronger ones."

"Naru—" Before the Uchiha could finish what he said, the Rokudaime had already run off. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "That's what the _ANBU_ are for, fool…" He mumbled as someone landed behind him. The retired shinobi narrowed his eyes before bending over to pick up a kunai. He froze for a few moments in silence before he spun on his heel and threw the kunai at the person behind him. It just barely gazed their right arm, causing a thin trail of blood to flow down it.

The newcomer drew his finger across the mark and wiped the blood off on his clothes.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he got a better look at the person. "Uh! It can't be…! You're…"

Shiva held up the hand holding an orange frog plush toy that was stained with blood and filth and tossed it onto the corpse of a long-clawed Oni.

"Zuh—" The Uchiha stopped speaking and narrowed his eyes. "No…" _'There is no way it's him. Zen is dead.'_ He blinked after realizing that Shiva was now charging towards him with a balled-up fist. Sasuke swiftly sidestepped in time, causing the Asura's fist to crash into the wall of the building he was in front of. The force of the blow caused the entire building to shake and destroyed the entire right wall. _'The strength's about the same, though…!'_ Sasuke began to make several hand signs and blew a large gust of wind in Shiva's direction. The force sent the Asura flying backwards, but he managed to grab onto an electrical pole and held on until the wind died down. The dark-haired man let go of the post and suddenly stomped the ground with his foot, making the earth shake slightly. He balled up his fist and slammed it into the ground, creating a large crater that took up a good bit of the area.

Sasuke had managed to jump on top of a roof in time to avoid being caught in the attack. His breathing was labored as he stared down at Shiva from the ground. Onyx eyes widened as a fist connected with his face. The old Uchiha stumbled back and spat out some blood. _'He's not like the rest. Not just in appearance, but in power.'_ He started to smirk as he activated his Sharingan. _'Then I have to stop treating him as though he were everyone else.'_

The moment that Sasuke activated his Sharingan, Shiva suddenly relaxed. Then his eyes widened and he stumbled back, holding onto his head while he gritted his teeth. There was a throbbing pain in the back of his head. It was as though something was trying to force its way out…and it actually did. "Wh…why…?" Shiva spoke in a small, unused voice. "Why…can't you…" He paused and for a moment, one could swear that the dark-haired Asura gave a whimper. "You…love…me…?"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. The voice, albeit small, was familiar to his eats. It couldn't really be his son, but his mouth reached quicker than his mind. "Zen…?"

Upon hearing that name, Shiva's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking. Hearing that name had somehow caused something to snap inside of the apathetic Asura.

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" He dashed towards Sasuke with a livid look in his eyes. His fist would have gone through the old man, but it never reached his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Shiva saw several dull brown snakes wrapped around his arm, holding him back. The snakes were coming from Sasuke, who was standing behind the dark-haired Asura with his arm up slightly.

"You didn't think you could kill me so easily, did you? I'm what you might call a _stubborn_ old man," the Uchiha said with a smirk.

Shiva narrowed his eyes and mumbled, "I'll…kill you…!" With his free hand, he grabbed the snakes, but they bit into his skin in retaliation. The dark-haired man gritted his teeth and held onto the snakes. He summoned his monstrous strength and managed to throw Sasuke over his head and dropped the old man right in front of him. Sasuke looked up and smirked again just seconds before an electrical shock came from the snakes, shocking the Asura and numbing the nerves in his arms. "Ugh…!"

The snakes drew back into Sasuke's sleeves and the old man started to stand up. "You must be one of the people behind the Oni. Tell me why you're here." Shiva remained silent as his arms twitched slightly. "Don't even think about trying to attack me. Your arms are paralyzed. You cannot make hand signs or use your strength. So just give up and tell me what I want to know," the old man spoke as he wiped the blood dribbling down his lips on the sleeve of his kimono.

"Uh…!" Shiva's eyes widened again and began to move his arms slightly. He bowed his head and gritted his teeth in irritation as his hands twitched. "I…refuse…" The dark-haired man jumped high into the air and did a somersault. As he landed, the entire building began to shake and the tiles on the roof fell off, shattering on the floors below. Sasuke had to jump off the rooftop and landed on the edge of the crater.

'_I should have paralyzed his legs, too, while I was at it!!'_ The Uchiha thought as Shiva jumped off of the roof. He quickly began to make hand signs, took a deep breath, and blew several large fireballs at the Asura. Shiva managed to maneuver his way around the first two fireballs, but the third came faster than the dark-haired Asura had expected and it struck him. He landed on the ground facedown, scorch marks apparent on his body, but the dark-haired man slowly stood up and stumbled a bit. He slowly raised his hands and put them together. Sasuke's eyes widened. _'There's no way he should be able to do that! He should still be paralyzed! Is he going to try something?'_

"Mmmm…" For a moment, the bright Sharingan eyes became entirely black with bight green pupils. "Ah…!" His arms suddenly dropped down to both his sides. His eyes changed back into the Sharingan before he rolled his neck around, moving his arms slightly.

"He managed to heal himself so quickly?" Sasuke sighed as he held up a hand. "I guess I don't have much of a choice anymore…" Electricity began to crackle around his hand as his Sharingan eyes locked with Shiva's. _'It's been so long since I've used this! I hope…I haven't gotten rusty!'_ The retired shinobi gave a smirk as he held the wrist of his electrified hand. "Chidori!!!"

Shiva's eyes widened and he suddenly froze on the spot. His hand shook slightly as his eyes widened, pupils shrunk, and his mouth widened slightly. "Ah…!" The Asura blinked, and just as the old man was only mere seconds away from driving his hand into his chest, a blur appeared in between them and Sasuke's fist went through the newcomer's chest. Both Shiva and Sasuke's eyes widened at who stood in between them.

"I can't believe this! You were going to let yourself get killed by some old man, Shiva?" Rudra asked with a smug grin as blood trailed down the side of his mouth. His eyes were now entirely black with orange pupils. "What's wrong? At least thank me for saving your life."

The dark-haired Asura frowned and regained his composure, though he kept staring at the tips of the old man's fingers sticking a bit out of Rudra's right shoulder.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Rudra, who stared back at him with drool trailing down the corner of his mouth and a look of hunger in his eyes. The Uchiha jumped away from the two Asura and landed a good bit away from them. _'Another one… Great.'_ He thought as he took a deep breath. _'The first one was bad enough, but now he's got a partner! This is bad…!'_ He looked around in the hopes of finding someone nearby, but no one was there. _'Damn it!'_

"Ahhh, Raiton…! I can't remember the last time I ate that! Thanks for the appetizer, old man," Rudra told Sasuke as he tried to move his right arm. The wound was slowly healing somehow, but the white-haired Asura appeared to be in slight pain. "Guh…! I can't move my damn!" The white-haired Asura got an evil glint in his eyes while his manic grin remained on his face. "I am going to enjoy _eating you_ for this, old man— UGH!!" He couldn't finish his sentence since Shiva punched him in the face and into the remains of a nearby building.

Sasuke had seen it coming, but he still couldn't believe it. What was Shiva doing attacking his own teammate? _'Could it be that they're not on the same side?'_

Rudra poked his head out from the rubble and stood up slowly, then proceeded with calmly dusting the gravel off of his clothing with his left hand. "Um…Shiva?" He asked after he finished and walked out of the rubble. "In case you've forgotten…I'm on _your_ side!! Why the hell did you go and punch me like that for, you bastard?!"

"Because…" The dark-haired Asura spoke softly. "I…" He tilted his head slightly to the side so his bright Sharingan eyes locked onto Sasuke. "I want to be the one who kills him…"

The white-haired Asura's eyes widened and his jaw hung open for a bit. "Wow… You _spoke_. And in a complete sentence, too!" He gave a manic grin as he rubbed the back of his head. "And Akash said you were retarded. Geez, seeing as how I'm being _such_ a nice guy tonight, I'll let _you_ have this old guy, Shiva. But!" He held up a finger and began to wag it back and forth. "_I'm_ the one who gets to eat his corpse, got it?! I don't care if aged meat is tough, I need to get revenge for this indignity."

Shiva didn't say a word as Rudra smirked before disappearing. He wasn't like all those fools who gave into their animal instincts and decided that any and every living thing was a meal. He was probably one of the only two who didn't give into those beastly instincts—the other being Bhumi, whom he never saw eating any sort of meat.

The dark-haired Asura turned around to face Sasuke, an apathetic look visible on his face. If only he could feel the same way he looked. So many emotions were welling up inside of him at the moment. They came up when he met the idiot with the bi-colored hair and eyes. They came up when he encountered and killed the woman that kept calling him the name that made his head hurt. They came up whenever the word _'Konoha'_ was mentioned and every time he locked eyes with the man in front of him tonight. The Asura held a hand to his head as another twinge of pain went through his head. _'Is it…coming back to me?'_ He dropped his hand to his side after locking eyes with Sasuke again. Feelings of hatred, desire to be accepted and many other emotions that the dark-haired usually recognized as foreign came up again. Before he knew it, Shiva and Sasuke were charging at each other, eyes locked onto each other…

**X-X-X**

"Ohoho_ho_! So we meet again!" Asura no Jala exclaimed as she hid her mouth behind the back of her hand, hiding her wicked, yet seductive, smirk. "What's the matter, lover boy? Don't you recognize me?"

Mai and Aiko stared at Haseo, who had now started to sweat. "Haseo… What is she talking about…?" His wife asked with an arched eyebrow, holding her baby close to her chest. Despite all the chaos that was going on at the moment, Mai was now focused on the topic at hand. And the topic was clearly _'How the hell do you know this name woman?!'_ But, of course, she was too much of a lady to say that out loud.

'_Is this lady supposed to be a shinobi?'_ Aiko thought as she observed Jala from the head down. _'I remember Kotoyo telling me something about how most kunoichi tend to wear clothing that makes them look sexy and attractive for the sake of a mission…but she's not wearing any clothes, __**period**__!'_

"Um… You remember that time I went to Nami no Kuni on a mission? The one where we failed to rescue the kidnapped citizens?" The honey-haired man asked with a nervous smile. "Well, she was one of them. A kidnapper, I mean. She was one of the bad guys and she tried to seduce me with her charm and…_body_, but I persevered because of my love for y—!"

"_Zip it_." Mai turned to Aiko and gave a small smile. "Would you mind holding Kagetsu-chan for a moment, Aiko-san?"

"Um… No, not at all." The blonde woman _really_ didn't feel like saying _'no'_ to the Uchiha because of the murderous intent that was emanating from her body. She stared at Mai's back as the older woman walked past her husband and up to Jala.

"Oh, I take it _you're_ the one that Ina was talking about." Mai spoke as she tapped her cheek. "The one who kept crying over her hair and ran off with her tail between her legs."

Haseo paled just slightly. "She…she knows?!" _'Damn you, Ina! For this, you're getting D-rank missions for the rest of the month! If I survive…'_

Jala narrowed her eyes while her hair moved around slowly. "_Crying_? Running with my _tail_ between my legs? How _dare_ you talk about me like that, you bitch?!" She growled as a large lock of hair went for Mai. The tresses pierced her chest and the medusa-like Asura began to smirk. "Take _that_! Huh?" She blinked as she saw Mai holding onto her hair tightly. "Oh, what _now_?" A long strand of hair slowly wrapped itself around the Uchiha's neck. "Get your hands off of my hair!"

The raven-haired woman smirked before she suddenly exploded, flower petals scattering all around. The force of the explosion sent Jala flying back before she managed to land and skid to a halt. The blue-haired Asura began to look all over the place, her vision slightly blurred. "What…the hell?!" She held her hand to her head as she gritted her teeth. "I'm imagining things…" She looked up and saw several bright purple butterflies fluttering around her. "I must've knocked a screw loose when I fell… I'm seeing butterflies all over the place! Oh… This must be a part of some jutsu." Jala smirked as her hair began to move around slowly. "Well, I won't let her get the chance to strike me again!" All her strands of hair immediately stretched out and impaled the butterflies, one after the other until all her sharp tresses punctured them all. "Now stop hiding and come out, darling! Lemme see what kind of chakra you've got!"

"You wanna see, huh?" Mai asked as she suddenly appeared behind Jala. She pointed her finger down at the ground. "Look down."

The Asura glanced down for a second, and then did a double-take at what she saw. She was sinking into the ground and was already almost at her hips. "What?!"

Mai flicked Jala in the forehead with her middle finger. "Don't underestimate the Uchiha…_bitch_." A bright purple butterfly suddenly landed on top of Jala's head. The butterflies that were still on her hair began to glow, as did the one on her head. They all suddenly exploded in a fiery blast. _'Kochou Hogeki (Butterfly Bombardment)!!'_

"KYAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Oooooh, _that_ hurts. Seriously, she used the same jutsu on me when I first came home drunk…" Haseo told Aiko as they stood on the sidelines.

"Uhhhh…" Jala moaned in pain as she rolled over on her back. "Ow…!" Feeling too tired to stand at the moment, the Asura made her locks to come before her eyes so she could see that they were all in one piece. Upon actually seeing them, though, she snapped. "My…_HAIR_!!!" Jala screeched after seeing what had happened. Chunks and pieces were missing from her treasured long blue locks. "My poor hair…!" She whimpered as she sat up. Her eyes began to well up with tears when she began to touch what remained of her ruined hair.

"When Ina said you were obsessed with your hair, she wasn't kidding. I just didn't think you'd be _this_ bad," said Mai as she suddenly appeared before the medusa-like Asura. "Just be glad that the hair's what got blown up and not you."

"You…! This…is all _your_ fault, you bitch!!" The damaged strands of Jala's hair began to come together, forming two large, spear-like locks. "You're gonna pay for what you've done!!" She shouted as her hair lunged forward, aiming for the women's stomach. She blinked after suddenly feeling an uncomfortable pain in her stomach. Jala realized that she was now standing…and that she had a kunai shoved in her stomach, its handle still being held on by Mai.

"It's not my fault if you're pathetic. That's an honor that entirely belongs to you," the Uchiha spoke fluidly as she stared at the medusa-like Asura with a cold look in her eyes.

"How…did you…? Grrrr!! You've pissed me off for the last time!! I'll—"

"Now, now! I wouldn't do _that_ if I were you!"

"What the hell are you talking about now—" Jala paused after she blinked. Her undamaged hair was wrapped tightly around her neck, almost tight enough to choke her. She saw Mai standing in front of her, weaponless. Her eyes were red with three commas circling around the pupil of each eye. _'Those eyes?!'_

"Um… What just happened…?" Aiko asked with an arched eyebrow. "I don't get it. All she does is stare at her…and Mai-san made that woman almost choke herself?"

"Actually, that was one of the abilities of the Sharingan," Haseo explained. "A fully developed Sharingan can cast illusions without the use of hand signs. It can also hypnotize people into doing things without even realizing what exactly they were doing." He suddenly slumped over. "Imagine having to deal with something like _that_ every time that you piss her off…"

"Ah, Mai-san is amazing!" The blonde woman exclaimed as she cradled Kagetsu, who was starting to fuss about in his sleep. He probably knew he was in the arms of a stranger at the moment.

Jala's eye twitched as her hair uncoiled from around her neck. She began to shake as her hair moved around violently in the air, lashing about violently. "You mean to tell me that you were _playing with me_ through an illusion?!" The blue-haired Asura shouted, her eyes hidden by her hair. "That…is…_it_! I am _through_ taking it easy on you!! I'm gonna make you pay!!" She shouted as her eyes became entirely black with pale blue pupils. "I'LL DEVOUR YOU ALL!!!" Jala shrieked as she threw her clawed hands up into the air, baring sharp fangs.

"Hoo, boy! She's completely lost it," said Haseo, who was now standing at Mai's side. His wife gave him a worried look. "Aiko-san took Kagetsu-chan to the fallout shelter with the other civilians. I couldn't allow my wife to do such a thing as fight a woman like this. What sort of husband would I be then?"

"Hmmm… That suits me just fine. I don't want my baby being exposed to something like this at such a young age."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" The honey-haired jonin got into a fighting stance as Jala's hair shout out at them. "Here she comes!"

**X-X-X**

"Ah! We made it!" Nataro shouted after making it up to the roof where he had left Asura. His eyes widened when he saw the damage. There were chunks and pieces of the roof missing and shuriken and kunai were scattered all over the place. A sword was sticking out of from in between the tiles. Nearby, someone was lying down in what was starting to become a pool of blood. Nataro ran over to the person and stared down at him. It was a red-haired ANBU with his mask removed. He had a large gash in his stomach and several bruises and claw marks were shown on his body. His eyes were half-open and glazed, but it was obvious that he saw Nataro.

"Who…? It…it's you…" Haruhi mumbled as blood trailed down the side of his mouth. "Asura's…friend…"

"Are you…one of the ANBU that were assigned to look over Asura? What the hell happened?!" The blonde shouted angrily. "Where is Asura-chan?!"

"He…took her…" The red-haired Uchiha spoke slowly. "That kid…with the red…hair…"

"A kid with red hair…?"

"Asura's…brother…" Nataro's eyes widened at the word _'brother,'_ as Haruhi continued, "He took her…and ran… I-I tried to protect…her…but his chakra…was inhuman…! It's a miracle that I'm alive…"

"HARUHI!!!" Ina's voice brought Nataro back to reality. He looked over his shoulder and saw the raven-haired girl running towards them with tears in her eyes. She collapsed next to her brother and stared at the blood that was coming from him. "Wh-who did this to you?! Are alright, Haruhi?!" She cried, sounding very unlike herself at the moment.

"Heh…!" The redhead looked at his sister. "This is…the first in a long time…that you've acted like this over me…" _'I think I missed having you do that…'_

"Haruhi…!" She cried again, bowing her head as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Nataro looked on in shock. _'I've never seen Ina cry… I wonder if this guy's a part of the Uchiha clan, too?'_ He suddenly remembered Asura and looked down at Haruhi. "Tell me: where'd he go? Where did the bastard who took Asura-chan run off to?!"

"Huh?" The raven-haired girl looked up at the blonde.

"I think…he ran towards…Training Area 41…" Haruhi mumbled.

"The Forest of Death? Got it!" The orange-clad genin looked down at Ina. "Ina, stay here with Haruhi. I mean, if he stays here alone, all by himself, he's more likely to get attacked and killed in this state, don't you think?"

"What? No! _Hell no_!! If you fight the same guy that fought Haruhi, _you_ won't be as lucky! You'll be _killed_ before you can make a move!! Besides…" She narrowed her eyes. "I've got a score to settle with that bastard, too, for what he's done to Haruhi!!"

"Ina…quit being so stupid!! Even if you _do_ manage to take that guy down, those things would still be in town unless everybody quickly exterminates them! They could kill Haruhi if they manage to get up here! Do you want that to happen?!" Without waiting for a reply, the blonde turned his back on the Uchiha siblings. "Relax! You're talking to the strongest guy in Konoha—the future Nanadaime Hokage! I'll rescue Asura-chan _and_ I'll take your revenge for you!! So just stay here and be safe…okay?" He then jumped off of the building and landed safely on the roof of the building below. He quickly began to jump along the roofs in the direction of the Forest of the Death.

Ina bowed her head and snorted. "Idiot... It's not _my_ revenge if _you_ take it for me…"

"That…kid…" Haruhi spoke, getting his little sister's attention. "He's…got guts… He could be a great ninja someday…"

"Ha! Don't be so s-stupid!" Ina stuttered as she held onto Haruhi's hand. "An idiot like him can't possibly be a great ninja! Th-that idiot's gonna die, and it'll all be because of his stupidity!" She cried as tears began to stream down her cheek.

"Ina…? Why are you crying over him…? Do you…know him?"

"He's only the biggest pain in the butt in the history of the world! And if he doesn't survive, I'm gonna be pissed off because _I_ wasn't the one who kill him!" The raven-haired girl shouted as she punched her fist onto the concrete, immediately drawing blood.

Haruhi stared at sister with glazed-over, half-lidded eyes, but on the inside, he was shocked. _'The last time she cried was when Mom died… I didn't think she could feel this way about a __**boy**__ before… Heh… Kazaki Nataro… If you survive, I'll deem you as a miracle worker from now on…'_

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Kochou Hogeki (Butterfly Bombardment) was inspired by the ougi used by Yamanaka Ino in Narutimate Accel 2. (WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE!!!)**

**Apsaras are the name of Hindu water spirits. They're also artistic muses.**

"**Gero" is the sound of frogs croaking.**

**Agni is the name of the Hindu God of fire.**

**X-X-X**

**(Blu Rose is in a corner in the fetal position, muttering things to herself)**

**Naruto: Oh my God!! What's wrong with Blu?! She looks _terrible_!**

**Kakashi: It seems as though she's been affected by her first week of college life.**

**Naruto: Huh? But she was saying how much she liked those short class days--even though she has to stay late at night on Mondays and Wednesdays.**

**Kakashi: That was before they gave her homework.**

**Naruto: Homework...?**

**Kakashi: Her one true weakness... Okay, it's one in a million, but it still affects her nonetheless. I'm surprised that she managed to complete this chapter.**

**Naruto: It's times like these that I'm glad that I'm out of the Academy... Anyway, we have an announcement for the readers! After the next chapter, things will turn out _veeery differently_, and it won't be classified as filler! It'll actually have a plot place!!**

**Kakashi: (Closes Icha-Icha Tactics shut in an overdramatic manner) No!**

**Naruto: Yes! Not to mention, in the beginning of the next chapter...there's a a _sex scene_!**

**Kakashi: Is it Icha-Icha Tactics-level sex?**

**Naruto: Will you stay tuned to read if I say yes? (Kakashi nods) Then yes, it will.**

**Kakashi: (Stares at Naruto for a few seconds...then starts reading Icha-Icha Tactics again) Nice try, but _no fan ficiton_ can reach the level of magnificence that is Icha-Icha.**

**Naruto: Oh, forget you!! (Points at the readers) You guys just remember to review and stay tuned for the next episode--**

**Kakashi: Chapter.**

**Naruto: --Chapter of "Naruto X"!!**


	45. Farewell

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#45: Farewell_

"Mmmm, I think the earth is moving!" Hikari spoke in a breathy voice as she laid down on her back on the bed in Kira's small apartment, still drunk and red-faced. Her kimono was lying on the floor, so all she had on her was a bra and a pair of panties whose colors he couldn't make out in the dark.

"Yup! I'm so good, I haven't even _done_ anything and you're feeling the magnitude!" The mad genius said with a cocky grin. He has also stripped down to only his underwear—a pair of plain red boxers. Eventually, even those came off before Kira got onto the bed with a predatory grin. "Here I come…!"

"I'm waiting~!"

"Hmhmhm…!" Kira grabbed her panties and slowly pulled them down as he lowered himself down onto her body. _'I've gotta savor this moment!'_ His face was inches away from hers' before he started to blush. "Uh… Um…"

"Awww, do you need help?" Hikari cooed as she placed a hand on the man's thigh.

"Um… Um…! I…I can't do this…!" He muttered before he got off of the pink-haired woman and bent over to pick up his boxers.

"Huh?! It's okay, y'know! I've given you permission to do whatever you want to me!"

"I know, I know, damn it!! You don't have to keep reminding me!" The black-and-white-haired man snapped as he put his boxers back on. He sighed and slumped over. "But this isn't how I wanted it to happen… I wanted to make you fall in love with me…sweep you off your feet, and _then_ rock your world! But we're only here now because you got drunk and I was going to take advantage of that. I'm sorry for that...Hikari-chan."

Hikari stared at him as he put back on his clothes before a perverted grin spread out across her face. "Bwahahahaha!! You're kidding! _You_ don't want to take advantage of _me_?! You've wanted it for so long and you're gonna throw it away?! Hahaha!"

"I care about you too much to treat you like that." Kira picked up her kimono and tossed it onto her body. "Get dressed."

The Uchiha woman pouted as she shakily got off the bed and on her feet, muttering curses under her breath as she slipped on her kimono, sloppily fixing her obi and hair. When she was satisfied with her moderate job, she looked at the mad genius with a frown. "Y'know… Not taking advantage of me like that…is…something…" She placed her finger on her chest and began to circle it. "You sure you don't wanna…you know?"

"Damn it, do you have to keep reminding me of what I'm giving up?! Sheesh…!" The black-and-white-haired man muttered as he started to form hand signs. "Now, for both our sakes, I'm going to erase your memory of the last couple of hours. Technically, I'm not _supposed_ to do ANBU jutsu anymore, but I have no choice." He placed his index and middle fingers on Hikari's forehead. Her eyes started to droop before she fell into Kira's arms, unconscious.

At that moment, the earth shook once again. "Whoa! Even having her close to me like this make the earth move!" At that moment, a long-clawed Oni crashed through the wall and landed at Kira's feet, exposing them for all to see…if anyone was paying attention to them. The only humans within distance were shinobi who were far too busy fighting the Oni to notice the mad genius and the medic. "Oh… Didn't see _that_ coming." The long-claw Oni squirmed and Kira reacted by stomping on its throat hard enough to break it. "Didn't see _that_ coming, either."

In the streets below, a tall, brawny-armed Oni towered over Naruto, drool trailing down from the mouth hole of its mask. It roared as it raised its arms and prepared to hammer the Rokudaime down into the ground. When the Oni let its fists fall, however, they were stopped by a single hand.

"You're all the just the same as you always have been…" The old blonde mumbled with his head bowed. When he raised his head, he revealed golden yellow eyes with rectangular pupils and orange markings around the eyes. "You don't know when you're _OUTCLASSED_!!" Naruto screamed before grabbing hold of the Oni's wrist. "RRRRRRRAAAAAHHHH!!!" He threw the creature over his shoulder, coincidentally knocking out a group of sickle-armed Oni just as they jumped off of a rooftop.

"Hot damn! Even the old man's getting into it!" Kira said with a smirk. "Now, uh…_what the hell's goin' on?!?'_

**X-X-X**

In front of one of the entrance gates to the Forest of Death were Akash and the unconscious Akasha. The red-haired boy was kneeling beside his sister, whom he had laid out on her stomach. He was holding his hands over the 9-pointed star seal on the back of her neck as Akasha's hair slowly changed from white, to pink, then to dark red like Akash's.

"At last… It's finally done." The male Asura wiped the sweat off of his forehead. _'Fixing that seal was harder than I thought. I took an awful lot of chakra out of me.'_ His eyes softened as he stared down at his sleeping sister. "But for her, it's worth it…" Akash leaned over the red-haired girl to kiss her on the forehead when he heard something hit a tree trunk behind them. "Hm?" He looked up to find a kunai with a bomb note attached to it. Akash quickly grabbed onto Akasha as the note exploded.

Nataro then appeared near the spot where the kunai exploded and looked around. "Where'd that bastard go?!"

"Oh, it's _you_. Here I thought it was someone to fear," a voice spoke from above. The blonde boy looked up and saw Akash standing on the branch of a large, knotted tree with Akasha slung over his shoulder.

"Koji?! _You're_ the one who took Asura-chan?!"

The red-haired Asura glared down at the genin. "I am Asura no Akash. And I am sure that my sister would prefer to be called Akasha."

Nataro blinked in confusion. "Akasha…?"

"Hmph!" Akasha jumped down and landed safely on the ground below. "Of course! You mean you can't see the resemblance between us?"

The orange-clad genin growled under his breath before shouting, "What the hell are you doing with Asura-chan?!"

"_Akasha_, you fool! And I am taking her home—where she belongs."

"Home? Konoha _is_ her home!!"

"Pfft!" Akash stifled a laugh and he gave a smirk. "Konoha? A home? After everything we've been through because of this village?!" The smirk faded and was replaced with a dark look. "I don't know what you people did to her, but I know it wasn't anything good! When we're done here, there won't even be a _fragment_ of this village left!!"

"We? So…_you're_ responsible for all those weird monsters that are loose in the city!!" Nataro shouted, pointing a finger at the redhead.

"Actually, that was one of my idiotic minions letting his craving for chaos get the better of him, but I don't really mind it…" The Asura let Akasha down and leaned her against the large tree. "Of course, before I can bring down Konoha, I have to do the one thing that I've been anxious to do since we first met." He licked his lips lusciously and pushed a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you slowly enough so that I can hear you cry for forgiveness from me and Akasha for all the wrongs you and your village have caused her!!"

Nataro clenched his fists in anger as he gritted his teeth. "I would never…harm Asura-chan…! And we haven't done anything to hurt her!! I don't care if you _are_ her brother!! Koji, Akasha, or whatever the hell your name is, I _won't_ let you take Asura-chan away from her home!!"

"Idiot… I keep telling you that her home is with _me_!!" Akash's eyes became entirely black with purple pupils and dark chakra began to swirl around his body as he held up his hands. The chakra around him began to form a pair of long-clawed arms. "I think I'm going to have a little _fun_ with you before I kill you, KAZAKI NATARO!!!" He punched out one arm and the chakra arm extended towards Nataro. It attempted to slash the blonde, but only managed to make a nick in his jacket as the blonde jumped back.

The orange-clad genin made a familiar hand sign and around a hundred Kage Bunshin suddenly appeared in the field. "Take this, bastard!!!" The one hundred blondes jumped up high into the air as an unnoticed bunshin snuck up behind Akash and kicked him up into the air. "Nataro Hyaku Buro Rondo (Nataro 100 Blow Combo)!!" All of the blondes shouted as they each began to give Akash hard blows and counting them off.

"Last, but not least…100!!!" The real Nataro shouted as he gave Akash a hard elbow to the face that sent the redhead flying into the wall of the nearby Academy building, making a hole in the wall. The genin quickly turned around and ran over to Akasha, who was still unconscious. "Asura-chan…" _'She looks fine, but her hair's…different.'_ He was about to scoop the red-haired girl up off the ground when he heard several of his bunshin shouting out. He turned around just in time to see a good thirty or forty of his clones being ripped through by a pair of clawed chakra hands.

"DON'T TOUCH HER, INSECT!!!" Akash shouted loudly as his chakra claws easily made a dozen Nataros disappear in puffs of smoke. He was furious and gritted his teeth in irritation. "Someone like you doesn't deserve to touch her!!" The Asura held out his arms to his sides and his chakra began to take the form of wing-like appendages sticking out of his back. "One of the wings stretched out towards Nataro and swatted him away from Akash's sister and into the iron fence. The second wing scooped up Akasha and brought her in front of Akash. The red-haired Asura carefully took into his arms and his wings suddenly spread apart.

"Wait a minute!!" The orange-clad blonde shouted after getting to his feet. The red-haired boy jumped up into the air, his chakra wings flapping quickly and creating a strong gust of wind. He then began to fly away towards the village. "I said _stop_, damn it!!" Nataro shouted as he pulled out several kunai and shuriken and threw them all at the redhead. They all missed except one shuriken that managed to hit Akash in the back. _'I'm not gonna let you get away!'_ Nataro thought as he began to run after the redhead, his few remaining clones following behind him.

**X-X-X**

In the middle of a ruined street stood Bhumi. She had forgotten about her mission after stumbling across her current opponents. She'd been stuck fighting them ever since. "Why don't you just give up?" The silver-haired woman said, obviously bored as she sighed. She blocked a kick to her face with the back of her hand. "It's pointless."

"You expect me to just let you get away after everything you've done?!" Tsuki grunted as she swung her arm and a kunai shout out of her kimono sleeve. Bhumi swerved her head in time to avoid having the kunai lodged in her throat. "No way in hell!!" The purple-haired woman attempted to kick the Asura in the head, but was soon pushed back by a palm thrust, skidding to a halt next to Hanasotsu.

"Tsuki-san, are you alright?" The blonde ANBU asked.

"What do _you_ think?" She growled as she got back into her fighting stance. "I'm furious as hell!" Tsuki formed several hand signs, took a deep breath, and spat out a viscous green substance at Bhumi. The silver-haired Asura jumped back in time to avoid being struck and the slime melted into the ground, creating a hole. Bhumi stared at the hole for a few seconds before Tsuki suddenly appeared behind her and kicked the Asura in the back, knocking her towards Hanasotsu as he began to form hand signs. Dozens of little white flowers suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started to drift lazily in Bhumi's path. As soon as Bhumi hit one of the flowers, a chain reaction was set off, causing all the flowers to explode one after the other. The force of the explosion caused Bhumi to hit the wall of a nearby building.

"We've got her!" Hanasotsu shouted as he smiled at their success.

"Don't be too sure of that. She's extremely resilient." Tsuki got back into her fighting stance. "Get ready! Here comes the counter-attack!"

As if on cue, the silver-haired Asura formed a fist and punched the ground, making the ground shake a bit. She stood up slowly and dusted herself off before dashing towards Hanasotsu. Bhumi swung her hand and attempted to backhand the blonde ANBU, but he blocked her attack with his arm and countered with a blow to her stomach. That didn't seem to faze her much, though, as she simply grabbed onto Hanasotsu's clothing and threw the blonde over her shoulder and into the hole in the wall.

Tsuki began to form hand signs and took a deep breath. _'Suiton: Tsunami Taihou!!'_ She spat out a large burst of water at Bhumi. Upon contact, the force form the bullet forced the Asura back a bit. After the attack, the purple-haired kunoichi reached into her kimono sleeve and pulled out a few shuriken. She flung them just as Bhumi was starting to dash towards her. The shuriken were embedded into her flesh, but that didn't faze the silver-haired woman one bit. She merely skidded to a halt and as did, chopped the ground with her hand. A wide crack began to form and made its way towards Tsuki. The purple-haired kunoichi jumped out of the way and onto the roof of a building. The crack continued to travel for some time until it was out of Tsuki's sight.

"Why'd you move?" A voice beside Tsuki spoke. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Bhumi standing beside her, towering over the kunoichi and staring down at her with dull eyes. "Now it's probably gonna hit some building and break it down…not that I care with it stops." Bhumi balled up a fist to strike the Leaf kunoichi when she found herself unable to move. Looking out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed several small gold flowers floating around her. "This… is annoying," she said as Hanasotsu stood still on the ground below, maintaining a hand sign in concentration.

"Not for me," said Tsuki as she stood up straight and looked up at the taller woman, a smirk forming on her crimson-painted lips.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Kill me and get this over with."

"Normally, I would, seeing as how you've done multiple things to harm my reputation as a Konoha shinobi, but we'll be needing you alive to answer a few questions for us. Of course, before _that_ can happen, I'll need to make sure you're too worn out to retaliate." Tsuki cracked her knuckles.

Bhumi rolled her eyes. "Should've known…"

Down on the ground below, Hanasotsu continued to maintain his concentrated pose while Tsuki started to strike Bhumi. _'It sounds like she's getting all her aggression out.'_

"What're you doing, Hana-chan?" A familiar voice spoke, breaking the blonde out of his concentration. Hanasotsu broke his pose and turned around to see Kira standing behind him with his bi-colored hair mussed up and a bright red mark on his neck.

"KIRA-SEMPAI, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!? And for that matter, where is Hikari-san?!" Hanasotsu shouted. "And…is that a _hickey_ on your neck?!"

Take it easy, would you? Sheesh…! While I'm glad that you even know what a hickey _looks_ _like,_ I'd have to tell you about the birds and the bees for you to get it," the mad genius explained.

"Th-the birds and the bees?! Don't tell me that you and Hikari-san—!" He stopped speaking and looked down to see that he had broken his hand sign formation. "Uh-oh."

On the rooftop, Tsuki was about to punch Bhumi in the face when the silver-haired Asura caught her fist in her hand. The jonin's eyes widened seconds before Bhumi's fist came crashing into her face, sending her flying off of the building. The purple-haired kunoichi just barely managed to land on her feet, but skidded back into Kira.

"Hey, Tsu-Tsu. Are you guys having fun without me?" The mad genius asked with an arched eyebrow as he held onto his old teammate.

"Kira…? Where the _hell_ have you been, you lummox?!"

Kira started to blush and looked out of the corner of his eye. "I, erm… That's not something I can tell you at a moment like _this_!! Or can you _not_ see that we're at fucking _war_ here?!"

"If it made you late to a fight, I have a right to know!!" The purple-haired kunoichi shouted loudly as she began to pull at Kira's shirt. She then noticed the hickey on his neck and immediately released him. "I-i-is that a hi-hickey…?" The black-and-white-clad man nodded. "Oh, _God_, no! Something like that would only happen during the Apocalypse… Then again, the fact that Hikari didn't try to knock you out earlier might've been an omen of things to come."

Kira's entire face turned tomato red until he noticed Bhumi on the roof. He continued to stare at her even as she jumped off the roof and landed in front of them. "Who's this?"

"Who do you _think_ she is?! She's with the monsters that are on a rampage right now!!" Tsuki shouted as a large vein began to throb on her forehead.

Kira looked around at the chaos and destruction that was taking place at the moment. He saw several Oni running around, eating random targets as an explosion could be seen from the distance. "Ah. I was wondering about that. Maybe _that's_ why my arm's hurting like a _bitch_…!"

"Would you stop acting like an idiot and get with the picture?!"

"Say, that silver-haired lady's getting away."

"Huh?!" The purple-haired kunoichi snapped her head in one direction and saw Bhumi running along the rooftops _away_ from them. "She… Why didn't you say this _before_?!" She shouted before jumping on the rooftops and chased after the Asura.

"Aren't you going to spring into action, Kira-sempai?" Hanasotsu asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Uhhhh…yeah. I'm not sure if I wanna help Tsuki when she's in _this _sort of mood…" The mad genius spoke as he scratched the back of his head. "Besides, I figure that if _these_ guys are here, then there's a chance that Zen's somewhere in the village, too! He's supposed to be one of them, after all…" He suddenly wrapped his free arm around Hanasotsu's shoulders and gave a wicked grin. "Come, Hanasotsu! We shall search for Zen and teach him a thing or two about coming home without informing us ahead of time!!"

The blonde blinked as his former captain attempted to hide the hickey on his neck. "But… But Tsuki-san is—!"

"Oh, fine! Go chase after Tsu-Tsu if you want, but I'm gonna go and find Zen. Later!" Kira then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Kira-senpai…" The ANBU turned around and began to hop along the rooftops. _'When are you going to accept that your friend is gone?'_

**X-X-X**

"STOP, YOU BASTARD!!!" Nataro shouted at Akash after he finally began to slow down. He picked up a stray kunai that was on the roof lying next to a Konoha shinobi's corpse and threw it at the red-haired Asura, but the kunai merely flew past his face, cutting off a few thin strands of his hair.

Akash appeared somewhat tired from flying so far along while dodging the blonde's attacks. He suddenly felt a twinge of pain in his back and gritted his teeth. Luck somehow managed to give Nataro a chance and perfected his aim. Before the redhead knew it, he was falling from the air, his chakra wings disappearing.

"Got him!!" The orange-clad blonde shouted just as Akash crashed to the ground.

'_Ugh…! I guess I used more chakra than I thought…'_ The red-haired boy slowly opened his eyes, the pain from his crash landing starting to fade. He sat up and suddenly noticed that Akasha was no longer in his arms. "Huh?! A-Akasha?! Sister!" Akash began to look around frantically and noticed his sister lying facedown in the dirt with a small group of Oni around her. One of the long-clawed Oni turned her over and brought its claws close to her neck, but stopped after a large stone hit it in the head. "Cease and desist, you mindless drones!!" Akash shouted as he ran towards the Oni. They made an odd screeching noise before they fled, leaving the female Asura alone as she started to stir.

"ASURA-CHAN!!!" Akash narrowed his eyes at the sound of Nataro's voice. The blonde genin suddenly came running into view, gritting his teeth and shaking in fury. "What did you do to her, you bastard?!"

"You speak as though I've done something to harm her."

"Because you have! _You_ knocked her out and you're trying to steal her away from her friends!!" Nataro narrowed his eyes and bent over in fury. "You don't think _that's_ harming her?!"

The red-haired boy smirked and hid his mouth behind the back of his hand. "How _dare_ you? If anything, _Konoha_ is trying to steal my sister from her true family! I have some idea as to what shinobi do when an ideal weapon falls into their laps." His hand fell to his side as a frown appeared on his face. "You lock it up until you feel it's the right time to use it! You're all heathens…"

"What the hell are you talking about?! We haven't done _anything_ to her!!" _'At least…I don't think so. Come to think of it, Asura-chan said that she had to do tests… Was that why…they wouldn't let me see her? Because they were doing something to her?'_

"Is the truth finally starting to appear in front of you? The best thing for Akasha is to come with _me_." Akash reached behind his back and pulled out the kunai that was still stuck deep into his skin. It hurt like hell, but he didn't let Nataro see it.

"I… NO!!!" Nataro growled, pointing a finger at Akash. You don't know what's best for her!! All you guys do is hurt people!! Asura-chan's not like that; she's _nothing_ like you!!"

At that moment, Akasha's red eyes snapped open and she immediately sat up straight. "Wh-what…?" She looked around slowly and noticed Nataro. "Na…Nataro…?"

The blonde and redhead's eyes moved towards the conscious Asura. "Asura-chan! You're okay!"

"Sister, you shouldn't be moving. Just let me kill him off and we'll be going."

Akasha looked up at Akash. "Akash…?" Her eyes suddenly widened and she grabbed her face in shock. "No! Not again! I don't want to go back there! Haven't I been good?!" The red-haired girl shouted. "I did everything I was told... _Everything_! I don't deserve to go back in there!!"

"Asura-chan, snap out of it!" Nataro took a few steps forward with concern for his friend in his eyes. "It's alright, you're safe now! I'm here—!" He didn't finish his sentence as with a flick of the wrist, Akash threw the bloody-tipped kunai at the blonde, plunging it into his chest. Azure eyes widened as Akash smirked.

As soon as he fell to the ground, Akasha's eyes widened. "Nataro!!" She looked up at her brother, tears brimming in her eyes. "Akash, how…how could you?! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Yes, he did! While you were asleep, that brute tried to kill me! He's the one who gave me _this_!" Her brother turned around to show her the deep wound in his back. Akasha stared at the wound in disbelief. "They're all animals, those Konoha ninja. Pure animals!" He bent down and held his sister's cheek in his hand. "One such as you…shouldn't live among mongrels like these. I'll take you home, where you're respected."

"N-no…! I want to stay here...with my friends," the red-haired girl mumbled. "Nataro-san…is my friend. He wouldn't hurt you unless…you did something wrong. Did you do something wrong, Akash…?" She spoke softly. Seconds later, the sound of a hand making contact with flesh resounded through the empty street. Akasha was now lying on the ground with a red palm mark on her face. "Akash…!"

"Sh-shut up!!" Her brother screamed. He was still holding his slightly shaking hand up. "What the hell's gotten into you?! You don't _have_ any friends here!! They were just pretending! _I'm_ the only one who cares about you! Why can't you see that?!"

"Bastard!"

"Eh?" Akash looked over his shoulder, only to get a fist in his face from Nataro, who was now standing behind the redhead. He had the kunai in his hand and the wound on his chest was already starting to heal.

"You keep saying that you're her brother, but the way you're treating her says otherwise!" The blonde genin gave the shorter boy an angry look before he attempted to knock Akash off his feet with a sweep kick. The Asura, however, jumped away in time and landed on top of the roof of a nearby building.

The redhead narrowed his eyes. "I know what's making her act unlike herself… It's _you_! This is all _your_ fault!!" He growled as his eyes once again became entirely black with purple pupils. "You've been filling her head with your lies and nonsense since the day you met her…! You've turned my sister against me, you bastard!! Well…" He gave a disturbed smile and held out a hand as a cloak of dark chakra began to surround his body. "I'm going to kill so I can remove your hold on her!!"

Nataro jumped onto the rooftop, standing a few feet away from Akash. "I haven't done a single thing to Asura-chan. Every decision she's making is of her own free will! I don't know who she was before I met her…but this is who she chooses to be—a member of Konohagakure!!"

Tears began to brim in Akasha's eyes and she bowed her head. "No…!"

"For the last time…THIS ISN'T WHERE SHE BELONGS!!!" Akash roared as he struck the roof with his foot, causing tiles to fall out of place. Several chakra hands stretched out and attempted to punch Nataro. The blonde jumped up into the air to avoid the first assault, but the hands stretched up and began to pummel away at him. Nataro tried to guard himself as best he could, but eventually, one of the two chakra hands delivered a hard punch to his gut, causing the blonde to drop his guard. Two more hands wrapped around his legs and pulled the blonde down, slamming him on the roof.

"Ohhh…" Nataro moaned as he rolled over and sat up. He made a familiar hand sign and a hundred Nataro clones appeared all around them. The clones began to form hand signs and blew out streams of fire that came together to form a large fireball. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_

"No…! Akash!" Akasha whimpered as she stared at the rising flames. As the smoke cleared, nothing was in the spot where Akash had been standing.

"Die!!" The red-haired Asura grunted as he suddenly appeared next to the blonde and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying through some of his clones before he fell off of the roof. The bunshin jumped on top of Akash and created a dog pile, but in a matter of seconds, those clones disappeared after being sliced by chakra claws.

'_Damn, he's tougher than he looks…!'_ The orange-clad genin thought as he got to his knees and spat out some blood.

"**You know what **_**this**_** means, don't you?" **The Kyuubi asked in what might be called a happy tone. Then again, as it was thinking about killing someone after enduring three nights of Kyuubi Festival joy and cheer, happy was an understatement for what the bijuu felt.

'_And let you take control again so you can destroy Konoha?! Hell no!! Besides…he's Asura-chan's brother… I can't kill him. He's her family!'_

"**That doesn't matter. If she truly loved her brother, she would have mentioned him before, don't you think?"**

'_Uh… He's with those Asura guys and those monsters! I gotta make sure I beat him down hard enough, but keep him alive, so he can tell us where he's keeping all the people they kidnapped.'_

"**Hmmm, thinking with you head for once? There's a bad omen…"**

Nataro stood up and made another hand sign, creating a dozen Kage Bunshin around him. The clones jumped up onto the rood and landed around Akash, and then they dashed towards the redhead. He gave a disturbed grin as he started dodging their attacks in a fluid motion.

"When are you going to _get it_?!" Akash shouted after he jumped over a clone that had tried to sweep him off of his feet. "I—" The Asura landed behind the clone and sliced it in the back, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. "—Am on a completely different level than you!!" He started to dart about, slashing through the bunshin. He quickly landed on the ground near Nataro. "And it's that difference that will be your doom!"

"Hmph… You haven't known me long enough to see the difference between us," the genin told the Asura as he made another hand sign. More bunshin appeared around him, already in fighting stance. "You're gonna see that right now!!" Four clones suddenly jumped off of the rooftop and held onto Akash, holding him back from the other bunshin, a few of which were starting to form hand signs. Akash immediately disposed of the bunshin restraining him, his chakra forming hands and choking the clones, causing them to disappear in puffs of smoke. He was about to move towards the group of blondes when the ones forming hand signs suddenly spat out fireballs at the Asura. Akash skidded to a halt and his chakra formed in front of him in the shape of a shield, blocking the fireballs.

"You're _still_ beneath me, mongrel!!" The Asura shouted as he raised his hand and the shield became a single clawed hand. It swiped away a few of the clones before it retracted and Akash dashed towards the blondes, baring his teeth as he did so. However, the clones soon dispersed just seconds before Akash could reach them, revealing Nataro with a Rasengan in hand.

It almost seemed to happen in slow motion to Akasha. Nataro rammed his Rasengan into her brother's stomach and she saw how Akash's body shook from the grinding force of the blonde's jutsu. The red-haired girl swore that she saw blood flying. Time regained its normal speed and she saw Akash being thrown backwards by the force of the Rasengan until he was out of her sight. Tears started to well up in her eyes and a throbbing pain suddenly emerged in her chest. "AKAAAAAASH!!!" She screamed as she ran down the road barefoot, tears down her face. _'Don't be dead! __**Don't be dead**__!!'_

Nataro blinked in confusion as he saw Akasha run off in the direction that his Rasengan had pushed back Akash. "Asura-chan? Wait, stop!! Get back here!!" The orange-clad ninja shouted as he chased the red-haired girl. _'What's up with you, Asura-chan? Did he do something to you?'_ He thought as he started to channel chakra to his feet to increase his speed a bit.

**X-X-X**

In another part of town, a group of long-clawed Oni went running past an alley. Hanzo peeked out from inside of the alley and looked around. "The coast is clear. Let's go, Shizuka-chan." He waited for a moment to hear some sort of reply from the blue-haired girl, but he got none. The young Uchiha looked over his shoulder to see the blue-haired girl on the ground, her eyes reflecting fear. They were unfortunate in having seen several people, both dead and alive, being eaten by the failed experiments. Shizuka, however, may have been more affected by it considering the fact that she was a bit thin-skinned.

'_There's just no way! This isn't happening!'_ Shizuka thought as she held her shaking hand on her mouth. _'I…I've fallen asleep… In a few seconds, I'm going to wake up and be next to Hanzo-kun.'_

"Shizuka!"

'_And we'll go and see the fireworks together and have fun—'_

"Shizuka!" Hanzo hissed as he stared to shake the young medic. "Snap out of it!"

She blinked and looked around. "Huh? H-hanzo…!"

"It's gonna be alright. Trust me! It looks bad right now, but we've been through worse, haven't we?" The Uchiha grabbed onto Shizuka's hand and looked around. "Come on, let' go. We've gotta get to the emergency shelter. Or at least somewhere with less of these things around." The blue-haired girl nodded nervously before they jumped onto the rooftops and began to run along them.

"**Heh-heh-heh…! It's like the Apocalypse,"** The Kaijuu spoke in what Hanzo could swear was a giddy tone. **"The only thing that's missing is…actually, nothing appears to be missing! What a perfect night for complete and utter **_**war**_**! Aren't you going to participate? Defend your village or something like that?" **The beast growled softly as its container jumped over a Konoha kunoichi's corpse. **"It's the perfect opportunity to put the knowledge you learned from that book to good practice."**

'_I just want to find my brother, my grandparents, my aunt and my cousins and make sure they're safe. Besides, I was nearly __**killed**__ by one of those things last time! I don't want to have another claw in my stomach!'_

"**Hmph. How pathetic. I've done worse than gutting and eating humans."** Hanzo blinked and found himself standing in front of the tall black demon with all three of its eyes staring down at him. **"Come, Hanzo. You know you want to. It would be good practice for your…**_**revenge**_**, don't you think?"**

Hanzo and Shizuka stopped running and looked around. They could hear screams and battle sounds and see smoke and fire that was rising up to the sky. "Where should we go?" The blue-haired girl spoke as she stared off to the west. "It looks like those things are everywhere… There's probably not a safe place in the entire village."

"I guess we've got no choice. We have to fight. But first, I have to try and find my brother to make sure he's okay!"

"But where is he?"

"I don't know!!" The raven-haired boy shouted as he ran a hand through his hair and began to mumble obscenities under his breath, his eyes darting from place to place.

"Hanzo-kun, relax! I'm sure that he's alright! I mean…how old is he?"

"Too young to take care of himself at a time like this!" Hanzo shouted as he jumped onto another rooftop, Shizuka following him. "There's no way that I'll lose him, too! I won't!"

"C-calm down! I-I'm sure that he's safe. I mean, there's a chance that he's been taken to safety by an adult—"

"And a chance that he's about to be eaten by one of those monsters!!" The raven-haired genin hopped off of the roof and landed on the road below, still frantically searching for his sister. He turned around and came face to face with Shizuka, who grabbed him by the shoulders and started to shake him erratically.

"Hanzo, that's enough!! Have faith that your brother is alright and he _will_! I know it's hard, but if you keep this up, you're going to get yourself hurt!" The young kunoichi shouted. She then realized what she was doing and released him.

"Thank you." Hanzo started to look around again. "Come on, let's go."

A low growl behind them caused the two genin to turn around. A pair of long-clawed Oni was standing behind them, slouching over and carrying bloody masks that Hanzo recognized as ANBU masks. They slowly stalked towards the two genin. One was missing an arm, which had been reduced to a bloody stump and the other had its mask removed, revealing the ashy gray face of a man with several needle-like teeth and enough flesh removed form a cheek to show some bone.

"Huh… We've been caught." Hanzo took a deep breath and got into a fighting stance. "We've got no choice now but to fight."

"Right! I'm right behind you!" Shizuka exclaimed as she attempted to get into a fighting stance. Her kimono, however, prevented her from doing so, so she settled for standing behind Hanzo. "Okay, I'll just do my best!" She channeled chakra into her hands and held her hands out.

The Oni suddenly dashed towards the genin and slashed at them. Hanzo quickly jumped back, pulling Shizuka away with him. She just barely missed the attack and the lower half of her kimono now had a long jagged split, revealing her legs and fishnet stockings. The maskless Oni licked its lips and swung its claw at Shizuka, slicing across the front of her leg. The masked Oni immediately jumped at Shizuka and tried to grab Shizuka's arm, but it was stopped by a fireball to the face. The creature began to hiss and growl as it flailed about, pulling on its mask. In the blink of an eye, Hanzo appeared at its feet and elbowed the creature in the gut, causing it to stumble back.

Hanzo jumped back over beside the blue-haired girl. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" She mumbled as she touched the cut. "It's nothing serious."

"Great. Now, if you don't mind…" He grabbed the pins that held up her hair and twirled them around in his hands. "Sorry about this!" The raven-haired genin dashed towards the Oni, dodging their attacks while stabbing them with the pointed ends of the hair ornaments. Eventually, he managed to stab the masked Oni in the eyehole of its mask with one of the pins, ducked a slash from the maskless Oni's claws and stabbed it in the stomach with the second hair pin. The Uchiha jumped back and started to quickly form hand signs, then he blew out a steady stream of fire at the experiments. As soon as he stopped, the flames continued to burn, but the Oni kept moving.

Shizuka gave a small whimper and took a step back. The fire dwindled and the burnt creatures rushed towards them with great speed. Hanzo immediately slid in front of Shizuka, but the maskless Oni stabbed him through the shoulder with its claws and threw him aside into an empty booth, causing it to collapse on top of him. It then turned around to face Shizuka, hissing and growling as drool seeped through the spaces of its needle-like teeth. The Oni thrust its arm forward and slashed Shizuka through the side of her stomach.

Hanzo, who had just managed to get out of the rubble of the booth, couldn't tell if it was a deep wound or a nick at first…until he saw the blood splattering on the ground near her. Shizuka stumbled back and clutched her wound, falling to one knee. Lavender eyes focused on her masked opponent with ferocity as she attempted to heal her wound, but she never got the chance to as the Oni struck her upside the head and into a wall, knocking her out cold.

"Shizuka!! Shizuka, wake up!!" The Uchiha shouted as he got to his feet, only to fall backwards in order to avoid having his neck sliced through by the maskless Oni. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the other creature was standing over Shizuka with its arm poised to stab the blue-haired girl in the neck.

"**It appears that you've come across an obstacle… Do I honestly need to say what's needed here?"** The Kaijuu spoke as Hanzo stared up at his opponent. **"Do it."**

'_Do what?'_

"**You know what. I'm being gracious enough to pity you in your current situation, so the least you can do is use my power."**

'_Here? Now? Never!!'_

"**You think you have a choice?"** Hanzo suddenly imagined himself standing before the Kaijuu. **"Come on now… Snap… **_**Snap**_**!!"**

At that moment, the raven-haired boy's eyes widened as time began to move forward and the maskless Oni in front of him moved to stab him in the chest. His pupils shrank seconds before a splattering sound was heard.

**X-X-X**

Akasha took a step through the large hole in the wall of a home that had been completely destroyed on the inside. "Akash…?" She took another step forward and saw her brother lying on the floor facedown, twitching slightly. The red-haired girl ran over to him and knelt down beside him. "Akash? Are you okay?" No response. Akasha's eyes widened, fearing the worst, and she placed a hand on his back. "Akash... Ah!" She pulled her hand back as dark chakra began to swirl around Akash's body.

"I've had it…! I've had it! I've had it! I'VE HAD IT!!!" Akash shouted as he suddenly got up, a vein throbbing on his forehead. His skin seemed to become slightly darker until it seemed completely black. "I've had it up to here…with this damn place!!" The red-haired boy growled as the chakra emanating from his body began to wrap around him like a cocoon, hiding him from sight.

"Akash, stop!! You can't do _that_!! You'll--!!"

"SHUT UP!!!" He roared from within the cocoon. Within, his skin began to turn entirely black, his hands started to resembled claws, and his eyes turned entirely purple. "I won't be beaten by the likes of him!!" At that moment, the cocoon dispersed to reveal a creature that looked like some sort of animal. Its skin was entirely black with circular eyes that glowed dark purple, with long ears that pointed back and claws for hands and feet. "Not even _you_ can stop me!!" Akash's voice echoed from the beast in a distorted way.

Akasha stared at the cocoon with a frown on her face. "No… You're wrong. I _can_ stop. I won't let you do this, Akash!! No one here deserves any of this: having their homes destroyed and their loved ones killed! Nobody in Konoha deserves this! As much as I hate to say this..." Dark chakra began to swirl around her as well, until it began to cover her entire body, hiding her from sight.

"I could never hurt you, sister," the transformed Asura mumbled as he opened his mouth and breathed out chakra in some steam-like form. "But can't you see? They've twisted your mind! You never thought like this before these people captured you."

"You're right…I never thought like this before," Akasha spoke from inside of the cocoon as her skin began to darken, her teeth sharpened into fangs, and her nails began to form claws. "Before, the only person I really cared for was you. In this village, I've made new friends… And though I know now that I can never truly be with them…" The cocoon dispersed, revealing a similar, yet slightly bigger creature like the transformed Akash with a difference: entirely black circular eyes…and nine tails that moved behind her like they had a life of their own. "I won't allow you to hurt them!!" The beast spoke in a distorted version of Akasha's voice.

"You'd fight against _me_?! Your own brother?! This behavior should end once I get rid of the origin of it!!"

Akasha got down on all fours as the tails behind her began to whip about. "I can't let you do that. Because I care for him."

Akash opened his mouth and let out a devastating roar that caused the entire building to crumble around him. "_Precious_?! _Him_?! RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

Nataro skidded to a halt as he saw a building collapse in the distance and heard a loud, beast-like roar. "What was that?!" _'Is that where Asura-chan went?'_ The blonde boy took off again, in the direction of the building. He couldn't tell what the source of the roar was, but he hoped that Akasha or some innocent bystander wasn't being hurt by it. Eventually, when he came to the ruins of the building, he skidded to a halt at what he saw. "What the…?!"

Two large black creatures were standing in the midst of the ruined home. One had no tail, the other was bigger with nine long ones that occasionally moved to strike the smaller beast when the main body wasn't trying to scratch or claw it. The monsters rolled around in the rubble, biting into each other's skin—if you could call that bubbling black substance skin—clawing, attempting to gut and strangle. From what Nataro could tell, the smaller one seemed to be resisting, but the bigger one didn't seem to want to let it go any time soon.

The larger beast growled before several of its tails extended towards the smaller one, wrapping around its legs and body to keep it in place. It lowered its body to the ground until it wore away beneath her, forming a crater. The larger beast opened its fanged mouth and dozens of small black blobs of broke apart from its body and floated around it.

"N…no!! Not that!!" The smaller beast cried in a distorted voice before blobs shot towards it in the form of a flurry of needles. When they hit, the small beast flinched before the needles melted into its skin. In a few seconds, the needles burst out of its body in a more forceful manner that made the smaller beast collapse and returned to the larger one's body.

"RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The tailed beast roared up to the sky. It suddenly seemed to notice Nataro and the blonde flinched when he realized that he had been noticed. The beast held out an arm in its direction and it stretched towards the boy to try and claw him, but Nataro jumped back. Rather than the arm retracting, the black beast stretched towards its arm and landed in front of front of Nataro just before one of its tails wrapped around his throat.

"Gurk!!" Nataro's hands flew towards the tail and he tried to pull it off, but from the moment he grabbed it, he felt something _odd_ race through his hands and into his entire body. _'What is this…this feeling? It's like…like…!'_ Before the genin could finish his thought, the tailed beast threw him up into the air. As he began to fall, the monster stretched its arm upward and stabbed Nataro in the gut, only for him to be replaced by a log.

"You're mine!!" Nataro shouted as he suddenly jumped down from a nearby rooftop and landed an axe kick in the creature's face. "This is what you've done to Asura-chan!!" At that moment, something came out of the creature's back in the form of a large claw. The claw gripped him tightly and began to stretch up to the sky as the original arm retracted towards the beast's body. When the large claw was high enough, towering over most of the buildings in Konoha, it slammed Nataro down on the ground a few feet away from it, forming a crater in the middle of a street and destroying half of a building in the process.

'_Is this…his true form…?'_ Nataro thought as he laid on his stomach in the bottom of the crater, his eyes half open and slightly glazed over as he attempted to stand up. _'He's way stronger now than he was before… I can't beat him on my own…!'_ He thought as the beast that Akash had become peered over the edge of the crater.

"**You called?"** The Kyuubi spoke. **"You can't honestly object to using my power after all that's happened. Before, you didn't want to hurt him because he was Asura's brother. But now that you've seen him attempt to hurt his sister, you can't feel the same about killing him as you did before."**

'_Who knows what he might have done to Asura-chan…! Who knows what he'll do to anyone else who gets in his way.'_

"**Exactly. He's too dangerous to keep alive like you wanted to do in the first place, Naruto. As you said, who knows what he'll do…"**

'_He might've killed Asura-chan…! He might have killed his own sister!!'_ The blonde clenched a fist and gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing red for a moment before returning to their natural sky blue.

"**He could kill all your loved ones if he has the chance,"** the demonic vulpine continued with a wicked grin on its face. Its vivid red eyes stared down at Nataro, who was standing before the sealed cage. **"You know what you have to do?"**

Nataro remained silent and stared up at the Kyuubi, a blank look on his face. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. "Fine. But _I'm_ in control, you heard me?! If you try and pull something, I'll…!"

"**Oh, I'm **_**so**_** frightened,"** the Kyuubi spoke flatly before it snorted warm air onto its host. **"I'll be satisfied so long as I can come out."**

In reality, red chakra began to emanate from the blonde. The beast that had perched itself on the edge of the crater had begun to shake as steam emanated from its mouth. A low growl emanated from within the crater as the red chakra rose above it, seeming to form a fox's head for a moment. "AKASH!!!" Nataro screamed. He jumped out of the crater and landed behind the tailed beast, hunching over as red chakra continued to rise from his body.

"RRRRRAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The beast hissed as its tails began to whip about in a wild manner, breaking down walls and breaking the ground wherever they lashed.

Nataro turned around to face the monster, red eyes focused on it. "I'm gonna let you do as you please anymore!! You'll only destroy this village and take Asura-chan away over _my dead body_!!" The blonde shouted as the chakra around him started to bubble. Slowly, a tail of chakra began to form as his eyes became slightly wider and animal-like, his teeth resembling canines, his hair bushier and deep, wide whisker-like markings appeared on his cheeks. A low growl emanated from the blonde's throat before he leapt at the black beast and swiped his claw at it. The beast took the blow, but it jumped onto the other side of the crater.

"Come back here and fight like a man, damn it!!" The orange-clad genin growled. He punched out a hand and a clawed hand of chakra stretched out and reached towards the beast. Its response was the stretch its own arm out and grapple with the blonde boy. "COME ON!!!" The chakra claw began to burn through its own claw and the beast released it, giving a whine of pain.

Nataro's chakra arm retracted back into the main chakra cloak before he jumped over the crater to punch the beast in the face. It countered by having its tails wrap around his arm and flinging him over its shoulder onto a rooftop. The Kyuubi-possessed boy landed on his feet and spun on his heel to send a claw of chakra stretching towards the black beast. It grabbed hold of the monster's head and brought it up in front of him. With a fierce growl, the blonde released the chakra claw's hold and used the other hand to punch the creature in the face with enough force to send it flying into another part of town.

"Where do you think _you're_ going…?!" Nataro growled as he hunched over, chakra cloak bubbling like lava. "I'm not through with you yet!!" He shouted as he began to bound along rooftops in the direction the beast had gone, breaking up parts of roofs as he did.

Out from the rubble came Akash, who was panting heavily with his clothes tattered and had a tired look in his eyes. He suddenly doubled over and started to cough up some blood. _'I can't believe…all this time, and she hasn't lost that power…but she still can't control herself… And that idiot…is inhuman as well…like __**that man**__…!'_ When he looked up from the small puddle of blood that had formed at his feet, Akash smirked. "Oh well. She should be able to kill him…!"

**X-X-X**

"I think that's about all of them," said an ANBU wearing a dog mask on his face and a black cowl around his body. He looked over his shoulder at the two other ANBU that were behind him. "Have you located Hokage-sama yet?"

"He's somewhere in the streets fighting the enemy, sir!"

"_What_?! And you aren't trying to stop him?!"

"That's hard to do, sir, amidst all the chaos and with how he seems to be moving around a lot."

"Our duty is to protect the Hokage and your allowing his life to fall into the hands of the enemy?! Do you know how much trouble we'd be in if he died?!"

"A…lot?" The cat-masked male ANBU spoke.

Before the ANBU captain could curse out loud, something crashed into the apartment building beside the one they were standing on. "What the hell?!" A few seconds afterwards, a glowing red figure crashed into the building as well. "What is _that_?!"

"Aren't we supposed to go check or something?" The bird-masked female ANBU spoke as she placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.

In the blink of an eye, the three ANBU appeared on the fire escape of the apartment building. There was a large hole that allowed them to see an entire room and the bottom half of another room. The ANBU crept inside and searched about the room, but found nothing but another hole leading out of the apartment building that was just as large as the previous hole.

"What was that?!" The female ANBU spoke as they approached the hole. They looked down below and saw two dots colliding against each other, one glowing bright with red chakra, the other dark chakra. "What's this sensation…?" She rubbed her arm as a tingling sensation ran through her body.

"It must be coming from those guys," the cat-masked ANBU assumed as he leaned forward in an attempt to see the culprits better.

On the ground below, Nataro and the beast continued to exchange blows. The black beast slashed him across the face, drawing blood that immediately healed over. The possessed blonde's arm shot forward to punch it in the face, but it grabbed his wrist and easily snapped it. "GAAAAHHHH!!!" Nataro screamed, before the creature pulled him towards it and punched him in the gut, sending him skidding back and causing dust to rise. Upon coming to a halt, the blonde genin spat up some blood, but continued to bare his teeth. _'Damn it…! He's tougher than I thought!'_

"**You know what **_**that**_ **means…!"** The Kyuubi chuckled darkly. **"Time to go up to the **_**second**_** tail!!"**

'_Second?'_

"**How else do you expect to get enough power to defeat him? Hmhmhm…! Once again, you come running to **_**me**_** for help. As it should be, Naruto…"**

'_I'm __**really**__ getting sick of you calling me that!'_ At that moment in the real world, the black beast's tails shot forward and tried to stab the genin. Nataro jumped up in time to seemingly avoid the attack, but they simply changed directions and slanted upwards to stab him through the chest, arms and legs. "Guh!!"

The creature almost seemed to smirk before it sat up and cracked open its mouth. A small orb of black chakra began to form in front of its face.

"**Uh-oh."**

'_Uh-oh?! Did you just say __**uh-oh**__?! __**You**__?!'_

"**This seems familiar…! This may not end well."**

At that moment, the black beast swallowed the black ball of chakra and its body swelled up. Steam hissed out of its mouth as its cheeks puffed out from the sheer amount. It suddenly opened its mouth and unleashed a wide and massive blast of black chakra at the blonde genin.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

**X-X-X**

On top of the Sandaime's head of the Great Stone Faces, the blast could easily be seen.

"My… It's been a while since I've seen _that_ sort of power…"

"We expected no less of it. Remember what happened eight years ago…?"

"Hm? What happened eight years ago?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself with!!"

"Yikes! Geez, you don't have to say it like _that_. A simple _'can't tell you'_ would suffice…" The man in the black hooded cloak muttered as he stepped further out onto the head's edge and gazed down at the chaos happening in the village below. _'They're getting massacred down there…'_

"So, will it transform? It's disappointed us before."

"With the conditions, it would be impossible for it _not_ to transform."

"But do we have to wait? Why can't we just skip to the ninth tail and get it over with?!"

"We're supposed to wait until it's time."

"Oh, fine. Then I'll just enjoy the mayhem."

The man in the cloak looked at the three people behind him for a moment before looking back down at the village.

**X-X-X**

Nataro dropped like a ton of bricks as soon as soon as the black beast released him. He swore he could hear a few bones in his arms and legs cracking as he landed, but at least he didn't break his neck.

"**It was…a weak blast… If it were any stronger…you'd be dead," **the Kyuubi spoke. Within its domain, the lights began to flicker. **"What? No!! Don't you **_**dare**_** start to die on me, you brat!!"**

In real life, Nataro appeared to have been scorched all over his body, but his torso seemed to have taken the most damage with a fist-sized hole in his stomach. Blood stained his shirt and jacket, the lenses of his goggles had broken, and the cloth that held his hitai-ate had disintegrated, the slab of metal with the Leaf symbol lying a few feet away. If that menacing ball of chakra had been any stronger, he'd have been dead in an instant. Now he had to suffer a slow and painful death. _'I can't believe…it's gonna end like this…!'_

The black beast stalked up to the blonde boy, its tails still moving wildly in anticipation for him to move. It grabbed him by the face and began to stand on its hind legs, holding the genin up. The creature gave a low growl as its grip tightened.

Nataro shut his eyes and tears began to well up in them._ 'I'm sorry…I couldn't save you…Asura-chan…!'_

At that moment, the beast suddenly stopped moving. It began to shake erratically and growl softly to itself. It carelessly tossed Nataro aside as if he were a rag doll before it spun around to face the newcomer. "Rrrrr…!"

"I can't believe it's come to this… Can you hear me, Asura-chan?" Naruto asked as stood a few feet away from the transformed girl, doubled over panting and occasionally twitching in pain. The black beast that was Akasha's only response was to snarl.

"Hokage-sama!!" The ANBU captain in the black cowl and dog mask exclaimed as he and his squad suddenly appeared in front of the Rokudaime. "Please, don't go any further, sir! We'll take care of this!"

"No… You can't…! She can't control herself…!" Naruto panted as he forced himself to stand up straight. "We can't hurt her."

"RAWWWRRR!!!" The black beast roared, causing a large amount of dark chakra to circle around its body. The force behind the chakra was enough to crack the ground beneath its body, the walls of nearby buildings, and the masks of the ANBU squad.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have no choice!" The squad captain shouted as he gave a sign to one of his subordinates, who began to form hand signs. His body suddenly began to glow with a bright white light until the light shone brightly enough to seemingly envelop the entire area.

The beast squinted and shielded its eyes as a low rumbling sound was heard. Once the light became less intense, it tried to move, but found its legs bound to something. When the light fully faded away, it was revealed that four tall stone pillars had been set up around it, shackles of chakra keeping it in place. The black beast ignored its restraints and began trying to move towards the Konoha ninja, hissing and growling as its tails whipped about, preparing the reach out to accomplish the deed.

'_Now!!'_ The squad captain thought as he began to form a string of hand signs, and then thrust his hand out. Something stretched out from the stone pillars and began to form some sort of transparent box with the pillars as foundations. The substance the box was made of shone like crystal in the moonlight.

The transformed Asura continued to struggle against its restraints as its tails lash at the crystalline walls at an attempt to smash them.

"Now what do we do with it?" The female ANBU in the bird mask asked. "I doubt we can transport it like _this_."

"Bring it down." The ANBU squad looked back at their village's leader. "On my say, bring the wall down."

"You can't be serious, Hokage-sama! If we let that down, it'll go on a rampage!" The lynx-masked ANBU exclaimed.

"I know what I'm doing," Naruto spoke sternly as he pushed his way past the ANBU and approached the crystal box. He spread his legs out and began to form a long string of hand signs. When he was done, he separated his hands and held one out, his hand glowing with so much chakra that it was visible. "Now!!"

Despite a few looks from his subordinates that said _'don't do it,'_ the ANBU captain formed a hand sign and the box of crystal shattered. The black beast reared back and seemed to give an evil smile before it lunged forward and made to claw Naruto in the stomach. Its clawed hand stopped a few inches away from its intended target, though, as the Rokudaime had the glowing hand on its head, clutching onto it tightly. The beast began to growl and hiss in pain as it managed to force Naruto back. The black chakra that made up its skin began to convulse as if it had a life all its own before it exploded, small spheres of black chakra floating around in the air before disappearing.

"That's…that girl?!" The captain gasped in shock as he stared at Akasha, who was lying facedown on the ground and wasn't moving.

"Poor thing… Huh?" Naruto looked up and saw Nataro on the ground with a small puddle of red beside him. "Nataro!!"

One of the ANBU was immediately at the blonde boy's side and began to take his pulse. "He appears to be alive for now. But at this rate…"

"Take him to the hospital."

"Yes, sir." The ANBU member carefully scooped up the genin and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"The same goes for Asura-chan… Make sure she gets a private room."

"Yes, sir," said another of the ANBU, who walked over to the red-haired girl and picked her up into their arms before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Hokage-sama, are you alright?" The ANBU captain asked as Naruto held onto his chest and began to breathe heavily. "Maybe we need to get you to the hospital as well…"

"I'm just fine… Just a little winded."

"Heh… Winded, huh…?" Akash whispered to himself as he glared at the old man from his spot on a rooftop. _'Now's my chance!'_ He tried to stand up, but found himself unable to. _'Ugh! Why can't I move?!'_

"There you are." The redheaded Asura looked over his shoulder and found himself staring up at Bhumi's apathetic face. "When I saw that attack, I thought it was familiar. That was Akasha… What happened?"

"Those people…did _something_ to her!! She said they were precious to her!" He hissed.

"I see… So Akasha's betrayed us—"

"No, she hasn't! I tell you: those Leaf ninja have brainwashed her! We have to stop them!" The battered boy growled. Bhumi picked him up and slung him over her shoulder. "What are you doing?!"

"It's a lost cause. Just like last time. Besides, you're in no condition to fight."

"I don't care! I swear that I will rip this village apart until I get her back!!"

"Hm?" Naruto suddenly looked up at the roof to find no one there. He glared at it for a little wild before looking at the two ANBU. "Never mind… Let's do clean up. We have to make sure every single Oni in the village is disposed of."

"Yes, sir."

**X-X-X**

The back of Sasuke's head hit the wall of a building after being punched into it by Shiva. Despite the fact that the dark-haired Asura could've easily killed him with one concentrated blow, he had been dragging it out, almost as if Shiva was enjoying seeing him in pain.

"Gurk!!" Sasuke almost choked as Shiva's hand wrapped around his throat and forced him to bang the back of his head against the building once again.

"Now you're gonna get it…!" The Asura whispered darkly with a slight smirk on his face as he pulled back his hand, balling it up into a fist. "You'll pay…for what you've done to me…!" Before he could lay a hand on the old man, something grabbed him from behind and threw him back with enough force to send him flying through the window of a store.

"Keep your hands off of him, bastard!!"

Sasuke cracked an eye open and found himself staring at Sakura, who had an angry expression on her face. "Sakura…"

"Sasuke! What did he do to you?" His wife gasped as she bent over him, touching his injuries.

He slapped the Uchiha matriarch's hand aside. "Stop that! I'm fine!" Sasuke struggled to stand up and rolled a shoulder bone back into place with a crack. "Besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about."

"Don't worry about a thing, dear!" Sakura punched her fist into her open palm with a smirk. "Between the two of us, he doesn't have a ch…ance?" She stopped speaking as Shiva stepped out of the store with bits and chunks of glass stuck in his skin. Sakura's arms fell to her sides and her eyes widened in shock. "Zen…?"

Shiva flinched as he made eye contact with Sakura. His pupils shrank once again before he slumped over. "Mo…ther… Can you tell me why…?" He whispered, more to himself than to Sasuke and Sakura. "Tell me…he doesn't _care_?!" The dark-haired Asura suddenly punched the ground, making it crack and sending bits of rock flying all over.

"Zen!!"

At that moment, Apsaras appeared beside Shiva in a puff of smoke. She had several bruises on her body and face as well as a couple of scorch marks. "Shiva! We're leaving! My frogs got turned into frog legs and some drunk guy nearly flambéed me!! Now I remember why I hate this village so much!"

"I'm not going."

The blonde Asura blinked. "Did you just _speak_? And what the hell do you mean by _'you're not going'_? Akash has been injured and Akasha is being bitchy and pro-Leaf!"

"I'm not going until I can kill him…!" Before Shiva knew _what_ exactly had hit him, he was lying on the ground with Apsaras' stretched tongue on him. The blonde Asura retracted her tongue and stuck it out at the fallen man.

"Too bad. You can always eat old people later. Now…" She bent over and surprisingly managed to lift the bigger Asura over her head. "Let's get out of this dump!!" She proceeded to jump along the rooftops, away from the old couple.

"Hmph… At least that's _one_ problem taken care of," said Sasuke as he rubbed his sore face. The sound of something falling made him turn his attention to his wife, who was now lying on the ground. "Sakura!!"

**X-X-X**

"It's over."

"Well, that last part was certainly exciting. It was the one we heard screaming, right? It sure can yell!"

"But they took it a bit _too_ far. Now it's on the brink of life and death. Of course, we know that it won't die thanks to its true self, but had the beast had more power, it wouldn't have survived."

The man in the black hooded cloak rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles with a yawn. "Is it over yet?"

"Yes, it's over. We're leaving."

The three shadowy figures disappeared off of the Great Stone Faces while the cloaked man continued to stare down at the village. "Right… We're leaving to begin the preparations." A blue eye glinted in the darkness of the hood. "Goodbye for now, _Kyuubi no Kitsune_." With that, the cloaked figure disappeared as well, as the flames that had taken up some buildings continued to burn like beacons in the night…

**X-X-X**

**The Kazaki Hyaku Buro Rondo is basically Nataro's version of the Uzumaki Naruto Rendan."**

**Akash's special chakra morphing ability is similar to a technique used in the anime fillers by the shinobi of Hoshigakure. Naruto is also able to use this ability from his first tailed state on.**

**Akasha and Akash's transformation into jinchuuriki-like beasts (especially Akasha with her "nine tails") is something that will be explained later on.**

**X-X-X**

**Naruto cast: WTF?!?**

**Blu: I know… I wasn't exactly expecting for this arc to end like this, either, but…that's what came to me. It seemed like a good idea to me, since it ties into my initial idea for later on…**

**Naruto: What idea?! Why the heck did Akasha look like a mini version of the Kyuubi?! That's _my_ shtick!**

**Blu: I'll tell you…about a couple dozen chapters into Arashiden.**

**Naruto: WHAT?!? That long?!**

**Blu: What can I say? It's important and the important stuff must always take a long time to reveal—even when it's painfully obvious to the readers—so that the characters can endure some form of mental break. This is _Naruto_!! One of the main characters has been broken over and over to the point of blind vengeance!! It's an important trait!!**

**Sakura: Alright, we get it! You don't have to go on a rant…!**

**Blu: Thank you. Anyway, that stuff's an important part of Arashiden and it will lead to some very…_painful_ moments for Akasha. That's all I can say for now.**

**Naruto: Right! On to Arashiden!!**

**Blu: Nope.**

**Naruto: Now what?!**

**Blu: In case you didn't notice, the chapter wasn't exactly finished properly for a _final chapter_ of Part I. That's because there's still another arc. And it involves…well, if you were reading this, you'd know what it was.**

**Naruto: What is it?**

**Blu: You don't read this story?! And you're starring in it?!**

**Naruto: Hey, I don't have to read _every_ chapter of _every_ fan fiction I've been in!! I have my own series to prepare for!**

**Blu: Oh, fine… I'll whisper it to you… (Leans towards him and whispers something into his ear)**

**Naruto: Can you _do that_ in a Naruto story?**

**Blu: Hey, if you can seal demons into people, turn yourself into a snake monster and insert the genes of a long dead man into someone and allow them to use an incredibly rare ability, someone had to have tried doing _that_.**

**Naruto: That's kind true…**

**Blu: Now then, wait for me, my loyal readers! I'll be back soon with a new and improved opening of You Know What later for the new final arc of Naruto X! Remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	46. Festival Aftermath: Change the Past!

**Blu: School has made me so busy, I barely complete a chapter by my old quota (a week). So, I've decided to bring my laptop with me to school on certain days, so I don't have to worry **_**too much**_** about it. Although lugging around that bag along with my book bag is a pain—especially when I'm going home…**

**Kakashi: Once again suffering for the fans, I see?**

**Blu: Indeed, I'm suffering, but it's also for my sake as well as the fans'. I mean, it may just be me, but I think this story has less reviews than the original. Do people not like the new concept that much?**

**Sakura: Not again…!**

**Naruto: Don't start this again! You've got over a hundred reviews and only 46 chapters so far! You're doing great! Just keep it up and before you know it, you'll be at Part III!**

**Sakura: There's a Part III?!**

**Naruto: I dunno… I don't know **_**how**_** Blu's mind works.**

**Sakura: Don't just say things like that!! You had me worried that we'd endure more of this…**

**Kakashi: Well, if everyone is done speaking, I believe it's time to start this arc.**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic. Now begin the fic!!_

**X-X-X**

_#46: Festival Aftermath: To Change the Past...!_

In an abandoned shrine somewhere in Hi no Kuni, three figures sat in the dark part of the shrine while the cloaked man stood out in the light with his arms folded across his chest. The cloaked man tapped his fingers on his arm and tapping the heel of his foot.

"Must you do that?" One of the figures in the darkness asked. "It's irritating."

"I can't help it. Do we really have to wait for her? We could always replace her…"

"No. Not until she fulfills her purpose."

The cloaked figure started to grumble things under his breath as he resumed tapping his foot. After a few seconds, someone appeared in the doorway of the shrine. "Finally!! It's about time you showed up!!"

"Shut your trap! Unlike you, I was actually doing something important," the person spoke in a feminine voice.

"Important? What things of importance could you get from a hospital?"

"For _your_ information, I wasn't _just_ at the hospital. While the ANBU were busy with the Oni and Asura, I decided to raid the Hokage's mansion." The woman held out a scroll. "I managed to copy some _very interesting_ jutsu while I was there."

"_Copy_? You should've just stolen them! No one would've noticed, you dumb old hag!" The cloaked figure ducked in time to avoid being hit by the scroll. It hit one of the figures in the darkness, but they didn't respond. "See what you've done, you hag?!"

"You…little punk!! Who do you think you are, calling me old?!"

The man in black placed his hands on his hips. "I think I'm someone who's seen what you really look like, and that body is far from it. So get out of that chick's body."

A pale blonde eyebrow twitched. Tsubaki, or whoever it was possessing her body, glared at him. "Shit-brained know-it-all…!"

"Aki," said one of the figures in the darkness. "Have you left any trace behind?"

The person posing as Tsubaki fiddled with her glasses. "There was no need to. When they couldn't find this woman's body, they naturally assumed that she had been devoured by the Oni. I'm glad they've finally come to good use…"

"Well done. Now all that's left to do is gather and wait…"

"But for three years…?!" Another of the people in the dark complained.

"Silence! Patience is key for this task… In three years time, we'll change the spiral…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in Konoha, Kira stood in the center of a horseshoe-shaped table with a pair of jonin behind him. Sitting around the table were the village council, but the only person the mad genius was actually bothering to look at was Naruto, who sat at the middle of the table.

"Kira… You are here because you confessed to releasing the patient Asura," said Naruto with a stern look in his eyes. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

Kira arched an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like why you released her in the first place. You rarely interacted with each other, so…"

The black-and-white-clad man snorted. "The kid kept crying about not seeing her and taking her to the Kyuubi Festival."

"Kid?"

"You know: Nataro. I did it because all his whining was pissing me off… I just wanted him to shut up."

"So, Nataro helped you release Asura?"

"He didn't know until a few days ago, so…" The mad genius jabbed a thumb to his chest. "All your anger about this incident should be directed towards me!" He started to smile as the Rokudaime and council members stared at him in silence. "Go on!! Hit me with all you've got! I can take it!" _'Better than the kid could.'_

The council members began to murmur choice punishments among themselves. A few that Kira heard were _'rehabilitation,'_ _'community service,'_ and _'prison'_. They were all cut short as Naruto cleared his throat and gained the attention of everyone in the room.

"Hmmm…" The Rokudaime leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "Permanent expulsion from the ninja force—" At this, Kira's eyes became large and blank, his jaw dropped and his cheeks gained a slight tinge of blue. "—is what I would have said if you hadn't confessed, but since you have, I'll just further the date of your license suspension to 5 years."

"WHAAAAAAAT?!?" The black-and-white-clad man screeched with the same expression as before. "I said direct your _anger_, not your cruelty, old man!!"

"Enough with the idiot act!!" Naruto growled, narrowing his eyes. "Because you let Asura out, there were buildings destroyed and two children were hurt!! Don't you feel any guilt about that?!"

For a moment, Kira flinched as he felt a pang in his chest, but his face was apathetic. "Nope… Sorry, but I don't feel a thing at all."

**X-X-X**

"Would you look at that…? It's a miracle," said a medical ninja who stood in the doorway of a patient's room. The patient was Nataro, wearing a short-sleeved black shirt and light blue boxer shorts, heavily bandaged and eating the food on his tray. "With all the injuries you had when you came in, I thought you'd have to eat through an IV." The boy remained silent as he played around with the jello in his cup. "Something wrong? Do you feel pain or are you just not hungry?"

"Do…you know…where Asura-chan is?" Nataro asked in a soft tone as he continued to stare at the jello.

"Huh? Asura-chan…?"

The genin looked at the medic nin. "That pink-haired girl with the weird-looking eyes."

"Oh, was that her name? I haven't seen her, but then again, I'm not assigned to look after her." The medic didn't seem to notice how Nataro flinched. "Well, take care of yourself! If you need some assistance, you know what to do," he said before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

'_She wouldn't…go with them… Would she?'_ The blonde boy thought as he stared down at his tray.

The door opened once again and Kazemaru walked in. The orange-haired genin was wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt with the symbol for fire on the front and black shorts. There were bandages wrapped around his head, hands, and neck. "Hm?" Kaze noticed Nataro and his jaw dropped. "N-n-_nataro_?! You're still alive!!"

Nataro gave his teammate a half-lidded glare as he approached his bedside. "You thought I was dead?" He asked flatly.

"Well, who wouldn't? It's been three days since you came in here, and after all I heard about you from Hikari-san, I'd think you were half an inch away from death!"

The blonde genin's eyes widened. "Really…?" _'I wonder… Why didn't I die, then? Did someone save me?'_

"If the ANBU hadn't saved you in time, you'd probably be another name on the Memorial Stone…" Kaze spoke in a more solemn tone. "So…lemme ask you…" He suddenly punched Nataro in the face. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?" When the shorter boy fell off of his bed, he continued, "Going up against one of those monsters all by yourself?!? I don't care if you _do_ have some sort of monster in you!! That's _stupid_!!"

Nataro sat up and grabbed his face. "It's not stupid!! I did it to save Asura-chan!!"

"What…? Save Asura? From what?"

"From the Asura!! They were trying to take her with them!!"

Kaze narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist. "Those bastards!! How dare they try to kidnap her?!"

"No, no! They wanted to take her back with them! She's one of the Asura!!"

Kazemaru blinked. "Uh… Oh."

Nataro jumped onto his bed and narrowed his eyes. "_'Oh'_?! That's all you can say?!"

"Well, y'see…" The pyromanic genin looked down at the floor. "The thing is, after that mission to the cave and what you were saying about the Asura, I was thinking…Asura isn't a normal name. So…I thought that…she was with them."

"How could you?! This is Asura-chan!! She couldn't hurt anyone!!"

"Would you calm down?! It was just for a moment! Besides, haven't you ever wondered what her life was like _before_ we found her in that scroll?! Why she was in it in the first place?! Just _think about it_!!"

Nataro flinched. After a few seconds of silence, he sat down on the bed and stared down. Kazemaru glared at the blonde before he continued, "You never knew what my life was like before coming to Konoha. If she's one of the Asura…imagine the things she's done before… Would she _really_ stay here if she remembered something like that?" The orange-haired genin turned around. "Just think about that. I'll see you later." He walked out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

"**The arsonist boy has a point,"** the Kyuubi spoke. **"You already know what Akash has done to **_**us**_**… I had to go through a near-death experience for the first time in years and you went through your second in a year. If she was just like him, it's good that she's gone."**

'_No…!'_ Nataro clenched his teeth as he gripped the bed sheets. _'I refuse to believe…that she's anything like them…!'_

"**Denial isn't healthy. The next time you meet her, if that even happens, she may very well try to kill you like Akash."** In the boy's mind, he saw the nine-tailed beast grin wickedly. **"Of course, by then, you'll have learned that it's better to rely on **_**my**_** power than mere words—unless you want it to end up like what happened with Sasuke…"**

'_No…! I don't want to think that…!'_ The blonde thought as he held onto his head, shaking, as images of Akasha and a young Sasuke appeared in his mind.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in an unknown part of Konoha…

"Breathing is regular… Heartbeat is steady… Brainwaves are normal… Everyone in position," said a masked medical ninja who stood beside a seal on the ground in the shape of a diamond with a circle within. There were four other medics with one standing on each point of the diamond. Lying in the center of the circle was a red-haired girl wearing a white patient's dress. There was a piece of cloth with intricate seals written on it bound around to around her eyes like a blindfold and seals on her forehead. "Let's begin."

All the medics sat down in their spots and formed the same hand sign. The seal began to glow bright green, and in a few seconds, so did the seal on the girl's forehead. After a while, the procedure seemed to be going smoothly until she started to convulse on the ground.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The girl's hands suddenly reached up to her face and grabbed the cloth, trying in vein to remove it.

'_Damn it! Not again!'_ "Break the formation!" The lead medic exclaimed. At the same time, the five medical ninja released the hand signs as dark chakra started to swirl around the girl. As soon as the glowing stopped, she ceased all action and went back to lying motionlessly on the ground.

"What went wrong?" Naruto asked as he walked out from his spot in the corner of the room with a pair of ANBU with him.

"The same thing that's been happening for the last three days…" The lead medic pulled down his mask to reveal Matsu's tired face. "Her body—or rather what's _in_ her body—keeps rejecting any methods of healing we try on her."

"But you said she was recovering."

"She is. But we're not helping with that at all. The majority of the work is being done by Asura-chan herself."

Naruto blinked. "So…she's healing herself?"

"She or something in her. The progress is a bit slow, but it's working. Part of the process seems to be the comatose state she's in now." Matsu sighed. "If what you say really is true…Asura-chan is really _an_ Asura…and those are different from an Oni. Sadly, we don't know what makes them tick or act the way they do. Perhaps the seal we spotted on her neck could help, but we've yet to find anything like it."

The Rokudaime stopped just beyond the edge of the seal. "I see…" He looked down at Akasha sadly. "You're sure you can't do more to change her condition? Or at least bring her out of this coma?"

"I've done all I could do. Hikari-san is still busy filling in for Sakura-sama while she recovers. I would ask Sakura-sama for help, but I wouldn't want to disturb her. Besides, Sasuke-sama wouldn't allow anyone near her while she was in the hospital…so I suppose he would do the same at home."

"Well, you can't blame him. His wife just suffered a heart attack and he's the overprotective type who's quick to jump to conclusions."

**X-X-X**

At the same time in Uchiha mansion…

"Achoo!!" Sasuke sniffled as leaned back into his pillow.

"What's wrong, dear? Feeling sick?" Sakura asked as she played with the braid that was lying over her shoulder.

The retired shinobi looked at his wife and snorted. "Sick? I haven't been sick in years."

"There's always a first time."

At that moment, Hanzo walked into the bedroom with a tray in his hands that held two cups of tea and a plate of crackers and onigiri. "Here you go, Grandma," Hanzo said as he put the tray on Sakura's lap.

"Thank you, dear. You didn't have to do this, you know." At this, Sakura looked at Sasuke, who was already eating an onigiri, out of the corner of her eye. "That should be your grandfather's job."

A slight blush appeared on Hanzo's face as he scratched a cheek. "It's no problem, really. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, but your _grandfather_ seems to think differently."

Sasuke paused in eating his rice ball to say, "You had a heart attack."

"That was days ago!"

"You could still be affected by it."

"Ugh! There's no getting through to you…!" Sakura muttered as she picked up her cup. "Stubborn old goat."

The Uchiha patriarch gave her a half-lidded glare. "I heard that."

"Did it _sound_ like I was trying to not be heard?"

Hanzo sweatdropped and gave a nervous laugh. _'Grandma hasn't left the house in days. She must be cranky.'_ "Well, if you need me, I'll be downstairs." He left the room.

Sakura pouted. "Sasuke… Sweetie…"

"Hm?" Sasuke put down his onigiri. "What?"

"Could you rub my shoulders? Please?"

"Alright." Sakura's jaw dropped and she stared at him in shock. Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing!" _'He hasn't done that in years! Maybe this is a __**good**__ thing…'_ The elderly woman thought as she shifted so that her back was to her husband. In a few seconds, she felt his hands massaging her shoulders awkwardly. _'He never was good at this.'_ "Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"When are we going to tell Hanzo and Kotaro about Zen?"

"Never."

Sakura almost dropped her cup and looked at the retired shinobi from over her shoulder. "Why not?! They deserve to know! We know how depressed Hanzo was when he was told that his father was dead and Kotaro never knew him!"

"We're not going to tell them because that wasn't Zen."

"How could you say that…? You're his father! You should be able to tell—"

"He may look like Zen…he may even have the Sharingan…but Zen wouldn't be with those Asura killing people in the village."

The elderly pinkette opened her mouth to say something in retort, but when she couldn't think of it, all she could do was look down at her teacup. "I don't want to believe that our baby could do that…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed. "It wasn't Zen. Just keep telling yourself that… By the way, we're having some problems with Hanzo."

"What? Are you still upset because Shitomi wants to teach him some of their clan's jutsu? She's his aunt—you can't stop her from doing that, dear."

The man's grip on his wife's shoulders tightened. "Do you know _why_ he wants to learn from her? Because he wants to kill the one who killed Kotoyo and _she_ supports it." He felt her stiffen up and didn't have to open his eyes to know the shock in her eyes. "I thought that would be your reaction."

"Don't even _joke_ about that."

"That's what Shitomi told me a few days ago. Hanzo wants to avenge his mother."

"Well, what did _Hanzo_ say? Did he admit to it?"

"He said that he just wanted him to die… That's a good enough sign for me to nip this in the bud."

Sakura shook off Sasuke's hands and placed her cup down on the tray. She then shifted around so she could face him with a frown on her face. "Excuse me? _'Nip this in the bud'_? You make it sound as if…as if Hanzo's going to do all the things you did!"

"Saku—"

"Enough." His wife took up the tray and shoved it towards him. "Just take this downstairs. I'm not hungry anymore…" She fell back onto the bed and rolled over, her back facing Sasuke.

"Sakura." No response came from the old woman, so he just sighed before getting up out of the bed and leaving the room.

**X-X-X**

'_Honestly… I could understand things like this better than she could,'_ Sasuke thought as he walked into the kitchen with the tray in hand. He blinked at what he saw before him. Kotaro was standing on a stool next to the oven and stirring something in a pot. "Kotaro…?"

"Hm?" The spiky-haired boy looked over his shoulder and almost stumbled off. "AAAHHH!!! Grandpa!!" He shouted with a fearful expression on his face.

The Uchiha patriarch sweatdropped, but still managed to look at his grandson flatly. "What did you do?"

"N-n-nothing! Nothing whatsoever!!"

"If you did nothing, then what are you doing home instead of helping to rebuild the school like you _said_ you were going to do?"

Kotaro gulped and began to shift uncomfortably on the stool. "Well… I _may_ have caused a _tiny_ accident."

"How tiny?"

"Theschoolwon'tbeabletobereconstructedfortwoweeks!" He spoke so quickly that Sasuke didn't get what he was saying. One look at his grandfather and the boy repeated slowly, "The school won't be able to be reconstructed for two weeks…sir?"

The Uchiha patriarch remained silent as he walked up to the counter and placed the tray on it. He then turned around to face Kotaro with a half-lidded stare and pointed down at the ground. "Drop the pants."

"Huh?"

"_Drop the pants_…" He repeated a more dangerous tone.

The spiky-haired boy flinched and began to sweat, holding tightly onto the waistband of his shorts. "Wh-what for?"

"Kotaro—!"

"Mm!!" Kotaro immediately pulled down his shorts, revealing white underwear with pictures of a childish beaver character.

**X-X-X**

A few minutes later, Hanzo ran into the kitchen. "Hey, Kotaro! Where'd you put…that… Uh…" He stared at his grandfather and little brother with his eyes reduced to dots. His grandfather was sitting next to the table with Kotaro draped over his lap, his pants and underwear pulled down slightly to show his reddened butt. "Uh…"

"Hanzoooo! Help meeee! Grandpa's hurting me!!"

"He's just spanking you," said Hanzo as he walked towards the fridge and opened it. "Oh, there it is." He pulled a bento box out of the fridge.

"What's he doing _that_ for?! All I said was that I caused a little accident!" Kotaro whined as waterfall tears streamed down his face.

"Never try to anticipate what Grandfather's idea of good parenting might be," the elder brother said as he closed the fridge door behind him. He turned his back on his family and headed towards the door. "Well, I'm gone! I'll be back later."

"W-wait!! Aren't you even going to try and save me, you jerk?!" The little brother screamed before Sasuke's hand smacked his bottom again. "OWWWW!!!"

"Oh, please…! When was the last time your mother spanked you?" Sasuke grumbled before looking at Hanzo's back. "And where are _you_ going?"

"The hospital. It's just for a while."

"Ooooh! Are you gonna see your girlfriend?" Kotaro asked with a cat-like smirk.

Hanzo's eyebrow twitched. "She is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"But you've been visiting her in the hospital for so long, she may as well be!"

The raven-haired genin looked over his shoulder to give the boy a half-lidded glare. "By the way… have you told Grandfather that the incident was _two days ago_ and there was a _note_?" He turned his back on them and walked out just before he heard his grandfather's hand quickly striking his little brother's bottom.

"OW!! OW!! OW!! OW!! OW!! OW!! I'LL GET YOU HANZO—OW!!!"

**X-X-X**

"Um… Uh…" Kazemaru stuttered as he sat on his knees in front of Hakubo inside of the dojo. He shifted uncomfortably and looked out of the corner of his eye. "Uh…"

"What's wrong? You haven't said a word since you came in here!"

The orange-haired genin looked back at the taijutsu master. Unlike Kazemaru, whose injuries were minor, the red-haired man's body was mostly covered in bandages. _'How can I say anything to you…after what happened…?'_

**X-X-X**

"_Ugh!" Masamune collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily and sweating. "Huh…!"_

_Kazemaru clenched his teeth as he forced himself to stand up. There were scratches on his forehead, neck and hands that were beginning to turn unsightly colors_._ "Damn it…Masamune…! Don't back down on me now…!"_

"_Heh-heh-heh…! It's hopeless! Why don't you just lie down and let yourself be devoured quietly?" Apsaras asked with a cat-like smirk, sticking her tongue out slightly._

"_Shut the fug up, you bitch!! When I make frog legs out of your little pets, __**you're**__ next!!" The pyromanic genin roared as flames ignited around his body once more. One of the toads in front of him opened its mouth and its tongue shot out, wrapping around his waist. "GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!!!" The fire surrounding him made the tongue catch on fire. It traveled towards the frog until it caught on fire. The frog began to thrash about uncontrollably. "DUMBASS!!!"_

_Apsaras narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. She spat out a large ball of what appeared to be water down at the Kazemaru. When the ball hit him, it burst and covered him like a viscous substance. "Let's see you get out of __**that**__."_

"_Ugh…!" Kaze tried to activate his kekkei genkai once more, but all it seemed to do was make the surface of the substance bubble. 'What the…?'_

"_Now, just lie down and die!!" The blonde Asura shouted as she leapt off the roof and dove towards him with her sharp teeth bared._

'_Damn it…! Is this how it's gonna end?!'_

_When Apsaras was getting closer, a blur of white and red knocked her back and into one of her toads. She got to her feet and arched an eyebrow. "Who are you, and why are you interrupting my meal?"_

_Hakubo was standing in front of the restrained Kazemaru, slumping over slightly. There was a hint of red on his cheeks as he swayed from side to side a bit. "The name's Senmusha Hakubo, the Red Beast of the Leaf!! And __**you**__ were gonna nibble on __**my**__**student**__!!" The martial artist slurred loudly, jabbing a thumb to his chest._

"_Hakubo-sensei?!" The orange-haired genin exclaimed in shock. At first he was relieved, but then he realized… "You're __**drunk**__?!"_

"_What're you talking about? I'm just fiiiine! I can hold __**my**__ liquor, no sweat!" The redhead exclaimed as he turned to give the genin a thumbs-up._

"_If you're gonna do a thumbs-up, do it __**after**__ you beat that bitch's ass!!"_

_The blonde Asura stifled a laugh and almost doubled over in laughter. "Beat me? This drunk? Oh, how naïve children can be!" She flipped up into the air and landed behind a toad. She held onto the mask on its back, making sure not to grip __**too**__ hard. The toad's stomach began to expand and stretch out, as if it were being filled with air. "HA!!" The toad suddenly spat out a blasting stream of water at Hakubo and the kids._

'_Shit…!'_ _Kazemaru thought as his eyes widened at the sight of the blast while Hakubo stood up straight._

_From up above, it appeared as though a massive flood was occurring through the streets. Apsaras gave a cat-like smirk when she saw that no one was left in the road. "That showed them."_

"_OOOOORRAH!!!" In the blink of an eye, a human-sized ball of flame came crashing down onto the toad's head. It jumped off seconds before it exploded, the force pushing Apsaras back as the flaming being landed a few feet away from her._

"_What…what the hell?!"_

_Kazemaru blinked his eyes open. "Huh?" He was no longer on the street, but near the edge of the rooftop of a building. Masamune and Rie were lying next to him, still unconscious. "What?" He tried to move, but found that the gunk the green-clad Asura spat up on him was still restricting him from moving much. He craned his head as best he could to look down at the human-shaped flame on the ground. 'What's __**that**__…?'_

"_Your kind thinks they can just come up in here and pick on those weaker than them?! How would you like to be the one being picked on, HUH?!" The human-shaped flame roared before charging towards the Asura. When it was seconds away from the blonde, she took a deep breath and blew out a bullet of condensed wind, but the flame disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving scorch marks in its place. She looked out of the corner of her eye in time to see the flaming being dropped on the back of one of her toads and punch through the mask on its back. It jumped onto the back of another toad as the dying one gave a shriek of pain and fall over, its eyes losing its light._

"_Wow…!" Kaze whispered in awe as the flaming being broke the other toad's mask before jumping onto another, repeating the process before taking care of the next in less than a minute. "That's fast!"_

_The flaming being jumped off of the last toad as the skin on its back smoked. "Now it's **your** turn!!"_

_Apsaras held her arms out. "Just try it." She blinked and found herself staring at the flaming being just before it punched her up into the air. It jumped up into the air and followed her, spinning around before it made contact with the Asura, striking her in the stomach. It followed up by grabbing the blonde's arm and flipping her over so he was beneath her and striking Apsaras in the chest with a powerful blow that was enough to have them both falling back down to the ground, leaving a trail of flame behind them. Once they made impact with the ground, the flames that made up the being's body exploded and took on the shape of what appeared to be a phoenix. "AAAAAAHHHH!!!"_

"_KONOHA NENSHO SORA!!!"_

"_DAMN!!!" Kazemaru shouted in amazement as the flames scorched the sides of buildings._

_When the flames died down, the flames fizzled away until their source was reduced to a burnt black body. The body was kicked away and landed outside of the small crater that had been formed. Apsaras stood up, covered in scorch marks with her eyes entirely black with yellow pupils._

"_That certainly hurt. But now you've had your fun," the Asura spoke through clenched teeth as yellow chakra swirled around her body. "It's **my** turn now!!" She took a step forward before Bhumi appeared next to her, carrying an injured Akash over her shoulder. "Bhumi? What're you doing here? This is **my** dinner! He's just another average fire type, but that doesn't matter. I'll eat anything right about now."_

"_We're leaving," the silver-haired Asura spoke. "Akash is injured, and it would seem as if Akasha likes the Leaf more than us."_

"_Whaaat?! You're not serious, are you?"_

"_Unfortunately, I'm not. We have to leave—now."_

_Apsaras folded her arms across her chest and gave a cat-like smirk. "Lucky for them! I was about to devour them all, but it looks like they'll live to see another day." In the blink of an eye, the Asura disappeared._

**X-X-X**

'_I may have passed out after that…but I know that if it weren't for Hakubo-sensei…we'd be dead…'_ The orange-haired genin bit on his bottom lip.

"Heeeeyyyy! What's wrong with you?" Hakubo asked as he waved a hand in front of the orange-haired genin's face.

Kaze twitched and suddenly jumped to his feet. "What's with _me_? What's wrong with _you_?!" He shouted, pointing at the red-haired man. "You're the one who used a technique that seriously injured you!! How stupid can you get?!"

"Well, it was an Asura. I couldn't afford to hold anything back. Besides, you and your friends were in danger." The taijutsu specialist held up a bandaged up fist. "I promised that I wouldn't let you get eaten and a man keeps his promises!"

"Idiot!! What good's a promise that gets you killed?!" Kazemaru suddenly spun on his heel and stomped his foot, the air around him getting hotter. "SHIT!!!" He stomped out of the dojo, leaving scorch marks on the ground as he did. When he was outside of the dojo grounds, he leaned against the stone wall that circled the compound and punched it hard enough for his knuckles to bleed. _'I don't even know who I'm angry with…Hakubo-sensei…or myself." _He doubled over and clenched his teeth. _'Once again, I can't do anything when it really counts…' _An image of a flaming Hakubo appeared in his mind, then Rie and Masamune lying unconscious, followed by an injured and helpless Hanzo in the Forest of Death, then a berserk Nataro. _'I wish…I could change that…!'_

**X-X-X**

Back at the hospital, Nataro, now dressed in his normal attire, was just finishing up removing the bandages from his hand when he heard a noise behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kira sitting on the edge of the window with one foot inside on the ground and the other resting on the windowsill.

"Hey, kiddo! You're lookin' good for a guy who was half-dead for the last few days, but it helps now that you're awake." He noticed the boy's depressed expression. "What's wrong? Hagakure won't deliver to hospitals?"

"Kira-sensei…" The blonde boy stared down at the ground in thought for a moment. "If I told you a secret, would you laugh?"

The mad genius snorted and arched an eyebrow. "Have you _forgotten_ who you're talking to here? I'll laugh even if it's not a secret!" He waited for the boy to respond in anger, but when he got nothing, Kira sighed and scratched his neck. "But go ahead. Shoot."

"What would you think if I said I'm not a real person? That every part of me was just based on someone else?"

Kira arched an eyebrow and turned himself around so both his legs were inside. "I'd think _'just how hard did this kid crack his skull?'_ or _'what sort of meds are they giving him and where can I get it?'_."

"I'm being serious!!" The genin shouted as he gave his so-called master an angry look. "I…" His eyes lost their look of anger in favor of a depressed look. He bowed his head. "I'm just a part of Gramps… And I'm just copying what _he_ did when he was my age."

The black-and-white-clad man stared at the boy with half-lidded eyes. "Okay… Seriously, how hard _did_ you crack your skull? 'Cuz you're sounding crazier than _me_ right now. So you say you act like the old man. I can think of a lot of other people you act like… Heck, I acted like you did in my youth!" Nataro stared at him. "Granted, you would have to replace idiocy and immaturity with insane genius and immaturity, but you get the picture." He pointed a finger at himself. "Doesn't mean you come from me—especially with _those_ looks! Hahaha!"

"GODDAMN IT, I'M SERIOUS!!!" Nataro exploded. He jabbed a thumb into his chest. "You know the damage done in downtown? _I_ did that!! With the Kyuubi no Kitsune!!"

Kira folded his arms across his chest, shaking his head. "You expect me to believe that? I'd need proof before I start callin' you _'Naruto'_."

"I know Gramps fooled around with Sakura-san when he was young and they had a kid together!! Maybe!"

"As if!! Unless… Hmmm!" The mad genius stroked his chin in an intellectual manner, looking out of the corner of his eye. "They _do_ act kinda similar…"

"Huh? Who acts similar?"

After a few seconds of silence, Kira snorted and stuck his tongue out. "Nah, it ain't possible!! Gonna hafta do better than that, kiddo."

Nataro's eyes twitched. "D…don't make me get my hopes up like that!! You want better?! I'll hurt myself and heal right before your eyes!!"

The black-and-white-clad man arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"**WHAT?!?"** The Kyuubi roared. **"Not even **_**you're**_** that stupid!! That's nothing but an empty threat!!"**

Kira stared at the boy for a while before he shrugged. "Sure, kiddo." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a scroll, which he opened halfway. He touched a symbol on the parchment and in a poof of smoke, a _long_ kunai appeared in his hand. "Here you go!" He spoke a little _too_ cheerfully as he held out the knife to the boy.

Nataro started to sweat. "I-isn't that a _little_ too big?"

"Hey, a knife's a knife. Just hurry up and kill yourself so I can mourn you and leave."

The blonde snatched the kunai out of the mad genius's hand and began to stare at it. _'What would be the best place to cut?'_

"**You're not serious about this," **the Kyuubi spoke. **"You said such things before, and you never made good on them, Naruto."** Its host narrowed his eyes and suddenly stabbed himself in the back of his hand. **"Idiot…! I should let you bleed to death…!"**

"Whoa! You okay, kid? That looks _pretty deep_." Kira jumped off of the window sill and leaned towards his student.

"Heh! I'm…fine…!" Nataro held up his hand. "Just watch." In a few seconds, the wound began to close in on itself, healing over until the hand didn't even look like it was stabbed in the first place. "See?! It's true!!"

The suspended shinobi blinked a few times before he slapped himself across the face. "Did…that just happen? Or am I hallucinating…?"

"No, no! It's the truth! I'm just a part of Gramps!" The blonde boy suddenly froze and bowed his head again.

"Oh, for the love of— Knock it off!!" Kira struck Nataro in the head, sending him sprawling to the floor. "What brought on _this_ little identity crisis, anyway?!"

Nataro stayed on the ground, his eyes blank. Images of Akasha appeared in his mind, switching places with images of a young Sasuke's back every couple of seconds. _'I should be angry…if she left to join them. So then why do I feel like this? Like it's my fault that she's gone? My fault that I couldn't stop her'_ "Asura-chan…"

"Huh? What was that?"

The genin got up and sat down on the floor. "Asura-chan's gone… I think…she went with the Asura…'cuz she's one of 'em."

Kira's expression became apathetic. "That so…?"

**X-X-X**

"_When you say two kids were hurt… Just how badly **were** they hurt?" Kira asked as he kept his eyes on Naruto._

"_You're in no position to be speaking!" Said one of the council members._

"_I know that Nataro's been knocked out for days…but I haven't seen that little pink-haired thing he calls a girlfriend. So tell me…is she dead?"_

_For a moment, Naruto got a depressed look in his eyes. "Asura is currently in a coma because of the…incident that occurred at the festival."_

_Though his face showed no reaction to that news, Kira felt his heart drop into his stomach. Nothing to make you feel guilty like being told you were responsible for endangering one child's life and putting another in a coma. "Coma, huh? Man…this is going to break the kid's heart."_

"_Under no circumstances will you tell Kazaki Nataro."_

"_Huh? Why not? According to her, the kid's her first friend."_

_Naruto pointed a finger at the mad genius. "Because you'll just twist it in some way to depress the boy at the worst time! What he needs is someone who can break the news gently to him."_

"_Hokage-sama, this is outrageous! Why should we tell a mere genin about that thing's condition when we won't even let most of the elite jonin know?" Another of the council asked. She froze when she saw the glare the Rokudaime was giving her._

"_What did you call her…?"_

"_A…a slip of the tongue, sir! Hm…"_

_Kira shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "And who exactly do you think could put the words 'your friend is in a coma and it's all your f—your master's fault?"_

**X-X-X**

"I wish I knew…just what happened to her…" Nataro spoke as he stared down at the floor sadly.

Kira cringed. _'God, he's pathetic. Maybe I __**should**__ tell… I mean…what's the worse that could happen…?'_ He glanced down at the dejected boy. _'He could get even worse and fall into a spiral of insanity. But then again, that's just a thought.'_

His eyes suddenly brightened. "Hey!! You think that maybe Gramps knows what happened to her? I mean, he's gotta do _something_ as Hokage, right?"

"Uh, um… I have a _better_ idea! No, wait—I have a better _plan_!" The black-and-white-clad man exclaimed.

"Huh? What?" The boy never got his answer as in the blink of an eye, Kira pinched an area in his neck and he suddenly fell over, unconscious.

**X-X-X**

"…Taro… Nata… NATARO!!!"

Nataro's eyes snapped open as he found himself in the middle of a training field. He noticed some sort of markings on the ground written in blood. He felt his hands bound behind him…and there was something else bound behind him, too.

"WAKE UP, IDIOT!!!" Kazemaru screamed as he slammed his head into Nataro's. "ACK!! Damn it…! Your head's as hard as a rock…!"

Hanzo sweatdropped. "He was already awake, Kaze."

"So what?! I just wanted to hit him!!"

"Ugh…! What the hell?!" The blonde genin tried to turn around to see what was going on, but found himself unable to.

"Hey, watch it! You're giving me rope burn!" The orange-haired boy growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"It's no use. We're tied together," said Hanzo. "I'm not even sure what happened. One minute, I'm leaving the hospital, the next I wake up here."

"Same here. I was just walking down the street when I woke up tied to _you guys_," said Kaze as he struggled with their bindings.

"Well, the last thing I remember is talking to Kira." After a few minutes of silence, Nataro's eyebrow twitched. "Wait, don't tell me…!"

"That lunatic abducted us?! Oh! Ohohoho!! His ass is gonna be in the frying pan when I get out of this!!" The pyromanic genin screamed as he started to heat up.

"Ow! Hey, Kaze! Calm down! We're right next to you!" Hanzo yelped in pain.

"Yeah, you dumb Pyro Freak!!" Nataro added as tears welled up in his eyes. "I just woke up today; I don't wanna go back to the hospital for burn treatment!"

"Oh, shut up, ya crybaby and go back to whining!"

"What'd you call me?!"

A sharp whistle sounded throughout the training field that drew the boy's attention. "Nice to see you all up! Now we can begin!" Nataro and Kazemaru glared in Kira's direction as he walked towards them. "What's with the Evil Eyes, kiddos?"

"What do you _think_, you freak?! You just picked us up off the street like some deranged pedophile!!" The orange-haired boy shouted with a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"There's two things wrong with that sentence. One: _you_ set yourself on fire and _I'm_ the freak? Two: if I was a pedophile, the only good catch would've been Lil' Z over there." At this, Hanzo's cheeks became tinged with blue. "But those things have no relation to why you're here. See, you boys are going to help me out with some…_experimentation_…!" The mad genius spoke in a creepy tone, rubbing his hands together with a disturbing smile and glowing eyes.

Nataro and Kazemaru froze in shock. Hanzo, whose back was to Kira, was unaware of what was going on. "What sort of experimentation?"

"Oh, I'm trying to work out a little jutsu…" Kira held out his arms with a flourish. "Time travel!! Something that has eluded every human being, including shinobi. If such a thing were possible, think of all the troubles that could be prevented! The wars that could be avoided! The lives that could be saved!"

"Time travel? What do you think we are, 4 year olds?" Kazemaru asked with a half-lidded glare. "There's no such thing!" He was suddenly struck in the head with a wooden sword. "AH!!"

"I wasn't! Finished! Making my! Speech!!" The mad genius shouted, hitting the genin in the head each time he paused. He took a deep breath and regained his calm. "There have been attempts in the past to create a jutsu that would allow a shinobi to travel back in time. What few succeeded either caused the user to remain stuck in the past, took away their memory, or put them into a coma. The closest thing to time travel that ninja could attain so far is the Jigyaku no Jutsu (Time Reversal Technique) used by the ANBU, which allows the user to go back into their memories to remember specific things they have forgotten. The legendary Sannin Orochimaru had attempted to create a time jutsu for his own twisted desires, but he was killed before he could finish it along with several other projects. But now, after so many years, this super genius has managed to create a way to travel back in time!!" Kira exclaimed as he threw his hands up into the air with a happy grin.

"Are you…_serious_?!" Nataro shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Damn it!! I don't wanna be your guinea pig!"

"Forget you!! Why am _I_ here?! I hardly even know this lunatic!!" Kazemaru screamed.

Hanzo blinked. "Kira-san, exactly why did you pick all of us?"

"Well, I figured who else would want to try to change the past and make things better? I mean, you guys make a _bunch_ of mistakes! Surely you'd want to change them!"

At that moment, the genin of Team 14 had different things running through their minds. For Kazemaru, he thought about how badly injured Hakubo was. For Hanzo, he thought about his mother's grave. For Nataro, he could only think of Akasha and Sasuke.

"Well?"

After a few seconds of silence, Nataro was the first to speak up. "Sure, why not? But if this fails and I get killed somehow, I'm gonna haunt you from the grave!"

"Same goes for me, you psycho!" Kaze added.

"I'll agree, but…is this jutsu safe? There's no pain involved, is there?" Hanzo asked, slightly wary.

The black-and-white-clad man blinked. "Is it safe…? Are you kidding? It's perfectly safe!" The boys gave sighs of relief. "For me, at least. I'm not so sure about you."

"WHAT?!" The genin trio shouted, their eyes large with shock. "Wait, hold on—!!"

Kira snorted before he began to form several hand signs at blinding speed. The boys began to try getting out of their bindings, but it was in vain. "Aw, stop being such crybabies and stop squirming!! I wish you guys the best…of luck!!" The mad genius formed the final hand sign. "Ninpo: Jikoku Soukou no Jutsu!!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!" The boys suddenly stopped screaming and slumped over in their spots.

Kira sweatdropped. "Huh… I was expecting some flashing lights or some dimension shifting… Guess there are still a few kinks to work out of it," he muttered under his breath as he approached the boys. "Well, seeing as how that was a gyp, you guys are free to go." He formed a hand sign to disperse the chakra rope that bound them together and they fell down, unmoving. The mad genius poked the blonde boy's body with his foot until he gave him a swift kick in the ribs. Nataro still didn't move. For the second time that day, Kira's heart dropped into his stomach. "Oh…_crap_…!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Jigyaku no Jutsu was introduced in a filler arc of Naruto to scan Naruto's mind for information. (Unsurprisingly, the majority of those memories were more detailed about ramen than the guy who met at Ichiraku.)**

**Konoha Nensho Sora was named and inspired by one of Rock Lee's moves in Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm called "Leaf Burning Sky" in the English game. The execution, though, was inspired by the fist moves from Disgaea (which I also don't own!).**

**Bento boxes, also called o-bento, are organized lunch boxes filled with snacks. Amongst common bento snacks are leftovers from dinner and onigiri (rice balls).**

**Apsaras parodied a move used by Naruto in the Sanbi arc of Shippuuden by channeling her chakra into her toad.**

**Ninpo: Jikoku Souko no Jutsu means "Ninja Art: Art of Time Traveling".**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Alright!! I think we're getting off to a good start to this last arc for part one! I may have to remove the game-inspired part that was supposed to come between the Tsunade and Sasuke Rescue arcs, but it'll be for the better—for the sake of common sense, anyway.**

**Kazemaru: I don't like it!**

**Blu: Huh? Why not, Kazemaru?**

**Kaze: I feel like I'm becoming Team 14's Sakura! Compared to Nataro and Hanzo, I only had one moment to shine—and that was _nothing_ like who they fought!**

**Blu: Well, what did you expect? One of your teammates is a jinchuuriki, the other is a cursed genius. But don't worry. I swear you'll become cool in Arashiden!**

**Kaze: (-.-) _How_ cool…?**

**Blu: Shikamaru cool! Asuma cool! Jiraiya cool!**

**Kaze: I'm not gonna die, am I?**

**Blu: No.**

**Kaze: Then you've got yourself a deal!!**

**Hanzo: So long as we're making deals, how about removing the "cursed" part out of my description?**

**Blu: No.**

**Hanzo: (Goes to sulk in a corner) I don't wanna be cursed…!**

**Blu: Too bad! Alongside killing your friends and family for power, that's the way of the Uchiha!**

**Nataro: (Waves at the readers) Remember to review, guys! For the sake of Blu! We'll see you in the next chapter!)**


	47. Trapped in the Past!

_Disclaimer: If Blu Rose owned Naruto, do you think it would be so confusing near the end? …Maybe it would, but she doesn't own it, so you'll never know. She only owns this story and her OCs._

**X-X-X**

_#47: Trapped in the Past?!_

It was an ordinary day in Konohagakure as the sun shone, the birds flew in the clear blue sky, and Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja and his team were in their usual training field. After the attack of Suna and Oto, the population of Konoha ninja had decreased. As a result, ninja were sent on many missions, and even genin had to take on missions that were higher than C-rank in order to keep up a strong front for the other Hidden Villages. Because of that, this was the first time in a long while that Team 7 had a training session with their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, because he was among the jonin that were frequently out on missions.

"Hey, hey!! Kakashi-sensei! Spar with me first!!" The 12-year old Uzumaki Naruto exclaimed as he waved his hand in the air, getting looks from his teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. "I can assure you that I've gotten stronger! I've even got a new knock-out jutsu that'll make Sasuke's Chidori look lame!"

The Uchiha gave his blonde teammate a glare while Sakura only blinked in confusion. _'A jutsu stronger than Sasuke-kun's Chidori? There's no way that __**Naruto**__ could learn something like that—no matter how strong he's gotten.'_

"A new jutsu, huh?" Kakashi asked as his eye curved into a smile. _'I wonder if this new jutsu of his is—'_ But before the silver-haired jonin could finish his thought, something fell from the sky and landed on top of his orange-clad student. Actually, they were three kids. "What the heck?"

"D-did those guys just f-fall from the sky?!" Sakura almost screamed as she pointed at the three boys that had landed on top of Naruto. They were a blonde, a redhead, and a raven, and they all appeared to be unconscious.

Kakashi bent down and checked the raven-haired boy on the top of the pile. "It doesn't _look_ like there's anything wrong with them, but falling from the sky isn't exactly safe. We should take them to the hospital." He lifted the raven-haired boy and slung him over his shoulder. "Sasuke, wake Naruto up so you can both help out."

Sasuke simply walked over to the semi-conscious Naruto and kicked him in the ribs. "Naruto. Wake up."

"Nnnn… What hit me…?" The whiskered blonde's eyes slowly opened. As his vision got clearer, he saw Sasuke and started to glare at him. "This is all _your_ fault, isn't it?" He muttered as the Uchiha stared blankly at him.

"Moron…"

Meanwhile, Sakura stared at the boy hanging off of Kakashi's shoulder. _'He looks familiar…but I can't remember where I saw his face.'_

"H-hey!! These guys just fell out of the sky!" Naruto exclaimed as he stayed on the ground.

"No duh, genius…!" The pink-haired kunoichi muttered as she glanced at Naruto.

As Sasuke pulled the redhead off of the pile, Naruto turned the blonde over. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he got a good look at the boy. "IT'S _ME_!!!"

"What're you talking about?" Sasuke asked with an arched eyebrow.

"He looks like me!" With the blonde boy on his back, he lifted up his head and pointed at the mystery boy's face. "See? The only difference between us is the whisker marks!"

'_Two Narutos…'_ The rest of Team 7 thought with half-lidded eyes. They all imagined the chaos two Narutos could wreak as large drops of sweat ran down the back of their heads.

"Well, they've got on Konoha hitai-ate, so they must be from the village," said Sakura as she stared at the attractive-looking raven-haired boy. _'But it'd be pretty hard to miss someone who looks almost exactly like Naruto even if the village is pretty big…'_

"Nnn… My head…" Nataro mumbled as his eyes slowly opened. "Stupid Kira…" His blurry vision became clearer and he soon realized that someone was grabbing his hair. "Hey! Stop that!" He turned his head to look at the perpetrator and saw…himself. _'Huh? That can't be right!'_ Nataro thought with half-lidded eyes.

"You're actually awake after that fall? That's amazing!" Nataro's look-alike spoke, then Nataro noticed his cheeks. There were whisker-like markings on them.

Nataro's eyes became large and blank as he took a deep breath…and then screamed his head off. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Naruto screamed as well, releasing the future blonde who jumped off of him and landed on the ground behind Team 7. He began to pant and stared at the genin and their jonin sensei. Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura were staring at him in confusion while Naruto was holding his head and gritting his teeth in irritation. "What the hell did you do _that_ for?! You screamed like we did something to you!!"

"Now you know what _we_ have to deal with around _you_…" Sakura mumbled with half-lidded eyes.

"Take it easy, alright?" Kakashi spoke, raising a hand in defense while the other held Hanzo in place. "Whatever happened to you guys, you're safe now, but that was a pretty big fall. Not to mention that you were the one your friends fell on top of. So, let's get you to the hospital and—"

"I don't need to go to the hospital! I just need to know where I am!" Nataro said as he looked around frantically. _'Of course I know where I am! I'm in a dream! This has got to be another memory of Gramps'…but how the hell could they notice me?!'_

"You're in Konoha! Duh!" Nataro shouted. He then leaned over to his pink-haired teammate and mumbled, "Man… This guy must've hit his head when he fell, huh, Sakura-chan?"

"Well, if this is Konoha, who the hell are _you_?!"

"Uzumaki Naruto, stupid!!"

"_You're_ the stupid one!! 'Cuz _I'm—_" Nataro suddenly stopped speaking abruptly and stared at the group in shock. "Uzumaki…Naruto…? Then that means…" He pointed a finger at Sakura, "You're Sakura chan…" Then he pointed a finger at Kakashi, "And you're Kakashi-sensei, and…" He pointed a finger at the frowning Sasuke. "You're Sasuke."

"Hmph!" The whiskered blonde snorted. "That's what we've been _trying_ to tell you!"

Kakashi took a step forward. "You must still be a bit dazed from your fall. It would be good for you to go to the hospital."

'_It's not a dream… Kira-sensei's stupid idea actually __**worked**__!!'_ Nataro thought as his jaw dropped. _'He sent us back to the past…JUST TOO FAR BACK!!!'_

"Kakashi-sensei's right. Just because you woke up first, it doesn't mean you aren't injured!" Said Sakura as she wagged a finger at the future blonde, who started to blush for reasons unknown to either. "Besides, your friends haven't woken up. They may be in worse shape than you."

"Actually, now that you say that, I am feeling a bit weak…" The future blonde suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head and clutched his forehead. "Ow!!" He fell to his knees as the throbbing in his head increased. Naruto and Sakura immediately rushed to his side to help him.

"See? You really _do_ need help!"

"Aw, man… He doesn't look so good!"

"As the two genin helped Nataro to his feet, Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wondering, _'How'd he know our names?'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the future…

"HEY!!! Wake up, already!! This isn't funny anymore, kiddo!!" Kira shouted as he struck his unconscious blonde apprentice several times in an attempted to wake him up. The mad genius let go of Nataro's shirt and groaned. "I should've known that _his_ head was too _thick_ to get through…" He then looked over at the unconscious Hanzo and Kazemaru. "But maybe I can wake _them_ up…"

**X-X-X**

A short while later in the Konoha Hospital, Hanzo and Kazemaru were lying on beds, still and motionless. The door of their room cracked open and Nataro dashed inside, quickly shutting the door behind him. Beads of sweat were running down his face—a result of having to run from the hospital staff to avoid getting a checkup.

"Why can't those people just believe _I'm not sick_?!" The blonde growled under his breath before he began to stare at his motionless teammates. He walked over to Hanzo's bedside and began to pinch the raven-haired boy in the cheek. "Hanzo, wake up." When the pinch alone didn't work, he pulled on the skin clenched between his fingers. "Hanzo!" His Uchiha teammate gave no response, so he walked over to Kazemaru's bed. He pinched the pyro's nose, hoping it would cause him to get up. However, that didn't work, so he began to pull the orange-haired genin's nose. "Hey, Pyro Freak! Wake up, would ya?!" When Kaze didn't even twitch, the blonde released his nose and sighed. "Why aren't they waking up? Maybe…" His eyes widened, reflecting fear. "Maybe there really _is_ something wrong with them…!"

"Ow!!" Hanzo suddenly sat up, rubbing his head and the side of his face. "What happened…? And why does my head and my cheek hurt…?"

"Huh?" The blonde turned his head to look at his raven-haired teammate. "Hanzo! You're up!"

"Nataro? What happened?" The raven-haired boy asked as he looked around. "How'd we wind up in the hospital?"

"OUCH!!! Damn it to hell!!" Kaze shouted as his eyes snapped open. He sat up and clutched onto his head. "Alright…who the _hell_ hit me?!" The orange-haired genin blinked and looked his surroundings. "Lemme guess: Kira's stupid jutsu backfired and severely injured us." He began to rub his head. "That would explain why my head hurts like a bitch…!"

"You're _both_ up!! Alright, come on!" Nataro grabbed Kazemaru's arm and pulled him out of the bed. He then ran over to Hanzo's bed and pulled the raven out of his bed. "You gotta see something!"

"Lemme go!! See _what_?!" Kazemaru shouted as he tried to pull his arm out of Nataro's grasp, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"What're you talking about, Nataro?" Hanzo asked the orange-clad blonde with an arched eyebrow.

The blonde genin released his teammates' arms, walked over to the window and opened it. "I've got something show you guys! Come on!" He then jumped out of the window. The Uchiha and Temashi merely shrugged and jumped out of the window as well.

**X-X-X**

A few minutes later, Team 14 jumped on top of the roof of a building.

"Hey, is it just me or do the buildings seem…different?" Kazemaru asked his teammates as he arched an eyebrow. "I mean…I know we're in the process of rebuilding, but I don't even recognize some of them."

"There's a reason for that," Nataro said with a smirk. He turned around and pointed at the Great Stone Faces of the Hokage. "Tell me how many faces you see up there."

Hanzo and Kaze looked up at the mountain. A few seconds later, they gasped. "There's…only four heads up there!! What the hell gives?!" Kazemaru shouted. "Are we on Screw'd or something?!"

"What's…going on here?" The Uchiha looked at the blonde boy. "Nataro, what gives?"

Nataro smirked as a mischievous look appeared in his eyes. "Heh-heh-heh… I'll tell you what gives. You remember what Kira-sensei said about how his jutsu was supposed to send us _back in time_?"

The pyromanic genin's jaw dropped as his eyes became blank and white. "Y-y-you're kidding!! Are you honestly trying to say that stupid jutsu _worked_?!" The pyromanic genin shouted.

"Yup! We're in the Konoha of 53 years ago!! Back when Gramps was just a kid!" The blonde exclaimed as he pumped his arms in the air. "Isn't this awesome?!"

"NO!!! No, it is _not_!!"

"53 years…!" Hanzo mumbled with his eyes wide with shock. "That can't be possible! We actually traveled through time and space to the past…?"

"I don't wanna be in the past!!" Kaze shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "I may not remember much from history class, but I know this: all sorts of crap goes down around this time!! In fact, I think a big war happened around this time!"

"It was an invasion, not a war," Hanzo explained. "Sunagakure and Otogakure joined together to invade Konohagakure. Though from the looks of things, that's already passed," he pointed down to the street below, prompting his teammates to look there. People were patching up damaged walls, filling in the crater-riddled road and repairing their homes. "I think the Invasion's passed, Kaze." He then looked over at his teammates. "But I am worried about how we're gonna get back."

"What the—? You wanna go back so soon?" Nataro said with a pout. "But…but we just got here!! There's so many great things that we can do here!"

"Nataro... This isn't our time. Who knows what could happen if we mess around with things here? We might wind up causing ourselves to not be born!"

The orange-clad blonde gulped and began to sweat. N-not…be born…?" He began to stare at the ground in thought for a few seconds before looking at Hanzo. "But what if…we can't help but mess around with the past? I-I mean, we don't know how to get back. And remember how Kira said that time travel jutsu causing the users to get stuck in the past? We might have to talk to some super-strong ninja in order to get back to our own time!"

"As much as I hate to say it…he's got a point there, Fan Boy," said Kazemaru as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Unless Kira's jutsu can go in reverse and pull us back to the present, I don't think we'll be going home any time soon."

The Uchiha slumped over and sighed in defeat. "I guess you're right… But what are we going to do until we figure out a way home? We can't just wander around the village… People would notice us over time…"

A light bulb suddenly appeared over Nataro's head and his expression brightened. He hooked his arms around Hanzo and Kazemaru's shoulders. "Let's go eat ramen!!"

"Idiot!! Is that all you _ever_ think about?!" Kaze shouted while gritting his teeth as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

Hanzo groaned and held a hand to his head. "Honestly, Nataro… We should be thinking of a way to go home, not stuffing ourselves with ramen!"

"Well, we can think of a way to go home over a nice big bowl of ramen!" Nataro reached into his pants pocket and was lucky enough to pull out a red frog wallet that was looking quite full. _'Good thing I left this in here!'_ "Come on! It'll be my treat! We're gonna eat at the greatest ramen shop in the entire world!! Right now, I mean."

"I guess a little food _could_ help us to think… Why not?" said the raven-haired boy.

"I'd rather eat at Hagakure," the orange-haired boy muttered as his eyebrow twitched. "Or any other restaurant that wasn't created before my granny was born…"

"You don't even _know_ who your grandma is!"

"_Somebody_ had to bring my mom into this world, didn't they?!"

"Guys, can we just _please_ go eat now…?"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Team 14 was walking down the streets of Konoha. The three boys had decided to hide their Leaf hitai-ate since, as Hanzo had pointed out, it would seem odd if three boys who claimed to be village genin were even listed in the files.

"You know…even if this is half a century in the past, not much has changed," said Nataro as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "The buildings and the people may look different…but it feels like I'm back home for some reason."

Kaze stared at the orange-clad blonde's back with half-lidded eyes. "Let me guess: because you're Uzumaki Naruto, right?" He rolled his eyes. "Hey, I feel like I've been here before, too. Could it be that I'm the reincarnation of the Shodai Hokage?"

"The shorter boy looked over his shoulder to glare at the perverted pyro. "I doubt that our village's founder would be reborn as a perverted pyromaniac."

The orange-haired boy's eyes twitched and a small vein appeared on his forehead. "I'd rather be a perverted pyromaniac and some crazy moron!" He growled out through gritted teeth.

"Who're you calling crazy, _pyromaniac_?"

"Who you callin' pyromaniac, _crazy_?"

Nataro and Kazemaru were now facing each other, their faces only a few inches apart. All their arguing was beginning to draw the stares of a few people. Both bys were quickly struck in the head by Hanzo.

"Would you guys quit it? People are staring at us…and the last thing we want right now is to stick out."

"Tch. Whatever…" The orange-haired genin muttered as he turned his back to Nataro.

"Yeah, yeah…" The blonde genin said as he put his hands behind his head and frowned. "Huh?" He put his arms down and started to smile. "Hey, hey!! There it is~!" Nataro pointed over to a small ramen shop that was across the street.

"That's it?! I assumed this place would be as big as Hagakure!" Kazemaru folded his arms across his chest. "What is this place, anyway? I've never seen it."

"That's 'cuz it's not around in our time. But trust me when I say that second-best ramen of all time is made there!" He grabbed Hanzo and Kaze's hands and began to pull them towards the ramen shop. "Just wait until you try some Ichiraku noodles—courtesy of old man Teuchi!"

"Ichiraku…? I think my grandmother told me about that place once," said Hanzo. "She said she went there with her teammates in her youth."

Kaze looked at the Uchiha in confusion. "Huh? Wait a minute, if that's a place your _granny_ went to when she was young and it was torn down before we were born, then how the hell does _Nataro_—?" Before the orange-haired genin could finish his sentence, Nataro tossed up the flaps hanging in front of the Ichiraku.

"HEY, OLD MAN!!!" The blonde shouted loudly. "We've come to have some ra…men?" He blinked as he caught sight of the person sitting in a stool in front of the future genin, staring at them as a mouthful of noodles dangled from his mouth.

"Mmph?" Naruto slurped up the ramen noodles and stared at the other blonde with squinted eyes. "What the…? Hey, it's you guys!" The blonde exclaimed as he observed the three genin. "Feeling all better, huh?"

Hanzo's eyes widened as he stared at the whiskered blonde. "It can't be…"

"HOLY CRAP!!!" Kazemaru shouted as he pointed a finger at Naruto. "THERE'S TWO OF 'EM!!! HELL'S OFFICIALLY FROZEN OVER!!!"

Nataro's eye twitched as Naruto stared at them in confusion. _'This…is __**not**__ good…'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, at the hospital of the future Konohagakure, Inomi sat behind the counter in the waiting area with her head in her hands. "How boring… There hasn't been a major incident all day…" She moaned. She then blinked. "Wait, that sounds wrong… But I can't help but want _something_ exciting to happen!"

"OUT OF MY WAY!!!" A familiar voice shouted.

"Huh?" Inomi looked up and saw a blur of white and black dash through the entrance doors, knocking down patients and visitors as it made its way towards the desk. The blonde's eyes widened as she looked up at the panting Kira. He was slumped over the counter with sweat streaming down his face. He had Hanzo and Kazemaru over each of his shoulders and Nataro underneath his left armpit while he slammed on the desk with his free hand.

"HELP!!! I NEED HELP!!!" The black-and-white-haired man shouted loudly, his eyes wide with fear.

"Kira? What the hell did you do _this time_?!" The Yamanaka shouted as she rose from her seat. She observed the boys' condition and narrowed her eyes. "Did you hurt these kids?"

"Look, I don't want you asking any questions, Blonde!! I just need you to check out these kids!" Kira shouted. "Nothing's waking them up!! Punches, cuts, death threats… Nothing works!"

Inomi adjusted her glasses and stared a bit more intently at the genin. "What happened to them?"

The mad genius blinked and began to look down at the ground in thought. "Uh…"

"KIRA!!!"

"Wha? Oh, right. Uh… We were just playing around when they suddenly collapsed!  
He laughed.

Inomi gave the mad genius a withering look. "You're lying, aren't you?"

Kira smiled at the blonde woman as a large sweat drop ran down the side of his head. "It's that damn easy to read through, huh?"

"It's common knowledge that when someone's with _you_, something bad is going to happen to them! Now tell the truth!!"

"I…think I may have pulled their spirits out of their bodies and made them comatose," the ex-ANBU captain mumbled before he gave a nervous smile.

"WHAT?!" Kira looked over his shoulder to see Hikari walking towards him with a clipboard in hand and an angry look on her face.

"Oh, Hikari!! You're looking as lovely as usual!" The mad genius exclaimed, spinning around on his heel to face the pink-haired woman.

Hikari's eyebrow twitched and she pointed a finger at the mad genius. "Stow it!! What the _hell_ did you do this time, Kira?! You'd have to do something reckless in order to make three kids comatose!!"

"It wasn't reckless. I purposely tested my new jutsu on them and something went wrong."

The pink-haired woman narrowed her eyes. "_Test_? You were using those kids as _guinea pigs_?!"

The black-and-white-haired man pouted and scuffed his foot on the floor. "Well, if you wanna say it like _that_… But it sounds so _harsh_."

Hikari restrained herself from punching the taller shinobi in the face, simply because he was holding the boys and there was a good chance of hurting them if she did send Kira flying to the other side of town. "You…!" She looked at Inomi with her fists still shaking. "Inomi, prepare a room! And bring the brain wave monitor!"

"I got it!" Inomi exclaimed as she got up from her seat and disappeared around the corner.

The pink-haired Uchiha walked up to Kira and held up Nataro's face with her fingers tilting it up. She observed his features and sighed. "Kira… If you did something wrong, I will make sure to tell Hokage-sama about this!"

Kira's eyes became the size of saucers and his jaw dropped. "WHAT?! N-no!! Hikari, please don't do that! _Anything_ but that!! The old man's already pissed off at me! If he finds out what I did, he won't think twice about revoking my shinobi license!"

"Good!! If you do things like testing jutsu on little boys for your own selfish needs, you don't _deserve_ to be a ninja!!"

The mad genius flinched before he looked down at the ground sadly. "That's not it… I didn't mean to…"

"Whether or not you meant to doesn't matter. You had just better hope they're awake before we have to inform their families of this. Aiko-san's been worried over Nataro ever since he wound up here and hearing that he woke up only to get put in a coma would make her _snap_."

"Tch! Big deal!!" Kira folded his arms across his chest and snorted, "I can handle a mere woman—especially one who's just a civilian."

"Kazemaru's family has shinobi in it. His older brother is in ANBU, remember?"

"I doubt he could beat _me_!"

Hikari's eye twitched as a small vein throbbed on her forehead. After a few seconds, she smirked and said, "Once Father and Mother find out about what you've down to Hanzo, they'll kill you."

Upon those words, Kira's arms fell to his sides and he got slightly blue in the face. "Oh…crap… I _knew_ I forgot about something…" He slumped over slightly and gave a sigh of exasperation. "Now I'm gonna have to deal with that old relic and his Chidori and Sakura-san's gonna punch me so hard I'll land two countries over! What a pain…"

**X-X-X**

Back in the past, Team 14 stood before a confused Naruto with a mixed sensation of shock from Hanzo and Kazemaru and fear from Nataro.

"HOLY CRAP!!! THERE'S TWO OF 'EM!!! HELL'S OFFICIALLY FROZEN OVER!!!" Kazemaru shouted as he pointed a finger at Naruto, who stared at Team 14 with squinted eyes. "It's like the fuggin' Twilight Zone!!" He was suddenly elbowed in the stomach by Nataro. "Oof!"

"Heh-heh-heh! Don't mind my friend! He's, uh…still in a daze from the fall!" The future blonde exclaimed as he gave a nervous laugh.

Nataro blinked in confusion, but shrugged it off after a while and went back to finishing up his ramen. He picked up the bowl and began to slurp down the broth while Hanzo and Kazemaru stared at him in shock.

"Nataro… You realize that there's a guy right there who looks _just like you_, eating a bowl of ramen, right?" The orange-haired genin asked his teammate as his left eyebrow twitched upwards.

"Of course! He's…um…" The future blonde stared down at the ground in false thought. "Well… He's Uzumaki Naruto! Right?"

"Hee-hee! Right, right!" Naruto shouted after he set down the empty bowl of ramen. He turned around and began to wave his hand in the air. "Hey, old man!! Another bowl of miso ramen!"

Hanzo and Kazemaru stared at the whiskered blonde's back in shock. "This…can't be…" The raven-haired genin mumbled with wide eyes. "_He's_ Hokage-sa— I mean…_that_ Uzumaki Naruto?"

"No way!! It can't be him!!" Kaze shouted, shaking his arms frantically in the air. _'Then again, we __**are**__ in the past… He could've lived back then. It could be him.'_

"Huh?" Naruto turned around in his seat to face the future genin and gave them a cocky grin. "Oh, you must've seen my fight at the Chunin Exams! Are you fans or something?"

"Tch! Don't bet on it, Ramen Breath!" Kazemaru snorted, placing his hands on his hips. "Like I'm _ever_ gonna be a fan of yours!"

"_Kaze_! What are you doing?!" Hanzo hissed through gritted teeth as he leaned over to his orange-haired teammate.

"Relax! He's not the Hokage yet, so I won't get in trouble for it! And I doubt he'll remember this…"

"Geez! Sounds like a sore loser!" The blonde frowned and squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner. "You're just jealous that you didn't get to the final exam!"

"Are you chunin?"

Naruto sweatdropped. "Um… No."

Kaze stifled a laugh and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, I see no reason to be jealous of a guy like you. You wear too much orange, you shout a lot and you ain't a chunin, so in my opinion, you're just a moron!"

A vein popped up on Naruto's forehead as he glared at the pyromanic genin. "Eh?! Who're you calling a moron, jerk?! I don't even know you! I doubt I'd _want_ _to_, either!"

"That makes two of us, you little bas—!" Before the orange-haired boy could finish, he was pulled back by Hanzo and Nataro.

"Please forgive our friend for his behavior," said Hanzo with a small smile. In the background, Nataro and Kazemaru were whispering things to each other, both boys giving each other the Evil Eye. "He's not such a bad guy once you get to know him."

"Yeah, yeah… I've dealt with bigger jerks than _him_ before." Naruto began to stare at the future Uchiha. "Hey… What's your name?"

"M-my name? It's…Yagami Hanzo. And this is Kazaki Nataro and Temashi Kazemaru. Why do you ask?"

Kazemaru and Nataro's heads snapped in their teammate's direction and they both thought, _'Yagami?'_

"Well, it's just that you look kinda like this guy I know. But you look _much_ nicer than _that_ bastard, Hanzo."

"Oh, you mean that guy with the dark hair, right?" Nataro asked the future Hokage.

"Yeah, Uchiha Sasuke. He was in the Chunin Exam finals, too." Teuchi placed a large bowl of ramen before the orange-clad genin and he immediately turned around. "He was good, I guess…but I bet _I_ could have finished fighting Gaara in half the time!" Naruto chuckled to himself before he took in the scent of ramen. "Huh?" He turned around to look at Team 14. "Say, do you guys wanna eat some ramen with me? You guys are kinda interesting."

"Really? Gee, that's nice!!" Nataro exclaimed with a grin.

"You're paying for your own ramen, though."

The future blonde immediately slumped over and sighed. "Well, I guess I should have expected that."

"After what you just said, you think I'll eat with you?" Kaze asked him with an arched eyebrow. His stomach started to growl and he held onto it. "Then again, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, standing on top of the large gate of Konohagakure were two cloaked figures who stared down at the ninja village below, wearing black cloaks designed with red clouds and straw hats to hide their faces.

"Well, it looks like they managed to survive," said the taller figure, who had a large, long object wrapped in bandages on his back. But not without some huge loses."

"It truly is pathetic…" The shorter figure spoke fluidly. "For such a prosperous village to fall into such a state of disarray."

"Hmmm?" The taller person looked down at his companion, revealing the face of a shark-like man with blue skin. "What's this? Don't tell me you still hold some lingering affection towards your village?"

The shorter figure didn't both to look at his partner. Instead, his red eyes with three comma-shaped markings surrounding the pupil gazed down at the village. "No… Not at all…"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, the four boys were happily chatting over their bowls of ramen, forgetting the awkwardness from before. Naruto and Nataro were sitting side by side with Kazemaru sitting next to Nataro and Hanzo sitting at the far end.

With noodles hanging from his mouth, Kazemaru stared at Naruto and Nataro as they seemed to slurp up their noodles at inhuman speeds. Both blondes managed to finish their noodles at the same time and move on to gulping down the broth in their throats. _'Just looking at these guys makes me sick…!'_ The orange-haired genin thought with half-lidded eyes as he swallowed the noodles in his mouth and began to stir what remained in his bowl. "Honestly… Don't you guys _swallow_?"

Naruto and Nataro didn't seem to hear him as they finished off their ramen and set their bowls down at the same time. "Another bowl, old man!!" The two orange-clad genin shouted in synchrony as they waved for service.

Kaze and Hanzo, who were sitting right of Nataro, sweatdropped. "It's like stereo…" The orange-haired genin mumbled.

"I never thought I'd see the day when there'd be someone who ate as much ramen as Nataro…" said Hanzo as he stared at the two blondes in shock. _'And one of them's our leader in the future!'_

"Man…! That was _good_!" Nataro sighed as he leaned against the counter and propped his head onto it. "Not Hagakure good, but it's the best thing here! How'd Gramps go without it for so long?!"

Naruto observed the other blonde. "Wait a minute… Where's your hitai-ate? Weren't you wearing it when you came?"

Nataro's eyes became blank as he searched his mind for answers. Luckily, Hanzo intervened by saying, "We have no reason to be wearing our hitai-ate right now. We're not going on missions at the moment."

The whiskered blonde arched an eyebrow. "Really? Almost every shinobi in the village is being sent on missions, but you guys can relax?" He stared at Team 14 for a moment before shaking his head. "You guys are real slackers, you know. Everybody else is doing their part going on missions to help the village recover and you're here relaxing!"

A vein popped up on Kazemaru and Nataro's foreheads. "Look who's talking!! You're sitting here eating ramen _too_!!" The future blonde shouted.

"Yeah, ya hypocritical fool!!" The orange-haired genin added. "Just 'cuz we're here right now doesn't mean we ain't working hard!!"

"Besides, if you're sitting here, you've got nothing to do," Nataro said with a smirk.

"Naruto pounded his fist on the counter. "I _am_ gonna do something! I'm gonna go train—if I can find Ero-Sennin (Perverted Sage), that is!"

"Ero…Sennin?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow. "Who's that?"

"He's some perverted sage who wrote a pornographic novel… But he's really strong! He taught me Kuchiyose no Jutsu, you know!" The whiskered blonde puffed out his chest and smirked proudly. "Yup! Most genin can't use such a high-ranked jutsu, but _I'm_ special!"

"You're _reeeeal_ _special_, alright," Kazemaru mumbled before he picked up the piece of fish cake he had saved and popped it into his mouth.

"K-kuchiyose no Jutsu?!" Hanzo gasped in surprise. "You mean to say that you know how to summon at such a young age?!"

"Eh, that's impressive, I guess," Nataro muttered with half-lidded eyes.

"Oh, brother! Don't tell me you guys believe this loser!" Kaze exclaimed with his eyes large and blank as the naruto fishcake hung from his mouth. "He's probably just embellishing, like Nataro does all the time."

"I don't embellish!!" The future blonde growled as he glared at his pyromanic teammate.

"You know that lying causes bad things to happen to you, Ramen Breath."

"I don't embellish, either!!" The whiskered blonde added.

"The same goes for you, _too_, Ramen Breath Prototype."

"The jinchuuriki's eyes narrowed and a small vein began to throb on his forehead. "You wanna see how strong I am? I'll show ya!"

Kaze smirked and looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Are you saying you wanna fight me? _Me_? You're joking, right? I could take you down in a minute flat!"

"Kazemaru! Do you know what you're _doing_?!" Hanzo hissed as he started to glare at his teammate's back.

"Oh, I know! I don't care _who_ he is! I'm gonna teach this fool a lesson in morality!"

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "That's coming form the guy who wouldn't give peeking at the girls in the hot spring a second thought."

"This ain't about _me_!!" Kaze shouted as he glared at his teammates. He pointed a finger at Naruto. "It's about _this_ _guy_!! And his stupidity for thinking that we're gullible enough to believe that he can actually summon!"

"We'll see who's stupid when you're on the ground crying in pain!" The past blonde shouted as he pointed a finger at the perverted pyro.

"Alright then! Let's go!"

"Fine by me!!"

"Looks like we're gonna see if Gramps was an awesome ninja before he became Hokage!" Nataro whispered over to Hanzo with a mischievous look on his face.

Hanzo sighed and slumped over slightly. "Says you. I have the feeling this is going to turn into a disaster…"

**X-X-X**

In another part of Konoha, Kakashi was standing outside of the local dango shop, actually waiting for someone for once. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two familiar faces walking in his direction. "Well, well! What are you two doing together?" The Copy Nin spoke as they came within hearing distance. His eye formed a U, almost resembling the smile he had hidden beneath his mask. "Out on a date?"

Sarutobi Asuma looked out of the corner of his eye, ignoring his fellow jonin. Yuhi Kurenai snorted as a blush appeared on her face. "Don't be ridiculous!" The red-eyed woman chided the older shinobi as they both came closer. "I'm only here because Anko asked me to buy her some dango."

"What're _you_ doing here, Kakashi?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for someone."

Asuma and Kurenai stared at the gray-haired man. "Really? It's rare to see _you_ waiting for someone. So, who is it that has the honor?"

"Sasuke. I thought I'd buy him something from here."

Inside the shop, the cloaked strangers were sitting down at a table with two cups of tea and a plate of dango. Upon hearing Sasuke's name, the red-eyed man looked up.

Kakashi looked out of the corner of his eye to see the mentioned Uchiha walking in their direction. "And here he comes now."

Upon getting close enough, Sasuke blinked and started to stare at his teacher. "Whoa, you actually came _before_ me?"

The gray-haired jonin sweatdropped. "What? I can be on time, once in a while."

Sasuke's eyes wandered over to the inside of the shop, where the half-empty cups and plate with only one dango left. _'I could've sworn that someone was there a while ago…'_ A frown suddenly appeared on his face as he looked at Kakashi from the corner of his eye. "I don't like sweets."

"Really? That's too bad…" The Copy Nin looked at Asuma and Kurenai from the corner of his eye. The two jonin gave a nod before disappearing in a poof of smoke. His raven-haired student stared at the spot they were standing in until Kakashi said, "Now then, let's get going."

**X-X-X**

A short while later, the cloaked men were walking alongside a river. They were the only ones on the path until Asuma and Kurenai suddenly appeared before them.

"You're not from the village…" Asuma narrowed his eyes. "State your business."

"Kurenai. Asuma. It's been a long time," the shorter of the cloaked men spoke.

Kurenai stared at the shorter man. "The only way you could know our names is if you were ninja of this village."

The shorter man lifted up his hat slightly, revealing his Sharingan eyes. The two jonin froze and stared at him in shock. He slowly removed his hat and began to unbutton his cloak a bit.

"Y…you're…!" Kurenai stuttered with wide eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi…" Asuma finished.

The 18-year old young man with the long raven hair tied into a low ponytail was staring at the Konoha jonin coldly. The Konoha hitai-ate was tied around his forehead, but a line had been slashed across the metal and through the Leaf symbol.

"Oh, are these former acquaintances of yours, Itachi-san? I should introduce myself then…" The taller cloaked man spoke as he removed his hat as well, his smirking shark-like face fully visible along with his blue hair. He wore a Kiri hitai-ate around his head and, like Itachi's, it had a long slash going through the Mist symbol on the metal. "I am Hoshigaki Kisame. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hoshigaki Kisame… A nukenin wanted by Mizu no Kuni for charges of assassination and machinations against the state," Kurenai stated. "The both of you are rated as S-rank criminals in the Bingo Book."

"You've got guts coming back here after what you did, Itachi," said Asuma.

Itachi remained unreadable as he continued to stare at the jonin. "I don't want to kill the two of you, so please do not interfere."

"There's no way you'd just show up out of thin air, wearing suspicious clothes, for absolutely no reason. What exactly are you after?"

The Konoha nukenin remained silent. Kisame grabbed hold of the hilt of hi sword and drew the wrapped-up object on his back. As it struck the ground tip first, it created a crack in the earth where smoke appeared to be wafting up from it. "He's starting to bother me. Shall I kill him?"

"Since it seems we won't be able to leave the village without a fight, go ahead," said the Uchiha, glancing over at his partner. "But try not to overdo it. Your moves tend to attract unwanted attraction."

A wicked grin appeared on the Kiri nukenin's face. "Understood…!"

**X-X-X**

On the other side of the village in an empty training field were Naruto and Team 14. Kazemaru and Naruto stood on opposite ends of the field, facing each other. Hanzo and Nataro were sitting on the sidelines underneath a tree.

"This…is _so_ wrong! Not only is this disrespect to our Rokudaime Hokage, we're messing with the rules of time and space by tampering with the past!" Hanzo groaned as an aura of gloom radiated off of his being.

"Oh, quit it! So long as we don't keep Gramps from leaving the village with Ero Sennin at the wrong time, we won't change a thing!" Said Nataro as he slapped the raven on his back. "So relax! Enjoy the show!"

"How can I relax?! Kazemaru just arguing with Hokage-sama's past self may create a-a _time skip_ or something like that!"

The blonde looked at his friend with half-lidded eyes and began to pout. "You know…I thought _Kaze_ was the pessimist of the team."

The raven gave him a half-lidded look as well. "In this sort of situation, I can be as pessimistic as I want."

Kazemaru flexed his arm and started to smirk as he looked at Naruto. "So, Ramen Breath Prototype! Are you sure you don't wanna give up now, before it's too late? You know, before you wind up getting burnt to a crisp?"

"Can it, you jerk!! I've had it with you!!" The whiskered blonde shouted as he pointed a finger at the perverted pyro.

"Oh, yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Naruto's eyes twitched as he charged forward. "HAAAAAAAA!!!" He made a hand sign and with a shout of "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" was joined by half a dozen clones of himself.

Kaze's eyes widened and he stared at the approaching clones in awe. _'No way! He can use that jutsu, too?'_ "Alright, if you wanna play like that…" He formed a couple of hand signs and took a deep breath. _'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!!'_ The Temashi boy began to breathe out several small fireballs in the direction of Naruto and his clones. They merely jumped out of the way and drew several kunai and shuriken. With a flick of their hands, the blondes sent a flurry of bladed projectiles in his direction. Kazemaru quickly reached into his back pouch and pulled out a kunai. He used it to deflect some of the oncoming shuriken and kunai, but the rest managed to cut into his skin. "Crap!!" He cursed out loud as he grabbed onto a particularly deep cut on his shoulder.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the future Konoha within the walls of the Konoha Hospital, Nataro, Hanzo, and Kazemaru all slept peacefully in their beds. They were still motionless, but the hear rate monitors that they were connected to showed that their hearts were still beating. At the moment, Kaze's was racing at a much faster pace than his friends'. Blood began to stain his clothing from the inside…

**X-X-X**

"You're mine!!" A pair of bunshin shouted as they jumped up in front of Kazemaru with their fists balled up. One quickly fell to Kaze's kunai and disappeared in a poof of smoke, but the other managed to punch him in the face, causing the orange-haired genin to stumble back. The clone attempted another punch, but he was soon kicked in the head by Kaze and sent flying into a nearby tree.

"That's for cutting me!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he shook a fist at the Naruto in the tree before it disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"HYAAAAAHHHH!!"

"Huh?" Kaze looked up in time to see three Narutos falling from above him. "That ain't good! Time to unleash my secret technique!!"

Hanzo blinked. "Secret technique…?" After a few seconds, his eyes widened and he smacked himself in the face. "Oh, don't tell me he's gonna use _that_!!"

"Use _what_?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow.

The orange-haired boy formed the Tiger hand sign. "Houka no Seirei!!"

"Oh, that. Wait, not _that_!!" The future blonde shouted as he waved his arms in the air in an exasperated motion.

As soon as the Naruto clones came close to landing a kick on the perverted pyro, Kaze's body burst into flames. The flames radiating from his body touched the bunshin, making them cry out in pain before disappearing in poofs of smoke.

"What the heck?!" Naruto whispered to himself as he stared at the flaming genin. "His entire body…just caught on fire! And it doesn't even look like he's feeling it!"

"Heh-heh-heh…!" Kazemaru began to clench and unclench his fist and moved his neck about, cracking it in the process. "You look surprise, Ramen Breath Prototype! But you ain't seen _nothing_ yet!" He charged towards the blonde with a balled up fist. "Get ready to eat my fist, you loser!!"

"Right after you bit my _butt_!!" Naruto formed a hand sign and two dozen bunshin appeared around him. "I'm not gonna lose to you!"

"Why do I get the feeling that things are going to end badly?" Hanzo asked as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head.

Nataro gulped and began to play around with the grass beneath. "Things aren't gonna end badly. Just…violently."

**X-X-X**

Yet again in the future…

"Oh, my goodness! What's wrong with him?"

"He's burning up!"

"How did all these bruises get here…?"

These were just a few of the things that the group of hospital workers were saying as they stood around the unconscious Kazemaru, trying to return him to his normal state. But that was difficult with his heart rate still quickening and his breathing becoming harsher by the second.

"Those bruises just keep on appearing!"

"He's bleeding over here!!"

"What the hell is _wrong_?"

**X-X-X**

Outside in the waiting room, Kira was currently being throttled via two way between Aiko and Natsume.

"YOU BASTARD!!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?!" Natsume shouted as she held the mad genius in a headlock.

"You did something to my poor baby again, didn't you?" Aiko spoke in a dark tone as she sat on top of Kira with her knee in his stomach. "You bastard!!" She pushed her knee deeper into his stomach, causing Kira to give a short grunt of discomfort. "I swear that if anything happens to him, I will _kill you_!!"

"N-now, now! Ladies…! Please, don't act like this in the Waiting Room," said Matsu from a good distance away. Aiko and Natsume shot glares at the blue-haired medic. Matsu immediately shrank back, muttering something about crazy relatives. _'Aiko-san was bad enough, but Natsume-san just makes things worse! And to think…that when Sakura-sama and Sasuke-sama hear what's happened to Hanzo-kun, things'll get __**much worse**__!'_

"Y'know, I'm surprised that Kira hasn't complained once about being beat up by those women," said Kisho as he arched an eyebrow while leaning against the wall. "He must have a high threshold for pain."

"Yes, well, if he doesn't complain when Hikari hits him hard enough to send him through a wall, I doubt he'll complain over being given a headlock and a knee to the stomach." Matsu gave a sigh as he closed his eyes. "But if Sasuke-sama and Hokage-sama hear of this, he's gonna scream like bitch."

"Hm? I could understand why he'd be afraid of Hokage-sama, but the other old geezer is Hikari's dad, right? What's so intimidating about him?"

Matsu looked at the dark-haired mortician with half-lidded eyes. "You've obviously never tended to Sasuke-sama before. There are stories about what he's done to nurses that agreed to look after him. None of them are happy. So refer to him with respect in all manners of reference before you wind up having a few years removed from your life."

"Oh, please! He can't be _that_ bad."

Unnoticed by them, the entrance doors opened and Sasuke walked in, standing straight and tall despite the slight limp in his leg. He noticed Kira, Aiko and Natsume in the center of the waiting room and began to walk towards them, past the two medical ninja.

"Whoa… I think the room temperature just dropped to 0," Kisho mumbled as a few beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Told you. Well, I…just remembered I had something important to do for Hokage-sama!" Matsu spoke quickly as he made his way towards the stairs.

"Uh… Yeah, I've gotta go back down to the morgue, where it's less cold…" The mortician mumbled before he went back down the stairs leading to the basement.

Sasuke stopped in front of the arguing trio, who had yet to know of his presence. "Kira."

The fighting suddenly ceased and the women looked up at Sasuke. They immediately jumped out of his way and looked down at Kira, their eyes practically saying, _'You're gonna get it now!'_

Kira sat up and rubbed his aching head with a small smile. "Ah, Sasuke-sensei… I was wondering when you were gonna come and shock the crap out of me. Where's the missus? I thought she'd want to crack my skull open for this."

The retired shinobi sighed and held his hand against his head. "Don't worry. I didn't bother to tell her for the sake of her health, but I'll still hurt you _after_ you tell me what you did."

The bicolor-haired man suddenly became an SD chibi version of himself and gave his childhood sensei a sheepish smile. "Um, um… You see, I may have…_accidentally_ sent the souls of your grandson and his friends out of their bodies and…into the past. Or into someone or something else. Or into another dimension. Maybe. I don't know." He started to twiddle his fingers and looked down at the floor as the Uchiha gave him a cold glare.

"I don't even want to know _what_ stupid idea made you do that… But if you don't reverse it, I'll—"

"KIRA!!!"

Kira flinched as Tsuki burst through the doors with the same look that Aiko and Natsume had when they were harming him. Actually, the closer she got, the worse she seemed to look. "You idiot!! What the hell did you do to my students?!" She shouted as she marched past Sasuke and up to her old teammate, glaring down intensely at him. "I wasn't even with Hokage-sama for half an hour and you put my students back in the hospital?!" She grabbed Kira's shirt and pulled him up into a standing position—which was amazing since he was taller than her and she seemed to do it with ease. "What do you have to say for yourself?! Huh?!"

The mad genius stared at his teammate with half-lidded eyes. "I say: _'how rude'_. You could've at least said _'Good morning'_ or something like that, Tsu-Tsu."

The purple-haired jonin's eye twitched. "Just…_tell me_…what you did…before I get sent to jail for murder."

"Take a number then! There are three _more_ people here who want a piece of me!" He pointed back at Aiko and Natsume as he said this. "_But_, if you must know, it was an honest mistake. Anyone could have made it!"

Sasuke walked behind of Kira and placed his hand on his former student's back. He sent a current of electricity racing through the taller man's body.

"GYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" As soon as the old man removed his hand, the black-and-white-haired man fell over, looking like an overcooked piece of meat. He coughed slightly as he rolled over on his stomach. "I…wasn't _ready_ to be shocked yet!! Rude…"

The Uchiha looked down and gave Kira a blank stare. "You'll get worse than that if you don't find a way to reverse your jutsu."

"How _much_ worse?"

"Have you ever been struck by a _natural lightning bolt_?"

The ex-ANBU captain flinched before he bared his teeth in irritation. "Fine!! You people win!! I'll create a reversal jutsu, but only because you're all annoying and Hokage-sama will kill me if he finds out! Yes… And I shall call it, uh…Jikanhanten no Jutsu (Art of Timer Reversal)!!" Kira was then struck in the head by Sasuke's cane.

"Think less about _naming _it and more about _creating_ it, idiot."

**X-X-X**

In the past with our favorite genin from the future and the future Rokudaime Hokage, the training field looked like a war had just taken place…if a war could be down solely with fireballs, explosives, Katon jutsu, and one successful attempt to poke an orange-haired boy in the butt with a kunai. Hanzo and Nataro had figured that by that time, they were better off sitting in a tree than on the ground, where they were in danger of being hit by a rogue fireball or sharp pointy objects. On the ground below, Kazemaru had fallen on his knees, the flames of his Houka no Seirei disappearing.

"Damn it…! Almost all my chakra's gone!" He breathed out as sweat trailed down his bruises face. He looked at Nataro, who was still standing. The blonde formed a hand sign and some more Kage Bunshin appeared beside him. _'But he's still got the chakra to make more than one bunshin?!'_ "He ain't human…!"

"I have to admit, he _is_ pretty skilled," said Hanzo as he shifted on the tree branch slightly. "But it's nothing I haven't seen with you. Plus, his only shown abilities were Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and a failed Kuchiyose. Not exactly highly skilled for a future kage."

Nataro looked at the raven from the corner of his eye. "Heh! Everyone's a critic… It's not _now_ he gets stronger! It's later! _Later_!!"

"I heard you, I heard you! But I still think it's weird to summon up a little red frog that couldn't do anything."

"Ready to give up now, Kazemaru?" The Narutos asked, each one wearing a cocky smirk.

A vein started to throb on Kaze's forehead and he flipped off his opponent. "Bite me, blondie!!"

Before the genin charge towards each other, a figure appeared between them in a poof of smoke. "Eh? What the…Ero Sennin!!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at the man. "What're you doing here?"

Jiraiya gave the blonde genin a smirk with his arms folded across his chest. "I should ask the same of you! Do you know how long I've been looking for you, kid? I assumed you'd be at the ramen shop since people say you practically _live_ there when you're not training… Luckily, the owner told me you went to fight with someone somewhere."

"Yeah, and the fight's still in progress! So if you don't mind, please get outta the way, old man!" Kazemaru shouted at the Toad Sennin as he walked over to him. Hanzo and Nataro jumped out of the tree and ran over to the rest of the group.

"Huh?" The tall man looked over his shoulder to see Team 14 standing behind him. _'Who are __**these**__ kids?'_ He blinked at the sight of Nataro. "Two of them? One was bad enough!"

"It could be worse: there could be two of _you_, Ero Sennin!" The future blonde spoke as he folded his arms across his chest. "No bathhouse would be safe…"

"Watch yourself, _kid_."

"So, why were you looking for me?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.

Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "Well, I have a proposition for you…"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, as Jiraiya and the four genin were walking down the street, Naruto stopped walking all of a sudden.

"WHAT?! You want me to come with you just to find some _woman_?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"She isn't just _some woman_, kid! She's a very _special_ woman," Jiraiya told the genin with a grin. "And also, she's an old friend of mine."

"Big deal! Like I wanna go help you chase after some woman for your so-called _'research'_! I've got things to do! I gotta train! And Kakashi-sensei's gonna show me how to do Chidori any day now, 'cuz he can't keep playing favorites with Sasuke forever! So, no thanks!!"

The Sennin frowned for a moment before he got an idea. "Oh, that's too bad!" He said as he turned his back to the whiskered blonde. "If you had agreed to come, I would have taught you a new jutsu." This piqued Naruto's interest and caused him to look at the tall man out of the corner of his eye. "A jutsu that _totally_ surpasses Chidori in the rankings!" Naruto's jaw dropped as he turned around to look at Jiraiya, unaware of how the Sennin was smiling at his plan. "But, you can't, so I'll have to find someone else to teach it to. Maybe _Sasuke_ would like to come—"

"YES, YES, YES!!!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed onto Jiraiya's vest and began to jump on the balls of his feet. "I'll go with you!!"

"Ah, changed your mind so soon?"

"Yeah, yeah!! Just lemme go and pack and I'll be right back!!" The whiskered blonde ran off in the direction of his apartment building. "Don't you dare leave without me, Ero Sennin!!"

Jiraiya grinned and scratched the back of his head. "He's such a knucklehead…but you can't help but like him!"

"Tch! Man…!" Kazemaru frowned as he placed his hands behind the back of his head. "Without Naruto, who are we going to play around with while we're here?"

"We shouldn't be playing around, anyway… We've still got a problem, in case you've forgotten!" Hanzo told the pyromanic genin.

"Well, how do you expect us to _fix_ this problem, huh? We can't do anything!!" In less than a second, Kaze's mouth was being covered by his raven-haired teammate's hand.

"Ssshhh!!" Hanzo pointed at Jiraiya, who was staring at the genin with an arched eyebrow. "He can hear us!"

"Oh, crap…"

The white-haired man stared at the genin trio for a while before speaking. "What are you kids still doing here? Don't you have things to do?"

"Um…"

"Actually, we were wondering…" Nataro started as he walked up to the Sennin, "If maybe…_we_ could come along? We've got nothing to do and our sensei's out of the village on a mission, and we're _so_ bored!" He began to smile and jab the Sennin with his elbow. "I mean…traveling with the great Jiraiya would be something I'd be proud to tell my mom when I come back! And as long as we're with you, I _know_ we'll be safe!"

"No dice," Jiraiya spoke in a stern tone. "Sorry, kids, but this is an _important_ trip. I can't get stuck chaperoning a bunch of genin while—"

"While you look for a woman?!" Kazemaru shouted, finally getting fed up. "Come on, man!! It's not like we'll get in your way! You can go ahead and work your magic on whoever the hell your _'lady friend'_ is and we'll remain quiet and out of sight like true ninja!"

"I _said_ no. Why don't you kids go train or something? Make yourself useful to the village in its time of need."

Before Nataro or Kazemaru could say a word of protest, Hanzo grabbed them by the back of their jackets and dragged them away, out of Jiraiya's hearing range. When he was sure it was safe, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes and growled, What the _heck_ are you doing?!"

"What? You honestly wanna stay here for fuck-knows-how-long until something happens?" The orange-haired boy asked with a snort. "C'mon, Hanzo! This is a lifetime opportunity! When was the last time we got to travel around with someone _legendary_?"

"Do you _realize_ what harm we could be causing—?"

"To the space-time continuum. We know, we know!" Nataro and Kaze whined, rolling their eyes.

"But what if we weren't causing _harm_? What if we were changing the past for the _better_ like Kira said these jutsu were initially created for?" The blonde boy suggested.

Kazemaru blinked. "Say what?"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"While Gramps and Ero Sennin were looking for that certain lady, something happened to Sasuke that made him leave them village." As his teammates stared at him in confusion, Nataro balled his hands into fists and stared down at the ground in thought. "So…why don't we stop that from happening? Why don't we change the past in order to stop Sasuke form ever leaving in the _first_ place?"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about now?" Kaze asked his blonde teammate. "Don't tell me you _still_ think you're a part of Hokage-sama. No matter _how_ frighteningly similar you are to him when he was a kid, that _doesn't make you him_!"

Hanzo looked down at the ground for a second before he looked at the blonde. "Nataro… I understand how you want to make things better for Hokage-sama, but…something like that…may have some major repercussions."

"Yeah, _good_ ones! Come on, what do you say?" Nataro pumped a fist in the air. "Let's change history!"

"There's still a problem. Jiraiya-sama won't let us go with him."

The blonde suddenly got a mischievous smirk as he looked at Jiraiya from the corner of his eye. "Oh, don't worry. I've got an idea…"

As Team 14 formed a huddle and began to whisper amongst themselves, the Toad Sennin stared at them in curiosity. _'What are they up to…?'_

"WHAT?! HELL NO!!!" Hanzo shouted as he suddenly stepped back in shock. His eyes were large and a cherry red blush stuck out on his pale skin.

"Come on! Be a man!" Nataro shouted back, pointing a finger at the Uchiha while Kazemaru gave a perverted giggle in the background.

"There is _nothing_ manly about that!!"

The boys formed a huddle again, and in less than a second, it was broken up. They walked up to Jiraiya, who was staring at them in confusion. Both Nataro and Kaze had mischievous looks on their faces while Hanzo's eyes were hidden by his bangs while a blue tinge was on his cheeks.

"Oh, Ero Sennin!"

The tall man arched an eyebrow at their tone of voice. "What?"

The genin each formed the same hand sign and they were soon enveloped in smoke. As the smoke cleared, three scantily-clad and attractive girls were in their place. On the left was a young woman with short orange hair wearing a red and black two-piece bikini, blowing a kiss at him. In the middle was a young woman who looked very similar to Naruto's Oiroke no Jutsu form, without the whisker marks on her cheeks, who was winking at the old man while running her hands through her long, blonde hair. The young woman on the right had long, raven-colored hair and wore a blue one-piece bathing suit, but unlike the other two, she was blushing and staring at the ground while trying her best to hide her semi-exposed body.

"If you let us come with you…" The orange-haired girl started, speaking in a seductively breathy voice as she rubbed held onto one of her breasts.

"We'll make it worth your while, Jiraiya-sama!" The blonde girl cooed a she gave him a wink, complete with a cute little heart floating over her head. The blonde cutie looked over at the raven beauty and jabbed her in the stomach with her elbow.

"Um…" The raven-haired girl looked up at Jiraiya. Her cheeks were red from embarrassment and that cute, shy smile was obviously forced, but that just seemed to make her cuter. "So, let us come with you? Please? We promise not to get in the way."

"HELL YEAH!!!" Was the expected response form Jiraiya, alongside a hanging jaw, a perverted leer and a trail of blood leading down from his nose.

'_That actually worked?'_ Thought the female Kazemaru as she arched an eyebrow and gave the old man a look. _'He better not try anything on that trip, then…'_

'_I'm so embarrassed! How do I keep getting pulled into these crazy things…?'_ The female Hanzo thought as she began to rub her arm and stared at the ground in disappointment. _'Maybe those teachers back in the Academy were right. Nataro's a bad influence to hang around with. He's gonna rob me of my purity with these crazy ideas of his one of these days…'_

"Yay!!" Nataro's female form exclaimed as she began to jump up and down. This led Jiraiya's gaze to be drawn to her bouncing breast, but she didn't seem to notice. _'Alright! Operation: __**Keep Sasuke in Konoha**__ is on!!'_

Meanwhile, as Naruto walked up the road towards the village gate while dragging his overstuffed backpack, he stared at the trio of scantily-clad girls and gasped dramatically. "You…YOU'RE _REAL_?!" The blonde shouted as he pointed at the girl Nataro. The blonde cutie sweatdropped, but decided to remain silent as she and her friends change back to normal. "Oh! It's just you guys…" _'I should've known better. No girl would wear a bathing suit out in public in broad daylight around Ero Sennin of all people…'_

"Hey!! Guess what? We're coming with you!" Nataro exclaimed as the other blonde struggled with dragging his bag over to them.

"Huh? Really?!" Naruto looked at Jiraiya, who now had a piece of paper stuck up his bleeding nose. "Does this mean you're training them, too, Ero Sennin?"

"No, we're just…in it for the travel," Kaze said with a grin. He hooked his arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Looks like we're traveling together!"

Jiraiya looked at the whiskered blonde's fully packed bag and sweatdropped. "Speaking of traveling, we're not gonna be gone for _that_ long, kid. It's not like we'll be holing up in the mountains for months on end."

"You mean I gotta go back and unpack?! But…it was hard enough to get everything stuffed in here in the first place!!"

Hanzo sighed and slumped over slightly. "Oh, yes… This is going to be a _fun_ trip…"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Jikanhanten no Jutsu – Art of Time Reversal.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: You know, Jiraiya isn't exactly in my top five favorite characters, but he can be pretty funny when he has those perverted moments of his.**

**Hanzo: D…do we have to transform into girls again for this story?**

**Blu: I don't know… Maybe, if I want to embarrass you some more.**

**Hanzo: Wh-what?!**

**Kazemaru: I don't know why you're complaining! You've been naked before!**

**Hanzo: That was in fan art!! And that was BlackBlaze's fault and you know it!! I wouldn't have agreed to it if she hadn't drugged me!!**

**Nataro: What is this, a promotion for BlackBlaze's art?**

**Blu: If this were a promotion, I'd say "check out BlackBlaze's LiveJournal and DeviantArt homepages to see her cool drawings! Come on, inspire her to continue drawing as a creative outlet despite the troubles of life!" Wait…I just promoted her, didn't I?**

**Nataro: Completely and utterly.**

**Kaze: Moving from _that_ topic, Hanzo's sexy girl form is _way_ sexier than mine's and Nataro's!! Why'd you think it like that, Blu?!**

**Blu: I don't know!! Most Uchiha men are already physically attractive, so it makes sense for girl Hanzo to look sexier than the two of you!**

**Nataro: WAIT A MINUTE!!! Are you saying that Hanzo's sexier than us?!**

**Blu: How can you be sexy right now?! You're 13 years old until Arashiden!!**

**Nataro: I've read fan forums!! I know how some of you fan girls think!!**

**Blu: Oy vay… Anyway, stay tune for the next chapter of the final arc of Part I!! See you in the future!**


	48. The Akatsuki Encounter!

**Blu: Hardly anyone seems to be reviewing these chapters… Could it be that this story is getting unpopular…?**

**Naruto: Don't listen to her, folks. She's just a bit stressed because her midterms are in a few weeks.**

**Blu: If it's getting unpopular, maybe I should just remove it…**

**Naruto: Yes, sir! Don't pay any mind to her, because she's just going through a phase!**

**Blu: (Has out her laptop and it's on the story page of **_**Naruto X**_** with the mouse over the Delete Story option.) Well, it's been nice knowing ya, **_**Naruto X**_**.**

**Naruto: (O.O) AAAAAHHHH!!! (Tackles Blu over and throws the laptop aside.) Would you knock it off, already?!**

**Blu: NO!! It must be removed!!**

**Sakura: (Sweatdrops as Blu and Naruto fight off screen) Uhhh, don't mind Blu, everyone. She's not gonna remove this story. Now, just sit back and enjoy the fic!**

_Disclaimer: If Blu Rose owned Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't have wound up getting so fucked up, Naruto wouldn't have to go through mental abuse, Sakura and other kunoichi wouldn't do things that make all sorts of fans bash them for no reason except not acting strong, and Naruto X would officially be the sequel of Naruto. But she doesn't, so it's not possible._

**X-X-X**

_#48: The Akatsuki Encounter!_

Kira gulped as he stood before Naruto, who sat behind his desk with eyes closed. Neither one had spoken since an ANBU member had saved him from being mauled by Sakura—who squeezed his mistake out of someone—and dragged him to the Hokage's office. He was expecting Naruto to say _something_. How disappointed he was in him, how the hell he managed to create a problem like this, _anything_! But he just sat there.

"Uh… Hello? You alive in there, Hokage-sama…?" It was probably a good idea to lay on the honorifics to lessen any chance of becoming a _permanent_ civilian.

"I give up."

The mad genius blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I give up. I keep covering for you because I hope you'll learn from your mistakes…that you'll stop playing around and start acting normal again. What happened at the festival was a surprise, but _this_…" Naruto opened his eyes to stare sternly at Kira, causing the black-and-white-clad man to flinch. "This is worse! You've endangered three boys and for what?! To test a jutsu?!"

"It…it was an accident!"

"You used it on them _on purpose_!! Does _that_ sound like an accident to you?!" The Rokudaime bellowed. "If you don't find a way to reverse this jutsu before something _serious_ happens to them, I will give you the harshest punishment I can possibly think of!!"

"Yes, sir…"

Naruto took a breath, although he still looked upset. "You can use the library to assist you. And you'd better not slack off. You are dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Kira stiffly turned on his heel and walked out of the Rokudaime's office, closing the door behind him. He walked down the empty hallway for a short while before he stopped walking, faced the wall, and slammed his head into it hard. _'Why?!'_ He pulled his bruised head back and clenched his teeth before he slammed his head into the wall once more, slightly harder. _'Why am I acting this way?!'_ He pulled it back. _'Is there something really wrong with me? Am I really crazy?!'_ He slammed his head against the wall one more time, cracking the wall and causing his head to bleed. He stayed in that position for a few seconds before he slid to the floor on his knees, his head still resting against the blood stained wall. _'Have I sunk so low…that not even Naruto-sama thinks I'm worth a damn anymore…? Are you ashamed of me…Azuki-sensei…?'_

**X-X-X**

As Jiraiya, Naruto, Nataro, Hanzo, and Kazemaru walked down the dirt road, Nataro and Kaze began to chant a marching tune out of boredom.

"We are ninja of the Leaf! To many people's disbelief! Our mission today's helping this old man! Tap the ass of a hot wo-man! Sound off, one-two! Sound off—!"

"Shut up!!" Jiraiya shouted as she suddenly stopped walking. He glared at the blonde and redhead from over his shoulder. "That isn't why we're on this trip, anyway!"

"It's not?" Kazemaru asked with an eyebrow raised. "But you were telling Naruto that you were looking for a pretty woman, so we naturally assumed that we were gonna help you get laid."

"Well, it isn't! It's a mission of the highest regard!"

The orange-haired genin snorted and folded his arms across his chest, looking at the Toad Sennin from the corner of his eye. "Quit lyin', old man! I've seen guys like you all my life—creepy old men who think they still have the energy to sleep with a girl that's probably _half_ their age!"

"He _does_ have a point, Ero Sennin…" Naruto agreed with his eyes squinted in a fox-like manner.

"Yup," said Nataro with his eyes also squinted.

"I have to agree with them there," said Hanzo.

"See that, _Ero Sennin_? You're nothing but another dirty old man!" Kaze exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the tall man.

Jiraiya's eye twitched and a vein popped up on his forehead. "Okay, this is getting old! I thought you kids knew who I was!"

"We do! You're Jiraiya-san, the perverted Sage!"

"WRONG!!! Allow me to reveal my _true_ identity!!" Jiraiya jumped in front of the four boys and began to pose like a kabuki player. "Known in the North, the South, the East and the West! The Masters of Toads and one of the Legendary Sannin! A man who could charm the ladies and hush a crying child with one look at his face! The one…the only...JIRAIYA-SAMA!!!" He started to smirk. "Well?"

The boys stared at the Sannin in silence before Kazemaru spoke up. "_'Hush a crying child with one look at his face'_?" The boy asked with an arched eyebrow. "Not trying to be mean here, but _you'd_ probably be the reason the kid was crying."

"And if the ladies knew what you were _really_ like, I doubt they'd find you charming," Nataro added with a half-lidded stare with Naruto and Hanzo nodding in agreement.

After that, the genin walked past the white-haired man. A lone wind blew through the area until finally, Jiraiya fell forward.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, after Jiraiya snapped out of his funk, Naruto began to barrage the Toad Sennin with questions.

"So, you must be _awesome_, huh, Ero Sennin? The fact that you chose _us_ to be your traveling companions must mean something special, huh? It must mean we've got some sort of incredible power and hidden talent, right? Because you'd have to be as super-talented as _I_ am in order to learn Sage-level jutsu, right?"

'_You have __**no**__ idea…'_ Nataro thought as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

"_You_ may be here to be trained, but we were brought along as eye candy," said Kazemaru.

"Huh?" The future Hokage looked over at the pyromanic redhead. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing!" Hanzo spoke quickly as he elbowed his teammate in the ribs. A blush appeared on his cheeks as he tried to suppress memories of the incident that happened back in Konoha.

Naruto stared at the raven and orange-haired boys before turning his attention back to Jiraiya. "Well, Ero Sennin? Huh? _Huh_?"

"For the last time, my name is Jiraiya. Sheesh…!" The Toad Sennin muttered under his breath. He stared at the anxious blonde for a while, who was staring up at him brightly. "Well, if you must know why, it's because you remind me of a former student of mine."

"Really? Who was that?"

"The Yondaime Hokage."

All four boys immediately stopped walking and looked at Jiraiya in shock—except for Nataro, at least, who had the feign surprise.

"You're joking!! _You_ taught the Yondaime Hokage?! The guy who defeated the Kyuubi no Kitsune?!" Kazemaru shouted as his mouth hung open in awe.

"Wow, for you to have taught the Yondaime… You must be _very_ strong, Jiraiya-sama!" Hanzo said with a smile.

"S-so, I remind you of the Yondaime?" Naruto stuttered as a blush appeared on his cheeks. "Really? I'm like the Yondaime Hokage?"

"Well…" Jiraiya began to stroke his chin in an intellectual manner. "You're both stubborn blue-eyed blondes…but you're not exactly as smart as he was."

Kaze stifled a snort. "I could've told you that! The only guy I know who matches him in stupidity would be Nataro!"

"HEY!!! We aren't anything alike!!" Naruto and Nataro started to growl as they glared at the orange-haired genin and Jiraiya laughed softly.

"What? You know it's true! You wanna be Hokage so badly, but you gotta be _intelligent_. A trait which, from what I've seen from both of you, is not capable for your tiny minds."

"Like you're any smarter, jackass!!"

"I bet I'm smarter than the two of you _combined_!"

"A _baby's_ smarter than you!!"

"A _rock_ is smarter than _you two_!!"

'_I'm kinda glad I brought these kids along. They're a riot!'_ Jiraiya thought as he wiped a tear from his eye from all the laughter he was holding in.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, at a training field back in Konohagakure, Sasuke was hunched over with sweat trailing down his face as he breathed slowly and heavily. Though his eyes were focused on the holes and craters he had caused, his mind was somewhere else. More specifically, he was thinking about his battle and loss against Gaara during Suna and Oto's invasion of the Leaf.

'_I…was useless…but Naruto…'_ The Uchiha began to remember how his blonde teammate fought against the Shukaku's host. How he had summoned that giant red frog to combat Gaara when Shukaku had been formed. The power he showed to finish off Gaara in the end… _'It's like he's progressing at an abnormal rate. Compared to our days at the Academy…he shouldn't have gotten so far! Not to mention…that when I look at him up close, I can see something. Some sort of hidden power.'_ An image of Naruto looking at him with those red, beast-like eyes appeared in his mind. _'And it scares me.'_ Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he bit the inside of his cheek. "What the hell _is_ he?" He whispered to himself. The raven-haired genin stood up straight, gaining new resolve. _'I need to get stronger…if I want to defeat __**him**__!'_ He turned on his heel and went back towards town, determined to find Kakashi and make the jonin train him.

**X-X-X**

At Kakashi's small apartment, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai were standing around the unconscious Kakashi, who was lying down in his bed.

"From how what they said, it doesn't seem like they've found Naruto. At least, not yet," said Gai.

"That's weird. Itachi's not only a former Konoha ninja, but he's seen Naruto's face before. Plus, Naruto's not exactly hard to find," said Asuma as he looked down at Kakashi. "So—"

"Sshh!" Gai shushed the bearded jonin as he looked at the door. In less than a second, it opened and Sasuke walked into the room.

"Kakashi, I…" The genin's eyes widened as he stared at his unconscious sensei. "What the heck…? Why's Kakashi in bed?" He stared at the jonin. "And with jonin all around him?"

"Uh… Nothing, really."

The door opened once again and a dark-haired ninja wearing the common chunin attire wearing a pair of shades dashed into the room. "Is it true that Itachi returned to the village?! And that he's after Naruto?!" He flinched under the looks the jonin were giving him before noticing Sasuke, who had an angry look on his face. "Oh…"

"Idiot!" Kurenai hissed as she glared at the chunin. Gai and Asuma groaned in aggravation before Sasuke ran out of the room.

**X-X-X**

'_So he came back to the village!'_ The Uchiha thought as he dashed through the streets. _'And he's after Naruto? For what?!'_ He skidded to a halt in front of the Ichiraku ramen shop and lifted up the entrance flaps. _'If he gets his hands on Naruto, he's finished!! There's no __**way**__ I'll let that happen!'_ "Hey, old man!!" Sasuke called out to Teuchi. "I know that Naruto was eating here for lunch. Do you know where he went afterwards?"

"Naruto, huh?" Teuchi began to rub his chin as he began to think. "Hmmm, lemme see… Oh, right. Some kids met up with him and they were eating ramen when this one boy started a fight with him and they went off to a training field. A while later, Jiraiya-sama came and asked if Naruto was here. When I said he wasn't, he started to mutter things under his breath about not being able to get to the next town as quickly as he thought…and some time after that, I saw him, Naruto and those three kids walking towards the village gates."

Sasuke blinked. "Jiraiya?"

"Yeah, you know…" The chef made a peace symbol with his fingers. "Jiraiya-sama of the Legendary Sannin! He's a big white-haired guy—" But before he could finish, Sasuke had ran away. "Hey!! The least you could do is buy a bowl of ramen in return for the info!!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, our four young heroes and their perverted chaperon were currently in Fun Fun Avenue, a suspicious-looking place with suspicious-looking people. Needless to say, Kazemaru was the first to speak their thoughts aloud.

"This looks the type of place where you pay women to do _certain things_ to you." The orange-haired genin gave the Sannin a look as he stood at the desk of the hotel they would be staying at. "Alright, who here thinks he _isn't_ gonna go find some hookers and have himself a good time? 'Cuz you saw how he was staring at that woman who was passing by a while ago."

Hanzo stared at the perverted pyro with an arched eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, you were giving her the same look."

"You're as bad as Ero Sennin," said Naruto as he gripped the handles of his bag.

"No, he isn't…" said Nataro, shaking his head slowly. "_No one_ could be as bad as Ero Sennin."

"True, true…"

"Hey, guys! This is where we're gonna be staying!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he held up the keys. His eyes widened as he stared at the boys. Or rather, what was in the boys' _direction_. An attractive woman with dark brown hair and wearing a skimpy purple dress and high heel shoes was walking by when she stopped all of a sudden. The boys turned around to face the woman as well, and the expressions on their faces came to match Jiraiya's. They were all speechless until the woman winked at them.

"WHOA!!!" Jiraiya, Naruto, Nataro and Kazemaru shouted loudly.

"Hey, I think she's winking at me!" Naruto exclaimed.

"As if! She's winking at _me_!" Nataro shouted as he shoved the future Hokage aside, completely forgetting what would happen later on because of that woman.

"You're _both_ wrong!! _I'm_ the one she's giving those _bedroom eyes_ to!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he jabbed his thumb to his chest.

Hanzo stood in the background, shaking his head with a sigh. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but she's out of your age range _and_ out of your league."

"That's right, Hanzo, but she's right up _mine_!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a perverted grin.

"I was talking to you, _too,_ Jiraiya-sama," the Uchiha mumbled as the Sannin placed their room key in the palm of his hand.

"Yeah, whatever. Why don't you guys go up there and practice manipulating your chakra?"

"What?! You just dragged us to this place and you're _leaving_ us?!" Both Naruto and Nataro shouted in synchrony.

"That's not safe!! Who knows what could happen if we're alone in a place like this!" Said Hanzo.

"Plus, _we're_ not your apprentices!!" Kaze shouted as he motioned to himself, Nataro and Hanzo. "We shouldn't _have_ to train!"

"Well, a little extra training now and then doesn't hurt. Now, if you'll excuse me…" The Toad Sage strolled on over to the attractive woman. They began to talk, their words unheard by the boys. The woman looked as though she was laughing and in a matter of seconds, her arm was wrapped around Jiraiya's and they had disappeared into the crowd.

"I can't believe this…! He ditched us…for a _woman_!" The orange-haired genin growled under his breath as the air around him got warmer. "Granted, she was a _sexy_ woman…but he ditched us nonetheless, the bastard!!" He looked at his fellow genin with a wicked smirk on his face as a vein throbbed slowly on his forehead. "Hey… We should order tons and tons of food through room service and put it on _his_ bill! That'll teach 'em!"

"Yeah, but I'm not even sure if they have room service here, let alone if we can get away with it and _live_," said Naruto. "Ah, well… Let's go and find our room. Knowing Ero Sennin, he'll be rejected soon enough." Hanzo tossed Naruto the key and the blonde caught it in midair. He walked ahead of Team 14, who fell behind him and began to whisper among themselves.

"Alright, this is the place! This is where Sasuke confronts Itachi and winds up getting beaten," Nataro told Hanzo and Kazemaru. "Because of that defeat, he thought he was weak and that the only way to get stronger was to go to Orochimaru."

"And you want us to prevent this _how_?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow. "Uchiha Itachi was…_is_ an S-rank criminal! We can't hope to beat him!"

"I know that! I'm not stupid!" The future blonde hissed. "But if Sasuke never meets Sasuke here in the first place, then everything will be okay. He won't lose and he won't think that he needs Orochimaru!"

Kaze stared at his teammate in surprise. "Wow… That's pretty smart thinking, Nataro. That's a first for you." Ignoring the way Nataro stuck his tongue out at him, he continued, "But he exactly do you expect us to keep him away from Itachi? Knock him out?"

"Maybe… But only as a last resort! We'll try to stall him first, and if that doesn't work, we'll knock him out. And when Bushy Brows-sensei comes along, we'll just hand Sasuke over to him and the future will be a better place!" Nataro began to smile. "Trust me, this'll be a success!"

"Hey, didn't you say that someone's gonna try and get Naruto?"

"Yeah, you're right. The only reason why they didn't take him was because Sasuke came at the right time… Hmmm… One of us should stay with Gramps while the other two go an' stall Sasuke," Nataro immediately looked at Hanzo.

The raven-haired genin blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you'd wanna confront Sasuke as a kid. Trust me, it will most likely end in pain…and Sasuke is—and I can't _believe_ I'm saying this—_much_ more patient than he was as a kid!"

Hanzo flinched and bowed his head in thought. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. "Okay, I'll stay with Naruto."

"Great."

"Wait a minute, I'm starting to have second thoughts. Can _I_ babysit Naruto instead of Hanzo?" Kazemaru asked as he pointed at himself with a nervous smile. After all, his brother and sister told him what happened to Sasuke the day he said he was Hanzo's teammate… Any person who lived through such events was sure to have a few screws loose.

"Aw, what's the matter, Kaze-chan? Are you _chicken_?" Nataro asked with a pout.

"Hell no!! But with those Sharingan eyes of his, we may wind up getting hurt!"

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't get his third tomoe until he goes off to Orochimaru, so the most he could do is predict your movements." He held up two fingers and wagged them in front of the orange-haired genin. "Besides, the Sharingan doesn't work as well if there are at least _two_ ninja against a Sharingan user!"

"Great! You can be Sasuke's punching back while I sneak up on him and burn his lil' Uchiha ass to kingdom come!"

"Hey, wait a min—!"

"Ahem!" Naruto cleared his throat. They were standing in front of their room and the whiskered blonde was giving his friends a look. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh…nothing," all three boys stated as they began to grin nervously.

"Whatever…" The whiskered blonde mumbled as he opened the door. "Oh, well. At least I've got some _decent_ company until Ero Sennin comes back."

Nataro elbowed Kaze in the stomach and the orange-haired genin nodded his head. "_Actually_, I'm gonna go down to the front desk and see if there's room service here," said Kaze as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie jacket. "I'm in the mood for making Jiraiya-sama pay—_literally_!"

"I'll come with you. I wanna see what kind of stuff they serve—maybe some ramen," said Nataro as the two boys walked down the hall. "Be back in a while!"

"Well, I guess it's just the two of us," said Hanzo as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "After you."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the future Konoha, inside of a dark room where blinds blocked out the sunlight and the closest thing to it was the small bit of light that could be seen coming through the bottom of the door and the headlamp on the desk of the man who sat there, hunched over multiple scrolls that had been opened and sheets of paper that had things scrawled messily onto them. The door of the apartment opened, letting light into the room.

"What the…? Kira-sempai, what have I told you about working in the dark?!" A shadowed-over figure with green eyes shouted. A hand reached over to the wall and began to grope around for the light switch. Upon finding it, the green-eyed person flicked the lights on, revealing Hanasotsu standing in the doorway.

Kira turned around to glare at the blonde and clawed the air, similar to a cat. "The light! The light!! It _burns_!!" He hissed and covered his eyes with his arm.

The blonde man stared at the black-and-white-haired mad genius with half-lidded eyes. "Kira-sempai, you're supposed to be working! You know what's going to happen if you don't fix this mess. Stop playing around!"

Putting his arm down on the desk, an emotion appeared on Kira's face that Hanasotsu hadn't seen for a long time: depression. "I'm no playing… But something's wrong with me. I keep thinking about Nataro and what could happen to them and…and…" He turned away from his so-called babysitter and began to hold his head with both hands, clenching his teeth. "Grrrrr!!"

"Ki…Kira-sempai…"

"Damn it!! Why the hell do I feel like this?! What's _wrong_ with me?!" He removed his hands from his head and held onto his chin, getting into a thinking position. "Hmmm… Maybe that jutsu did something to my mind! What do you think, Hanasotsu?"

Hanasotsu smiled sadly. He walked up to his ex-captain and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sempai… Could it be that you're feeling guilty because _you_ were the one who put Nataro-kun and his friends into that position?"

Kira snorted as he arched an eyebrow, but refused to look at the blonde man. "Are you for real, Hana-chan? When you're a member of ANBU, _guilt_ is something that you shouldn't feel. Trust me: it only causes problems—problems that lead to a mental unbalance."

"Yes, I know that…but…you're not _in_ ANBU anymore. So what you're feeling is guilt."

The mad genius blinked. "Nope. I think it's because I still have that bad feeling in the pit of my stomach from when the old man said he had given up on helping me." Kira groaned before his head landed onto the desk with a thud. "This sucks…how'd he _know_ anyway? How'd almost _every_ person in this damn village who _shouldn't_ know about it just…_KNOW_?!?" He shouted loudly as a vein throbbed on the back of his head and he began to bang his head on the table. "It's like every time I do something that people consider as _'wrong,'_ everyone immediately knows about it! It's a conspiracy!!"

Hanasotsu shrugged. "Maybe it's because the people consider everything revolving around you to be so…interesting and gossip-worthy." He looked over Kira's shoulder at the scrolls on his desk. 'What are those?"

"Information that Naruto-sama allowed me to take out on all attempts made to create time traveling jutsu. But so far, I haven't been able to find anything relating to a reversal. Probably because they assumed that if a ninja was able to change the past to save the future, it didn't matter whether or not they came back. All that matter was the mission being completed." The mad genius tapped his fingers on the desk and sighed before rolling up a scroll he was looking at. "I was hoping that seeing these would give me some idea of what to do, but so far…I've got nothing."

"Meaning…?"

"Stupid Hana-chan!! What do you _think_ it means?!" Kira shouted as he knocked his blonde babysitter upside the head with a scroll. After Hanasotsu fell to the ground with swirls spinning in his eyes, Kira continued, "It means I'm gonna have to come up with a jutsu on my own. It'll be difficult, but…" He slammed the scroll down into the palm of his hand and looked up at the ceiling. "For the kid's sake, I can't fail!!"

Still swirly-eyed, Hanasotsu sat up and held a hand to the throbbing bump on the side of his head. "Wha… What'd you say…?"

"Uh…" Kira blinked. "I said _'for my license's sake, I can't fail'_."

"Oh, no! You can't fool me!! You're worried about Nataro—OOF!!" In less than a second, Hanasotsu fell back down to the floor, fully unconscious now with a second, smaller bump throbbing on top of the first one and X's in his eyes instead of swirls. Kira stood over him, a scroll in hand as he looked down at him with an eerie smile and glowing yellow eyes.

"You shouldn't know better than to anger me, Hana-chan…!"

Outside of the apartment, one could hear the sounds of Kira grunting each time he struck Hanasotsu on the head with the scroll.

**X-X-X**

At the Hospital, Aiko at Nataro's bedside, looking down sadly at her son as she nervously wrung the handkerchief in her hands. After hearing what had happened to Kazemaru, that maniac Kira deduced that whatever happened to the boys in the past probably affected them in the future, meaning that if they were to be killed while in the past, their bodies would…

"Oh!" A sob escaped from the blonde woman as she held the handkerchief up to her mouth in a desperate attempt to muffle the noise. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the sight of her son, but she wouldn't let them fall. She had to stay strong. She had to believe that stupid genius ninja would find a way to bring her child back to her. Wiping her eyes with her handkerchief, she looked up and stared at the back of Sasuke's jacket.

The Uchiha patriarch was absolutely silent as he sat next to his grandson, his face emotionless and his eyes looking as if he was staring at something in the distance and not his unconscious grandson. He was completely unlike his wife, who gave her grandson sad looks before she had to leave with her younger grandson in search for a vending machine. But Sasuke hadn't shown the tiniest amount of sympathy for his grandson, and for that Aiko was upset with him. But at the same time, she was envious of him for not breaking down in public like she had.

'_What was it that one of those men said? Sasuke-san isn't comfortable with just pouring out his emotions in public,'_ the blonde woman thought as she continued to stare at his back. "Maybe he's sadder at home than he I here," she mumbled out loud, unaware of what she said.

The door opened and Tsuki walked into the room. "Hello, Aiko-san. Sasuke-sensei."

Aiko was lost in thought for a moment before she realized what was going on. "Huh? Oh, good morning, Tsuki-san."

The purple-haired jonin arched an eyebrow. "It's after 1. Correct me if I'm wrong, Aiko-san, but you're supposed to be at work right now, aren't you?"

"Really?" The blonde woman faked a smile—something Tsuki recognized from Nataro. "Oh… I must've lost track of time."

Tsuki stared at the younger woman for a while until a thought came to her mind that she had to speak aloud. "Exactly how long have you been here, Aiko-san?"

Aiko brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at Nataro form the corner of her eye. "Well… I'd say at…6:00. Give or take a couple of minutes."

"In the _morning_? Visiting hours don't even start until 8!"

"I waited. I couldn't help it! I thought…I just _had_ to here if Nataro suddenly woke up. Like a miracle. He's done it before, I mean…the last time he got knocked out for days, he woke up and ran out of the hospital. So…" The blonde woman took a sudden interest in her skirt and began to smooth out the wrinkles in it. "So I decided to come here early, just in case he tries to pull a stupid stunt like that again."

Tsuki sighed. "Aiko-san… You have a job. You couldn't have been able to go to work if you keep coming here. Exactly how many times have you been in to work?"

"One and a half."

The kunoichi almost choked. "One—one and a half?! How is that possible?!"

"Yeah, I started one work day, but I got worried during the middle of it and left during the lunch rush. It's not a big deal!" If Sasuke had been paying attention, he'd snort and make a comment about her being one of the people Nataro picks up his bad habits from.

Tsuki sighed as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of her head. _'Like mother, like son.'_ "But that would mean you've been in here for almost a _week_!" She grabbed Aiko by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "Go to work. If Nataro wakes up, you'll be among the first to know, but if you guys don't have a home to go back to, that'd put a damper on things."

Aiko began to bite her lower lip. She looked down at Nataro before nodding her head. "You're right…" She stood up and fixed herself off. "I should try to go about things like normal…and when Nataro wakes up, I'll make him a big dinner!!" With one last look at her unconscious son, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

'_She is one worried mother…but I know how she feels…'_ Tsuki looked at each one of the boys. _'For all of them. Damn Kira for dragging them into this mess! Now there's a chance that they'll die? It's not fair… They're only kids… No matter what the ninja code says, they're only kids…'_ After a moment of silence, the boys' sensei looked up at her former sensei. Sasuke still hadn't spoken. "Sasuke-sensei? Aren't you going to say _anything_?" When he said nothing, the purple-haired woman walked over to Hanzo's bedside and stood next to Sasuke. She waved her hand in front of his face and snapped her fingers. Nothing. After a short while of contemplating, she pinched him in the shoulder, making him turn his head and look up at her.

"May I help you?" He muttered with a half-lidded distant look

"Sensei… Are you okay? It's common if Aiko-san overreacts to this, but _you're—_"

"Hmph! I'm not overreacting. I was just…thinking." The old man shook his head and sighed.

"Thinking about what? If Hanzo's safe?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Hanzo can take care of himself just fine. I'm on wondering where they are. Or rather…when." His hand balled up into a fist all of a sudden. "Because if he winds up meeting… No, no. I'm getting ahead of myself." The retired shinobi stood up from the stool and grabbed his cane from against the bed. "Good day, Tsuki." He walked past her and out of the room.

**X-X-X**

Back in the past, Sasuke skidded to a halt as he looked around. _'I'm here. But where __**are**__ they?'_ There were several inns and hotels lining the roads and hundreds of people walking through the streets. _'They could be anywhere…'_ He ran down the stairs and headed towards the nearest inn first. _'I'll just have to check them all!'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, Nataro and Kazemaru stood outside of the inn, eating some roasted fish on a stick. Unfortunately, they had to pay for the fish with their own money—and it wasn't cheap.

"Hey, what're we gonna do when Sasuke comes here? Fight him?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow before he put what remained of the fish into his mouth.

"Out here?" Nataro looked around at the people walking around in the streets. "There're too many people. If Sasuke's as pissed off about Itachi as I _think_ he is, he might stick a Chidori into the wrong person."

"Is that Chidori thing _really_ that dangerous? He's used it on you before, right?"

"Yeah, but…what he did to me is not as intense as shoving a hand into your body and sending off over a hundred volts of electricity into you. At least I _know_ I can recover from a little shock from the finger."

Kaze turned slightly blue in the face with the stick still in his mouth. He looked at his teammate from the corner of his eye and saw that he looked…normal. "Thanks a lot… Now I feel sick…!" The pyromanic genin muttered as he stared back into the crowd. He remained silent for a moment until another thought came to mind. "What about if that Itachi guy shows up _before_ Sasuke?"

The orange-clad genin stopped chewing on his fish and began to stare at the ground for a while. "I…don't know."

"What?!"

"Well, what'd you expect? I may have the knowledge of how to prevent him from killing us with his Sharingan, but he's still too strong for us. Plus, he's got this huge, ugly fish-faced Kiri nukenin named Kisame with him who has a sword that could absorb our chakra and leave us helpless."

The orange-haired genin's eyes widened to the size of saucers and his jaw dropped. "I knew it… You being knowledgeable about _anything_ is a _bad thing_!! We're gonna die… Killed by either a pair of deadly nukenin or an emotional avenger! And not even in our own timeline! Talk about a way to go…" He mumbled to himself as a pair of people walked past them into the inn.

"None of us are gonna die."

"Well, what the heck is Hanzo gonna do if they wind up knocking on our door?"

"Hanzo's smart enough not to do anything crazy," the blonde mumbled at the thought of Hanzo becoming trapped in one of Itachi's genjutsu. "He won't be able to break out of that on his own…and Gramps isn't exactly skilled with breaking genjutsu at this age. Hm?" he arched an eyebrow as he saw Sasuke run over to them. "Get ready to put on an act, 'cuz here comes Sasuke."

"Alright…"

"You two!!" The Uchiha shouted as he skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Hey, you're that guy who was with Naruto, right?" Kazemaru asked with an arched eyebrow as he tossed the stick aside. "You're, uh…Sasuke, right?"

Sasuke bent over and began to pant heavily with sweat dripping down his face. "Where…is…Naruto…?"

"Naruto? You ran all this way for _that_ moron?" He began to smirk and placed his hands on his hips. "What's the matter? You felt sick without 'em?"

"Shut up!! You three were traveling with Naruto and a big white-haired guy named Jiraiya, right?"

"Tch! Yeah, but that pervert abandoned us for a cute ass and a pair of long legs!!"

Nataro squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner. "What for? You lookin' for him?"

"It's urgent! Just tell me where they're staying."

"Um…actually, we don't know…" The blonde sweatdropped. "We were just wandering around trying to find Ero Sennin. We can't remember which hotel we came from…"

Sasuke looked up and stared at the sign. "It's this one. It has to be. I've checked everywhere else but here."

Nataro and Kazemaru's eyes widened for a moment. "N-no! I mean, we'd be pretty stupid if we were lookin' for our hotel and it turns out that we were standing in front of it all along," said Kaze as he waved a hand in front of him in a defensive manner. "A-are you _sure_ that they weren't in any of the _other_ places you didn't search?"

The raven-haired genin narrowed his eyes. "You're hiding something."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, upstairs with Naruto and Hanzo, the future Hokage was practicing molding his chakra, just as Jiraiya had told him to. However, once enough time had passed, he got bored and decided to spice it up a bit by creating a couple of Kage Bunshin and having _them_ focus on the training as well. Over time, the number of clones increased to the point where the room was almost filled with orange-clad whiskered blonds. And poor Hanzo was in the middle of it.

"Isn't that a waste of chakra?" The raven-haired boy asked as he stared at the original Naruto.

"Not really. Making this many bunshin is a piece of cake for me," said blonde stated with closed eyes.

"Huh… Do you realize that all your bunshin are asleep now?"

The blonde's eyes snapped open. "What?!" He looked around and saw all of his clones where lying about or sitting up, fast asleep and snoring away. He sweatdropped as he stared at the clones with half-lidded eyes. "I guess they're as bored as I am. Can't blame 'em."

Just then, someone knocked on the door, making both boys look in its direction.

"It's probably Ero Sennin—crawling back after being rejected," Naruto muttered as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"I'll get it," said Hanzo. "You go and continue your training." He got off of the bed and walked over the sleeping Narutos as he made his way towards the door. The knocking continued as the Uchiha grabbed hold of the doorknob. "Coming!" He slowly opened the door. "Yes…?" His eyes widened as he found himself looking up into red eyes. _'Sharingan… This is…!'_

"Hey, kid. Why don't you come on outside of the room?" Kisame asked as he leaned inside, over the terrified Hanzo, to look at Naruto. "That means you, too, Kyuubi kid."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked as his clones disappeared in puffs of smoke. "What the…? Who the heck are you guys?" _'And how'd he know about the Kyuubi?'_

"Just come here! Or else I'll try a method that's _not_ so friendly…" The Kiri nin gave a shark-like smirk as one hand held onto the hilt of his Samehada.

"Just do what he says, Naruto," said Hanzo as he managed to put on a blank face. "He's serious."

The whiskered blonde walked over to the door. He stopped all of a sudden and stared up at Itachi's eyes in shock. _'Sasuke? No… But he's got the Sharingan! Who the heck is he?'_

**X-X-X**

"W-we're not hiding something!" Kazemaru and Nataro exclaimed outside of the inn.

"If you're not, then _let me through_!" Sasuke growled, his Sharingan activating from irritation.

"That does it." Kazemaru balled up a fist and narrowed his eyes. "This is no good! Let's just knock him out!!" He attempted to punch the Uchiha in the head, but Sasuke caught his fist in his hand, pulled the pyro forward and punched him in the stomach, causing him to double over. The raven-haired genin jumped over Kaze and ran into the inn.

"Idiot!! Look what you did!! He didn't even _need_ the Sharingan to knock the wind out of you, ya bag of hot air!!" Nataro shouted as he pointed a finger at his teammate with a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Guh…!" Kaze glared up at the orange-clad blonde, a vein throbbing on his forehead as well. "Shut up and chase after him already!!"

**X-X-X**

"Step outside," Itachi told Naruto and Hanzo, trying not to let Hanzo's appearance affect him. The two boys stepped out, keeping an eye on the cloaked men.

"So, _this_ is the container for the Kyuubi no Kitsune…" Kisame mumbled as he stared down at Naruto. "Hard to believe that so much power is inside of a kid." He looked at Itachi out of the corner of his eye. "It'd be a nuisance if he tried to get away…so should I cut off his legs? Maybe his arms, too…"

The whiskered blonde couldn't help but remain silent. _'Something about these guys… They don't even have to use their chakra to prove they're strong!'_

Itachi continued to stare at Hanzo in intrigue, and Hanzo, still overtaken by fear despite his senses, continued to stare into his Sharingan eyes. Kisame noticed this and looked down at Hanzo as well. "Say… This kid looks kinda like _you_. But he can't be an Uchiha…'cuz _you killed_ the Uchiha clan."

"That _is_ true. But I left one alive. This boy isn't him, but there are a few similarities."

Naruto's eyes widened. _'So this guy…must be the one that Sasuke said he wanted to kill! The guy who murdered his clan!'_ He looked at Hanzo and stared at the raven. _'But is Hanzo an Uchiha, too? But Sasuke was supposed to be the only one alive…'_

"Speaking of him… Hello, Sasuke," Itachi coolly greeted his younger brother without looking back. Behind him a few feet away was Sasuke, who was sweating and panting heavily from all the running and searching he had done.

"Sasuke? What's _he_ doing here?" Naruto asked as he looked at the younger Uchiha brother.

"Apparently, Nataro and Kaze failed to stop him…" Hanzo mumbled under his breath.

"Eh?" Kisame glanced over at Sasuke. "This is a real treat. Yet _another_ Sharingan."

Sasuke glared at Itachi's back, Sharingan activated. "Uchiha Itachi…I…will _kill_ you!!"

Ignoring the younger raven, the Kiri nin looked at Itachi. "He looks an awful lot like you, too. You know _this_ kid, Itachi?"

"Yeah… He's my little brother, Sasuke," the raven-haired man stated. He slowly turned around to face his little brother, Sharingan staring into Sharingan.

"RRRAAAAARRRRGH!!! OOF!!!" Before he could even charge his Chidori, Sasuke was tackled down the ground by Nataro and Kazemaru.

"Hold it right there, Avenger Boy!! We've got your ass now!!" The orange-haired genin shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Make any sudden moves, and I will _burn_ a hole into your ass!!'

"GET OFF OF ME!!!" The Uchiha roared as he tried to push the future genin off of him.

"No way!! There's no way I'll let you start a fight you can't win!!" Nataro shouted into his ear. "I won't lose you again!!" Both boys were then elbowed in the stomach by the raven. He punched the blonde in the face, making him fall off and onto his butt, and then he kicked Kazemaru in the side, knocking him into a wall.

Sasuke glared down at the orange-clad genin and narrowed his eyes. "No one is getting in the way of my revenge!! Especially not _you_!!" He attempted to kick him in the face, but Nataro caught his foot with his hands.

"You honestly think you can beat him?!" Nataro shouted, gritting his teeth in anger at how proud and overly confident the black-clad boy could be. "You just became a genin a couple of months ago, so how the hell could you think that you're on the same level as a guy who was _ANBU captain_ at your age?!"

"Shut up…!" The Uchiha's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth. "Shut…UP!!" Using his other foot, he twisted his body so he could kick the future blonde in the head, sending him flying into the wall and hitting his head against it. He fell right next to Kaze.

"Nataro!!" Hanzo exclaimed as he instinctively took a step forward.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid…" Kisame spoke. "Unless you wanna give me a reason to cut off your legs."

The future raven froze on the spot as Naruto glared at his back. "What the hell is going on?! Why are Nataro and Kazemaru trying to beat up Sasuke?!"

"To save him from pain and humiliation. Because he's too damn proud and overconfident to think that he could beat an S-rank Sharingan user who's obtained the ultimate form!!"

"What…?"

"Itachi is too strong…and fighting against him might be the end of Sasuke," the Uchiha lied. He couldn't think of anything else that would have made Naruto want to charge in there and prevent Sasuke from trying to fight his brother. It seemed to work as the blonde's eyes were wide open with fear for his friend.

At that moment, Sasuke bent his knees and clutched onto the wrist of his hand. Electricity began to crackle around his hand, sounding like several birds chirping.

Itachi stared at his younger brother in interest. "Chidori?"

"Ugh…" Nataro's eyes opened slowly and he could see Sasuke's back and the light from Chidori. He got to his feet. "No…!"

"I've lived my life…just as you told me!! I've hated you…and lived solely…for the sake of killing YOU!!" Sasuke dashed forward, his Chidori ripping into the wall next to him. "RRRRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!"

Itachi raised his hand to block the attack. Sasuke jumped forward and plunged his hand into flesh…but it was the wrong person.

Nataro stood there with a look of pain on his face as Sasuke's hands stuck into his left shoulder. It wasn't exactly pushed all the way in, or else his fingers would have been sticking out in the back of his shoulder. The young avenger had attempted to pull back his hand, but it was too late. Blood dropped onto the floor and covered Sasuke's hand as he glared into Nataro's eyes.

"Why did you protect him…?" He hissed out, wondering if he shouldn't have changed the course of his attack.

"I…" The future blonde coughed up some blood. "I was trying…to protect…_you_…you bastard…!" His knees began to buckle. As soon as Sasuke pulled his hand out of his shoulder, Nataro fell to his knees and fell over to the side, allowing his teammates to see him.

"Wha…? Nn…" Kazemaru blinked his eyes open and sat up. He stared at his fallen teammate in shock. "NATARO!!!" He began to glare at Sasuke once he spotted the blood on his hand. "YOU BASTARD!!! How dare you hurt him?!"

"Nataro…!" Hanzo whispered, praying that he wasn't dead. "Nataro, wake up!! Come on!!"

"Y'see that?! The guy he wanted to save tries to kill him!! Is he even worth saving?!"

"Sasuke… What did you… What did you _do_?!" Naruto shouted as he stared down at Nataro's body.

**X-X-X**

In the future, inside of the Konoha Hospital, Nataro's heart rate monitor began to increase as blood appeared from the wound on his shoulder.

**X-X-X**

"Of all the things…! Once again, I'm left to clean up after Kira's messes," Naruto grumbled as he searched through the pile of scrolls before him. He unrolled a scroll with his left hand while the right hand reached over to grab the tea cup next to the pile. Just as he was about to touch it, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his left shoulder and dropped the scroll, his hand immediately grabbing hold of it. "Ugh…!" And then, in a few seconds, the pain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. "Huh?" The Rokudaime rolled his shoulder. _'What…was that? Why do I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach…?'_

**X-X-X**

"How could you…?" Kazemaru spoke through clenched teeth as he got to his feet. He pointed a finger at Sasuke and narrowed his eyes. "How could you _do _that to him, you bastard?!"

"He was in my way…" Sasuke spoke softly as he stared down at Nataro emotionlessly. "I will do anything…to get my revenge!!" He attempted to punch Itachi in the face, but the older Uchiha grabbed his wrist and stopped his hand before it could actually reach his face.

"I'm glad to see that you took my advice, little brother. However, it's still not enough."

The younger sibling's eyes narrowed. "You…!"

Naruto immediately sprung to his feet and formed a hand sign, determined to help. The Kyuubi's chakra began to seep out of his body slowly. _'I have to do something! I can't stand aside and watch Sasuke get hurt, too!'_

Itachi and Kisame looked at the whiskered blonde upon feeling the Kyuubi's chakra. _'The air is ripe with a foul chakra… No doubt about it. This is the Kyuubi's power…!'_

Nataro began to twitch on the floor. _'Ugh…! Talk about déjà vu…'_

"**Indeed," **the Kyuubi no Kitsune spoke. **"Just as it was in the last life, you're an idiot who hopelessly thinks that you can save your friend. And in return for your efforts, all he does is cause you pain."**

Nataro glared up at the bijuu and folded his arms across his chest, ignoring the wound in his shoulder. "Oh, yeah? I don't care what _you_ think!! I'm gonna save Sasuke no matter what!!"

"**And **_**why**_** exactly do you want to do that?"**

"Because he's my friend!"

"**Hmph! So, you've finally accepted that you're Naruto? Or have you just slipped into another lapse of mistaken identity?" **The fox gave a wide, wicked grin. **"Hmhmhm! It's the last one, isn't it?"**

Nataro flinched. "I…!"

"**This isn't about you being selfless and helping your former self. It's about you being selfish and putting Sasuke over your wellbeing and those of others all over again."**

"You're wrong!! That's not what I think!!"

"**Then allow me to repeat: **_**why**_** do you want to save Sasuke?"** The Kyuubi asked, its pupils narrowing.

"Because…" The genin looked down at the floor in thought. "Because I don't want Gramps to feel that sort of pain…"

"**Sure. That's it…"**

'_That __**is **__it… Isn't it?'_

In the real world, red chakra began to rise up from Nataro's body, changing the attention from Naruto to Nataro.

"Oh, crap…! Not this again…!" Kazemaru cursed as he held onto his head.

"This chakra… It's the same as the Kyuubi's!" Kisame muttered in surprise as he stared down at the future blonde. "Don't tell me that this kid's a Jinchuuriki, too?"

"It's highly unlikely for another bijuu to have as much power as the Kyuubi…but it _is_ possible," said Itachi. He looked at Sasuke, who was now attempting to form a Chidori with his free hand. "You're not the one I want at the moment." Without even batting an eye, he snapped Sasuke's wrapped, causing his little brother to fall to his knees crying in pain.

"AAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!!!"

Naruto began to form hand signs. _'Kuchiyose no Jut—!'_

"Uh-uh-uh!" With one swing of his Samehada, the chakra around Naruto was gone.

The blonde's eyes widened as he realized he could no longer feel the chakra. "What?" He attempted to push some more out, but it was no good. "What's going on?! I can't…feel my chakra!!"

"My Samehada can cut through chakra…and devour it as well!!" The Kiri nukenin smirked at the shocked expression on Naruto's face. "We don't need this kid whipping out any more jutsu…so maybe we should cut off his _arms_ first. Then I'll start on that other kid!" He raised the Samehada above his head as Naruto attempted to squeeze out the Kyuubi's chakra. Hanzo was far too frozen by fear to move. Itachi watched with blank eyes. Sasuke lied on the floor, holding onto his wrist. Nataro was in the same position, albeit unconscious. Kazemaru was already running towards the Kiri ninja with a fist balled up.

As the Samehada began to fall towards Naruto, a large red toad with green markings on its back appeared in front of Naruto in a poof of smoke, blocking the large sword with its steel armguards.

Kaze skidded to a halt, his eyes wide in shock. "What the—?! A _frog_?!"

In a poof of smoke, Jiraiya appeared behind Naruto with the woman he ran off with slung over his back and a smirk on his face. "You guys should've done your homework. The legendary Toad Sage doesn't fall for the charms of women! _They_ fall for the charm of the _Toad Sage_!!" He held a hand out in front of him and began to shout, "A man like me doesn't just blindly follow a woman like some _dog_!! A man of my level makes women _writhe_ at my charm!!"

"AS IF!!! YOU GOT ALL EXCITED WHEN SOME LADY WINKED AT YOU!!!" Naruto and Kazemaru shouted at the same time, making the Sannin flinch at the sound of being scolded in stereo.

Ignoring the boys and regaining his confidence, Jiraiya spoke again, "Never fear!! The Toad Sage is here!!"

**X-X-X**

**Kira: What'd you do _that_ for?!**

**Blu: (Now out of her funk) Huh? Do what?**

**Kira: (Starts to choke Blu) You've gotten me in so much trouble this chapter!! Now Hokage-sama hates me…! I feel like I've lost the will to live!**

**Blu: Gack!! If…you didn't…want…to live…why are you…_choking me_?!**

**Kira: I'll stop living after _you do_!!**

**Hanasotsu: Kira-sempai!! Don't kill her!! Without her, this story will never be finished!!**

**Kira: Good!! The last thing the world needs is another future fic!! (Is hit in the neck with a tranquilizer) Wheee…! (Falls over unconscious.) Zzzz…**

**Hokage Naruto: (Walks onscreen, grabs Kira and starts to drag him off screen) Someone has to make sure he does his job…!**

**Blu: Thank you! Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope you guys remember to review, for the sake of Blu! See you next time!**


	49. Secret Revealed! Mission Failure?

**Naruto: Hey, Blu. You alright? Kira didn't try to hurt you again, did he?**

**Blu: No, thankfully he's too busy fixing up his mistake to exact his revenge.**

**Kira: (Off screen) That's what **_**you**_** think—OW!! Stop it with the whip, old man!!**

**Hokage Naruto: I'll stop when this entire arc is over with!**

**(Sound of a whip being cracked is heard.)**

**Kira: GAAHH!! Remind me why I wanna work under you again!! Ow!!**

**(Blu and Naruto sweatdrop)**

**Naruto: Wow… I never thought I'd get like that when I got old…**

**Blu: Time changes people… Oh, well. At least it's entertaining to watch! Now, on with the fic!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. Just her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#49: Secret Revealed!! Mission Failure?!_

As he held his pose, Jiraiya exclaimed, "Never fear!! The Toad Sage is here!!"

"Quit acting so high and mighty, Ero Sennin!!" Naruto shouted at the perverted old man. "You went running off after some lady who winked at you!!"

"It's about damn time!!" Kazemaru shouted as he glared in the Sannin's direction. "Now, stop posing like an idiot and kick some ass!!"

"Will you two shut up?! And I thought I told you not to call me that?! I have a reputation to uphold!"

"Who cares about your reputation?! Not _them_!!" The whiskered blonde and heated redhead shouted loudly.

Kisame chuckled softly to himself, his Samehada still being held off by the red toad in front of him. "So, this is _they_ Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin… I heard that you were an unrivaled woman chaser, but I didn't think our delay plan would work so easily. But you managed to undo the genjutsu we placed on that woman."

"Wow, they even know his true identity!" Kazemaru exclaimed. "These guys must've done their homework… Wait, _he's_ one of the Legendary Sannin?! _This_ old pervert?!"

Jiraiya stared at the cloaked men before placing the unconscious woman on the ground, leaning against the wall. "Placing a Saimingan jutsu on a woman…just to separate me from Naruto. What sort of cowards would do a thing like that?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. _'Separate us…?'_

"I know…that Naruto is the one you're after."

The orange-clad blonde's eyes widened. "Me…? They're after me?" He didn't notice Sasuke glaring at him from the floor.

Kaze blinked in confusion. "Why would they wanna get rid of Ero Sennin…just to get to Naruto?"

"Because…he's the host of the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Hanzo spoke up. "They want it, and since it's inside of him, they want Naruto, too."

"Huh?" Jiraiya stared at the future Uchiha in shock. _'How'd a kid like him know that?'_

"I see… You're the reason why Kakashi knew about us," Itachi spoke, his eyes now on the Sannin. "You're right. Our mission is to take Naruto with us. It is the supreme order given to us by the Akatsuki." The eldest Uchiha brother continued to stare at the older man. In a poof of smoke, the frog that was blocking Kisame from Naruto and Hanzo disappeared.

"Sorry, but I can't just give you Naruto."

"Is that so?"

"Then I guess we'll have to take him by force!" Kisame smirked, showing his shark-like teeth.

"Fine by me! I'll take care of both of you right here!!" The Sennin shouted as he slipped into a fighting stance.

"Stay…out of this…!" The Konoha ninja blinked and looked over at Sasuke, who was struggling to stand up. His body was trembling, and his legs look as if they would give out at any moment. "If anyone…is going to kill someone…it's _me_…!"

"Sasuke…!" Naruto mumbled under his breath as he stared at his friend.

"You're not serious, are you?! In case you've forgotten, you got your ass handed to you when you tried to kill him the last time, _genius_!!" Kazemaru shouted.

"SHUT UP!! It would have worked if _he_ hadn't gotten in the way!!" The young Avenger shouted back as he looked down at Nataro. His eyes widened slightly as the future blonde got to his knees, the wound in his shoulder now healed.

"**You're welcome…"** The Kyuubi spoke as Nataro got on his feet.

"Does this kid _really_ have a bijuu in him?" Kisame asked Itachi as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

"That sort of healing rate isn't something a normal child should have. The chakra was evidence enough that he has something inside of him."

"Well, then…Leader-sama won't mind if we go and bring in _two_ jinchuuriki to clear up this problem, will he? Just lemme cut off their limbs and we'll be on our way."

"Wait, _what_?! There ain't no way in hell that I'm gonna let you take Nataro for your twisted crimes!!" Kaze shouted as he got into a fighting stance.

"You think I'll just let you drag me away so easily?!" Nataro spoke as he cracked his knuckles. "You're not taking anybody here!!"

"I thought I told you idiots that this is _my_ fight!!" Sasuke shouted as he glared at his brother.

Itachi glanced back at Sasuke in disinterest. "Go away… I have no interest in you at the moment."

The raven-haired boy blinked before he found himself being knocked back into a wall from Itachi's powerful kick. He slid down to the floor and slumped over.

"SASUKE!!" Naruto shouted as he made to move.

"NARUTO!! This is _my_ fight, so mind your own business!!" Sasuke shouted as blood trailed down from his mouth.

The whiskered blonde skidded to a halt and blinked in confusion. "What?"

"What are you stopping for?!" Nataro shouted at the future Rokudaime. "Don't you see what's happening?! He's injured and he can't even make hand signs anymore!! At this rate, Itachi's going to kill him!!" Tears began to well him in his eyes. Despite his knowledge that Sasuke would survive, he knew the results, and he couldn't help but feel strongly about preventing them. "Forget his pride!! Forget his damn revenge!! JUST SAVE HIM!!!"

Kazemaru stared at his orange-clad teammate with wide eyes. "Na…Nataro… I don't think I've ever heard you talking like this…" _'But how could you say that after what that bastard almost did to you…?'_

Hanzo looked up at Jiraiya. "Well? Aren't you going to do something?" The tall man remained silent. "He's only a genin! Itachi's an S-rank nukenin!! There's no way he could beat him right now!!" No reply. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "Damn it…! Why aren't you saying anything?!"

Jiraiya kept silent until he spoke, "It's his revenge."

The future Uchiha's eyes widened a bit. "You can't be serious!! Jiraiya-sama, I thought someone of your status would have some _common sense_!! The probability of him coming out of this fight in a fairly good condition is slim to none!!"

Sasuke closed his eyes and began to wait until the pain in body decreased. "RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!!!" He roared as he quickly got up, only to be punched in the stomach by Itachi. "Guh! He was then elbowed in the back of his neck… "Argh!!" Kneed in he chin… "Gah!!" And finally slammed into the wall. And the Konoha shinobi had to endure watching it. After the brutal combo by his older brother, the younger Uchiha coughed up blood. _'Why…'_ He thought as he began to fall to the ground. _'Why is it that the gap between us hasn't shrunk since that day…?'_

As soon as Sasuke hit the floor, Nataro felt something snap. "THAT DOES IT!!! If _no one's_ gonna do something about this, _then I will_!!" With a familiar hand sign, a clone of himself appeared beside him. He held his hand out to the clone, who began to form a familiar ball of spiraling chakra.

Jiraiya's eyes widened. _'That's…! There's no way __**a kid**__ could learn that jutsu!!'_

The future blonde dashed forward, the Rasengan spinning violently in the palm of his hand. "RASENGAN!!!" Though his target was Itachi, Kisame's sword blocked the way of the Rasengan. Samehada was pushed back by the force of the chakra, but it managed to absorb the sphere. _'Crap!!'_

"That's a pretty impressive technique, kid. Any bigger and it may have made a dent in my sword." Kisame said as he glared down at the future blonde.

Itachi grabbed Sasuke by the beck and lifted him up from the floor. He slammed his younger brother into the wall, cracking it. Sasuke closed his eyes shut, refusing to look his older brother in the eye, but eventually, as the cloaked Uchiha slowly opened his eyes, the younger one's eyes snapped open. Before he knew it, he was no longer in the inn. He was no in complete darkness with no one but him…before he heard _his_ voice in his head.

"You are weak…" Itachi's voice sounded throughout the dark space. Sasuke began to look frantically in every direction for his brother, but instead, he found something that was very familiar to him. A 13-year old Itachi dressed in ANBU uniform standing behind his kneeling parents. He raised his sword…and swung.

"UWAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Sasuke screamed in reality while Itachi kept him pinned to the wall.

"SASUKE!!!" Naruto and Nataro both shouted.

Kisame glanced over his shoulder at his partner. "Heh… You shouldn't use those eyes of yours too often, Itachi."

'_Crap…! It's already happened… I've failed to save Sasuke!!'_ Nataro thought as he clenched his fist. He formed a hand sign and a pair of kage bunshin appeared on either side of him. The five blondes zoomed past Kisame in an attempt to attack Itachi, but the Kiri Swordsman managed to cut them down in the blink of an eye. Nataro fell to the ground with a bleeding wound on his back. "Guh!!"

"You're starting to be a nuisance! I oughta just _cut your arms off_ so you won't get in the way again!" Just as the shark-like nukenin lifted his sword from the ground, he found he couldn't do it. "Huh? What the—?!" The entire hallway had become pink and fleshy, and Kisame's Samehada was stuck to the ground.

"Ninpo: Gamaguchi Shibari (Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap)!!" Jiraiya shouted form his position on the fleshy ground, both hands on the floor. Sasuke began to sink into the wall of flesh, prompting Itachi to release his neck to avoid being sucked in as well.

"You're still too weak… You don't have enough…_hatred_…" The elder Uchiha whispered to his semi-conscious brother.

"What the heck just happened?! What sort of whacked out jutsu is _this_?!" Kazemaru shouted as he felt the ground. "This feels like…some kind of meat!"

'_More like living flesh! Is this moving…?'_ Hanzo thought with wide eyes.

"I've just performed Ninpo: Gamaguchi Shibari! You've just been swallowed by the Rock Toad of Myoubokuzan," Jiraiya explained. His eyes narrowed towards Itachi and Kisame. "Consider yourselves in the belly of the beast. There's no escape!"

"Alright, Ero Sennin!! You're not as pathetic as I thought you'd be!!" Kazemaru shouted at the Sannin.

"You kids stay right where you are!! This is all part of my jutsu!"

"Kisame! Let's go!" Itachi spoke as he dashed down the hall. Kisame pulled his sword free from the flesh that was beginning to envelop it before running after his partner.

"H-hey!! They're getting away!!" Naruto shouted as he made a move to run after them.

"Leave it to me, Naruto! No one's ever escaped from the belly of the Rock Toad!!" Jiraiya proclaimed as he pressed down on the pink flesh.

As Itachi and Kisame continued to run down the hall, the walls of flesh almost appeared to be getting closer and the path narrower. The Kiri nukenin looked over his shoulder.

"Don't look now, but there's a large wall of flesh coming after us…"

Itachi merely growled in annoyance.

With Jiraiya and the kids, they heard the sound of the flesh walls colliding. It was enough to get Jiraiya up from his position and running towards the corner. The boys soon followed, except Nataro, who remained on the floor, on his stomach, looking at the semi-conscious Sasuke sadly as his fingers gripped the toad's flesh.

"Sasuke… I'm sorry… I wish I was stronger… I wish I could've done more…"

"What the hell?! They pulled a vanishing act on us!!" Kazemaru shouted at the corner as he, Jiraiya, Naruto and Hanzo stared at the large hole at the end of the hall.

"So much for no one being able to escape…" Naruto mumbled.

The white-haired man frowned as he stared at the hole in the wall, where dark flames were still burning. _'They were powerful enough to bust through the wall, even after I cast my jutsu…'_

The whiskered blonde approached the black flames and stared at them in curiosity while they continued to burn a hole in the wall. "These flames are black. Weird…"

"Naruto, step back!!"

"Huh?!" The genin looked over his shoulder at Jiraiya, who had pulled out a scroll and rolled it open on the floor.

'_The Rock Toad can breath fire, so its innards are naturally flameproof. But those black flames managed to burn a hole into it as though it were an ordinary wall! What could this be?'_

As the Sannin began to scribble things down onto the scroll in blood, Naruto, Hanzo, and Kazemaru stood behind him and looked over his shoulder in interest. When he was finished, the raven-haired boy was the first to speak what had been on all their minds:

"What is that, Jiraiya-sama? Some sort of seal?"

"Exactly. It's a fire-sealing jutsu. I just hope it can work on these black flames like it does with normal fire." Upon finishing, Jiraiya formed a hand sign. Alright! Here it goes!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere in the country as the Akatsuki pair of Itachi and Kisame fled the town…

"Why'd we retreat, Itachi? With that eye of yours, you could've…"

"There's no reason to be impatient. I used the Tsukuyomi twice as well as Amaterasu in one day… I must find a place to rest…" Itachi panted his Sharingan eyes reverted into dull, faded black eyes. "And let it be soon…"

**X-X-X**

After Jiraiya tied up the scroll with a rope, he slipped it into a pocket in his vest. "Now we're good to go. All that's left to take care of is Sasuke."

At the sound of his teammate's name, Naruto ran over to where Sasuke was stuck in the fleshy wall, coming into Nataro's view. "SASUKE!!!"

'_I hate this…'_ The future blonde thought as Jiraiya and his teammates came into view as well. With one stop of the Sennin's foot, the innards of the Rock Toad had become the inn hallway again. Sasuke slid down to the ground and the person he was but a part of held onto the semi-conscious Uchiha. _'This pain…in knowing I didn't make a difference…'_

"Nataro! Hey! You okay?" Hanzo exclaimed as he ran over to his friend and bent down. He stared at the scratch on the blonde's back that had been left by Samehada. "That looks pretty bad… Can you…you know?"

"Yeah… It'll heal itself…" The blonde mumbled as he looked down at the ground sadly.

The future Uchiha imitated his actions. "Look, I know you're depressed, but maybe you should look on the bright side. Maybe our interference changed something—for the better."

The blonde's bangs covered his eyes as he bowed his head. "Itachi's the one who made him leave… Now that he's got to him, Sasuke's gonna feel inferior to Gramps…and they're gonna fight…and they're gonna almost kill each other, then he'll leave again!!"

"Sssshhh!! Be quiet!!" Hanzo looked back over to the others. "You want Jiraiya-sama and Naruto to hear you?"

Kazemaru stared down at Sasuke with half-lidded eyes. "I'm not sure _what the hell_ Itachi did to him, but for what he did to Nataro, the jerk got what he deserved in my opinion."

At those words, Naruto twitched and looked up at the orange-haired pyro. "What'd you say?!" He was soon standing up and facing the taller boy. "Sasuke didn't mean to hurt him! I'm sure he didn't!!"

"You heard what he said! He said Nataro was in his way, so he didn't care if he accidentally killed him!! I _hate_ bastards like that!!"

"He…he didn't _mean_ to…"

"It's okay…" Nataro spoke up as he sat up. "Really. I'm okay with it."

Kaze's jaw dropped for a second. "You're kidding!! Tell me you're kidding, Ramen Breath!! How could you forgive a guy who almost shoved a hand through your shoulder?!"

The blonde looked at his orange-haired teammate with a sad smile. "Because I got in his way. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine, right?" He turned around and looked down at the ground. _'Right… It's all my fault.'_

Everyone was silent…until a kunai went flying between Naruto and Kazemaru's faces and hit the wall. A blur of green appeared behind them and became a familiar jonin wearing a green jumpsuit underneath his flak jacket and a bowl cut hairstyle attack Jiraiya with a flying kick. "DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!"

Jiraiya turned around to look at the green-clad ninja. "Gai?" Less than a second later, Gai's foot came crashing into his face.

**X-X-X**

Several minutes later, Jiraiya stood in front of Gai with a frown on his face, a look of anger in his eyes, and a piece of paper shoved up his left nostril to stop the blood flow.

"Heh-heh-heh… Sorry, Jiraiya-sama… I was in such a rush that I forgot to pack my hand mirror, so I had to improvise and use my headband. It didn't give a clear image, though and I wound up think that you were enemies. Hahaha!"

The white-haired man stared at him. "Is that supposed to be an _apology_?"

Kazemaru leaned over to Naruto. "Psst! Naruto, who's the goofy-lookin' guy with the dumb haircut and spandex?"

The whiskered blonde squinted his eyes. "Oh, that's um…I think his name was Maito Gai? Anyway, I just call him Bushy Brow-sensei."

The pyromanic genin sweatdropped. "I can see why. Those things look like two fuzzy caterpillars fell asleep on his face!"

Jiraiya groaned and slowly shook his head. "Never mind. The important thing right now is to get Sasuke to the Medical Corps. His arms and ribs have been fractured…and whatever jutsu Itachi did to him, it's caused him to black out."

Gai looked over at Sasuke, who was leaning against the wall, slumped over. _'Could it be the same thing…?'_

"Ero Sennin…is Sasuke gonna be alright?" Naruto asked.

"His physical wounds can be fixed, but it's his mental wounds that have me worried… Whatever Itachi made him see…must have been horrible."

The whiskered blonde clenched his fist and began to grind his teeth at the thought of Itachi. "Grrrrr!! Damn it!! What did Sasuke do to deserve this?! Those black-caped crooks have got business with me, don't they, Ero Sennin? Well, I'll go see them and make them pay!!"

Jiraiya snorted. "Don't be stupid… The gap between your strength and theirs' is like a canyon. If it took me so much effort to just _distance_ them from you, they'd _kill you_ before you could even retaliate."

"What are you saying?! That I should live the rest of my life cowering in fear?! Waiting for them to come and get me?!"

The Sannin gave the blonde a glare that immediately shut him up. Even the genin of Team 14 decided not to speak up. "Shut your mouth. You're still too weak to take them on." Naruto said nothing and merely looked at Sasuke, clenching his teeth in anger. "I'm sorry, Gai… I was trying to honor the boy's feelings…but I should have stepped in and prevented this from happening."

"Damn right…" Hanzo and Nataro muttered at the same time as they glared at the taller man.

"Kakashi…is also bedridden by the same jutsu," said Gai. "While Itachi was in Konoha, he attacked Kakashi with some sort of genjutsu… We don't know when…or if he'll wake up."

Naruto's eyes widened. "He got Kakashi-sensei, too?!"

"If only…_that_ Medical Ninja was still with us. They would be better by now…"

"That's why I'm going to go search for _her_."

Gai stared at the Sannin in surprise. The boys, except Nataro, were confused.

"You mean… You're _really_ going to find her? And bring her back to heal everyone…?"

"Who the heck are you guys talking about?!" Kaze exclaimed.

"Yeah, what's the big deal, Ero Sennin?" Naruto looked up at Jiraiya with squinted eyes. "Is that lady you were looking for really someone so important?"

"Is she important? _She_ is also a member of the Legendary Sannin… The Queen of Slugs and Elixirs!"

"Another Sannin?" Hanzo started to nod his head. "Oh, you must mean _Tsunade-sama_!"

Naruto frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "Who the heck is Tsunade?!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in a town not too far away from our heroes' current location, a woman was screaming. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, because she had a habit of doing that often. Especially when her master did things like open a large suitcase of money in front of her.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?! Wh-wh-wh-where did you get all that cash?!" The young woman with the short black hair screamed with her jaw hanging and her blank eyes the size of plates. She wore a long-sleeved black kimono with a purple sash wrapped around her waist and a pair of formal black sandals. This unfortunate woman was Shizune.

"I borrowed it," said the woman sitting before Shizune as she held the suitcase open on her lap. She had the appearance of a 20-something year old woman with long blonde hair tied back into two low ponytails and honey brown eyes. She wore a dark green jacket with the symbol _'kake'_ (gambling) on the back, a gray sleeveless kimono and blue pants. A blue diamond-shaped mark was in the middle of her forehead. The blonde woman began to grin. "I'm telling you Shizune! We're not gonna lose this time!!"

In the corner, a pig dressed in a red coat and pearls snorted.

**X-X-X**

"The medical genius and gambling fool, Tsunade-hime!!"

Kazemaru's eyes widened. "Hime?! As in…_princess_?!"

"That's usually what _'hime'_ means, Kaze," said Hanzo as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head.

"Wow… And here I thought we were only looking for some prostitute…"

**X-X-X**

Later, outside of the town gates, Jiraiya and the boys stood before Gai, who had Sasuke on his back. Naruto kept staring at his raven-haired teammate while Nataro refused to even glance at his face for a second.

"Jiraiya-sama… Please find Tsunade-sama and bring her back to us!" The green-clad jonin spoke.

"Don't worry, Monster Brows!! We just have to find Tsunade-hime and everything will be aaaall good!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he gave Gai a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, you bet!! In the meantime, take care of Sasuke, would ya, Bushy Brows-sensei?" Naruto asked the Taijutsu user. "We'll be back with Tsunade in no time flat!"

Gai smiled. "You kids have guts. I _like_ that! So, I'll give you _this_!" He reached inside of his flak jacket. "It's what helped Lee to become as strong as he is! I'm afraid I've only got one, though…"

A look of anxiety appeared in the whiskered blonde's eyes. "Really? What? What?!"

He pulled out…a green spandex jumpsuit. "THIS!!! The ultimate, steam lined, form-fitting, easily accessible, perfectly made bodysuit!! When you wear it in training, you'll be able to tell the difference!! Lee wears it 24/7!!"

Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru stared at the suit in distaste. "No way…" The blonde mumbled. _'Part of Gramps or not, I'm __**not**__ gonna go nuts over that thing!'_

"Um, no thank you," Hanzo politely declined. _'Why on earth would anyone think…?'_

"You've gotta be kidding! Like _that_ could increase your power!" Kaze shouted as he pointed a finger at the suit. "All it could do would be…increasing the bulge on your crotch!!"

Naruto, on the other hand, was staring at the suit with stars in his eyes. "COOOOOOL!!!"

Jiraiya sweatdropped as Gai gave a bright smile—complete with the _'PING'_ sound effect usually heard on television. _'He walks around with a spare jumpsuit, but not a mirror… Oh, brother!'_

After handing the jumpsuit to the impressed Naruto, Gai headed off, giving the group one last wave before he jogged out of sight.

"You are _not_ wearing that," the white-haired man told the future Hokage, who held onto the jumpsuit tightly.

"Huh? Why not? It's spandex, so I'm sure it'll fit…" The boy stretched it out as a demonstration.

"I swear that if you wear that…_thing_, I'll disown you as a student of mine!" Jiraiya looked at Nataro. "Speaking of which… That jutsu you did back there… The only one people who should know it are _me_ and its creator, the _Yondaime Hokage_. Not to mention that it should be impossible for a kid like you to use such a jutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wh-what?! He used a jutsu…that the Yondaime made/!"

"No…effin'…WAY!!!" Kazemaru shouted loudly. "That Rasengan thing's a jutsu created by a Hokage?!" Hanzo could only stare at his friend in shock.

"Come on, spill it. Who _are_ you?" Jiraiya folded his arms across his chest and stared at Team 14. "Who _are_ you?"

"Who, us? We told you: we're Kazaki Nataro, Temashi Kazemaru, and Yagami Hanzo," said Nataro as he stared up at the tall man.

The air got tense for the next couple of seconds before the orange-haired genin exploded. "AW, SCREW IT!!! Stupid Nataro ruined everything yet again!!" The orange-haired genin yelled. "You wanna know who we are? FINE!!! We're…_from the future_!! Tremble at our all-knowing…knowledge…infidels!!"

Hanzo and Nataro sweatdropped. _'You've gotta be kidding…'_

Naruto stifled a laugh before he fell to his knees, holding onto his stomach as he laughed full out. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No way!! You guys can't be from the future!! You don't look very futuristic! Hahaha!"

Kaze gritted his teeth and attempted to burn a hole into the laughing blonde with his glare. "Idiot!! You don't have to be dressed up in _chrome_ or some other shiny piece of crap to be from the future!!"

"Still, there's no way that you're from the future because time travel is impossible," said the Sannin. "It is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals."

"Well, the guy in our time is no mere mortal, since he's the one who made the jutsu and sent us back here."

"On purpose? What sort of person has _kids_ take part in such a jutsu?"

**X-X-X**

In the future, Kira sneezed, causing him to drop the cone of chocolate ice cream. "What was that?"

"That was a sneeze, Kira-sempai," said Hanasotsu as he looked at his former captain from the corner of his half-lidded eyes. They were both sitting on a bench in the park, where plenty of other people were having fun. But not Hanasotsu, because he still had to deal with Kira.

"Aw, man! I dropped my ice cream cone!!" The black-and-white-haired man began to cry waterfall tears. "Ice cream…I hardly knew ye…!"

The blonde sweatdropped and began to pout. "And why are you eating _ice cream_ at a time like this? Shouldn't you be working on that Jikanhanten no Jutsu?"

Kira tugged on his former kohai's sleeve. "Hey, Hana-chan. Could you buy me another ice cream cone? Chocolate or maybe strawberry would be nice."

"KIRA-SEMPAI!!! Have you forgotten that there are three boys whose souls you've sent somewhere in time?!" In less than a second, Hanasotsu was on the ground, holding his throbbing cheek in pain. Kira still sat on the bench, his arm stretched out, hand balled up into a fist, and his bangs hiding his eyes.

"Don't you think I know that? I still feel down about Hokage-sama said without you reminding me of all the other crap…"

The tone in the taller man's voice made Hanasotsu look down. "I'm sorry, sempai…" He looked up to see the ex-ANBU stand up rigidly, turn, and walk away, leaving the confused Hanasotsu on the ground. "Huh? W-wait! Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? Back to the apartment…"

A sad look appeared in Hanasotsu's eyes. _'Kira-sempai… You really do care about what happens to them, don't you? Especially Nataro-kun…'_

**X-X-X**

_Nataro grinned as he stared down at the large bowl of ramen before him. "Hee-hee-hee! Thank you, sensei~!"_

"_Yeah, well… I figure that for all the crap I put you through tonight, you deserve a little reward…" Said Kira as he leaned against the counter inside of Hagakure, propping his elbow on the edge and resting his cheek on his knuckles._

"_Oh, yes!! If I get something like **this** every time I get beat up for your sake, then I'll do anything!" The genin began to hum to himself as he broke apart his chopsticks and began to swirl them around in his ramen._

_The mad genius arched an eyebrow. "That so? So…as long as I promise to give you ramen afterwards, you'll do whatever I want?"_

"_Sure, sure! Why not?" The blonde began to slurp up some noodles._

"_In that case, how do you feel about having nine dozen knives stabbed into you?"_

_Nataro started to choke on his noodles at those words. He pounded hard on his chest, his eyes bugging out until he managed to clear his wind pipes. "Are you crazy?! Why would I wanna do **that**?!"_

"_Well, since tonight's ideas were a bust, tomorrow's must be different. So since this is the festival celebrating the defeat of the **nine**-tailed fox, why not come up with a few street acts revolving around the number **nine**? Stabbed with **nine** dozen knives, dunked in a tank with **nine**teen piranhas, survive buried underground in a box with only **nine**ty minutes of air…"_

"_What's with all those ideas?! Are you tryin' to kill me or something?! I'll do those stunts over my dead body!!" The orange-clad boy shouted as he pointed his chopsticks at the man._

"_I can make __**that**__ happen. But then…" The mad genius began to grin. "I wouldn't have such an interesting student, now, would I?"_

_Nataro began to blush. "R-really…? You mean it?" In less than a second, Kira's hand was shoved into his face. "Mmmph!!"_

"_Just kidding!! Hahahaha!!"_

'_Kira-senpai…looks genuinely happy for once…'_ _Hanasotsu thought as he stared at the two of them from behind a booth. 'How long has it been since he's smiled for real?'_

"_Huh? Hey, isn't that Hanasotsu over there?" Nataro pointed out the blonde ANBU hiding behind the booth._

_Kira's eyebrow twitched. "Damn it. He found out. Time for evasive maneuvers…" He grabbed the bowl of another patron and threw it at Hanasotsu. It struck the blonde man in the face and made him fall back, his eyes filled with swirls. "RUN, KID, RUN!!!" The mad genius proclaimed as he grabbed Nataro and carried him out of the shop like a rag doll._

**X-X-X**

Kira continued to walk away with his head held up high, but his bangs hiding his eyes.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, back in the past…

"So, there's at least _one_ shinobi in the future who's created a jutsu to travel back through time. He must be a prodigal genius like the Yondaime Hokage," Jiraiya surmised as he rubbed his chin.

"More like a _mad_ genius," Nataro mumbled as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

"I guess you guys could be from the future… That's the only way to explain why Hanzo has the Uchiha clan symbol on the back of his shirt just like Sasuke," said Naruto as he pointed at Hanzo.

The future Uchiha's face became slightly blue. "Y-you saw?!"

"Of course I did! That thing stands out! I'm amazed I didn't pay attention to it before."

"Maybe it's because you're a thick-headed idiot," said Kazemaru as he folded his arms across his chest.

Jiraiya sweatdropped. _'Come to think of it…I didn't notice it, either. And I saw his back several times! Being around all these kids must be dumbing me down…'_

The future Hokage pointed at Hanzo again. "So, since Sasuke and Itachi are the only two Uchiha alive, that means that Hanzo is one of _their_ descendants—probably Sasuke's, right?"

"Okay… When did you get this smart, Naruto?" The Sannin asked a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head.

"Hey, I've got a question. Since you guys say you're from the future, you can tell me when I'm gonna become the Hokage! Come on, spill it! I need to know!"

The genin of Team 14 looked at each other from the corner of their eyes before forming a huddle. They began to whisper among themselves, Naruto attempting to hear what they were saying. As soon as the huddle was broken, the three boys folded their arms behind their backs with eyes closed.

"Well?!"

"I think Kazemaru can say the answer best," said Hanzo.

The orange-haired genin cleared his throat and took a deep breath. After a moment of silence, he shouted, "HELL NO!!!"

The whiskered blonde fell over in shock, but in less than a second, he was in Nataro's face. "Wh-why not?! Come on, I need to know how long until I'm Hokage!!"

"Naruto, stop prying your nose in places it doesn't belong. Who knows how knowing what your future holds could affect the space-time continuum?" Jiraiya told the genin.

"The what?"

"That's what _he_ said," said Kaze as he pointed at Hanzo. "Besides, there're not problems! If what Nataro said is true, then everything's happening just as they were supposed to."

Naruto's eyes widened. "So you _knew_ that Sasuke would get hurt? Is that…why you were so determined to help him?"

"Not exactly... It's complicated," the future blonde mumbled, staring at the ground sadly. "I'm not sure if I could tell you. I don't wanna mess things up anymore than I already have."

"Awww, come on! Quit cryin' over it!" Kazemaru told the blonde with a huff.

"Listen, if you're trying to stop something serious—something that concerns the entire village of Konoha, then you should tell us. After all, that's what many people who attempted to create time jutsu wanted: to stop unfortunate events in the past from happening," Jiraiya explained.

"No, it's not so much something that concerns the village. Just…" Nataro shook his head. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea to leave Sasuke all alone, by himself…"

Naruto squinted in confusion. "What? What are you talking about? Is something bad going to happen to Sasuke?" He looked at Hanzo. "No, it couldn't. Because then Hanzo wouldn't be here, right. If he _is_ Sasuke's descendant—"

"Just because Hanzo's here doesn't mean that nothing's gonna happen to Sasuke!!" Nataro shouted, getting looks from the others. He calmed down a bit and went back to staring at the ground. "All I'm telling you is…look after Sasuke. Keep a close eye on him before…something happens."

Naruto was speechless. He simply nodded.

Not liking where the conversation was going, Hanzo tugged on the back of Nataro's ruined jacket. "Hey, Nataro. Your jacket's ripped."

"Yeah, that Kisame creep ruined it! It's the only one I've got here!!"

"Now that I think about it…my clothes are still messed up from when _Naruto_ tried to fight me with his dinky lil' bunshin," said Kazemaru as he looked at a rip on the sleeve of his hoodie jacket.

"What?! _You_ started the fight, you living matchstick!!" The whiskered blonde shouted, pointing a finger at the orange-haired genin.

"What'd you call me?!"

" '_Pyro Freak'_ sounds better in my opinion," said Nataro. "But Matchstick is good, too, huh, _Matchstick_?"

"Keep calling me names and you'll be _Roasted Rumps_!!" Kaze screamed as flames surrounded his entire body.

Jiraiya stared at Team 14. _'They're here by accident…and yet they tried to change the past. But only __**one**__ knows what's going to happen… Whatever it is, Nataro seems more concerned over Sasuke's wellbeing than the Akatsuki attempting to abduct Naruto.'_ "Enough talk. Whether or not you guys are from the future, you're _still_ my assistants and we _still_ have to find Tsunade, so let's get going."

"Wait a minute!! We never said we'd be your assistants, you dirty old man!!"

"I'll give you something nice…!"

Kaze blinked. "N…nice? What is it? What's the catch?"

Jiraiya smirked. "No catch. Just do what I tell you to."

The orange-haired genin sweatdropped and stared at the Sannin with half-lidded eyes. "You're gonna make use _that_ jutsu again, aren't you?" At the blush and lecherous grin on his face, all three boys' heads dropped.

"He is…" They groaned in synchrony.

"Let's just get this over with…" Hanzo groaned as they formed hand signs.

"Henge!!" The boys were suddenly enveloped in smoke, and when it cleared…

"OOOOOOOH, YEAH!!!"

**X-X-X**

After pleasing Jiraiya with their _Sexy Threesome no Jutsu—_as Naruto had dubbed it, the Toad Sennin and his group of lively young genin were back on the road in search of the legendary Tsunade.

"Pretty please!!" Naruto pleaded.

"No," said Hanzo as he kept his eyes forward.

"Why not?!"

"Because I cannot tell you if Sakura-san falls in love with you."

"Why not?!"

"Because…I don't know!!" The raven shouted as a blush appeared on his face. _'I don't want to jeopardize my birth because of what I tell him!'_

"Hey, what's up with you? Your face is lookin' red…"

"Sh-shut up!!"

The whiskered blonde shrugged off the future Uchiha's nervous exclamation and ran up to Jiraiya. "Hey, Ero Sennin? Just what is this Tsunade lady like? If she's a legendary Sannin like you, just how old is she?"

"The same age as me."

Naruto sweatdropped. "She must be _really_ old…!"

A vein started to throb on Jiraiya's forehead. "Watch it, you!! My hair may be white, but I just turned 50 this month!!"

"So you're a lecherous old man at 50 who, according to Naruto, likes peeping on girls at hot springs. Good for you, Ero Sennin, for getting an early start at being a dirty old man!" Kazemaru clapped.

"I'll have you know that I do that for research! You're too young to have heard of my book. It's gained tons of fans all over the world!!"

"Yeah, and they're all perverts who are either still hiding in the closet or unashamed of reading those Icha-Icha books in public like Kakashi-sensei."

"Maybe, so, but they're _still_ fans!"

Kaze blinked and his pupils shrank. "Wait… You mean _you_ created the famous Icha-Icha series?" Stars appeared in the pyromanic genin's eyes as he became an SD chibi version of himself. "That's awesome!! You're not some average dirty old man! You're _the_ dirty old man!! You're a legendary porn author! Recently last month, there was a remake of the movie for Icha-Icha Violence!! Hundreds of people loved it to the point where they were begging for the books to be reprinted and a movie based on the second book!!"

Jiraiya began to smirk and folded his arms across his chest proudly. "Ah, I see… My books will be well known for many years to come!! HAHAHAHA!!!"

Hanzo sweatdropped as the perverted sage laughed. "Is that _really_ something to be proud of? And we're getting off topic here. We were talking about Tsunade-sama."

"That's right! If she's legendary like you, it'll be easy for us to find her, right, Ero Sennin?" Naruto asked Jiraiya.

"HAHAHAHA— Huh?" The Sennin scratched the back of his head. "Oh, it won't be so easy."

"What?! But those Akatsuki guys knew who you were even though you acted like a dirty old man!!"

"Well, Tsunade's a bit more difficult to catch. You see, she's a compulsive gambler…and she sucks at it. Sucks at gambling _and_ at luck. She's always losing a bet! Because of that, she's earned the nickname _'Legendary Sucker'_."

Hanzo sweatdropped. "I never read _that_ in the history books…"

"I guess Konoha didn't want future generations to know their Godaime Hokage was in debt," said Nataro.

Jiraiya nodded. "That's right. She has so many debts, and she's always borrowing money from people, which she then gambles away making even _more_ debts! She's been like that since she was a kid. She loves gambling so much that even when she loses, she'll just keep on gambling…" He sighed and gave a serene smile. "Those were the good old days."

"How is _that_ a memory of the good old days?!" Kazemaru shouted as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head." And if she's such a _Legendary Sucker_, then the hundreds of people she owes money to know what she looks like and where she is! Unless they don't mind the debt…"

"Oh, they mind it, alright. It's because of that that Tsunade always changes her appearance."

Kaze blinked. "What? You mean like Henge?"

"Sort of… To get out of debt, she always changes the age of her physical appearance. Though she's 50, she could look like she's in her 30's, 20's, or even a little kid just to hide from debt collectors!"

"Sounds like she needs to be at a Gambler's Anonymous meeting…" The orange-haired genin whispered to Nataro and Hanzo.

"Unbelievable… Who'd think that someone with such a respectable shinobi career as _hers_ would do such things…?" The Uchiha mumbled. "I'm starting to question what other Hokage did before they were given the title."

"I know the Sandaime was a pervert," said the blonde. "And, well, you know Gramps…"

"I can just imagine what our Nanadaime will be like…"

"So, how are we gonna track that Tsunade lady down?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Who knows… We gotta do things by the book if we wanna find her, but that may take a while."

"Wait, so we'll be on the road for _days_?!" Naruto and Kazemaru shouted at the same time, their jaws dropped from shock.

"Well, if we're lucky, Kira-san will have learned a technique to bring us back to our own time by the time we find Tsunade-sama," Hanzo spoke softly.

"If he's not goofing off!" Nataro added. He suddenly stopped walking and began to smile. "But, as long as we're here, we'll help you find the old hag! It's better than waiting back in Konoha, that's for sure!"

Naruto frowned and folded his arms across his chest, puffing up his cheeks a bit. "Great for you, but I wanted to do some training! How are gonna do that if we're busy looking for some old hag?"

"Not all of our time will be spent searching for Tsunade. While we're on the road, Naruto, we're gonna train!" Jiraiya grinned down at the whiskered blonde. "So, it's not all gonna be a waste!"

"Alright!!" The orange-clad blonde pumped a fist in the air. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the green jumpsuit. "Maybe I can put on this neat jumpsuit that Bushy Brows-sensei gave me!"

"NO!!! Absolutely not!! I don't even wanna be seen _dead_ next to a person wearing that outfit!!" The Sennin exclaimed as he pointed down at the green spandex in disgust.

"Awwww…! Why not?!"

"Because it's a fashion faux pas and a disgrace to good dressers everywhere!!" Jiraiya calmed down before he continued, "Besides, we have to get information on Tsunade before we can do any actual training. We'll do both when we're in the next town."

Naruto pouted. "How long is it gonna take for us to get there?"

Jiraiya stared at the sign in the distance and the railings at the edge of the cliff. "We're already here."

"Really?!" The future Rokudaime ran over to the railings, followed by the future genin. All four boys looked down at the town below. "WOW!!"

"This place looks big!! Seems kinda familiar, though…" Nataro told his teammates.

"This is where we were sent a few days before the festival to get supplies," Hanzo answered.

"This is where we'll find information on Tsunade _and_ train! But I guess you kids could have some fun while I'm looking for signs of Tsunade's whereabouts," the white-haired man told the four boys as he approached them.

"Really?! You're the greatest, Ero Sennin!!" Naruto and Nataro shouted at the same time.

Kazemaru arched an eyebrow. "Wait a minute. Do we have to…do our _Oiroke Sanningumi no Jutsu (Sexy Threesome Technique)_ for you again?"

A tint of red appeared on Jiraiya's cheeks. "Not unless you wanna...!"

"N-NO WAY!!! I get the feeling that every time I'm in that form, you're undressing me with your eyes, ya dirty old pedophile!!"

**X-X-X**

Later in the town, as Jiraiya and the four boys walked through the lively town, the white-haired man said, "Play is just as important as work, so we'll enjoy a little R&R before we start training."

"Alright!! A vacation!!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Yay!! Now's a good time to use all that money I saved!" Naruto exclaimed before he started to rummage through his bag. He pulled out a frog-like wallet that appeared to be stuffed with enough money to make the frog seem bloated.

"Wow, that's a lot of money!"

"That's what happens when you _save_ your money instead of _spending it on porn_ the first chance you get!" Nataro told the orange-haired genin, earning him a glare.

"Hey, I don't just buy porn!! I buy movies, music…and if no one's watching, sweet, sweet saké…!"

Jiraiya stared at Naruto's frog wallet before clearing his throat. "Uh, hey, Naruto. Maybe I should hold onto that wallet of yours for safekeeping. Wouldn't want you spending it on something stupid, now would we?"

"What?! But it's _my_ money! Besides, if I could save this up for months, don't you think I could be frugal?!"

"You little fool!! Haven't you ever heard of the three prohibitions of shinobi?!" Jiraiya shouted. He began to count off of his fingers as he said, "These three prohibitions are the vices that could utterly destroy a shinobi: alcohol, pretty girls, and money."

"Oh, well, no problems here! None of us are over 20 years old, so we can't drink. The only one who seems to be obsessed with girls is Kazemaru, and I doubt his friends would let him get corrupted by a lady, and I've been saving my money for so long that I'm not gonna go and spend it all!" Naruto concluded while Team 14 nodded in agreement behind him.

"Don't you mock the three prohibitions!! Once you start spending cash, you can't stop!! It's why Tsunade is in so much trouble and on the verge of self-destruction! It's why Kazemaru is such a little lecher!! Money is the root of all evil!!"

The orange-haired genin growled under his breath, a vein popping up on his forehead. "I am _not_ like this because of money!! It's because I had a bad influence at an early age!!"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "So you don't spend the money you make from your sales, Jiraiya-sama?"

The Sannin blinked. "What?"

"You're a famous author, aren't you? Surely you must make a lot of money from your book sales."

"Aha! He's got you there, Ero Sennin!!" Nataro exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the white-haired man, who was scratching his cheek and looking out of the corner of his eye.

"Well… Yes, I do. But an adult knows how to spend his money better than a bunch of kids, so…" In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya snatched Naruto's wallet from his hand. "I'll take this."

"HEY!!"

"Relax… You'll each get 300 ryo to spend for the day."

After handing them each 300 ryo, the boys glared at Jiraiya. "Just 300?!"

"Hey, I'm doing this to prevent your pure souls from being tainted by the three prohibitions."

"No offense, Jiraiya-sama, but how can we trust you when you're not exactly a saint?"

The Sannin glared at the future Uchiha. "You be quiet!! And let's exchange bags while we're at it, Naruto. That way my toads will be able to find you easier by tracking my scent."

"Fine…" The blonde muttered as he took Jiraiya's bag and handed him his own bag. "Now… Let's go have some fun!!" Naruto shouted, pumping a fist in the air.

"For once, I agree with you, Ramen Breath Prototype! Let's hit the town!!"

As the four boys disappeared in the crowd, Jiraiya couldn't help but smile before disappearing as well.

**X-X-X**

"Oh, man... I know it's only been, like, a month since I last ate one of these things, but I feel like it's been forever!!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he opened a box of strawberry pocky. A ravenous look appeared on his face. "Come to papa!!" Just as he was about to pull out one of the candy sticks, he felt a tug on the sleeve of his jacket and looked at Nataro from the corner of his eye. "Huh? What now?"

"Can I have some?" The future blonde pleaded as he gave the orange-haired pyro puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately, it didn't work and in response, he got a foot in the face.

"Hell no! Get your own! You've still got some of the cash Ero Sennin gave you, plus your own, so why are you begging _me_ for _my _pocky?!"

Nataro stumbled back and rubbed the area of his face that had a footprint on it. "Geez!! And here I thought you'd only get so defensive for your porn..." He then glanced at Hanzo, who was eating a stick of chocolate-flavored pocky. "Hanzo—"

"No," the raven spoke immediately in a flat tone.

"But I didn't say what—"

"You can't have my pocky. Buy your own."

A vein began to throb on the blonde's forehead. "Grrrr!! You guys are so cheap!"

"And yet, _you're_ the one with more money than us and you're begging for a friggin' stick of pocky."

"Hey, guys!! Check me out!!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran over to the future genin from a booth selling masks. On his face was a mask similar to that of an ANBU member's, but because of the way the eyeholes were made, he couldn't see where he was going and tripped, falling flat on his face in the process. "OWWW!!" The contents of Jiraiya's bag fell out and landed in front of the loudmouth blonde. Pulling up the mask, he stared down at one of the things that had fallen. A small, thin book. "Hm? This is Ero Sennin's saving's book..." He picked up the book and got on his knees. _'Let's see how much richer that smut he sells has made him.'_ He opened the savings book and began to scan it.

Nataro, Hanzo, and Kazemaru walked over to the whiskered genin and looked down at him. "What're you looking at?" The Uchiha asked.

Nataro bent down and stared at the back of the book. "It's Ero Sennin's savings book."

After a few seconds, Naruto's eyes became as blank and wide as plates. "HOLY CRAP!! L-look at all these zeros!!" At those words, the other boys were immediately kneeling beside him and attempting to look at the book.

"You have _got_ to be kidding..." Kazemaru mumbled underneath his breath. "We really could have ordered room service and put it on his tab! With bucks like this, he could pay it!"

"Who knew selling porno novels could make so much money?" Nataro whispered. "Somehow, it doesn't surprise me, considering all the pervs out there…"

"Well, it surprises _me_! He could've well loaned me a couple of bucks instead of giving out _my_ hard earned money!!" Naruto exclaimed. "No offense."

"None taken," the three boys stated.

"Speaking of cash, I've spent all of mine," said Kaze as he took out another stick of pocky.

"I only have a few ryo left, but I think I'll save it for tomorrow," said Hanzo.

"Me, too," said Naruto.

Nataro growled to himself. "I gotta get some pocky!"

"Sorry, Nataro, I took the last box they had," said Hanzo, making the blonde groan. "But I think they're selling some Yan Yan. Kotaro loves those, so I'm sure you will, too!"

"Ah, I better..." The future blonde grumbled as he stood up and ran over to the sweets booth.

Naruto began to think about Jiraiya and started to smile. He dashed over to a booth where fried squids on sticks were lined up on a grill. "Hey! Hey, mister! Can I have two of these squids? And make one a _big_ adult-sized one!"

"Heh-heh! Sure. So, are you running errands, kid?"

"No, I'm just buying this for someone I know."

"Really? In that case, the kid-sized one's on the house!"

"Wow, you're the _man_, mister!!"

"Just for that, you can have the adult-sized one for half price!!"

After the whiskered blonde jogged back over to Hanzo, Kazemaru, and Nataro—who was now dipping a vanilla biscuit stick into a chocolate cream and sticking it in his mouth—with the skewered squids in hand, they stared at him in confusion.

"Huh? You bought two?" The Uchiha asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yup!!" The blonde grinned. "The big one is for Ero Sennin. It's thanks for saying that he'd train me."

"Don't do that!!" Kaze shouted, wagging a finger in the younger boy's face. "If you get him something, then he'll expect _all_ of us to get him something!! And there's no way in hell that I'm sharing my pocky..."

**X-X-X**

Later, during the boys' search for Jiraiya...

"Where could that guy be?! You'd think someone that looks like _him_ would stick out in a place like this!" Kazemaru groaned as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"GYAHAHAHAHA!!"

Naruto's attention became drawn to a building where a loud, familiar voice came from. "That sounds like..."

"Ero Sennin," Nataro finished with a half-lidded stare as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "You might wanna brace yourself for this."

"Huh?" The whiskered blonde arched an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Oh, you'll see."

**X-X-X**

"GYAHAHA!! So, as I was saying, I've been around the world _many times_! But beauty like yours' is unique." Jiraiya laughed heartily as he sat between two attractive brunettes. The red blush on his cheeks signaled that he was slightly tipsy and the woman on his left began to pour more saké into his cup. "Trust me: you two are lovely enough to be my muses!!"

"Ohhhh, are you an artist?" The girl on his right asked as she stroked his chest lightly.

"I'm an author!! If you want, I could create a pair of lovely main characters inspired by you two: two incredibly beautiful women searching for love who fall in love with the same man..." A lecherous look appeared on his face. "But you don't have to worry about _our_ relationship, girls! There's enough of me for the both of you! GYAHAHAHAHA!!"

"ERO SENNIN!!!" Naruto screeched out from his position in the flaps before he ran forward. Nataro, Hanzo, and Kazemaru stood in front of the doorway—the first two were disgusted, but Kaze seemed to be more interested in the women next to Jiraiya.

"Oh, hey boys!! Didja have fun?" The Sannin smirked. "Because I sure am!"

The whiskered genin's eye drifted down to his wallet on the table. His _empty_ wallet. "You...YOU SPENT MY MONEY?!" In less than a second, he had jumped onto the taller man and began to whack him with the skewered squid that had been intended for him. Now all he wanted to do was stick the thing where the sun didn't shine!! "Come on, Ero Sennin!! Tell me!! What are those three prohibitions again, huh? HUH?!"

"Ow! Ouch! Hey, watch it!! I can explain--"

"Explain what?! What's to explain?! You spent _my_ hard earned money like water after you went on talking about how money can control you!! If you wanna pay me back, you'd better start training me ASAP!!"

"Move it, kids!" Someone behind Team 14 pushed the three boys aside and walked into the building just as the squid in Naruto's hand went flying over the blonde's head and onto the coat of a dark-haired man.

"YO!! Look whatcha done, you brat!!" The bald man who was standing next to the dark-haired man spoke. "You've messed up my brother's brand new coat!! You know how much it costs?! PAY UP!!"

"H-hey!! It was an accident!" Kazemaru exclaimed. "Why does _he_ have to pay for something that was done accidentally?" He narrowed his eyes and began to frown. "Though...that thing's not exactly fashionable... How the heck could it be _top shelf_?"

"What was that, kid?!"

"Don't mind our friend, sir," Hanzo interrupted as he stepped in front of Kaze. "Now, tell us how much that coat costs. I'm sure Jiraiya-sama could pay for it."

"Wait, what?!" The white-haired man shouted.

"Oh, be quiet! It's not like you don't have the money, Ero Sennin!!"

The bald man snorted. "The coat costs 100,000 ryo!! So pay up!!"

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE SHITTIN' ME!!" Kazemaru shouted with his eyes large and blank.

"How could such a cheap-looking suit cost 100,000 ryo?!" Naruto shouted.

Hanzo sweatdropped and folded his arms across his chest. "Are you trying to con us? There's no way a coat like that costs so much."

Jiraiya stood up from his seat. "The kid's got a point. There's no way such an ugly coat could cost 100,000 ryo."

The bald man began to growl, a vein throbbing slowly on his forehead. "What, you wanna pick a fight with us?! I'll have you know that my big bro is a former Iwagakure chunin! He was the feared and legendary ninja of the dark!"

The boys all arched an eyebrow. "Never heard of him."

"Same here. And I think _I_ would know if you were a legendary," said the white-haired Sennin.

A vein began to throb on the dark-haired man's forehead. "You really want to get hurt, don't you?!" He began to charge forward.

"Naruto, watch this."

"Huh?"

Jiraiya held out his hand and chakra began to swirl around in his palm. "I'm going to show you the jutsu that I'll be teaching you." The chakra formed into a solid ball. "Watch closely!" He charged forward as well and rammed the ball of chakra into the former Iwa ninja's stomach. The force of the jutsu sent him flying back into his bald-headed brother and out into a street, where they crashed into a booth across from the building. Jiraiya and the boys walked out of the building as dozens of balloons bounced around the street. One bounced over to the Sannin and he caught it in his hand. "Hmmm..." He looked out of the corner of his eye at the owner of the booth, who was sitting down on the ground with wide eyes. "Hey, you!" He tossed the wallet that he had conveniently snatched from the Iwa ninja over to the man. "Take that for repairs. I'm sorry about that... I didn't mean to destroy your stand..."

"Uh... N-no problem, sir."

Kazemaru and Naruto bent over the supposed legendary Iwa ninja. "Huh! Must not take much to be legendary in Iwa. He took you out in one shot!!" The orange-haired genin spoke with a cat-like smirk.

"What a wimp...! Bet that coat of yours isn't worth so much anymore, buddy!" The whiskered blonde giggled.

The white-haired Sennin walked up behind the two boys. "They're right, you know. I held back. ...You guys really _are_ weak, aren't you?" The Iwa nin said nothing and fell unconscious. Jiraiya looked over at the booth owner. "Hey, mister! Think I could buy all your water balloons and the regular ones while I'm at it?"

"Uh... I don't see why not."

Naruto turned to face Kaze. "That jutsu that Ero Sennin used...that was the same thing that Nataro used, wasn't it?"

The orange-haired genin nodded and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. "Yup!" _'I still wonder how he learned that thing…'_

"Hey, guys!! Come on!" Jiraiya shouted over to the two boys with Nataro and Hanzo already at his side and a bag of balloons in one hand. "Let's get started on your training!"

The blonde genin pumped a fist in the air and grinned. "Alright!!"

**X-X-X**

Later, somewhere outside of the town, Jiraiya and Naruto stood before each other while Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru sat underneath a tree nearby.

"Alright, Ero Sennin! Let's get started!!" The whiskered blonde exclaimed. Jiraiya tossed him a water balloon and he caught it in his hands, and then began to stare at it. "What's this for? I thought you were gonna show me how to do that jutsu!"

"It's not that simple of a technique. I can't just show it to you and expect you to master it. Now, think back: what did the jutsu look like to you?"

The genin began to think, squeezing the balloon in his hand as he did. "Ummm... It kind of looked like...that guy was being spun around a lot..."

Jiraiya smiled. _'He's a bit off the mark, but he's got a good enough guess...'_ "A better word for it would be _'rotation'_." The water balloon in his hand began to move.

Naruto arched an eyebrow and stared at the balloon. _'He's swirling the water inside of the balloon without moving his hand?!'_

"For tree-climbing, you have to learn to maintain focus on sending out a specific amount of chakra from certain parts of your body. For water-walking, you have to continuously emit a tiny amount of chakra while on water. And now, with that water balloon, you're going to learn how to create a stream of chakra--or, in other words, rotation."

"Create a stream of chakra?"

"This is the first step to learning that jutsu: first, you'll use the technique you use in tree-climbing to focus and maintain chakra emission from your palm. Then you'll use the technique used in water-walking to continue emitting chakra from your palm. The point of this exercise is to use the chakra to spin the water inside of the balloon."

"So, I just gotta rotate the water in the balloon fast enough to pop it! I got it!!"

The Sannin smirked and folded his arms across his chest. "Your perception's getting a heck of a lot sharper, kid! Let's go at it until dark!"

"Yes, sir!!"

Kazemaru groaned and his head drooped. "No way...! So we've gotta stay _here_ until they're done training?"

"Well, Jiraiya-sama never said that we couldn't go..." Said Hanzo as he leaned against the tree.

"Yeah... But even if we did go back into town, what could we do? We wasted all our money for the day."

"So says you! I still have a few ryo left over," said Nataro as he pulled out a few bills and cents.

The orange-haired genin pouted and glared at his teammate from the corner of his eye. "Who cares? I doubt that's enough to have some fun with..." He shifted around slightly so he could look at Nataro. "You seem to know a lot about the past, Nataro. How long is this gonna take?"

The future blonde sighed. "Let's just say...you may wanna take a nap...because it _will_ take a looong while…"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Seeing as how Kazemaru is a pervert, he would know all about famous erotic like the Icha-Icha series.**

**Pocky are well-known Japanese snack food: long biscuit sticks covered in chocolate or other flavors. Many anime fans know about it or have tried it, but I've never seen it in real life. Yan Yan is another Japanese snack that comes in a package with two compartments—one with biscuit sticks and one with vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry frosting for dipping. The sticks have pictures and sayings on them in English, but none of them make sense. (For example: sticks with a picture of an octopus say "Lucky Number 8").**

**X-X-X**

**Kira: (Covered in welts and still reading scrolls) Ohhh…!**

**Tsunade: (Cracks the whip) Come on, let's go!!**

**Kira: Alright, alright, old woman— OLD _WOMAN_?! (Turns around to stare at Tsunade.) (O.O) The Godaime Hokage?!**

**Tsunade: What of it?**

**Kira: Wait a second; the old man was the one who was beating me in the intro! What is this?**

**Tsunade: Yes, well… The other Hokage and I have been watching this fic as well—against our wills, of course—and were disgusted by your act. So, we're all going to take turns whipping you for your mistake!**

**Kira: Wait… So the Shodai, Nidaime, Sandaime, Yondaime, and Godaime are gonna whip me?!**

**Tsunade: Actually, I'm the only one using the whip. The others have…_other_ methods in mind… (Points off to the side to show Hashirama holding a giant sword, Tobirama holding a giant axe, Sarutobi holding an adamantine nyoi, and Minato holding a…steel bat?)**

**Minato: What? They took all the good weapons before me!**

**Naruto & Sakura: (O.o')**

**Sakura: Wow… That's…that's just overkill…**

**Naruto: Yeah… He probably doesn't deserve to be beaten _that_ much…**

**Blu: Actually, you may be right…**

**Hokage Naruto: Don't worry about it. With people like Kira, you need to use a little brute force sometimes to get a point across.**

**Sakura: Having the former Hokage beat him up is only a _little_ brute force?!**

**Nataro: When it comes to Kira-sensei, it is.**

**Blu: Oh, brother… This is getting out of control. Let's just end this story on a good note and tell the readers to please review for the sake of Blu!**


	50. Tsunade Found! A Bet is Made!

**Nataro: Hey, is Kira still alive after being beaten up by the Hokage? He promised he'd take me Trick-Or-Treating!**

**Hanzo: Nataro, Halloween's not for weeks!**

**Nataro: It's not? Oh, well. At least I got my costume picked up early.**

**Blu: Halloween…? You mean it's October already?!**

**Nataro & Hanzo: (Sweatdrop) You didn't notice?**

**Blu: Not really… Maybe in honor of the holidays, I'll write a scary story for once!**

**Jiraiya: (Snort) Please! You couldn't write a horror story if your life depended on it.**

**Hanzo: Not to mention the fact that you can't sit through horror movies without hiding your face or changing the channel.**

**Blu: (Ignores Hanzo) Oh, and I suppose **_**you**_** could write better?! I bet all you'd be able to write is something like vampire porn!**

**Kakashi & Kazemaru: We'd read that!**

**Naruto: (Pops up in front of the screen) Uh… Since everyone seems to have gone crazy, I guess it's my cue to roll the fic!**

_Disclaimer: If Blu Rose owned Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't have left Konoha in the first place and he wouldn't have caused so much crap in Shippuuden. But she doesn't, so we'll never know how __**that**__ could've gone…_

**X-X-X**

_#50: Tsunade Found! A One-Week Bet is Made!_

_The sound of a roaring waterfall... A thousand birds chirping... The sensation of heat against his skin… The solid swirling ball of chakra in his hand. Eyes set on the person on the other side of the valley, so different than he used to be—not just physical, but deeper. Deep enough to drive them to be doing **this**. They leapt towards each other, determined to strike with their all._

"_NARUTOOOOOO!!!"_

**X-X-X**

"SASUKEEEEEE!!!" Nataro screamed as he suddenly sat up straight, accidentally knocking heads with the person who was on top of it and forcing him back onto his futon. "Awww…!" The blonde held onto his bruised forehead, clenching his teeth in pain. Nataro blinked and saw Naruto at the end of his futon, fully dressed save for his hitai-ate. The whiskered blonde gave the genin from the future a look. "Wh-what's your problem?! You don't just hover over a person while they're sleeping!! It's creepy!!"

"Well, how could I _not_? You were grunting and fighting in your sleep so much that Hanzo and Ero Sennin had to keep Kazemaru from hitting you back!" Naruto arched an eyebrow. "You had a nightmare or something?"

"Nightmare…? Yeah, I guess…" _'A real-life nightmare…'_ The future genin thought as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

Silence fell in the room. Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "Well…hurry up and get dressed! Today's the day we leave town," he said as he got up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

'_This is it…'_ Nataro looked at the open window with glazed over eyes. _'If I can stop him there…there'll be no one for Sasuke to run to. Then he'll __**have**__ to stay in Konoha…'_

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Jiraiya and the four genin stood outside of the town. The white-haired Sennin dramatically pointed his finger forward and exclaimed, "Alright!! Leeeeet's hit the road!!"

"Wow. You're real exuberant this morning, Jiraiya-sama," said Hanzo with a slight smile.

"Yeah, you'd think he'd be depressed about leaving those girls at the club," Kazemaru mumbled with a slight red tinge on his cheeks. "I know I am…!"

"I still can't believe you managed to spend some of his money there by transforming into him."

"Hey, I need _something _to remember form this trip…" The orange-haired genin looked at the two blondes beside them. "Am I right?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Naruto grumbled while Nataro looked down at the ground in thought.

"What's up with the two of _you_? You're in a bad mood," said Jiraiya as he looked back at the boys.

"You should know why I'm in a bad mood! We're supposed to be in the middle of training!" The whiskered blonde held up three fingers. "You said that there are _three_ steps to the training! We've only gotten up to the _second_ step!"

"What? You mean you're _still_ not done?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow.

Hanzo stared at his teammate in confusion. "Weren't you paying attention to his training?"

"For _what_? If I wanted to see someone fail, I'd watch Nataro!" The pyromanic genin then looked at his teammate with half-lidded eyes. "Which brings up the question of: _'why haven't you helped him?'_." Nataro didn't seem to react to him. Kaze waved a hand in front of his face. "Helloooo~! Anyone in there?"

"Oh, it wouldn't matter. I tried asking him, but he said I wouldn't become an awesome ninja if he just _told_ me how it's done, and Ero Sennin agreed with him," Naruto answered as he folded his arms across his chest.

"You were there when he said _that_, too," said Hanzo. "Seriously, where has your head been at?"

"At _'Jugs-N-Fun'_ living the dream…!" The pyromanic genin swooned as little hearts floated around his head.

"If you're so worried about the third step, then don't worry. You can do it while you're walking," Jiraiya explained.

"Really?! How?!" Naruto exclaimed. His faced fell as Jiraiya pulled out a balloon and began to blow air into it. _'A balloon…?'_ "What does _this_ have to do with my training?"

"Here." Jiraiya tossed the balloon to the whiskered blonde and pulled out another, which he blew up again. "The first step you learned was rotation. The second was power. The third and final step…is _this_." He held up the balloon in his hand.

Naruto, Hanzo and Kazemaru stared at the balloon for a long while as Nataro continued to stare at the ground. After a few seconds of waiting, the future Rokudaime couldn't take it anymore. "What the heck do you mean by _'this'_?!"

The Sannin smirked. "Heh-heh. It seems as if I'm just holding the balloon, right? Now let me show you what's going on inside of the balloon in my left hand." He held up his left hand and chakra began to swirl around in the palm of his hand, forming a ball of condensed chakra.

"Wow…!" Hanzo and Kazemaru mumbled in awe. _'Is __**that**__ what happens when Nataro does it? The balloon hasn't even popped!'_

Naruto simply stared at the ball in amazement. _'The chakra is spinning rapidly and increasing its pace…but it's still perfectly round!'_

"Y'see? It's like kinda like a small typhoon," Jiraiya explained.

"So all that chakra…is in the balloon?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Mm-hm!"

"Wow," was all Kaze could say.

'_Even with all that chakra spinning, the balloon doesn't even move…! There must be more power and speed to it than when I popped the rubber ball!'_ Naruto thought as he continued to look for the differences between the balloon and the ball of chakra.

"The third step is taking what you learned from the last two and charging it 100 percent. Max out the spin and power of your chakra while making a wall within the balloon, concentrating on its power."

The whiskered blonde stared at the Sennin for a while before his eyes flashed with realization. "I get it!! So I do the spinning from the last exercise and try no to pop the balloon?"

"Right! You've gotten quicker."

"Heh-heh! But…" The smile faded from Naruto's face as he looked up in thought. "Why am I even doing all this?"

Jiraiya turned around to face a tree. "This is why. Just watch closely… Up to the second step, it's like this." He held out his hand over the trunk of the tree as he formed a ball of chakra in his hand. "HAAAH!!" He slammed it into the tree, carving a spiral into the tree in the process. "And when you've mastered the _third_ step…" He formed another ball of chakra and slammed it into the tree once more, but this time, it managed to blow a hole into the side of the tree trunk bigger than any of the boys' heads. "If you can keep this attack in this form, it'll spin faster and its power will be high concentrated," he explained to the awed Naruto.

"Hmmm…" The whiskered ball stared at the hole in the tree before he held up the balloon in his hand. _'Concentrate… Concentrate… Concentrate…! Now!'_ He began to move his hand around the balloon in a quick motion before he held onto the balloon. _'Keep it steady!'_ It began to shake and quiver from the uncontrolled energy until it exploded in his face.

"You can't slack off. You have to use all your spin and power to make it work," said Jiraiya.

Naruto stared at his hand. _'You gotta be kidding…! I need to control all I've got perfectly! This third step…is on a completely different level!'_

"I told you: it's an A-rank jutsu. It's not exactly easy to master." The white-haired man turned his back on the boy. "Well, enough chatting. You can get some more practice in while we're walking. Let's go, boys!"

"Huh? Why do we gotta hurry?" Naruto asked as the Sennin, Kazemaru and Hanzo started to walk. "I still need to practice!"

"We took extra time off so your body could heal. If we wait any longer, there's no guarantee that Tsunade will stay in the city. After all, it's not as if an old buddy's gonna just appear out of nowhere and start chatting her up."

"Awww…!" Naruto grumbled as he slumped over slightly. "Alright." He arched an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder to find Nataro still staring at the ground. "Yo!! Nataro!!"

"Huh?" The future blonde snapped out of his daze and looked around. "What's happening?"

"Nothing… As usual. Come on, quit spacing out and let's go!!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in Tanzaku Gai…

The smoke and dust from a ruined castle rose up to the sky. People were still running away in fear, screaming about some sort of snake beast. Amongst the small few who hadn't run off were Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, along with the two responsible for the panic in the first place.

"It's been quite a while…Orochimaru," the blonde woman spoke as she stared at the pale-skinned man standing before her with long black hair wearing a dark blue robe with a sleeveless brown vest.

"I've been looking all over for you, Tsunade," said Orochimaru.

"For what? You better not waste my time by asking to talk about the good old days."

"Actually, I was hoping to ask you for a favor…"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she took in the dark-haired Sannin's appearance. _'His heartbeat is racing…and he seems to be burning up with a fever. All signs of high fatigue. And his arms… What happened to them?'_

"Tsunade-sama," the young man standing beside Orochimaru spoke. He had gray hair set up in a short ponytail and wore a sleeveless purple jumpsuit with matching fingerless gloves, a short-sleeved white shirt underneath, circular-lensed glasses and a hitai-ate with a music note on it. "I'm sure you've surmised Orochimaru-sama's condition by now."

"Hmph… Find someone else. I haven't treated anyone in years."

"You must know how serious his wounds are. The only one capable of curing him is _you_—the legendary Sannin and medical genius, Tsunade-sama," the young man pressed on.

Tsunade remained silent for a while before speaking up again. "Those arms of yours… Whatever hurt you must have really been something." _'Perhaps a sealing jutsu of sorts…?'_ "What exactly were you doing to get yourself like this?"

"Nothing much. I was simply killing the Sandaime Hokage," Orochimaru spoke nonchalantly, as if it were the same as talking about the weather.

The two kunoichi's eyes widened in shock. The blonde woman narrowed her eyes. "Impossible! Is this true?"

The pale-skinned man smirked. "What's with that dirty look, Tsunade? Surely you of all people should know that anything with form is destined to one day decay…including men." He narrowed his snake-like eyes. "But I don't have to tell _you_ that, do I…? Seeing as how you allowed the two people most dear to you to die."

Tsunade glared at him in response. The gray-haired young man tensed up. _'She allowed the two people most dear to her…to die? I see… You truly are cruel, Orochimaru-sama.'_

Orochimaru chuckled darkly as the smirk on his face widened. "Yes… It really _was_ an unfortunate way for them to die."

Shizune's eyes widened. "_You_…!" She stepped forward and pulled up the sleeve of her robe, revealing some sort of shooting mechanism loaded with senbon. She grabbed onto the wire attached to it and pulled, firing off a barrage of needles at Orochimaru. But they were all deflected by his assistant's oddly shaped scalpel, save for one that he barely caught in his fingers, dripping with a purple substance.

"Poison-dipped senbon…" He looked up just in time to see the dark-haired woman dashing towards him quickly. _'She's fast!'_

"Out of my way!!" Shizune growled as she reached into her robe and pulled out a scalpel. The young man swung to slash her, but she nimbly moved aside and made to stab him in the throat when…

"Shizune!! Calm down!!" Tsunade barked, making her assistant halt in her spot. She was breathing heavily as she glared at the purple-clad men before jumping back in front of her master. The blonde Sannin began to smile. "Orochimaru… You've always been this twisted, even when we were kids." Shizune looked back at her in shock of the woman's friendly tone. "You know what sort of girl I am… You ought to know not to play around with me." She suddenly pounded her fist on the wall behind her, and in a few seconds, cracks ran along through the wall until it fell to rubble. "Unless you want me to _kill you where you stand_!!" She growled as she started to glare darkly at her former teammate.

Kabuto stared at the ruined wall in awe. _'She's strong…and terrifying…! She must be single…!'_

**X-X-X**

Outside of Tanzaku Gai, Jiraiya, Naruto, and Team 14 had arrived. The whiskered blonde continued trying to form a perfect Rasengan in the balloon, but it just burst. The force was enough to make him fall back and land on the ground.

"Man, I never get tired of seeing that!" Kazemaru said with a grin.

"Shut up!! I'd like to see _you_ do it!!"

"Hmmm…" Hanzo stared at the small crater in the ground that was formed from the burst of chakra. "I can't tell if you're getting better or worse."

"Probably worse," the orange-haired boy said before Naruto, still on the ground, kicked him in the butt. "Ow!! Why you…!"

"Hey, we don't have time to be playing around! Get up and let's go!" Jiraiya spoke up as he pushed himself off of the stone archway. "Who knows when and where that wayward will go?"

The future Rokudaime jumped to his feet and pointed a finger at the old man. "Hey, that's not way to talk to an apprentice who's working his tail off here!!"

"Oh, zip it! Tsunade's the main priority on this trip, remember?" Jiraiya began to walk up the stairs leading up to the city, leaving the boys behind.

"He's got a point, you know," Nataro spoke up for the first time since they left the previous town. "We can't just stand here playing around when there's work to be done!" He walked off, leaving his teammates confused.

"_Work_? Who is that guy and what did he do to Nataro?" Kaze asked with half-lidded eyes.

"He hasn't seemed like himself ever since what happened to Sasuke…" Hanzo sighed. _'I hope he's not blaming himself… It was going to happen no matter what he did.'_

**X-X-X**

Back with the two Sannin and their assistants, who were engaging in a stare down, the gray-haired young man was the first to speak up. "Please, we merely came here to negotiate! Not fight!"

"I already told you: get out of my sight!" Tsunade spat as she continued to give them an evil look.

"But you're the only one who can cure his arms. Besides, it doesn't have to be a one-sided deal? What do you say?" He asked, sweating at the prospect of fighting such a terrifying woman.

"I'll give you to the count of 5 to leave…_or else_!"

"Please, calm down!"

"1…"

"It won't be a bad deal—"

"2…" The young man sighed in defeat as she continued to count down. "3…4…5—"

"I could revive your beloved and your brother…with the jutsu I've created…" Orochimaru offered. He waited for a response. Shizune stared at him in shock while Tsunade just stared at the ground in thought. "You haven't killed me yet… So, do we have a deal?"

**X-X-X**

"C'mon, lemme play!" Kazemaru whined as he glared at a man holding a cup and a pair of dice.

"I said _'no,'_ kid!"

"Why not! Is it 'cuz I'm too young? Come on, you can let it slide!"

"No, it's 'cuz you look broke."

Kaze' jaw dropped in shock for a moment before he clenched his teeth in anger, a vein popping up on his head. "Whaaaat?! _Broke_?!" Hanzo grabbed the pyromanic genin from behind and pulled him away from the game and back to where Nataro and Naruto were standing.

"I don't know why you're taking it so hard! You _are_ broke!"

"Yeah, but he said I _look_ broke! _Being_ broke and _looking_ are two totally different things!!" Kaze shouted as he flailed about.

"What?! No, it's not!!"

"So, she's been here. You got any ideas of where she is now?" Jiraiya asked one of the gamblers.

"Yeah. She said something about getting back her losses over _'there'_."

The Sennin arched an eyebrow. "And where is _'there'_?"

"Heh-heh-heh! Well, I can't just sell you that info for _free_… Let's gamble for it. You win, I'll talk. You lose, you pay up 1000 ryo!"

"Hmmm… Alright."

The gambler smirked as Jiraiya settled in. "Pick Cho or Han."

"Okay… Hmmm…" The white-haired man rubbed his chin in thought. _'Let's see… My age is an even number, so…'_ "Cho!"

"Okay. Cho, you win. Han, I win." The gambler shook the dice in the cup before he dropped the cup on the ground, bottom up. "Now, let's see what we've got here…" He lifted up the cup enough for Jiraiya to see the dice, which were on a two and a five.

'_Damn it! Two and five? That's Han!'_

Suddenly, the balloon Naruto was practicing with popped once again, and the burst of chakra that came from it pushed back everyone around him…as well as tip the dice so it landed on 2 and 4.

"Damn it!! Can't you do that outside?!" Kazemaru screamed as he pointed a finger at the whiskered blonde.

'_Thank you, Naruto!'_ Jiraiya smirked and pointed down at the dice. "Looks like I win!"

"Huh?" The gambler looked down at the dice in shock. "No way…!"

**X-X-X**

Later, the searching shinobi found themselves at a gambling corner. The genin were spending their time observing a slot machine.

"You put your money in here…pull the lever…and if the right pictures come on the reel, you get money!" Kaze explained to Naruto.

"How do _you_ know this?"

"Trust me: you don't want to know," said Hanzo.

"Huh…" The whiskered blonde reached into the winnings tray and pulled out a coin. "Maybe I should give it a whirl."

"You really shouldn't! This is a game of luck, after all," the orange-haired boy said as Naruto placed the coin into the machine. He pulled the trigger and the reels began to spin. "I'm telling you, you're gonna lose!" The reels stopped one by one on the same picture: a red frog. Kaze's jaw dropped. "No way!!"

"Whoo-hoo!! I won!!" The future Rokudaime exclaimed as coins filled the tray.

"L…lucky shot!! I bet you can't do it again!!"

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, the five were walking down a road. Naruto was holding his newly stuffed frog wallet close to his face. "Ahhh, Gama-chan~! You're so much cuter when you're full!"

"I can't believe he won so much…and he never lost anything!" Kaze cried, his face red with frustration. "That machine must've been malfunctioning!"

"Or maybe Naruto's just lucky," Hanzo suggested.

'_He may be lucky with gambling, but he's still a novice at jutsu,'_ Jiraiya thought as he looked at the skipping blonde. He looked beside him and noticed Nataro, still staring down at the ground. _'What's wrong with __**him**__? He's been awfully quiet.'_

"How long's it gonna take for us to find Tsunade already? I'm ready to finish this," the blonde genin muttered.

"Hmmm… Well, she shouldn't be _too_ far from here. If we want a better chance of spotting her, we're gonna have to go up to the castle." The white-haired man looked over to the three other genin. "Hey, guys!! This way!"

**X-X-X**

"Don't you want to meet them again, Tsunade?" Orochimaru pushed on.

Tsunade continued to look down in thought. An image appeared in her mind of a man with long blue hair and a boy with messy brown hair, both wearing the same necklace. _'Nawaki... Dan…' _After a moment of silence, she looked up at her old teammate. "If I cure your arms, what are you going to do?"

"I would hate to lie to you…so I guess I'll tell you the truth. I'm going to destroy Konoha once and for all…"

**X-X-X**

Jiraiya and the four genin stood on top of a wall. They all stared at the rubble that was once Kikyo Castle.

"Isn't there supposed to be a castle there?" Kaze asked, pointing at the ruined castle.

"Did someone destroy it?" Hanzo asked.

"For _what_?! It's just a stinkin' castle!"

At that moment, a man went running by on the street below. Jiraiya noticed him and called out, "Hey! You there! What the hell happened over there?"

"R-run away! There's some sort of monster up there!!"

"Monster…?" The genin repeated.

"Exactly what did this monster look like?"

"A snake! A _huge_ snake!! It toppled the castle in an instant!"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "H-hey! Exactly how big _was_ this snake monster? Back in my village, I fought a giant snake, too, and—"

"Naruto! The snake you met in Konoha is here right now…" Jiraiya spoke in a low tone. "Let's go!" He disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Huh? W-wait for us, Ero Sennin!!" The whiskered blonde exclaimed as he jumped off of the wall.

"What're they talking about…?" Kazemaru asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Orochimaru…!" Nataro hissed before disappearing along with his teammates.

**X-X-X**

Back with Orochimaru and Tsunade, the female Sannin remained silent. Her assistant, on the other hand, was furious.

"Destroy Konohagakure?! Tsunade-sama, you can't possibly be thinking about helping these liars!!" Shizune shouted. "Your brother and my uncle wouldn't want you to do this!! Have you forgotten your dreams, your wishes?! You can't—!"

"Shut up, Shizune!!" Tsunade finally spoke up, silencing her assistant.

"You don't have to answer now," said the gray-haired young man. "However, we hope to come to a peaceful resolution. And you should know that the jutsu necessary to revive your loved ones require a source of life, so two good bodies are needed."

"Tsunade-sama!! Kill these bastards now!! Orochimaru is weak right now! It's the perfect opportunity to beat them!!" Shizune exclaimed as she tensed up, preparing to attack at her master's order. But Tsunade kept staring down at the ground sadly.

Orochimaru raised his bandaged hand up to his mouth and bit down on a finger hard enough to draw blood. He held out his injured hand, dripping with blood, to Tsunade. At the sight of the red fluid, the blonde woman began to shake uncontrollably, making the Snake Sannin smirk. "Hmhmhm… I may be weak right now… But I still know Tsunade's weaknesses. You still haven't gotten over your hemophobia."

The gray-haired young man stared at the shaking Tsunade. _'Hemophobia?'_

"We should get going, Kabuto," said Orochimaru. He turned away from the two women, but looked at the blonde from over his shoulder. "I'll wait one week for your answer…Tsunade." And in the blink of an eye, they were gone.

Shizune stared at her shaking master. Unsure of what to say to comfort her, the dark-haired woman remained silent.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, the four genin inspected the wall that had been broken down by Tsunade.

"What kind of snake could do _this_?" Naruto asked with squinted eyes.

"The same that destroyed an entire castle, duh!" Kazemaru answered.

"Wouldn't it have been able to destroy more than just _this_ section?"

"He's got you there," said Hanzo.

Jiraiya looked around carefully. _'This is either Orochimaru's handiwork or Tsunade's. Either way, they're gone.'_ "Come on, boys. There's nothing for us here…"

**X-X-X**

That night, in a pub in town…

"OI!!! More saké over here, on the double!!" Tsunade slurred as she waved an empty bottle of saké in the air.

"Tsunade-sama, please! You've drank way too much now!" Shizuka chastened her master. The blonde woman burped and leaned against the table in the booth, red-faced and wavering.

"You're kidding! You're taking a bunch of kids to eat in a _bar_?!" Kazemaru shouted in amazement. In less than a second, he was hugging Jiraiya. "I love you, Ero Sennin!"

Hanzo sweatdropped. "Seriously… Is there something wrong with your brain today?"

Jiraiya pried the pyromanic genin off of him. "Idiot! You can always find useful information in places like these!"

Tsunade blinked at the sound of his voice and looked towards the entrance. "Ji…raiya?"

The Sennin turned at the sound of her voice. "Tsunade! I finally found you!"

"Huh? No way!" Naruto exclaimed. _'__**She's**__ Tsunade? She doesn't look 50 years old to me…'_

"W-wow… She's even prettier than I imagined…!" Kaze said with a tint of red on his cheeks.

"Just remember: she's 50 years old and that's just a transformation jutsu," Hanzo reminded him.

"Well, that's certainly a beautiful lie!"

**X-X-X**

A few moments later, the seven of them were crammed into a booth. The boys were eating, barely listening to the adults' conversation.

"Well, I just seem to keep bumping into old friends today…" Tsunade spoke as she bridged her hands together and rested her chin on them.

"Orochimaru? Did anything happen?" Jiraiya asked.

"Oh, nothing much. We chatted for a while and he left." At this, Shizune looked at her master incredulously. In return, she got a glare that silenced her, but the first look was enough to gain Jiraiya's attention. "So, why are you here, Jiraiya?"

"To be honest, I've been sent by the Leaf to give you a request—to become the Godaime Hokage."

Naruto's eyes widened and he began to choke on the fish he had in his mouth. He beat on his chest hard while Hanzo and Kazemaru beat on his back. All Nataro could do was sweatdrop and stare at them. Tsunade and Shizune appeared to be in shock.

"You see…the Sandaime—"

"I know. Orochimaru killed him. He told me so himself," the female Sannin interrupted.

Naruto suddenly got to his feet. "Orochimaru?! The snake guy?! _He's_ the one who killed Old Man Hokage?! Just who the hell _is_ that bastard?!"

"He's another of the Sannin," Jiraiya explained.

"What the hell?! The Sannin are all supposed to be Leaf ninja, right?! So then why'd he do that?!"

Tsunade stared at the whiskered blonde in irritation. "Jiraiya… Just who _are_ these brats?"

'_Brats?!'_ Naruto and Kazemaru thought at the same time.

"These three aren't exactly important, but _this_…" Jiraiya pointed at Naruto. "Is Uzumaki Naruto."

'_The Kyuubi host, huh?'_ Tsunade thought as she observed the boy.

"Hey!! Just because we don't call ourselves your protégés doesn't mean we're not important!!" Kazemaru exclaimed. He turned to Tsunade and pointed at himself. "I'm Kazemaru!" He pointed at Hanzo, who had noodles dangling from his mouth. "He's Hanzo!" He then pointed at Nataro, who was playing around with some meat on a stick. "And the quiet guy—for once—is Nataro!"

"Who cares about _you_?!" Naruto exclaimed. He pointed a finger at Tsunade. "Why does _she_ get to be the new Hokage? Why?!"

Ignoring Naruto, Jiraiya looked at Tsunade. "So… Do you accept?"

The table fell silent. Everyone stared at Tsunade with anticipation, except for the whiskered blonde who was holding his head and refusing to believe what he heard.

"Impossible… I decline." Everyone at the table stared at her in shock.

"Okay… I didn't see _that_ coming..." said Hanzo.

"Heh… You said the exact same thing when I asked you out. _'I decline'_…" said Jiraiya.

"Wait a minute!! I thought we just wanted her to come back to the village to help Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the blonde kunoichi. "But here you ask her to become the Hokage…and she refused!!"

Shizune looked at her master with worry all over her face. _'Is she hesitating because of what Orochimaru told her?'_

"Tsunade is the only person fit to become the Godaime Hokage. Her incredible medical skills helped us to achieve victory in the war...and also, she's the Shodai Hokage's granddaughter, making her the most appropriate choice for the position. If she became the Hokage, she would have no choice but to return to the village, and then she could look over those two. This decision was made by the Elders of Konoha. You have no say in this matter…" Naruto could only frown and growl under his breath.

Tsunade smiled in cocky manner. "Jiraiya… This kid seems worse than your last apprentice…in terms of looks, speech, _and_ intelligence."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!" The whiskered blonde exploded.

'_Wow. Who knew our Godaime was such a bitchy drunk…'_ Kaze thought with an arched eyebrow.

"Well… It's hard for just _anyone_ to be compared to the Yondaime…" Jiraiya began. "He had talent that only shows up once a generation… He was smart, reliable, and handsome—just like his master!"

"But even so, he still died quickly," said Tsunade as she stared down at the table. "He gave up his life for his village… Life is different from money. It can't be risk that easily in a gamble… Whoever puts their life at life at risk so easily is a fool…"

Naruto clenched his teeth in frustration. Nataro was balling his fist up underneath the table as Tsunade went on.

"My grandfather and granduncle—the Shodai and the Nidaime—focused so much on bringing peace to our village…that they died in the middle of their dreams, like losers…"

"You've changed, Tsunade… I'm not sure what you've been thinking all this time, but you've said all that's on your mind," said Jiraiya.

"I am in my 50's… Age tends to change people. Like Sarutobi-sensei… He died because he was far too old to live in his dreams… The title of Hokage…is nothing but a load of shit. Only a _fool_ would choose to do it!"

That was it. Naruto jumped onto the table, scattering plates and trays as he balled up a fist. He would've tried to punch the female Sannin in the face if not for Jiraiya grabbing his jacket and holding him back. "Arrgh!! Let me go!!"

"Don't you realize we're in a _bar_?"

"Like that matters!! I can't forgive anyone who insults Old Man Sandaime and the Yondaime!! I don't care if she _is_ a woman!! I'm gonna kick her ass!!" The blonde boy shouted as he pounded his fist into his palm for emphasis.

"Oh, really…? You've got guts to say such things to me, kid," said Tsunade as she got up and leaned towards the genin, smirking. "Let's take this outside."

"Anybody else feel like this is gonna end badly?" Hanzo asked no one in particular.

"It's not feeling. It _is_ gonna end badly," said Nataro as the others got up and headed out of the bar.

The Uchiha stared at his friend with an arched eyebrow. "I see you're not tuning us out anymore."

"Who said I was tuning you out?"

"Well, what do you expect me to think when Tsunade-sama sat there insulting our former Hokage and you didn't say a word about it like Naruto did? Being Hokage's your dream, too!"

"I'm…not so sure about that anymore…" The future blonde mumbled as he looked down at the table with half-lidded eyes. _'__**My**__ dream…'_

"Okay, what's wrong with you? You've been acting weird ever since Sasuke got hurt. You aren't blaming yourself for that, are you?" The raven-haired boy held a hand to his head. "You're just a genin… You couldn't stand up against a pair of S-rank nukenin!"

"You're right. But maybe…Orochimaru's weak enough to be taken out now."

Hanzo's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry, _what_ did you say? It sounded like you were thinking about killing _Orochimaru_ of the Legendary Sannin. Please tell me I heard wrong."

"Think about it, Hanzo," the future blonde continued. "The person Sasuke runs off to is Orochimaru. If there _is_ no Orochimaru for him to run off to when the time comes, he'll _have_ to stay in Konoha!"

Hanzo slammed a hand down on the table. "Okay, stop it!! Stop it right there! First it's the Akatsuki…now you want to tangle with Orochimaru?! Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?! Even if you want to save Sasuke for Hokage-sama's sake, that's—!"

"It's not for him!!" Nataro suddenly shouted, holding onto his head in aggravation.

The Uchiha stared at his friend. "If it's not for Hokage-sama…then why—?" He was interrupted by the sound of chaos outside, followed by a familiar scream. "What? Naruto? What'd she _do_ to him?"

**X-X-X**

Upon stepping outside, Hanzo and Nataro were greeted with the sight of Shizune helping Naruto up out of a long crack in the earth big enough for him to fall through.

'_As usual, Tsunade's monstrous strength hasn't changed… I still remember being punched 100 meters away one time,'_ Jiraiya thought with a cringe.

"Holy…crap…!" Kaze gasped with wide eyes. _'She's as bad as that Bhumi lady! Actually…she may be __**worse**__! At least that Asura's too lazy to use it too often! She's a fuckin' short fused bomb!!'_

"Jiraiya! How could you teach a little brat like this the Rasengan?" Tsunade asked with a smirk.

The Sennin shrugged. "I _am_ his master… Masters are supposed to teach their students their techniques."

"The only people capable of using that jutsu are you and the Yondaime. Teaching him something he can't do and believing you're his master… It's better that he doesn't think that way…so silly kids like him don't joke about dreams as foolish as becoming Hokage."

Naruto began to growl under his breath. "Idiot!! It's _not_ a joke!! All I need are three days… In three days, I can master that jutsu! Wait and see!"

The medical genius smirked. "Heh… Some big words coming from a brat... A man's words should never be taken back…"

"I never go back on my word! That's my ninja way!"

Tsunade's smirk got wider. "Is that so… Alright then. I'll give you one week to master that jutsu. If you succeed, I'll acknowledge that you could become the Hokage by giving you this necklace." She tugged on the necklace around her neck with the turquoise gem resting on her chest.

Shizune gasped. "But, Tsunade-sama!! That's your most precious item!"

"No, thanks! I don't want that ugly necklace…" Naruto mumbled with squinted eyes.

"Don't say _that_, Naruto. It's a very unique and precious ore that belonged to the Shodai Hokage," Jiraiya explained in a flat tone. "If you sold it, you'd have enough money to buy three mountains!"

"Three mountains?! First he wins the freakin' lotto, now he has a chance to become as rich as a Daimyo?!" Kazemaru exclaimed through gritted teeth, holding on to his head.

"Hmmm… Well, alright. I guess…"

"But, if you can't master that jutsu in a week, all your money will belong to me…" Tsunade said as she tossed Naruto's frog wallet up and down in her hand.

"Nooo!! Not Gama-chan!!" _'When'd she even take it?!'_

"Tsunade-sama, what are you doing? That necklace is—!"

"It's not like he can accomplish it, anyway," Tsunade interrupted Shizune as she turned to leave. "Let's go, Shizune!"

"Wait, Tsunade!" Jiraiya called out. "How about we have a drink together? It's been a while…"

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "You're kidding. Even after everything that's happened, you still wanna go knock back a few drinks and cop a feel of those boobs?"

"Shizune, you and the boys go find a hotel for the night," the Sennin spoke, snapping the dark-haired assistant out of her thoughts. "Alright?"

Shizune bowed her head. "Okay, Jiraiya-sama…" _'Please… You're our last hope…'_

**X-X-X**

At the hotel, Team 14 sat around the room while Naruto stood by the window, staring up at the crescent moon in the sky.

"I've only got a week! I need to master that Ra-something jutsu and teach the old hag a lesson!" The whiskered blonde exclaimed.

"_Rasengan_, idiot. Sheesh, I'm not even learning the jutsu and _I_ know its name!" Kaze said with a roll of his eyes as he rested on the bed.

There was a knock on the door before Shizune entered. "I'm sorry for coming in so late at night…but there's something I need to tell you, Naruto-kun."

"Well hurry up and say what you gotta say. I need to sleep well tonight so I can train well tomorrow."

The dark-haired woman placed her hands together. "I'm sorry… But I don't want you to misunderstand Tsunade-sama. You see, that necklace—"

"Oh, who cares about that old hag and her cruddy old necklace?"

"She's not the sort of person you think she is!! Stop talking about her when you don't even know her!!" Shizune snapped, making the boys flinch. She regained her calm and looked down. "I'm sorry for yelling… It's just... She wasn't always like this. She once had a caring heart and loved Konoha...but…after that day…she changed…"

This caught the boys' attention. "That day?" Naruto repeated.

"What exactly happened?" Hanzo asked.

"On that day…all her dreams, her love, and her hope were lost… And also, that necklace…is as important to Tsunade-sama as her own life. It isn't something to be carelessly bet on."

"Well, gee! If it's so precious to her, why'd she bet it in the first place?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Please, let me finish! It is a cursed necklace… If anyone but Tsunade has that necklace, that person will die!!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Cursed…?"

"Yeah, right… You're just saying that because your master was drunk when she said she'd bet it and she'd probably want to take back what she said!" The pyromanic genin said with a pout.

"This isn't a lie! You see…there were two people she had given the necklace to before. The first was her brother, Nawaki..."

**X-X-X**

_A young Tsunade handed a small box over to a young boy with messy light brown hair, wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with gray pants. "Happy 12th birthday, Nawaki!"_

"_I'm not a kid anymore… I don't need a present every birthday!" Nawaki said with a frown that seemed similar to Naruto's._

"_Yeah, right. You're still just a child. Just hurry up and take a look at it. I'm sure you'll be happy with what's inside…"_

_The brown-haired boy blinked and opened the box. His eyes widened as he took up the crystal necklace in his hand. "This… Isn't this…?"_

"_Yup. Our grandfather's Hokage necklace." Before she knew what hit her, Tsunade was being embraced by her little brother._

"_You're the best, sis!!"_

"_I thought it would suit you… Work hard, okay?"_

"_Of course I will! I am the grandson of the Shodai Hokage, and I will protect this village! I wanna be like Grandpa someday… I will be honored with the title of Hokage…because being Hokage is my dream!" Nawaki said with a grin._

_Tsunade smiled warmly. "Here… Take off your hitai-ate. There's something else I wanna give you…" She pulled off the headband, exposing Nawaki's forehead. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the forehead._

**X-X-X**

_Rain was pouring in the Leaf Village. By the time Tsunade go there, she was soaked to the bone, but that wasn't what chilled her to the bone. Her little brother…Nawaki was…_

_Jiraiya's hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality in time to stop her from entering the room. "It's best if you don't look at the body…"_

"_What does it matter…? She wouldn't be able to recognize him anyway…" Orochimaru spoke in a sullen tone._

"_Enough, Orochimaru!!"_

"_We're in the middle of war, after all… It's always been the ninja way, on the battlefield where there were no doctors…" The pale-skinned ninja reached into his robes and pulled out the Hokage necklace. "But these children get carried away so easily…especially after getting their birthday present…"_

**X-X-X**

"Gee… That's harsh…" Kaze mumbled as he looked out of the corner of his eye. "But…that doesn't make up for what she did!"

"There's more," said Shizune. "Years after Nawaki's death was my uncle, Dan…"

**X-X-X**

"_Firstly, in order to facilitate the ease of accomplishing missions, the four man teams in the midst of fighting will have to fight in enemy territory and make individual actions for a long time… And if a medical specialist were assigned to be part of the team, the group's survival rate and the probability of mission successes would significantly increase," Tsunade spoke in front of the council made up of the Sandaime Hokage and his advisors. "Therefore, I think the most important task at the moment is to train medical ninja with high level medical jutsu and promote the further development of medical ninjutsu."_

"_I understand… However, we're in the middle of a war," said the Sandaime. "It would take time to prepare these medical specialists, in addition to people… The enemy will not wait peacefully."_

_Tsunade flinched. "What are you saying, you old geezer?! So from now on—!!"_

"_I agree with her suggestion…" Tsunade looked to the side to see a handsome young man with long pale blue hair dressed in the jonin uniform. "We shouldn't waste the lives of our ninja needlessly. We should learn form the past."_

**X-X-X**

"_Thank you for what you said back there…" Tsunade spoke as she approached the blue-haired man from behind._

"_Well, what you said wasn't exactly right…" That statement made the blonde woman look down at the ground, her cheeks tinged red. "Um… It's getting late, so why don't I escort you home?"_

"_What?"_

"_Is it okay? Your house is over there…"_

"_It's the other way… So…it's okay."_

"_No matter. I want to talk to you for a bit… And also because…" He started to smile. "This was the road I took to meet my sister at the Ninja Academy…"_

_Tsunade stared at him in silence. 'He's like me…'_

**X-X-X**

"_Tomorrow, we'll be going on a mission into enemy territory… But fighting will only make us lose important people," said Dan as he and Tsunade stood on a bridge, looking down at the river. "I want to bring peace and calm this warring world… I love Konoha and everyone in it, so I will protect them. When my sister died, that became my ideal, so I wish to become Hokage for the sake of everyone's safety… Being Hokage is my dream…"_

_Tsunade blushed as she stared at him in awe. "Dan…" She kissed him on the forehead before passing her necklace over to him. "Please accept this…"_

**X-X-X**

_It was raining then, too, as she knelt beside Dan's fatally wounded body. Each breath he took was shaky and his skin was starting to pale._

"_Tsunade… I don't want to die yet…" He breathed out. "There are…so many things I haven't accomplished…"_

"_Stop talking, Dan! Stay with me!" Tsunade called as she continued to hold her glowing green hands over his wound._

"_I…can't die…here…"_

_She smiled. "Don't worry! I stopped the blood! There's no more danger… You'll be saved, Dan!"_

"_That's…great…" His eyes slowly closed for the last time, but Tsunade refused to give up._

"_Damn Death…! Stop it…! Stop now! Stop, stop, stop!!"_

"_That's enough! He's already dead!" One of their teammates exclaimed._

_The blonde woman held her hands up to her face and stared at the blood that ran down them. She shook as tears filled her eyes…_

**X-X-X**

"Now do you understand? Tsunade-sama has been struggling…ever since that day…" Shizune concluded.

Kazemaru looked at the wall. _'Gee… That's rough…'_

'_To have both your loved ones die like that…'_ Hanzo thought as he stared at the floor with half-lidded eyes. Nataro remained silent and did the same.

Naruto simply walked past Shizune and opened the door, much to the dark-haired woman's surprise. "Naruto? Where are you going?"

The whiskered blonde looked over his shoulder. "I'm going out to train!" He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

"What's with that look? You should've known that just saying that wouldn't make him quit the bet," said Nataro.

**X-X-X**

Days later in the future, Ina and Shizuka were walking down the hall, the former wearing a short-sleeved black shirt with white pants and the latter wearing a baggy pink sweatshirt with black pants.

"Thanks again for coming with me to see Hanzo-kun, Ina," the blue-haired girl said with a nervous smile. "After what I heard happened to Nataro and Kazemaru, I'm worried about what I might find when I go there…"

The raven-haired girl shrugged. "No problem. My dad's been bugging me about going to see him, anyway."

"Hm?" Shizuka arched an eyebrow. "You mean you haven't gone to visit him yet?"

"As far as I can see, there's no point. He's not even awake, so he can't appreciate my visiting him."

"Really…?" The junior medic looked down at the ground sadly. "I only go because I always hope…that when I get there, he'll be awake. Or maybe it's just for reassurance that he's still alive." The Uchiha arched an eyebrow as Shizuka started to smile to herself.

A few minutes later, they came to the room where the three boys were staying. When they entered, they saw Sasuke and Sakura sitting by Hanzo's bedside and Kira standing by Nataro's bedside. The two girls drew the attention of the Uchiha elders.

"Oh! Um… G-good day, Sakura-sama… S-sasuke-sama…" The blue-haired girl stuttered as she wrung her hands.

Sakura forced a small smile. "Shizuka-chan. Ina." She looked at her husband and lightly elbowed him in the ribs. "Sasuke…"

"Hn… Good day."

Ina bowed her head slightly. "Good afternoon, Grandmother and Grandfather."

"No need to be so stiff, dear," the Uchiha matriarch said as Shizuka walked around them to stand on the other side of Hanzo's bed.

"Has there…been any change…?" The blue-haired girl asked as she stared down at the raven-haired boy.

"Unfortunately, no…" Sasuke mumbled as he stared down at his grandson.

"The only one to show any recent changes is Nataro," Sakura added.

"Hm?" Ina raised her head and arched an eyebrow. "Nataro?"

"Matsu said there is some sort of problem with his brain waves. They keep changing back and forth between two different types, as if he's thinking with his mind, then with another, then back to his," Sakura explained.

"Figures _that_ idiot would have problems with his brain," the Uchiha girl spoke flatly as she folded her arms across her chest. "But…he's still okay, isn't he?"

"Oh, yes. He hasn't received any injuries since that wound he got in his arm over a week ago."

"_Relax! You're talking to the strongest guy in Konoha—the future Nanadaime Hokage! I'll rescue Asura-chan __**and**__ I'll take your revenge for you!!"_

Sakura smiled. "Your face is red. Thinking about someone special, dear?"

"Wh-what?! D-don't go jumping to conclusions, Grandmother!!" The raven-haired girl exclaimed as she stepped back in shock.

Kira stared down at the blonde boy with clouded eyes. _'Shifting brain waves… Was he telling the truth back then?'_

"_What would you think if I said I'm not a real person…? That every part of me was just based on someone else? …I'm just a part of Gramps… And I'm just copying what __**he**__ did when he was my age…"_

The mad genius held onto his head with one hand. _'Could he really be…? Does it even matter? If he dies, he won't be __**anyone**__…'_ He bowed his head. _'And it'll be my fault…'_ He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, wavering as he did.

"When was the last time that boy got any sleep? He looks awful," Sakura said with a frown as the door shut. "Has he been awake all this time trying to figure out how to reverse his jutsu? He must be starting to feel guilty…"

Sasuke snorted. "Hmph! He's probably just putting on an act to get back into Naruto's good graces."

The girls looked confused as the elders continued. "No… I think he seriously means it this time."

"You can think what you want, Sakura. In my opinion, Kira's mentality has been warped to the point of no return."

The elderly woman sweatdropped. "I'm so glad I married such an optimist…"

**X-X-X**

Later, Kira was sitting in his apartment with all the blinds closed and the door shut. The only source of light was coming from the headlamp on the table, where several scrolls and books were lying open. The black-and-white-haired man clutched a bottle of saké in his hand as he hiccupped. He tried to down another helping when he realized it was empty. "Tch…!" He slammed the bottle down on the floor, gripping tightly onto its neck.

'_Azuki-sensei… Help me out here…'_ He thought as looked down at the scrolls with half-lidded eyes. _'Please… Help an idiot out here…'_ The mad genius suddenly fell over and began to snore loudly.

**X-X-X**

"_Lemme ask you a question, Kira."_

_12 year old Kira, covered in scratches and bruises, rolled onto his back to stare up at the man in front of him. "What'd you say, sensei…? The ringing in my ears hasn't stopped." A foot suddenly landed on his stomach. "Ugh!!"_

"_I __**told you**__ to cut out the 'sensei' nonsense…! If it weren't for the old man, I wouldn't be here…!"_

"_What…what'd you wanna tell me?" The dark-haired boy asked as he held onto his stomach._

"_If you could change anything you wanted about the past, what would you change?"_

_Kira rolled onto his stomach and got on his knees. "Huh? What kinda question is __**that**__?"_

"_Just answer it, ya little brat!!"_

"_Aaah!!" The boy screamed as he suddenly got to his feet and jumped away from the strawberry blonde man. "Uh… Um…! Well, I guess I'd try to change things so I came out looking cooler!"_

"_And that's it?" His 'sensei' replied flatly._

"_What do you mean? Of course that's it!"_

'_Sensei'_ _sighed and held a hand to his head. "I should've known… You're still just a kid. All __**your**__ reasons for using such a technique would be juvenile and selfish."_

"_Hey, I'm not juvenile!! I'm a __**genius**__!!" The dark-haired boy exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air energetically._

"_You keep saying that, and yet…"_

_Kira arched an eyebrow. "Hey, sensei! What would __**you**__ change?"_

"_I…would fix all of my mistakes…"_

_A vein popped up on Kira's head and he pointed a finger at the man. "HYPOCRIIIIITE!!! That's the same thing __**I**__ said!!"_

"_No, __**you**__ wanted to make yourself cooler. All I want…is to have them back…"_

**X-X-X**

Kira's eyes slowly opened, his cheeks still red. "Seriously…sensei…what sort of crappy sign was _that_ supposed to be…?"

**X-X-X**

In the past…

"Heh-heh-heh…! HEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Jiraiya sat up immediately, holding onto his throbbing head. He looked beside him at Kazemaru, who was kneeling next to his futon with a wide grin on his face.

"Yo, Ero Sennin! This has been your official Kazemaru brand wake up call!" The orange-haired boy said with a wink. Jiraiya's response was to grab him by the face and push him back. "Oof!!"

"Damn it…! I drank so much last night with Tsunade…!" The perverted sage grumbled as he rubbed his head. "Say, where's Naruto?"

"He didn't come in last night," said Hanzo as he walked into the room. "Nataro said he knows where is, though. We haven't seen _him_ since last night, either."

"Oh…" Jiraiya looked out the open with. _'That brat… He's such an idiot…'_

**X-X-X**

On the second night since Naruto's bet with Tsunade, the whiskered blonde was lying in the middle of a rocky field with several dead trees, breathing heavy as sweat trailed down his face. "Shit…! Shit…! Tomorrow I'll get it for sure…!"

Nataro was sitting on a rock nearby, looking up at the moon in the sky. _'Let's see… If I can keep an eye on Granny Tsunade, when the time comes, I'll follow her to Orochimaru…'_

At that moment, Tsunade peered out from behind a rock at the tired Naruto. Orochimaru's words echoed through her mind. _"I'll wait one week for your answer…Tsunade."_ She stayed there for a while longer before she headed back to town.

**X-X-X**

Four days passed, and on the sixth night, Jiraiya walked through the streets in thought. _'Tsunade's been restless for the last couple of days… I wonder if something's up… And Naruto's hardly been at the inn since that night…'_ "I think that maybe I should talk to Tsunade one more time…"

**X-X-X**

Naruto collapsed and fell on his back, panting heavily. "Why…can't I…?" He panted as his vision began to blur. _'I don't…have much time… At this rate, I won't make it in time…'_ After a few more seconds, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A few seconds later, Shizune peaked out from behind the rock she was hiding behind. Her eyes widened at the sight of once tall trees, broken in two and covered with large craters. _'What…is this?!'_ "Naruto-kun?!"

**X-X-X**

Later, Tsunade and Jiraiya were sitting inside of a small shop on the roadside, drinking saké.

"What do you want _now_…?" The blonde woman muttered as she lifted up her cup.

"Nothing, really. I just wanna have a drink with you…"

"Hmph…" She discreetly reached into her coat and pulled out a small white packet, which Jiraiya didn't seem to notice.

"Tomorrow makes it a week since your bet with Naruto… I wonder what happened to him?" The Sennin downed some saké and closed his eyes to savor the taste, unable to see when Tsunade poured a powdery substance into the bottle he was drinking from. When he was done, he placed the cup down, took up the bottle, and poured the tainted saké into his cup. Tsunade watched with dull eyes as he took it up and prepared to drink…

**X-X-X**

Back at the hotel, Nataro was standing on top of the roof with a bored expression on his face. "Man… If I knew I was gonna wait for Granny Tsunade for _this_ long, I would've bought some entertainment with me…" He yawned and laid down on his back, out of sight from below. "Let's see: if Gramps was carried here a while ago and she knocks everyone else out tonight, she oughta be coming any minute now." As he said that, Tsunade walked through the doors of the hotel.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, Shizune, Hanzo and Kazemaru were crowding around the unconscious Naruto, who was lying on the bed.

"Look at him. He looks like he's been through hell," said the orange-haired boy.

"That's a bit of an overstatement, but he _has_ pushed himself too hard. He's burned out," said Hanzo. "He probably won't be able to train for a while…"

"Awww, man! Does that mean we're gonna have to deal with the _two_ of them acting depressed?"

The Uchiha looked at his teammate with an arched eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"C'mon, I'm not dense! Nataro's depressed about _something_. Maybe he thinks _something_ is gonna happen," the pyromanic genin insinuated with air quotes.

Shizune flinched. _'Do they know…about Orochimaru?'_

The door opened and Tsunade walked in with a tired expression on her face. "There you are, Shizune. What's going on?" She noticed Naruto lying and the bed and walked right over. She stared at him for a while, observing his injuries before speaking, "He's gone and tired himself out, has he? His hand's been burnt pretty badly from the chakra… He won't wake up until the day after tomorrow." She bowed her head slightly. "Jiraiya was right… It was stupid of me to make such a ridiculous bet… When did I become so compassionate?"

Her dark-haired assistant looked at the boys of Team 14. _'Whether or not they know, I have to try!'_ "Tsunade-sama… Please…don't go tomorrow!"

"Huh?" Kazemaru and Hanzo blinked while Tsunade remained silent.

"Please, say you won't go to Orochimaru!"

"_Orochimaru_?!" The orange-haired boy shouted.

'_Did Nataro know about __**this**__?'_ Hanzo thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Say something, Tsunade-sama!" When her master continued to remain silent, Shizune narrowed her eyes. "If you say that you're going…then I…"

"You'll _what_?" Tsunade spoke in a low tone.

"I'll stop you! Even if it costs me my life!"

The Sannin cast a glare at her assistant that made her and the boys standing behind her freeze in fear. "Just who do you think you're talking to…?" In the blink of an eye, it seemed as though Tsunade had appeared behind Shizune. The dark-haired woman doubled over and fell to her knees.

"Wh-whoa!! Wait a sec!!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he and Hanzo tensed up.

"What do you think you're doing, Tsunade-sa—ugh!" The raven-haired boy didn't get a chance to finish as Tsunade pressed a palm against both his and Kaze's chest, making them fall over, unconscious.

**X-X-X**

"Hey… Hey! Get up, would ya?"

Orange eyes slowly opened…and found themselves looking into blue eyes. "WHOA!!!" Kazemaru's reaction was punching Naruto in the face. They just stood like that for a few seconds before Kaze sweatdropped, realizing what he had done. "Whoops… Sorry 'bout that." When he lowered his fist, Naruto shot him a glare as he rubbed the bruise on his face. "But if you weren't staring at me like that…! Huh, wait a minute, you're up?! Tsunade-hime knocked us out for two days?!"

"It's Monday, Kaze," said Hanzo.

"Monday…?" The orange-haired genin stared at the blonde. "You don't look like you healed that fast."

"No duh!! You just decked me!!"

"Have you forgotten? He heals fast—like Nataro."

"Oh, right… I guess my head's still spinning from when that old hag knocked us out." Kazemaru got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Now, where'd she run off to? I don't care if she's a frickin' Sannin—that _hurt_!!"

"Huh? What're you guys talking about?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow. "You mean that cynical old hag? I've been trying to find her, too. That's why I was trying to find her," he pointed at Shizune, "to find out where she went."

The dark-haired woman narrowed her eyes. _'That's right… I have to get moving!'_ She made a move for the window, but Hanzo grabbed her hand. "Hanzo-kun?"

"You can't keep hiding things after what happened last night. Why don't you tell us what exactly it is that Tsunade-sama is doing?"

At that moment, someone fell down on the balcony outside. The four looked outside and saw Jiraiya lying facedown.

"Ero Sennin?!" Naruto shouted as Shizune opened the door and hurried to him.

The dark-haired medic knelt down beside him and helped the Sennin to sit up. "Are you alright, Jiraiya-sama?"

"No… Tsunade drugged me… I can barely control my chakra, my body stings… I couldn't even hold chopsticks, let alone a kunai…" Jiraiya forced out.

"Damn, Ero Sennin! You let her guard down long enough for her to slip you a Mickey? Talk about lame…" Kazemaru said with half-lidded eyes.

"Damn right it's lame!! He goes on about being such an awesome ninja and he gets knocked out by that old hag's fake sexiness?! You're pathetic!!" Naruto screamed as he pointed a finger at Jiraiya.

"Shut up! Even if it's been a while, she's still a talented medical specialist. She's the only one who could make an odorless, tasteless drug like that to use against other ninja…"

"Just admit it: you got drunk and now you're suffering from a hangover like you've been for the last six days," said Kaze in a flat tone.

Unnoticed by the group, a figure lurked in the shadows between a pair of buildings, watching them. Kabuto leaned back to make sure he wasn't seen. _'Jiraiya-sama is here… Things have gotten much more complicated… I need to report this to Orochimaru-sama…'_ His eyes fell on Naruto. _'But for Naruto-kun to be here as well…'_

Jiraiya looked at Shizune from the corner of his eye. "Shizune… It's about time you tell us…what exactly Tsunade and Orochimaru talked about."

Naruto flinched at the name. "Orochimaru?"

The dark-haired woman bowed her head, bangs hiding her eyes in shame. "I…wanted to believe that Tsunade-sama wouldn't go along with it…but now…" She got to her feet. "Come on! There's not much time! I'll explain to you on the way!"

**X-X-X**

Tsunade was walking down the street where she met Orochimaru a week ago. Her head was bowed slightly, bangs hiding her eyes. She stopped walking when she was a few feet away from Orochimaru.

"It's been a week… What is your answer?"

**X-X-X**

"NO!!! She's gotta say _'no,'_ right?!" Naruto exclaimed as he, Jiraiya, Shizune, Hanzo and Kazemaru jumped through the trees.

"She knocked us out last night! Does _that_ sound like a woman who'd say _'no'_ to you?!" Kaze shouted.

'_This does __**not**__ look good,'_ Jiraiya thought as he continued to look ahead. An image of Dan and Nawaki appeared in his mind. _'Even now, Tsunade is unable to let them go... It looks as though…I may actually have to kill her…!'_

**X-X-X**

Tsunade was silent for a while before speaking up. "I will heal your arms…but in exchange, you must keep your hands off of Konoha," she spoke softly.

"Hmhmhm…!" Orochimaru smirked. "Alright…"

As the two Sannin began to walk towards each other, the blonde began to think of the time she spent with her brother and lover. Their faces appeared in her mind, smiling at her…and as the wind blew the leaves in the air, she felt a tear slide down her cheek. When they had finally reached other, Orochimaru raised his bandaged arm shakily.

"Now…"

Kabuto landed on top of a nearby wall. He looked down at the two Sannin and bit the inside of his cheek, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"_Kabuto… If you wish to stop me, you'll have to kill Sasuke first…"_ Orochimaru's words rang through his mind. _"You cannot kill me… You're only as strong as Kakashi…"_

Orochimaru held his hands out to Tsunade, whose hands were beginning to glow bright blue with chakra. She was about to touch the injured hands when a kunai went flying and landed in between them. The blonde Sannin jumped back and looked up at the source while Orochimaru kept staring at her. Kabuto landed behind the dark-haired Sannin with a dark look in his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" The pale-skinned man hissed. "To have come so far and betray me…Tsunade?! To try and kill _me_…If Kabuto hadn't been able to see through your attack…"

The purple-clad ninja pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yes, well… We're both medical ninja, so I could tell that her chakra was not the healing sort."

"Really, Tsunade… I was going to revive those two for you…and even promised not to destroy the Leaf…"

The blonde woman bowed her head and smirked. "Heh… Orochimaru… I knew that your promise about not harming the Leaf was a lie, and yet… To be with the two of them…to see them…to touch them…to hear their voices just one last time… To see their smiling faces… But even so…" Tears began to stream down her cheek, landing on her breasts. "For me to become so blind…just because I wanted to see their faces! But now…I can't…" An image of Naruto appeared in her mind. "Because of that brat, I now remember their dreams that I had tried to forget…"

"_To become Hokage is my dream!"_ She thought she could hear her loved ones say along with Naruto.

"The dream they risked their lives for… I wished for their dreams to come true as well… You told me that all things eventually decay…" She raised her head to show a smiling, yet crying face. "But this feeling…will not decay…"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "So then…the deal is off… It looks as if I have no other choice but to force you…"

Tsunade wiped the tears out of her eyes before looking at Orochimaru with eyes full of determination. In the blink of an eye, she was up in the air with one leg raised, about fall in front of her old teammate. The dark-haired man and his assistant jumped up onto a wall before her foot hit the ground, cracking the earth apart and creating a huge crater. _'Tsutenkyaku (Painful Sky leg)!!'_ Amidst the dust and falling rubble, she stood up straight and glared up at Orochimaru. "Come, Orochimaru!!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Tsutenkyaku no Jutsu means "Painful Sky Leg".**

**Cho-Han is a Japanese gambling game where the player must choose an even or odd number. It's common with the yakuza.**

**X-X-X**

**Kakashi, Kazemaru, & Haseo: (Reading books titled "Icha-Icha Bloodlust") Hee-hee!**

**Blu: (O.o) Gahh!!**

**Jiraiya: Gyahahaha!! See? Never underestimate the power of the Toad Sage!**

**Naruto: (—.—) More like the power of _porn_…**

**Blu: I have lost all fate in the male gender of humanity…at least in the Naruto universe… Lucky for me, I've already exacted my revenge.**

**Jiraiya: What? What revenge?**

**Blu: During the story, I got Kira to steal your "research notes" and burn 'em in an oil fire. Those babies are long gone.**

**Jiraiya: What?! Why you little brat!! I'll kill you!!**

**Blu: EEEEEKKK!!!**

**(The screen goes black before being replaced with bar tones and a picture of a chibi Naruto (Part 1) holding up a sign that says "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, PLEASE STAND BY" before the screen went black again.)**


	51. ThreeWay! Sannin Battle Royale!

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own Naruto, you sillies! If she said that, Kishimoto's lawyers would be on her like blue on Kisame! No, she only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#51: Three-Way! Sannin Battle Royale!_

Orochimaru and Kabuto stood on top of the stone wall, staring down at Tsunade, who was standing in the middle of a crater of her own creation.

"Hmhm… Now that I think about it… I've never fought against you before…" The pale-skinned Sannin spoke.

"That's true!" Tsunade took off, leaving her jacket behind her fluttering in the wind.

"How can you say that knowing it's _me_ who has to fight her?" Kabuto asked as she came charging towards them.

Tsunade balled up a fist, screaming, "I'm going to take care of you bastards right now!!" She punched the wall the two Sound ninja were standing on top of and it immediately fell apart from the force of her strength. Orochimaru and Kabuto dodged in time and landed behind the rubble that used to be the wall.

"One hit from her could end your life," the Snake Sannin reminded his assistant.

"I can see that… This place is a bit too crowded to fight _her_ in…"

"Planning to move the fight elsewhere?"

"That would be wise, seeing as how there was someone with Tsunade's servant who worries me… We don't know when he might come and help her out."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Who is it?"

"The other Legendary Sannin…"

The dark-haired Sannin forced a smirk. _'Jiraiya…!'_

"You're not getting away!!" Tsunade screamed as she charged towards the two once again. They turned around and began to run away, leaping across walls and rooftops with the determined woman on their trail.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Tsunade's followers arrived to find a trail of rubble and ruined walls.

"Wh-what the heck happened here?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock as he and the other boys stared at the wreckage.

"Looks like Tsunade went and lost it…" Jiraiya said with a smirk.

"So that means…Tsunade-sama declined?!" Shizune thought aloud as her master's pet pig walked over to the discarded green jacket and started sniffing it. "Alright, Tonton! Which way did she go?"

"Wait a second: we're gonna trust a _pig_ to act as a tracker?" Kazemaru asked in a skeptical tone with half-lidded eyes.

"Actually, pigs have an excellent sense of smell," Hanzo explained.

"Once again, more useless information courtesy of our friendly neighborhood Fan Boy…"

**X-X-X**

In the middle of an empty field, Orochimaru and Kabuto stood a few feet away from Tsunade, who was standing in yet another crater of her own creation. The blonde Sannin was breathing heavy and sweating.

"Tsunade seems to be out of breath. Now would be a good time to use _'it'…_" Said Orochimaru.

Kabuto nodded and reached into his back pouch. He pulled out a small black pill, which he placed on his tongue and began to chew.

Tsunade noticed this and blinked. _'A hyorougan (Soldier Pill)?'_ Once Kabuto was done chewing, he formed hand signs at a fast pace before chakra crackled to life around his hands. _'I see… This child also knows medical ninjutsu.'_

The gray-haired medic-nin disappeared in a puff of smoke. The ground beneath Tsunade's feet began to crack before a gloved hand shot up from below. The blonde Sannin jumped up to avoid being grabbed by the chakra-surrounded hand and punched down, just barely missing Kabuto as he leapt out from the ground. Channeling chakra into her foot, she spun around and kicked the rock that Kabuto was hiding behind. It shattered into pieces that rained down like hail, but the gray-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

In the blink of an eye, Kabuto appeared behind Tsunade while she was in midair. He touched her arm and leg with both hands before being pushed back by her strength. The female medic suddenly fell to her knees, much to her surprise.

"I've cut your biceps and abdomen muscles, so you won't be able to use that monstrous strength of yours…"

"Chakra Scalpel… If you're using that, you should've aimed for my arteries."

"Yes, well…" Kabuto held up the chakra-infused hand as he smirked. "I could have severed your muscles and blood vessels, but during a fight, I can't maintain it long enough to cut you all the way to your arteries and heart muscles…" He speedily dashed towards Tsunade. "But so long as I aim for your neck, there shouldn't be a problem…!" When he was close enough, he struck Tsunade in the chest. The Sannin suddenly fell to her knees, coughing and clutching her chest.

'_This boy… He's no ordinary medical ninja…!'_ Tsunade thought as she struggled to breathe. _'His senses and strength may exceed even my own in my prime!'_

Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It'd be troublesome if you were to die now, so I won't aim for your neck. But you won't be able to move around—" He flinched as he noticed Tsunade had appeared behind him. He reacted too late and was struck hard enough to be sent skidding across the ground. _'I keep forgetting… She's no ordinary woman… Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to move at all… I guess I'll have to be a little more serious…'_ He made to pull something out of his thigh holster when his leg moved instead of his hand. _'What?! I'm trying to move my hand…but my leg is moving?'_ He looked at the blonde medic from out of the corner of his eye. _'Is this…?'_ He didn't have time to finish his thought as Tsunade struck him in the face and sent him to the ground. _'There's a problem…with my nervous system…!'_

"It seems you've realized… Yes, the problem _is_ with your nerves," Tsunade panted. "I changed my chakra into electricity and sent it through your body and into your nervous system!'

Orochimaru smirked. _'Kukuku… I see… The communication between the brain and body is carried out through electricity. Tsunade disrupted the flow of electricity in his body, distorting the signals in his body.' _

'_Despite not being in battle for years, she still has this power… She's truly one of the legendary Sannin,'_ Kabuto thought as he tried to figure out how to control his body.

The blonde woman formed a few hand signs before her hand began to glow with bright green chakra. She pressed her hand on her chest, healing the injury Kabuto had given her.

'_If I move my hand…my leg moves… If I move my left foot…my right shoulder moves…'_ The younger medic continued to experiment with the new controls of his body. "Don't think…that with that kind of technique…" He suddenly pulled a kunai out from his back pouch. "You'll be able to defeat me!!"

Tsunade's eyes widened as he dashed towards her. _'What?! He's already figured out how to move his body?! This boy is no ordinary ninja…'_

"You're afraid of blood, right? I'll show you some right now! I'll spill enough of your blood until you're on the brink of death!!" Kabuto shouted as he thrust the kunai forward with the intent of stabbing Tsunade in the chest. But in an explosion of smoke occurred between them and he stabbed the person inside.

"Aagh!!" When the smoke cleared, Nataro was revealed to be standing in front of Tsunade with his arm shielding his face. Kabuto's kunai seemed to have stabbed into it, causing blood to drip down. "Man, can I make an entrance or what?" The future genin said with a smirk.

"Naruto…?" Tsunade breathed out with wide eyes.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Granny, but the name's Nataro! I'd have shown up sooner, but with the way you were smashing things here and there, I could've been _killed_ if I revealed myself too soon!"

"Idiot!! What do you think you're doing?! You have no idea who these people are!!" The blonde medic exclaimed.

"Sure I do… This jerk is Kabuto…and the bastard behind him…" Nataro narrowed his eyes as they fell on Orochimaru. "Is Orochimaru… I've got a score to settle with _that_ bastard…for all the pain he's put me and my friends through!"

"Hmph… I have no idea who you are, kid, but you've shown up at the wrong place, at the wrong time," said Kabuto as he held up his free hand. It suddenly began to glow with chakra.

"You're wrong about that. I'm right where I wanna be!!" At that moment, three orange blurs shot out from the ground around Kabuto—three Nataro bunshin there were all wielding kunai.

Without so much as a blink, the gray-haired medic spun on his heel to lazily slice through two of the bunshin with ease.

"Wait a minute!! Just _three_?! What happened to the rest of you?!" Nataro shouted as he pointed a finger at the remaining bunshin.

"Granny Tsunade, that's what!!" The clone replied just as loud before Kabuto pulled his kunai out from Nataro's arm and threw it at the bunshin's chest, making it disappear in a puff of smoke.

Without turning around, the medic kneed the blonde boy in the stomach before wheeling around. Kabuto's hand movements were a blur, but before Nataro knew what was going on, his muscles felt slack and he fell to his knees. A second after that, Kabuto's foot smashed into his face and sent him falling back into Tsunade's arms. _'Crap!'_

"**In case you've forgotten, it was **_**him**_** who made me experience death for the first time…and I loathe him for it…!"** The Kyuubi growled in the back of his mind. **"Let me take control and ravage him! I'll even kill Orochimaru as a favor."**

'_No dice!! I'm gonna protect Sasuke on my own!'_

"**On your own…? It seems you've forgotten about something…or rather, a pair of someones…"**

"Nataro! Are you okay?! Can you move?!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"Ugh…! Nngh…! No…"

'_His muscles have been severed…! If I don't repair them soon, he might…!'_

"Don't think you'll get the chance to save him…Tsunade-sama," Kabuto spoke with a smirk.

'_Crap…! Even now…!'_ Nataro thought as he strained to move. _'Why…? Why can't I change things…? Am I…that weak…?'_

"**Finally seen the light? Maybe now you'll see things **_**my way**_**…"**

Suddenly, in a poof of smoke, five figures appeared before the Sannin and genin—six if you counted the pig.

Tsunade stared up in shock at the group of Jiraiya, Naruto, Shizune, Hanzo and Kazemaru. Nataro was still in despair over his failure.

"Long time no see, Jiraiya…" Orochimaru hissed.

"Orochimaru… You haven't changed at all," said Jiraiya as he stared at his former teammate. "You still have those snake-like eyes of yours.'

"Nataro!! You're alive!!" Hanzo exclaimed in shock.

"He won't be when _I'm_ through with him!!" Kaze screamed as he cracked his knuckles. "Idiot!! Why'd you go running off without us?! I know you know this was going to happen, so don't say it was by chance or some shit like that!! Well?! Answer me?!"

The Uchiha stared at his blonde friend for a while before speaking up. "Nataro… Are you okay?"

"Great. I just had my muscles severed and I can't move. I'm _great_…"

"Serves you right!!"

Naruto's jaw dropped at the sight of Kabuto. "K-kabuto-san?! What're you…?"

"So you know this guy, huh…?" Jiraiya asked as he looked at the boy from the corner of his eye.

Tsunade clenched her teeth and was immediately on her feet. She stepped over Nataro and shoved Jiraiya aside, dashing towards the younger medic as he reached into his back pouch. When she was close enough, Kabuto drew the kunai and…cut himself in the arm. The spurted out onto Tsunade, drizzling her with red. She suddenly froze in place and began to shake, eyes wide in fear. _'Blood…!'_

'_At last, my body's starting to move on its own again…'_ Kabuto thought with a smirk. He balled up a fist and punched the blonde Sannin hard enough to send her flying back into the arms of her assistant.

"Tsunade-sama!!" Shizune shrieked as a confused look appeared on Naruto's face.

"Hey, hey!! What the heck's going on?! How come Kabuto's fighting Granny Tsunade?!"

"You still haven't figured it out, Naruto-kun? You're so thick," said Kabuto. "No wonder you can't compare to Sasuke-kun."

"What?"

"Look at his hitai-ate, Naruto! That is the symbol of Otogakure—in other words, he's Orochimaru's subordinate."

"That's right. I'm a spy from the Sound," the gray-haired young man confirmed, making Naruto's eyes widen.

"It can't be… You're joking, right, Kabuto-san…?"

"Hmph!" Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I've concluded something about you from your data, Naruto-kun… Unlike Sasuke-kun…you have absolutely no talent as a shinobi."

Tsunade suddenly fell down, Shizune kneeling down beside her and holding her. The dark-haired woman slipped her coat around her shoulders. _'This is the first time I've seen Tsunade-sama like this…'_ She began to wipe the blood off of her face, but that seem to get a reaction from her master. She still had the empty look in her eyes. "Please don't over do it… I am your assistant."

Meanwhile, Naruto continued to glare at Kabuto. By this time, he had gotten Kazemaru and Hanzo's attention as well. All those looks did nothing to faze the medic, though, as he just continued speaking, "You are nothing more than an out-of-place genin. All you've been doing is relying on that monster inside of you. Compared to the Legendary Sannin, you are worthless. A bug, really. And if you try something…" He narrowed his eyes. "I'll kill you."

"Shut your trap, Four Eyes!! In case you can't tell, you're outnumbered!!" Kazemaru shouted seconds before Naruto started to run towards the Sound spy. "The hell?! He's just as bad as Nataro!!"

"Naruto!! Stop!!" Jiraiya shouted as he tried to move forward, but found himself doing it sluggishly. _'Damn it! That drug still hasn't worn off…'_

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" The orange-clad blonde shouted as he formed a familiar hand sign. In three puffs of smoke, three kage bunshin appeared in front of him. _'He can't use his right hand! I can't waste all my chakra on making too many clones, so I'll just have four clones attack at once…and take him out from the right!!'_ When one Naruto came about on his right hand side, the purple-clad medic swung his injured hand and sent blood flying into his eyes, blinding him. Kabuto then easily jumped over two of the blondes that tried to tackle him and landed on their backs, blocking the kunai of the one on his left-hand side with his own. The gray-haired young man then grabbed the real Naruto by the collar of his jacket and threw him through the remaining clone, sending him flying back, only to be caught in Shizune's arms.

The dark-haired medic began to spit out several senbon from her mouth. Kabuto's eyes widened for a moment before he decided to take a risk and bowed his head, allowing the senbon to hit the metal plate of his hitai-ate. _'He stopped it with his headband…'_

Orochimaru smirked as Kabuto jumped back and landed beside him. He pulled out another pill, different in color from the Hyourougan. He chewed it and the blood streaming down his hand seemed to lessen. "Please take off your bandage, Orochimaru-sama."

As Orochimaru unraveled the bandage on his left arm, Jiraiya spoke up. "Shizune, you take care of the guy in the glasses. _I'll_ take Orochimaru. But before that, I need Tsunade to do something about my body."

"Unfortunately, the effect of the drug will last for at least a few more hours. Even I can't do anything about it," said the dark-haired woman.

"Hmph! Well, I guess we'll have to do it like this, then… Tsunade, spend this time on healing yourself."

"And what about us?" Kazemaru asked as he jabbed a thumb towards him and pointed at Hanzo.

"And me!" Naruto added.

"You three are gonna protect Tsunade and Nataro."

"What?! That's not fair!! After what happened to Nataro, at _least_ let us help take out that four-eyed creep!" The orange-haired genin whined.

"These guys are on entirely different level. Orochimaru is one of the Sannin, like me, and he managed to kill the Sandaime Hokage. Only I can take him! And the guy in the glasses is on a jonin level—he's about as strong as Kakashi."

"Copy Ninja Kakashi…?" Hanzo mumbled with wide eyes. _'Nataro tried to take on someone like __**that**__…?'_

Jiraiya noticed Naruto about to form a hand sign. "Don't even try to use Kage Bunshin. Against those two, it'd only be a waste of chakra."

"Crap…"

"Damn it…!" Nataro cursed as he slowly sat up, much to his teammates' surprise. "It's not fair! I've got business…with Orochimaru too…! You can't just tell me to sit here and watch him get away!!"

"Who said anything about letting him getting away?" The Sennin raised a hand up to his face. "Rest, kid. You've done all you could." He bit on his thumb just as Kabuto wiped some blood off of his arm. As the white-haired man rubbed his blood off on the palm of his hand, the medic wiped blood off on the snake-like tattoo that was coiling around Orochimaru's exposed arm.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!" They both shouted at the same time and slammed their hands down on the ground. In a poof of smoke, a large, brown three-headed snake appeared on the Oto ninja's side of the field, while on Konoha's…was a little red and black toad wearing a blue vest—better known as Gamakichi.

"Wassup?" The small toad asked Jiraiya.

"Wha…?" Jiraiya sputtered, his eyes wide and blank.

"Wha…?" Naruto continued, imitating Jiraiya's look.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?" Kazemaru completed with large eyes and a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Is this a joke, Ero Sennin?! 'Cuz I ain't laughing!!"

Hanzo sweatdropped. "Isn't that…the same toad Naruto summoned back in Konoha?"

"You're right!! It's useless!! WHAT THE HELL?!?"

'_So much for not letting him get away…'_ Nataro thought with a frown.

"Jiraiya-sama did say his chakra control was affected by the drug…and the greater the amount of chakra is put into a summoning, the stronger the summoned beast…" Hanzo explained in a flat tone.

"So what you're trying to say is…_we're screwed_!!"

"Kukuku! You're as stupid as always, Jiraiya," said Orochimaru as his slitted pupils became thinner. "You usually have no talent, but this isn't like you… I suppose Tsunade had a part in that. Kukuku…!"

"Perhaps since a sacrifice was necessary for the revival, she was thinking ahead? That medicine she gave you seems to have repressed your strength…probably for the sake of sacrificing you," said Kabuto.

"I repeat: we are _boned_!!" Kazemaru shouted.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. _'Even though he's a perv, it pisses me off to see him insulted…!'_ He bit his thumb, rubbed some blood on each of his fingers and began to form the same hand signs that Jiraiya had. When he slammed his hand down on the ground, in a poof of smoke, a toad appeared…a small one. A small, chubby yellow-green toad wearing the same vest as Gamakichi.

"Kukuku… For a moment, I was worried that the Kyuubi brat had gained control of the demon's chakra." Orochimaru smirked. "But I see he still has no control over it."

"As I said, he has no talent to be a shinobi."

"Hiya," the little yellow toad spoke sluggishly.

"WHAT THE HELL?!? How is _that_ supposed to help the situation?!" Kazemaru shouted as he punched Naruto in the back, baring his teeth in anger.

"Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are!!"

'_He still hasn't improved…'_ Jiraiya thought with a pout.

Gamakichi stared at the yellow toad. "Why'd you come out, Gamatatsu?"

"Huh? Gamakichi! Hey, bro!" Gamatatsu waved at his brother. "This is the first time I've been summoned… I'll do my best!"

"You moron! Go get yourself some snacks and hide!"

"You mean we get snacks? Yay!!"

Hanzo sweatdropped. _'I know everything's going to turn out okay… But even so, I can't help but worry…'_

"I will take care of Jiraiya. You take care of the others," Orochimaru told Kabuto before the three-headed snake lunged its heads towards the Konoha ninja.

"That's a shame. I wanted to fight Jiraiya-sama of the Legendary Sannin…"

"Must I say it a _third_ time...?" Kaze said as one of the snake's heads came towards Team 14.

"We're _screwed_," Nataro and Hanzo finished for him before the snake opened its jaws and prepared to devour them.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the future

"How in the hell did _this_ happen?!" Hikari growled as she stood over Nataro's body. "First he has spasms and now he's all quiet? And now all of their heart rates have increased to _this_ speed?" _'Just what are they doing?'_

**X-X-X**

Nataro, Kazemaru and Hanzo they jumped out of the way of the snake's head, as did Shizune, carrying Tsunade, and Naruto. Jiraiya quickly began to form hand signs and stomped the ground. In an instant, a large black pond of black liquid appeared beneath the snake, making it sink halfway down.

'_What a small swamp… The drugs still haven't worn off…'_ He jumped onto the snake's head and faced Orochimaru, who gave him a smirk. _'But at least the snake is stuck…'_

On the ground below, Shizune had just unleashed a flurry of needles at Kabuto from her launching mechanism. The gray-haired shinobi easily stepped out of the way to dodge the attack and dashed towards her, chakra buzzing to life around his hand before thrusting it into her stomach. The dark-haired woman didn't stop her attack, though, as she suddenly blew out a thick purple mist. _'Ninpo: Doku Kiri (Ninja Art: Poison Fog)!!'_

Kabuto's eyes widened at the sight of the mist, immediately recognizing it. _'One breath of that and I'll be done for!'_ The poisonous mist overtook him before he had seemingly a chance to react. Shizune sighed and lowered her guard for a moment, waiting for the mist to fade away and reveal her opponent's corpse when a pair of gloved hands shot out from the earth and grabbed her by the ankles. The hands glowed with chakra and made a stinging sensation go through her legs.

"Gahh!!" Shizune fell to her knees as Kabuto rose up from behind her. _'My leg tendons!'_

Meanwhile, the genin were having problems of their own.

"HEEEEEEELP!!!" Hanzo screamed as he stood in the mouth of one of the three-headed snake's heads. Unfortunately, being stuck in the mud didn't make it unable to move its heads about a limit distance—and for the young Uchiha, he was at the wrong place at the right time.

"Awww, geez!! Can't you get out of there by yourself?!" Kazemaru shouted.

"Can't!! Afraid!!" The raven-haired boy screamed with a tinge of blue on his cheeks.

"For the love of…! Alright, hold on!" The orange-haired boy channeled some chakra into his legs and jumped towards the snake's head, right next to its eye. "Hmph!" His Houka no Seirei activated in a burst of flames and then he punched the serpent in the eye. "Spit him out!!"

The giant snake flinched in pain and pulled his head back, swallowing Hanzo in the process.

"HANZOOOOOO!!!" Nataro screamed with wide eyes. "Kazemaru, you _dunce_!! You just made it swallow Hanzo!!"

"I didn't _mean_ to—GUH!!!" Kaze hadn't noticed the snake's tail coming towards him until it struck him and sent him crashing towards the two blondes. As he slowly got up, he held onto his arm. "Shit…! My arm…! I think I broke it…!"

"Forget your arm!! We've gotta save Hanzo!!"

At that moment, smoke began to come out from the snake's nostrils. In a matter of seconds, it opened its mouth and breathed out a cloud of smoke. Hanzo landed in front of the other boys, covered in saliva with a disgusted look on his face. "I…I…"

"Hanzo? Are you okay?" Nataro asked as he waved a hand in front of his face.

"I…I was almost swallowed by a snake!! A _REAL_ SNAKE!!! I am NOT OKAY!!!" The Uchiha screamed as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "If it wasn't for the smoke bomb…!"

"What the heck's wrong with _him_?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Fear of snakes. If we don't get rid of it soon, who knows what Hanzo will do?" Nataro pointed at the flailing reptile and arched an eyebrow. "Do you think you could get eaten by that snake and use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to make it explode?"

"Are you nuts?! I don't wanna get eaten _again_! _You_ do it!!"

"Nuh-uh! That's gross!!"

"Uh, guys? SHUT UP AND MOVE!!!" Kazemaru shouted as he pointed up at the incoming tail about to crash down upon them.

The four genin immediately moved out of the way, but Naruto was unfortunate enough to have one of his legs pinned underneath the mammoth serpent's tail. The weight was so great, he swore he could feel his leg breaking. _'My leg…!'_

Meanwhile, on the body of the sunken snake, Jiraiya and Orochimaru were just in the beginning of combat. The white-haired Sennin was forming hand signs as quickly as his body would allow while Orochimaru dashed towards him. The latter's head suddenly stretched out, opening his mouth and greatly resembling a snake. But Jiraiya's hair began to grow and wrap around him, becoming stiff and spiky. _'Ninpo: Hari Jizo (Needle Jizo)!!'_ Orochimaru's foot hit the shield of hair and managed to move it aside, allowing him to bite the taller Sannin in the neck. _'Damn! The jutsu isn't working well…'_

"Although we're both handicapped, there is still a gap between you and I…" Orochimaru thought as he released Jiraiya's neck for a moment. "Give up."

With Shizune, Kabuto had taken advantage of her immobilization and punch her in the face, hard enough to make her fall and cause a small droplet of her blood to land on the face of Tsunade, who was right in front of them. And the shocked blonde finally took notice of what was going on. Shizune was injured. So were the kids. Tears began to brim up in her eyes as she began to remember the bodies of Nawaki and Dan.

Kabuto approached her and reached a hand out to her. The blonde woman swatted it aside. The gray-haired medic frowned and began to stomp on her savagely.

Naruto, who had happened to witness the event, tried to get up to move towards them, but couldn't. _'"Ugh… My body is so heavy…!'_

"Hmhmhm! For one of the most powerful shinobi to have out of Konoha, you've lowered your standards when you decided to watch over a brat like him…" Orochimaru thought as he looked down at the struggling blonde while Kabuto continued to pound away at Tsunade. Jiraiya was a few feet away, hunched over with blood trailing down his mouth. "I am excellent at seeing the talent in others…and I can see that child is nothing special…"

Jiraiya started to smirk. "Heh… That's why I'm teaching him… I don't wanna teach a prodigy like that Uchiha kid… There's no fun in teaching someone who was born perfect."

"Kukuku…! Is it because you see yourself in him that you can't let him go? That child could never rival the Uchiha clan's heir, blessed with the ultimate shinobi kekkei genkai that is the Sharingan. Naruto-kun is simply not gifted with that much talent. For you see…a ninja's ability comes from whether or not they are able to master all the jutsu in the world. Only those capable of using ninjutsu are capable of being ninja."

The taller Sannin smirked. "After all these years, your eyes are still clouded. A shinobi is one that can endure. The true quality of a shinobi is not in the number of jutsu he knows or amount of talent he posses…but the determination to never give up!"

On the ground below, as Kabuto prepared to punched Tsunade in the face once again, his fist came in contact with something else. The steel of a Leaf hitai-ate… Naruto stood in between the two medics, gritting his teeth and glaring at the Oto spy.

"Whoa! When'd he get up?" Kazemaru asked with wide eyes as he held onto his injured arm while his teammates stared at the whiskered blonde from a distance.

"I'm gonna put an end to this!!" Naruto shouted as he began to form a ball of chakra in the palm of his hand, moving his free hand around it to form a shell. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"He will _never_ give up…" Jiraiya panted. "That kid will definitely do it…"

The future Rokudaime thrust his hand forward, intent of pushing the Rasengan into Kabuto's torso when…the purple-clad medic ducked and easily dodged the attack. _'Huh?'_

'_He missed!'_ The genin of Team 14 thought with wide eyes as Kabuto's hand buzzed to life with chakra. The blonde genin fell over and landed facedown on the ground, the Rasengan creating a small crater in the ground.

'_What was that new jutsu…? Not that it matters. He wouldn't have been able to hit me like __**that**__ so easily.'_ Kabuto thought with a look of interest in his eyes.

"Ugh…!" _'I couldn't move fast enough to hit him…!'_

"When that snake attacked you, it put a crack in your femur bone," Kabuto explained as he turned to face the boy. "Even though you're still moving, you can't stand… You can't win this…"

The genin flinched in pain. _'What can I do? I have to use __**both**__ hands for that attack… I don't think I can complete it with just one…!'_

The gray-haired medic smirked. "Heh… Are you afraid of me yet? Do you feel like running away?" He pulled out an orange card with a black border. "Naruto-kun…isn't this a picture of you from the Chunin Exam?" He flipped it around to show the photo the whiskered blonde before narrowing his eyes.

"If you can still move…you should run. You're nothing special, Naruto-kun. You only became a genin by luck. With you spirit, it would be fitting if you became the Hokage…but for that, you can't be so cowardly. Now…do you honestly think you would stand a chance at becoming Hokage?" At that moment, a rock hit Kabuto in the back of his head, drawing blood. "What?!" He whirled around to glare at the culprit.

"You talk too much, _Four Eyes_…!" Kazemaru said with a smirk as he tossed a rock up and down in his useable hand while the injured one hung by his side limply.

"Even though you say he has no talent, no one can make it in this world through talent alone," Hanzo as he glared at the bespectacled ninja. "So what if his skills aren't exactly prodigal? It's because of his determination that he's made it so far and become so strong!"

"So shut your mouth and stop being such a know-it-all bastard!" Nataro growled, holding up a clenched fist and baring his teeth. "We're gonna show…not to talk down on my dream!!" That last sentence made his teammates stare at him in confusion.

"'_My Dream?' _You dream of becoming Hokage, too," Kabuto spoke with a cocky smirk. "I guess it's up to me to show you…just how foolish that dream is…"

"Bring it on, ya nerd!!" The pyromanic genin shouted as he threw the rock in his hand at Kabuto while Hanzo formed hand signs. The gray-haired medic easily sidestepped the rock and dashed towards Team 14.

'_Katon!'_ Hanzo took a deep breath and blew out a large stream of fire at the Oto ninja. _'Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ It seemed to overtake the older ninja. "Move!!" On his command, he and his friends jumped up in time to avoid a pair of chakra-powered hands that had reached up from the ground.

"You're not gonna get us _this_ time!!" Kaze shouted as he began to descend, balling up a fist as his Kekkei Genkai activated. "Now take _this_!!" When Kabuto emerged from the ground, he punched forward, only to have his hand stopped by the taller ninja's. His Chakra Scalpel came to life once more, getting a cry of pain from the pyromanic genin before throwing him aside.

"Tch!" The medic-nin looked down at his scorched hand. He lazily jumped to the side in time to avoid being kicked in the head by a Nataro clone. He turned on his heel and swiped the bunshin in the back before it could turn around, then ducked in time to avoid a punch to the head from another clone, which he easily dispelled by puncturing it in the throat. A third bunshin fell down from the sky wielding several kunai in each hand. Kabuto got it in one clean swipe before it could throw the projectiles and it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind the kunai. When they fell to the ground, his eyes widened as he noticed the pieces of paper wrapped around their handles.

The bomb notes wrapped around the kunai were set off, catching Kabuto in their combined explosion! The gray-haired medic jumped out of the smoke and flames, looking a bit scorched, but otherwise unharmed.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YET!!!" The future blonde shouted from above, prompting the purple-clad ninja to look up. Half a hundred Kage Bunshin were beginning to fall towards him with mixed expressions of confident smirks and angry glares among them. The Oto nin simply smirked as both hands sparked to life with chakra. As soon as the first clone landed, he began to move his hands fluidly, cutting through all the bunshin with ease. When he was done, Kabuto smirked and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Is that _all_ you can do?" He then felt arms wrap around him and try to restrain him.

"Not exactly," said Nataro as he tightened his grip on Kabuto, smirking. Hanzo was running at them with a kunai in hand. "It's over!" The medic-nin smirked and somehow managed to turn around, making Nataro's back face Hanzo just before the kunai was plunged deeply into it. "Aaah!!" Hanzo suddenly froze, eyes widening in fear. Kabuto took advantage of this. He elbowed the blonde in the hard enough for him to go falling back into his teammate, then spun on his heel and kicked them hard enough to send them flying away a few feet.

"Nngh…!" Hanzo sat up, pushing up Nataro's weight, and pulled the kunai out of his back. "Nataro! Are you okay?!"

"Relax, it wasn't _that_ deep…!" The blonde boy cringed as he tried to reach behind his back and touch the wound.

"You wear the Konoha headband, but I think I would've noticed you kids during my time in Konoha," said Kabuto as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Just who are you, anyway? Oh, well. It doesn't matter." The lenses of his glasses began to shine in an eerie manner. "You'll be dead before you can ever accomplish your dream…unless…you wanna run away like the kid you are."

The future blonde clenched his teeth and growled, glaring at the gray-haired young man. "Grrr…!"

"What's with that look? That's the sort of thing that'll get you killed. There's really no point in dying for a dream."

"SHUT UP!!!" Kabuto whirled around to look at Naruto, who was already standing on his feet. "What's the point in having a dream…if it's not one you'd risk your life for?!"

Tsunade's eyes widened and thoughts of Dan and Nawaki filled her head once more. She grabbed the crystal of her necklace upon impulse.

"You're still here? Aren't you smart enough to run away?"

"I won't give up my dream! I won't go back on my word…because that is _my_ nindo—my ninja way!" The whiskered blonde panted.

Tsunade stared at him in amazement. At least until Kabuto appeared in front of him and swatted him aside with ease, so he would land right in front of her. Even so, Naruto stood up once more. "Why…? Why are you doing this…?"

"Remember our bet, Granny Tsunade? You're gonna have to give me that cursed necklace of yours…" The future Rokudaime formed a hand sign and summoned a Kage Bunshin of himself. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

Naruto!! Stop it!!"

"Just for that insolence, I'll give you _death_!!" Kabuto shouted as he drew a kunai and dashed towards the blonde boy.

"Stop it, Naruto!!" Tsunade continued to protest. "If you die, you'll never accomplish your dreams!!"

"Why…isn't he moving…?" Hanzo asked with wide eyes.

"Relax…" Nataro muttered as Tsunade continued to yell. "He'll make it."

Naruto raised his hand and blocked Kabuto's blade with his hand, the kunai going right through to the back of his hand. Blood spurted out and streamed down his arm, splattered onto his face much to the surprise of Kabuto and Tsunade. "I…refuse to die until I become Hokage!!" In his free hand, the Kage Bunshin was beginning to help him form a Rasengan. "You won't escape from this time…!"

"He's…he's actually doing it!" Hanzo mumbled in shock.

"THIS IS THE END!!!" The whiskered blonde rammed the Rasengan into the Oto ninja's stomach. It suddenly expanded into a larger ball of chakra that completely engulfed Kabuto before it was launched back, hitting a stone.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru had been battling on the underside of the giant snake when they noticed the victory below. The Sennin smirked. _'Heh-heh… The kid has done it…'_

The snake-like man narrowed his eyes. _'How could the Kyuubi brat learn such a destructive jutsu…?'_

Tsunade stared at him in awe. _'He…really did it… He mastered the Rasengan in one week…'_ Naruto suddenly spat up blood and fell over, unconscious. Kabuto slowly stood up, using the rock he had been launched into for support. There was a hole in his clothing and a bleeding spiral marking on his torso. "You received a direct blow…and yet…"

"I gathered all of my chakra into my guts…and started to heal myself…" Kabuto explained. "What Orochimaru-sama favors me for is my tremendous regenerative ability. "I can boost my cell's regeneration rate and quickly recover what was lost in battle. It seems as if that jutsu was Naruto-kun's last ditch effort—" He stopped speaking as he began to cough up blood, then fell over. _'Impossible…! How could that jutsu inflict damage beyond my regenerative ability…? I…don't have enough…chakra…'_

Team 14 got up from their separate positions on the field and ran over to Tsunade. The busty blonde had her head on Naruto's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Is he alright?" Hanzo asked as he and his teammates looked down in worry.

The Sannin's eyes widened. "Damn it!! His cardiac muscles have been ripped to pieces! His heartbeat is irregular!" She unzipped the blonde's jacket and ripped open his shirt, exposing his chest. _'He must have struck him before the Rasengan took effect…'_

"Heh… You can't save…Naruto-kun…" Kabuto breathed out. "I cut the chakra route to his heart…that he uses to summon the Kyuubi's power... With my full power…it seals his chance of healing himself—"

"Shut up!!" Tsunade shouted. "Right after I save him…I'm gonna kill you…" She placed her hands over his chest and they began to glow with bright green chakra. She narrowed her eyes and put some more effort into it. _'Don't die… Don't die…! You can't die!!'_ Just then, a blood-stained hand reached up and grabbed the crystal of her necklace.

Naruto cracked an eye open as blood trailed down from the corners of his mouths. "I won…the…bet…" He smirked before he closes his eyes.

"Is he…dead…?" Kazemaru asked with wide eyes. His teammates gave him incredulous looks before he realized what he said. "Duh…" Their future Hokage began to snore. "Of course he wouldn't…"

Tsunade began to smile as she took his hand. "Hokage…is your dream, huh?" She began to heal it, the wound disappearing. _'For one last time…'_ She reached around her neck and pulled off her necklace. She then placed it around Naruto's neck. _'I want to believe in someone…'_

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "That child is no good…" _'I never thought the child had such potential. If Akatsuki gets their hands on him…it will be trouble… I must kill him…now!'_

"Hey. What're you doing looking down there? _I'm_ your opponent," said Jiraiya, seconds before Orochimaru jumped off of the snake. "Damn it!" He jumped off as well.

The Snake Sannin spotted the falling sage out of the corner of his eye. He flipped over in midair and shot his incredibly long tongue out at his former teammate. It wrapped around Jiraiya's ankle and slammed him down into the ground with a crash. Orochimaru then brought himself around and went flying in Tsunade and the boys' direction, a snake appearing in his mouth that opened _its_ mouth to reveal a long blade.

"Shit!!" Kazemaru shouted, alerting everyone to what was happening.

Tsunade's eyes widened and she immediately moved in front of Naruto, taking a sword through her body. The genin's eyes widened as her blood splattered across the grass and dirt, frozen in shock.

"Tsunade… Don't get in my way…" Orochimaru hissed. "If that brat survives, he'll cause a great deal of trouble for me later on…"

"No… I'm going…to protect him…no matter what…!"

The dark-haired Sannin released her and pulled the sword back into his mouth, stepping back. "Hmph… Why is it that Tsunade…one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha…is risking her life to protect a worthless genin's?"

She bent over, trembling slight. She then looked up at her old teammate. "To protect…the Hidden Leaf…"

"To Protect the Hidden Leaf?"

She looked back at Naruto, and Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru. "You want to know why? Because these kids…are the future of Konoha… And _he_…is the future Hokage…"

'_Technically she's right on both counts,'_ Kaze thought with a grin.

"Kuku…! What are you talking about? The title of Hokage is trash… Only fools would want it…"

Tsunade's eyes widened for a moment before she remembered what Jiraiya had told her on one of their drinking nights out a few days ago…

"_The Hokage of Konoha always protected those in the village… They always dreamed of achieving peace in a chaotic world and bringing prosperity to the village. They bet their lives on that dream!"_

"Then from now on…I, too…shall bet my life!!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and the blade of his sword peaked out from his mouth. "If you're going to throw away your life for a worthless brat, then die like the worthless trash you're protecting!!" He moved his head and slashed the legendary medic across the shoulder. She fell back, unconscious.

"Tsunade-sama!!" Hanzo exclaimed as Nataro glared at Orochimaru.

"Now, who's next…?" The pale-skinned man thought aloud. His eyes fell on Nataro and he moved his head towards the future blonde. As he swung the blade of his Kusanagi, however, it only made impact with the back of Tsunade's trembling body.

"Granny! What'd you do that for?!"

"I said…I'd bet my life…" She muttered before she fell to her knees. After a few moments of breathing deeply, she stopped shaking.

Orochimaru's eyes widened and he ingested his sword once more. _'She stopped trembling?!'_

The busty blonde suddenly turned on her heel and decked the Snake Sannin in his face, sending him to the ground. The diamond on her forehead changed from blue to purple, a black tattoo-like seal appearing on it. "Why am I doing this…? Because I am the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure!!"

Shizune stirred and blinked her eyes open. She sat up and saw her master standing tall despite being covered in blood. _'Tsunade-sama overcame her phobia?! But…that jutsu…'_ "Wait, Tsunade-sama!! I'll heal your wounds for you! Don't open the seal!"

"Seal?" Hanzo and Kazemaru mumbled.

The legendary medic formed a hand sign. _'Infuin: Kai! Ninpo: Souzo Saisei (Yin Seal: Release! Ninja Art: Genesis Rebirth)!!'_ The wounds on her body suddenly began to heal and close. The only sign that they were there was the blood that had flown from them.

Orochimaru watched in amazement and interest as the seal disappeared from her forehead. "Kuku… Seems like I'm not the only one developing new jutsu… Care to tell me what that is?"

"I've been gathering chakra into the seal on my forehead for quite some time… I used that chakra to stimulate the production of various enzymes, accelerating my cell duplication rate for rapid reformation… I can't reconstruct any damaged parts and organs of my body… It's not just a simple healing, it's _regeneration_… In other words…" She wiped her thumb on the blood on her face and rubbed it on the back of her hand. "In other words, I'll _never_ die in battle…"

"C-cool…! Tsunade-hime is _amazing_!" Kazemaru said with a tint of red on his cheeks.

'_Amazing doesn't begin to describe it… So this is the sort of power a medic can achieve…'_ Hanzo thought with wide eyes.

"Neat! Gramps never actually got to see her do that in person, but it's so _cool_!" Nataro exclaimed.

'_It's true that it helps her to regenerate… But the number of times each human cell can multiply is limited! By quickening the process, she's shortening her lifespan!'_ Shizune thought with wide eyes. "Tsunade-sama!!"

Kabuto immediately got to his feet and jumped over to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sama!"

"Here!" The dark-haired Sannin held out his tattooed arm. "Hurry!" The medical ninja wiped some of his blood down his master's tattoo.

'_I hope this works!!'_ Jiraiya thought as he wiped some blood on the palm of his hand.

"Wh-what are they all doing?" Kazemaru asked Nataro with an arched eyebrow.

"Uh… It kinda looks like they're gonna—"

The two Sannin and the medic slammed their hands down on the ground, a circle of seals appearing around them. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!"

In a puff of smoke, all three Sannin were standing on top of their respective summons. Orochimaru was on top of a giant purple snake with black markings around its light blue eyes and black stripes. Jiraiya was on top of a gigantic red toad wearing a blue coat and smoking a pipe. Tsunade was on top of a large white slug with blue stripes going down its back and body…

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

…And so were Nataro, Naruto, Hanzo, and a very freaked out Kazemaru.

"Wh-wh-what the heck _is_ this?!" The pyromanic genin exclaimed.

"Th-these are their summonings…! They're huge…!" The Uchiha mumbled in amazement until he set eyes on the giant purple snake known as Manda.

"Manda and Orochimaru… Katsuyu and Tsunade… Long time no see. What, is this some sorta reunion, Jiraiya?" The large red toad, Gamabunta, asked as it blew out some smoke.

"Now's not the time to be cracking jokes! It's time to settle an old enmity…" Jiraiya spoke. "We're gonna defeat Orochimaru!"

"Orochimaru!!" Manda growled. "What's the big idea, summoning me to this lame excuse of a land?! Do you want me to eat your sorry ass?!"

"Please, Manda-sama! We'll thank you generously later on…" Kabuto pleaded as he sat on his knees.

"Who do you think you're talking to?! Keep your mouth shut, stupid brat!!" The giant serpent looked up, trying to see Orochimaru. "You'd better prepare at least 100 sacrifices after this, got that?!"

Kabuto looked at his master. _'If Manda were to find out that Orochimaru-sama can't use his jutsu…he'd betray him. Using him in this situation is extremely risky…'_

"Katsuyu… Take these kids to Shizune," Tsunade spoke.

"Understood," the slug spoke in a gentle voice.

"Fine with us. I think we can all foresee what's going to happen here," said Hanzo as Katsuyu's body began to quiver beneath them. Before they knew it, the flesh rose and took the shape of miniature Katsuyus.

"I didn't see _this_ coming!" Kaze said with wide eyes as he grabbed onto his slug tightly as he could with one hand.

On the ground below, Shizune had just finished up healing her injured muscles. She got to her feet and was about to join her master when four human-sized slugs landed in front of her. "Ugh! Katsuyu?"

"Shizune-sama… Please take care of these children…" The Katsuyu clone carrying Naruto spoke. "It will be a gruesome battle… Please take them somewhere far away and find a safe place to hide. This is Tsunade-sama's wish."

"Awww, so we're not gonna get to see it?!" Nataro and Kazemaru exclaimed at the same time.

"You two honestly want to be here when trouble goes down? It's gonna be a war!" Hanzo said with a frown.

Shizune took Naruto up in her arms carefully. _'Tsunade-sama…'_ "Let's move!!" She began to run away from the three summons, followed by Team 14.

"I'm in the mood for toad jerky…" Manda hissed, flicking his tongue out.

"Well _I_ want a snake-skin wallet right about now," said Gamabunta as he grabbed hold of the short sword resting on his back while Katsuyu remained silent.

"Orochimaru… You've become far too evil to live. We are no longer comrades," said Jiraiya.

Orochimaru started to smirk. "Hahaha! _Comrades_? Don't make me laugh!"

"Starting from today, we are the Sannin no more!" Tsunade exclaimed as her summon reared her head back. The giant slug spewed out thick green acid at Manda. _'Zeshi Nensan (Thousand Fanged Acid)!!'_

Manda slithered out of the way in the blink of an eye, the acid hitting a large rock formation instead and melting it before the serpent wrapped itself around the slug. He began to squeeze Katsuyu like an anaconda until Gamabunta appeared behind him and aimed to take his head off. The purple snake opened its jaws and clamped down shut on the blade.

Meanwhile, Katsuyu suddenly exploded, dividing up into hundreds upon hundreds of small clones of herself. Upon landing on the ground, the mini-Katsuyus began to pile on top of each other and reform while Manda and Gamabunta continued to wrestle. The serpent managed to pull away from the toad, the latter's blade in the former's mouth.

"Tsunade! Get away from there!!" Jiraiya warned as Manda swerved his head and launched the short sword at Gamabunta. The Boss Toad easily jumped out of the way, his sword landing behind him. "Bunta! Gimme some oil!!"

"Alright!"

The white-haired Sennin formed a string of hand signs before taking a deep breath. He blew out a stream of fire as Gamabunta spat out a stream of oil. When the two connected, they formed a massive ball of fire that easily overtook Manda.

Within the flames, Manda seemingly burned away with ease. A little _too_ easy. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he noticed it. _'Skin molting?!'_

Gamabunta looked down in time to see something in the earth moving towards him. It shot up, but he grabbed it before it could strike. It turned out to be Manda's tail. The Boss Toad tensed up as Manda's head shot up from behind him, his jaws opening wide enough to swallow the frog whole…before Gamabunta's blade went through his snout, courtesy of Tsunade.

"Keep your mouth shut!!" The blonde Sannin smirked.

Orochimaru frowned. "Fighting them both at the same time is troublesome…" He opened his mouth and his tongue shot out towards Tsunade and wrapped around her neck. The busty blonde grabbed his tongue and pulled on it hard, bringing Orochimaru up to her. "LET'S END THIS!!!" She shouted as she balled up her fist. When the Snake Sannin was close enough, she decked him, right across the face with a whopping blow!

Orochimaru went crashing down onto Manda's body as Kabuto watched with shocked eyes.

"Grrr…! How dare you shame like this…? I'd rip you to pieces…but with this hole in my mouth, I can't swallow a thing…!" Manda hissed. "When next we meet, prepare to meet your death…" Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Orochimaru's tongue unwrapped from around Tsunade's neck as he and Kabuto landed on the ground. "Tsunade… Even if you do not cooperate with me, I still have one option left... One more way to revive my arms…" The skin on his face was beginning to peel, revealing healthy pale skin instead of sickly white on one side. "And I _will_ destroy Konoha… Until we meet again, my dear friends… Jiraiya... Tsunade… Kukuku…!" He sank into the ground. "Farewell…" Kabuto gave them one last look before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Tsunade began to falter and double over. _'I'm beginning to feel…the side effects of my jutsu… My body is…'_ "Ugh…!"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, everyone was gathered in the middle of the field around the unconscious Naruto.

"And so, the bad guy got his ass handed to him, Konoha's got its Godaime Hokage and Naruto finally managed to get a hang of the Rasengan and won his bet with Tsunade-sama!" Kazemaru said with a grin as he flexed his healed arm. "Not so bad for a day's work, huh?"

"Considering the fact that we weren't much help today…?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow that made the pyromanic genin sweatdrop.

Nataro looked down at the ground with a clouded look in his eyes. _'I lost focus… I was supposed to kill Orochimaru…but Kabuto distracted me… Do I…really have no other choice…?'_

"Hmph... You're as slick as ever, Tsunade," said Jiraiya with a smirk.

The blonde Sannin only smiled as she looked down at the sleeping Naruto. Thoughts of Nawaki and Dan filled her mind before she felt something within her body. "The aftereffects…"

"The what?" Hanzo asked while Kaze arched an eyebrow. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Tsunade slowly age before their eyes. "Uh!"

"Wh-whoa!! What the--?!"

"Tsunade…" Jiraiya mumbled.

"Heh… If I rest for a bit, I'll revert back to my young self…" Tsunade spoke as she shook. "Let's rest in the village until Naruto wakes up…then we can head back to Konoha."

"Tsunade—"

"Don't refer to me with that name. From now on…call me…"

**X-X-X**

"THE GODAIME HOKAGE?!?" Naruto shrieked several hours later. The group was back in town, sitting around a table in the bar one last time before they headed back to Konohagakure. "So starting today, Granny Tsunade's gonna be the Hokage…?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Jiraiya asked his student with an arched eyebrow. "What's got you so upset?"

"Well, for one thing, she's nothing like Old Man Sandaime. She's rough, selfish, loose with money, she gets pissed off too easily, and she's stupid…" The whiskered blonde counted off with squinted eyes. "You really think someone like _her_ can handle a job like that?"

"Uh… You _do_ realize that she's at the same table as you, right?" Hanzo asked with a nervous smile as Tsunade twitched.

"It's like when Nataro insults Ina when she's standing right there. They must both like being beaten up by girls," Kazemaru spoke through a mouthful of food.

"Wh-wh-what was that?! Don't bring that Weasel into this conversation!!" Nataro shouted as he pointed his chopsticks at the orange-haired genin.

"And she's some 50-year old hag faking her youth! Who would want a Hokage who deceives everyone like that?" Naruto continued until Tsunade slammed her fist down on the table.

"That does it!! Let's take this outside, you brat!!" The busy Hokage shouted as a vein throbbed on her head, the same one that was throbbing on Naruto's.

"You're on!!"

"You honestly want to go pick a fight with her after what we told you?" Hanzo sweatdropped. _'No wonder Grandfather and Grandma keep calling him an idiot…'_

"Not again…!" Jiraiya sighed.

"Great! Dinner and a show!" The redhead said with a grin.

**X-X-X**

Outside of the bar, Tsunade folded her arms across her chest confidently. "No matter what you say, I'm the Hokage now. I don't have to be serious with a _brat_ like you…" She held up a single index finger. "This is all I'll need."

"Quit calling me a brat, damn it!! I'm gonna be Hokage someday, too!!" Naruto shouted.

The Godaime Hokage stared at him for a moment before smiling. The future Rokudaime dashed towards her and tried to punch her, only to have her flick him in the forehead, sending his hitai-ate up into the air as he stumbled back. The boy's eyes widened as she held her fingers out in front of his forehead, seemingly ready to flick him once more. He closed his eyes and prepared to feel the force…but instead, he felt Tsunade's lips on his forehead as she kissed him. When she pulled away, she smiled down at him.

"Grow up to be a good man…" _'And an even better Hokage…'_

The whiskered blonde blushed before he gave a broad grin. "You bet!!"

"Lucky…!" Kazemaru cried as tears welled up in his eyes. "He got kissed by Tsunade-hime!"

"Why are you complaining? You've seen what she really looks like," Hanzo said with an arched eyebrow.

"I can overlook that so long as she looks like _that_…"

"Alright!!" Tsunade proclaimed. "Let's all head back home…to Konohagakure!"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Coming up next, the final chapter of the Time Traveling Arc and the conclusion of the first part of Naruto X!! Be assured, there may be some things that surprise you…So remember to review for the sake of Blu! I live off of your comments, you know. And right now, I'm withering away~!**

**Hanzo: (Sweatdrops) Quit overexaggerating! You're just fine…**

**Blu: Am not! I want reviews, dang it! Hearing people's comments makes this all worthwhile!**

**Kakashi: And yet, you start crying every time someone gives you a review you don't like.**

**Blu: Can I help it if I have thin skin…? (T.T)**

**Naruto: For the love of…! (Points at the readers) You heard the lady! Review for her sake or we'll have to put up with her crying! See ya next time!**


	52. Fate is Never Final

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto. Part I's almost over and you don't **know that by now**?! She just owns her OCs and this story, guys!_

**X-X-X**

_#52: Fate is Never Final_

It was pretty awkward… He couldn't remember if he ever saw the Rokudaime in the hospital before, but from the sound of things, this had been happening since earlier in the year.

"Uh… Why are you here again?" Kira asked as he scratched the back of his head.

Naruto sighed and leaned back into the pillow behind him. "I fainted…"

"Really? 'Cuz those people out there are acting like you had a stroke or something…" He either didn't notice the way the Hokage twitched at the word _'stroke'_ or he ignored it. "And why am _I_ here again?"

"I just wanted to ask you something."

Kira seemed to stiffen and he reached into his coat. He pulled out a scroll, which he opened and began to look over. "I swear, I'm almost done! I just need to figure out this hand sign and this marking—"

"As glad as I am to hear that, that's _not_ what I wanted to ask."

The mad genius blinked. "So…we're on a general speaking basis again?"

"Are you _listening_?" The Rokudaime muttered as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "I wanted to ask you about that jutsu."

"But you just said—!"

"I wanted to know _why_ you created it in the first place."

Kira closed the scroll and began to hold it between his hands, looking up at the ceiling innocently. "Um… Can I be honest? It's not my jutsu. Well, the first half isn't, anyway… Azuki-sensei's the one who came up with it. I just finished what he didn't get to." He looked at Naruto, who appeared to be shocked. "I think he said…he wanted to make up for the mistakes he made in the past and bring _'them'_ back—whoever _'they'_ are."

"Ah… I see. Very well then. You can leave."

"Yes, sir…" The black-and-white-clad man bowed his head before running out of the room, nearly pushing over Hikari.

"Huh? What's his problem? I'm surprised he didn't even try to speak to me," the pink-haired woman spoke in surprise. "Oh, well. Not like I care," she mumbled as she walked into the room. "Good news, Naruto-sama! You're well enough to leave!" When she didn't get a reaction, she stared at the elderly blonde, who was staring down at his sheets. "Naruto-sama?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, that's great." He forced on a smile. "I can't wait to get out of this place…" _'Azuki…'_

**X-X-X**

In the Konoha of the past, Nataro hung upside down from a tree branch, his body bound up with rope that his teammates had found _somewhere_. "Uh… Guys? Isn't this going a _little_ bit too far?"

"A little? You ran off to try and kill an S-rank missing nin—_again_! And this time, it was someone who killed a _Kage_!!" Hanzo shouted.

"Yeah, Ramen Breath!" Kazemaru said as he shoved the orange-clad blonde lightly, making him spin around. "We could've helped you out! You should've told us!!"

"That's not what I meant! I mean it…it's _stupid_ to keep trying to do dangerous things like this just for the sake of changing the course of history!!"

The pyromanic genin pouted an arched an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean that something's up. Nataro's trying to do something, but it's not for Naruto-sama's sake or Konoha's." The Uchiha stopped Nataro from spinning around and made the blonde look him in the eye. "Well? What is it?"

"What do you mean? I'm just trying to help Gramps and Sasuke, that's all. You guys are acting like there's something _wrong_ with that! Isn't that why we were sent back here in the first place—to help out?" The blonde said with a pout.

"We don't know _why_ we were sent back here—I doubt _Kira-san_ knows why we were sent here, but I _do_ know that if you keep pulling stunts like what you tried with Orochimaru and Kabuto, you won't be born to do it!!"

"Uh…_what_?" Nataro sweatdropped and squinted his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I…I have _no_ _idea_!" The raven-haired boy doubled over and held onto his head in aggravation. "Arrgh…! You've been confusing ever since we came here! It's like the only thing on your mind is _'save Sasuke, save Sasuke'_! But he's gonna be saved, just…later!"

"I want him to be saved _now_!!"

"See that? That's what's confusing me!! _Why_ the hell are you doing this?!"

"I don't know!! I just _want_ to!!"

Kazemaru sweatdropped as both boys' faces were only a few inches apart. "Whoa… I don't think I've _ever_ seen you guys like this… In my opinion, Nataro, it makes no sense to save a jerk like Sasuke. If he injured a stranger that _looked_ like his friend, imagine what he would do to his _actual_ friend. Heck, are they _even_ friends?"

"Of course we are!! I mean…of course _they_ are!! Ugh…" Nataro tried to turn away from his teammates' stares, but he just wound up spinning around and facing them again.

"Seriously, what the _hell_ is up with you?" The orange-haired boy arched an eyebrow. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"Look, I'm sorry that I ran off without telling you! Just shut up and cut me down, okay?"

"And why _should_ we? You may just run off again."

"All I want is to go to the hospital to see Sakura-san and Sasuke-san. That's all."

Hanzo stared at his friend with a frown on his face before pulling out a kunai. He threw the kunai up at the rope and cut it, making the orange-clad blonde fall flat on his face at the raven's feet. "You better not pull anymore stunts like that while we're here. For the rest of the time, we're just going to sit back, relax, and not do anything drastic until somehow, someway, we get back home to _our_ time. Got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir, Fan Boy-taichou," said Kaze as he gave the Uchiha a mock salute. Under his glare, however, he withered. "Alright, alright! Sheesh, no need to look at me like that…!"

Nataro looked up at the sky with half-lidded eyes. _'I'm sorry, Hanzo… But I'm not leaving until I can…'_

**X-X-X**

Minutes later at the hospital, Sakura was sitting down by Sasuke's bedside when the door opened.

"Hiya, Sakura-chan!" Nataro exclaimed as he burst into the room with a broad grin, flanked by Hanzo and Kazemaru. "We're baaaack~!"

"Uh… Who are you?" The pink-haired girl asked with an arched eyebrow, making the blonde boy fall down in shock, flat on his face.

"We're those three boys who fell from the sky," said Hanzo. "We didn't get the chance to be acquainted because we went on a trip with Naruto and Jiraiya-sama. I'm Hanzo. This is Kazemaru…"

"And the idiot you see on the floor is our #1 knucklehead of a ninja, Nataro!" Kaze said with a smirk as he kicked the blonde in the butt.

"Ouch!! Hey, I'm lying down here!!" Nataro shouted as he immediately jumped to his feet and shoved his face into the pyromaniac's.

"Oh, yeah… Gai-sensei told me about that. You went to find someone who could heal Sasuke-kun, right?" Sakura asked Hanzo, the two of them ignoring the arguing duo in the background. "Where is she?"

The future Uchiha shrugged. "We don't know. She was elected for Godaime Hokage, so she must be pretty busy at the moment…"

"Oh…" The pink-haired girl looked down at the ground.

"_But_ I'm sure that she'll be here as soon as she can!"

She looked up at him and looked out into the hallway. "Where's Naruto?"

The raven-haired boy scratched his cheek. "He must be with Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama somewhere…" A loud sound behind them made them both turn around to see Kazemaru and Nataro now on the ground wrestling with each other. "Will you guys cut it out? We're in a hospital!"

"Tell that to _him_!!" Both Nataro and Kaze shouted at the same time. "What?! _Me_?! Why, I oughta…!"

"Uh… Forgive my teammates. They're forever mentally stuck in childhood whenever they clash." Hanzo sweatdropped and laughed nervously.

"That's okay. You don't know what it's like when Naruto and Sasuke butt heads."

"Oh, yes. I can only imagine what _that's_ like. But at least only _one_ of your teammates acts immature sometimes. Both of them drive my sensei up the wall."

Sakura started to smile. "You know…you remind me of someone…"

Hanzo stepped back. "I-I do?" _'Uh-oh…'_

"Yeah…" She tapped her cheek in thought. "You look like Sasuke-kun, kinda. What a coincidence, huh?"

"Really? That _is_ a coincidence!" The raven said with a nervous smile. "Even more so, you look just like my grandmother!"

A vein suddenly popped up on Sakura's forehead. "What?!"

"I-I-I mean, you look like the _pictures_ I've seen of my grandma when she was a kid! She was just as cute as you were, too!" He spoke quickly, fearing for his life. Even if she didn't have the strength to crack a mountain in two with a flick of her pinky finger, the aura radiating from this girl sent several warnings of _'danger!'_.

The vein subsided and the red-clad girl started to smile again, blushing. "Cute, huh?"

'_Phew! What a relief…!'_

"Cute? With _that_ forehead?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow, attracting Sakura's glare. He was punched in the head by Nataro.

"D-d-don't insult Sakura-chan like that, ya matchstick!!"

"Bite me, Ramen Breath!!" The pyromanic boy punched the shorter one in the stomach.

Hanzo sweatdropped as Sakura growled under her breath. The pink-haired girl stomped over to the wrestling teammates and held up her balled up fist, which they didn't seem to notice. "Knock it off!!" The Uchiha closed his eyes before she whopped them both. When he opened them, he saw that they were both now lying on the floor, half-conscious with large throbbing bumps on their heads.

'_Incredible… And she's only going to get worse with age…'_

The door opened, hitting Nataro in the head as Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and Naruto walked in.

"What the? What's going on here?" The busty Hokage asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Nnn…! She hits even harder…than she does in my dreams…!" Nataro mumbled as he sat up, holding onto the bump on his head.

"Seriously, what the _hell_, Pinky?!' Kazemaru groaned as Tsunade walked past them and up to Sasuke's bedside.

"Oh! Are you…Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Yup! She's a great doctor! She's gonna make Sasuke all better!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin.

The pink-haired girl looked at the whiskered blonde with wide eyes. "Naruto…!" A smile appeared on her face.

"Hmmm…" The Godaime's eyes rested on a pair of flowers in a vase next to Sasuke's bed. _'Those flowers are fresh. Has she been visiting him everyday?'_ She placed her hand on the unconscious Uchiha's forehead and it began to glow with bright green chakra.

After a while, Tsunade removed her hand from his forehead as Sasuke began to stir. He sat up slowly and looked around, a bit disoriented. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes and she suddenly launched herself at the raven-haired boy, wrapping her arms around him as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Sasuke-kun…!"

Naruto stared at them with wide eyes. "Sasuke… You…" After a while, he started to smile sadly.

"Hm?" Hanzo arched an eyebrow and stared at the future Rokudaime.

"Don't worry, Naruto! There's plenty of fish in the sea—far nicer than _that_ barracuda," Kazemaru whispered into Naruto's ear. The orange-clad blonde's response was the punch him in the head.

"Don't say things like that about Sakura-chan!!"

'_Geez, he's just like Nataro!!'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the past, Kira threw his head back and downed the final drop of saké in the jug. When he was done, he slammed the jug down on his table with a frown. "Unbelievable…! I was hoping for more drunken inspiration, but the effect's worn off and the saké's done…" The mad genius looked down at the scroll in front of him. "I _knew_ I should've gotten that Ame no Kuni brand saké. That stuff _really_ knocks you out! Now I may _never_ finish…this?" He picked it up and stared at it intently. After a few seconds, his eyes shrank into little black and white dots. "I'm done… I'm _done_?! How fucking drunk _was I_ that I didn't notice?! I'm a freakin' genius even _when_ I'm inebriated!! Hahaha!!"

The mad genius fell back and laid down on the floor, laughing to himself. "Excellent! Now I just I have to go tell the old man I'm done and he can send someone to bring them back!"

"_I…would fix all of my mistakes… All I want…is to have them back…"_ A voice echoed in his mind.

Kira blinked and held onto his head, his happy expression becoming an apathetic one. "But…it's _my_ mistake… I should be the one who corrects it and redeem myself." He groaned and rolled over onto his stomach, getting onto his knees. "Geez, Azuki-sensei…! You're still pushing me to do things I don't wanna even beyond the grave!" He smiled. "Thank you…"

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Hanasotsu was standing at the door of Kira's apartment, holding a bag jam-packed with bottles of saké and alcohol. _'I know that he's been depressed lately and the saké helps him fall asleep…but if he keeps this up, he's going to die of liver failure.'_ The effeminate blonde thought as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "Oh, well… I shouldn't be _too_ hard on him. It seems like ever since Hokage-sama said he gave up on sempai, it's harder for him to act like an idiot…"

The ANBU sighed as he grabbed twisted the door handle and pushed the door open. _'Maybe this'll make him feel better… Yeah, right.'_ "Kira-sempai?" He stepped inside and saw Kira lying down on the floor, not moving. "Sempai?" _'Is he asleep?'_ Hanasotsu walked up to the man and noticed a piece of paper attached to his shirt. "Hm?" He leaned down to read the paper. After a few seconds of silence, his eyes widened. "WHAT?!?"

**X-X-X**

"_I've completed the jutsu! I'm going into the past now to get those kids back so everyone can stop blaming me!! Signed, Konoha's #1 Mad Genius, Kira."_

Naruto stared at the little chibi Kira at the bottom of the message. "Is that so…?"

"What do you mean _'is that so'_?! This is awful!!" Hanasotsu exclaimed as he placed his hands together. "Hokage-sama, he's gone and put himself in danger! Not even _he_ knows how exactly that jutsu is supposed to work!!"

"Calm down, Hanasotsu. You seem to be forgetting what sort of reputation Kira has—and I mean the _good_ one," the Hokage added before the blonde ANBU could open his mouth. He then turned over the paper and smiled. "He'd never leave a man behind, would he?"

"_I've completed the jutsu! I'm going into the past now to get those kids back and fix my mistakes, so I can redeem myself in everyone's eyes!! Signed, Konoha's #1 Mad Genius, Kira."_

**X-X-X**

It was a normal day in Konohagakure: ninjas were going out on missions, Naruto was eating at Ichiraku's with his sensei Iruka, and birds chirped as they flew through the clear blue sky.

Oh, and a mad genius was falling _down_ from said sky.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—OOF!!! …Crap." Kira got on his knees and, after spitting some asphalt out of his mouth, took a look around. He was on top of what he guessed was his apartment building in the past. "Okay… Wonder what year I'm in?" The mad genius tapped his cheek. "Let's see… If my building is _here_, then the Hokage Monument is over…there!" He pointed off in a random direction and, by luck, he found himself looking at the four stone faces of the Shodai, Nidaime, Sandaime, and Yondaime Hokage. "Ugh... Even when the old man's face isn't there yet, he manages to give me the creeps! Brrr!" The black-and-white-haired man shuddered and turned around, shivering. "Well, screw those stone-faced bastards! I've gotta find those kids! Now where could they be...?"

Kira formed a hand sign and created three Kage Bunshin of himself. "Alright!! Let's get this show on the road!!" In the blink of an eye, the Kiras disappeared.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, on the hospital roof, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru were lying down, simply enjoying the view.

"Man… This is nice…" Kaze yawned. "This has been the best vacation I ever had…?"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "Vacation?"

"Yeah… It's been fun these last couple of days with all the running around and junk, but it's great to finally rest at last…"

"That's true. We haven't even seen what the past Konoha looks like."

"Like there's anything to see. Aside from the buildings and the people, everything's the same." The pyromanic genin pouted. "Although…"

"What?"

"I wish...I had a book with me right about now to pass the time. Maybe I could get my hands on a copy of Icha-Icha Paradise!"

The Uchiha looked up at the sky with a half-lidded gaze. "Gee, maybe there's a store that sells erotica here in the past, too."

"You think?!"

"I was being sarcastic! Don't _really_ do that!"

Nataro suddenly sat up and looked down at his feet. "I guess it _is_ kinda nice…"

"Too bad it won't _always_ be this peaceful…" Hanzo sighed as he also sat up. "Maybe…if we were strong enough, we could do that… But we're just a bunch of genin."

"Rank doesn't matter! Gramps was a genin at 15 and he was labeled an A-rank threat by other countries!"

"Unfortunately, we don't even register as a blip on other countries' radars," the raven-haired boy pointed out. "Someday, maybe…but not now."

Kaze snorted and folded his arms behind his head. "Someday, huh? Well then, I'll make sure I'm an _S-rank_ threat before I hit 20!"

Nataro looked down at the orange-haired boy with an arched eyebrow. "In your dreams, you living matchstick."

"Hey, if it could happen for the old man, it could happen for me! What? You think you could do it better?"

"Naturally! I'm just better than you!" In response, he got a punch to the face that landed him on the ground.

Kazemaru sat up and pointed a finger at the downed blonde, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Oh yeah?! I bet you that I'll become an S-rank ninja before _you_ do!!"

"Grrr…!" The orange-clad blonde sat up and rubbed the bump on his head. "You're on!!"

'_I doubt they'll even remember this when we get back home…!'_ Hanzo thought as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "It's like we never left home…"

**X-X-X**

Back down in Sasuke's room, Sakura was sitting by his bedside, peeling apples. The Uchiha was staring down as the memory of Itachi drifted into his mind, telling him he was weak and lacked hatred. He glanced at Sakura, who was smiling in satisfaction at how good she was doing, and felt a pang in his heart when he remembered telling her that it was Naruto who had saved her from Gaara—not him.

And then…his thoughts drifted to Naruto. _Naruto_, who dared to take on Gaara after he transformed into some sort of monster. _Naruto_, who had managed to summon a giant toad to combat the newly created Shukaku. _Naruto,_ who his brother had ignored him in favor of. With each memory of the blonde's recent accomplishments, Sasuke felt his patience waning and his teeth clenching in irritation.

Sakura didn't seem to be aware of this as she held out the plate of peeled apple slices with a smile. "Would you like some apples, Sasuke-kun?" The raven-haired boy shot her a glare before slapping the plate out of her hand, making it and the apple slices fall to the floor. "Kyaa!! S…Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha heir looked out of the window, refusing to answer.

Just then, Naruto poked his head in through the door, staring in confusing at the scene. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke noticed the blonde and turned to glare at him, making him flinch. "Wh…what?! What's with that look?"

Sakura turned to look at the blonde with a confused expression on her face.

"Naruto…" The raven-haired boy spoke.

"Wh-what?"

"Fight me…_now_!"

Their female teammate's eyes widened while the whiskered blonde arched an eyebrow. "Huh? What are you talking about? You just woke up and you're still recovering—"

"Just shut up and fight me!!" Sasuke growled, radiating with a dark aura that made both his teammates flinch. "You thought you helped me? With that foolish Godaime Hokage or whatever…? Butting into other people's business…?"

"What?!"

The Uchiha set foot out of his bed and walked up to the blonde. They began to glare intensely at each other, seemingly ignorant of their third teammate.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong with you?! Naruto, tell him to stop it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Actually…" Naruto gave a cocky grin. "I've been thinking about it, too…"

"Look, you two, just cut it out! Okay?" The pink-haired girl tried to be the voice of reason, fearing things would get out of hand.

Sasuke nodded his head towards the door. "Follow me." He turned around and began to walk towards the door, followed by Naruto. He stepped on an apple slice as he did so, which didn't go unnoticed by Sakura.

'_This is just like that time…'_ An image appeared in her mind of Sasuke, partially covered in black flame-like markings. She felt her heart sink.

**X-X-X**

On the rooftop, Kazemaru and Nataro were still arguing about the future with Hanzo being their unfortunate audience. Of course, it would've worked if the raven wasn't over by the fence looking down at the people below.

"Alright, we've worked out a system! First one who makes it to chunin has bragging rights for the rest of their lives _unless_ the other becomes a jonin before them! Then _they_ have bragging rights for the rest of _their_ lives!" Nataro explained as he folded his arms across his chest in conclusion.

"Great! I can't wait for my grandkids to rub it in _your_ grandkids' faces that _I'm_ the superior ninja!" Kaze said with a cat-like smirk.

"For you to have grandkids in the first place, someone would have to find you attractive—and that ain't gonna happen…!"

"Like you're a sight to behold, ugly! Word to the wise: _orange is an eyesore_!!"

"Would any girl want to hook up with guys as immature as you?" Hanzo mistakenly spoke aloud as he looked up at the sky.

"What'd you say, Hanzo?!" His two teammates shouted as flames began to burn in their eyes, making him flinch.

'_Oops! Did I say that out loud?'_ Hanzo turned to face the two genin and smiled nervously, scratching his cheek. "Heh-heh! Well…"

"Look, not _all_ of us are lucky enough to score a cute chick like Shizuka-chan, okay?!" The blonde shouted.

"Damn straight! We're not blessed with Pretty Boy genes like _you_ and your jerk of a grandpa!!" Kaze added as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"I-I wasn't trying to insult you! And who says I scored Shizuka-chan?!"

The door leading back downstairs opened and Sasuke and Naruto walked onto the rooftop.

"Huh? What're _you_ doing up here, Fan Jerk?" The orange-haired boy asked with a pout and an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're supposed to be resting," said Hanzo. "You're not well enough to be moving—"

"Get out of here!" Sasuke snapped, glaring at Nataro in particular. He still hadn't forgotten how they tried to stop him from fighting Itachi. At the moment, to him, they were almost as bad as Naruto.

"Excuse me? This ain't your roof!" Kaze spoke as he nonchalantly flipped the Uchiha the bird, but that seemed to go unnoticed.

"We're gonna have a spar up here. If you won't move, then get out of the way," said Naruto as he kept his eyes on Sasuke.

"Uh, Naruto? You _do_ realize that you're fighting a guy who just woke up from a _coma_, don't you?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow as he approached the two genin. "What's all this about, anyway?"

Just then, Sakura burst onto the scene, panting heavily. She spotted Hanzo and shouted, "Hanzo-kun!! Tell them to stop!!"

The future Uchiha arched an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

Naruto found himself unable to stop shaking. _'What's this feeling…? This excitement…'_ He started to grin. "Ha!"

Sasuke frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What's so funny?!"

"Nothing. I'm just glad…to think that I'm strong enough to beat you."

The taller boy's Sharingan activated. "What'd you say? Stop spouting off nonsense, you loser!"

"I'm not a loser anymore. I've changed!"

"Idiot!! Quit acting so full of yourself!!"

The future Rokudaime placed a hand on his hip as he gave a smug grin. "What's the matter, _Sasuke_? You losing your cool? That's so unlike you! What, are you _afraid_ that you challenged me to a fight?"

"Just shut up and fight!!"

"Looks like a throwdown's gonna happen," Kaze said with an arched eyebrow. "Maybe we should just let 'em do their thing…"

"No!! We've gotta stop them!" Nataro spoke up for the first time since this mess started. "Who knows what'll happen if we let 'em fight like _this_!"

"Good entertainment, that's what!"

"Damn it, I'm being serious!!" The future blonde shouted as he ran over the Naruto and Sasuke and ran in-between them. "Hey, Sasuke!! You wanna fight someone? How about fighting _me_?"

"Get the hell out of the way, you weirdo! I don't know who the _hell_ you are, but if you get in my way…" The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "I won't hurt you by accident again!"

"Just move, Nataro! I've been waiting for this for too long!" The future Hokage said as he tightened his hitai-ate around his forehead. "When I'm done with him, you can fight him!"

The future blonde whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. "Damn it!! You don't get it, you _idiot_!! If you keep this up, he'll—" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as Sasuke had kicked him hard in the head and sent him flying over to Sakura, who had no choice but to catch him in her arms.

"Sasuke-kun?!"

Kaze's eyes narrowed as he held up a fist. "That's it, buddy!! I'm gonna teach you a lesson in manners!!"

"W-wait, Kaze!" Hanzo exclaimed as he held the orange-haired genin back. "This is supposed to happen, remember?"

"Who cares?! This time, he hurt Nataro _on purpose_!! I'm gonna clobber that jerkass bastard!!"

"Anyone else wants to try and interfere?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What's your problem?!"

"My problem is _you_! Now hurry up and fight!!"

"Fine then! Just put on your hitai-ate first," the blonde said as he pointed at his own hitai-ate.

"Tch! I don't need something like that…"

"Just do it!"

"You won't even be able to land a finger on me, let alone my forehead!" The Uchiha stated as he jabbed a thumb at his forehead.

"Listen!! This headband is a symbol! It means we fight as equal shinobi!"

"You're so _full_ of yourself!! You honestly think you're on par with me?!"

"Of course I do! I've never once thought of myself as inferior to you!"

Sasuke clenched his teeth and growled under his breath. "You're starting to piss me off!!"

"That's because you're still weak, Sasuke-_chan_!!"

"NARUTOOOOO!!!"

"SASUKEEEEE!!!"

The two Leaf genin charged at each other and began to grapple. The raven-haired boy moved his foot and made to kick the blonde in the head. Naruto saw it coming, but he didn't get to block it in time and was sent skidding back. The blonde formed a hand sign.

"Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" In a puff of smoke, a hundred Narutos surrounded the Uchiha and leapt towards him to attack. Sasuke began to easily move around, punching and kicking the clones away in puffs of smoke. Just then, a trio of bunshin kicked the raven-haired boy up into the air, shouted, "U! Zu! Ma! Ki!" A bunshin leapt up into the air above Sasuke as he began to form hand signs. The clone attempted to land a kick on the Uchiha, shouting, "Naruto Rendan!!" The blow was blocked by an elbow while Sasuke was in the midst of forming hand signs.

Sasuke smirked as his cheeks bloated. He took a deep breath and blew out a large stream of fire down at the clones. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_

"Whoa!! Th-that's overkill!" Kazemaru exclaimed. "It's like he's trying to _kill_ Naruto!" Those words made Sakura stiffen up.

The flames began to dispel in a spiraling manner. When it was all clear, Naruto was shown with a Kage Bunshin, forming a Rasengan in the palm of his hand. Sasuke stared at the ball of chakra in confusion. _'What the… What's that jutsu?'_ "Grrrr…! Damn it!" He grabbed onto his hand and began to channel electricity through it that sounded like a thousand birds chirping. "Chidori!!"

"Wait a minute!! They're going to attack each other with _those_?!" Hanzo shouted with wide eyes. "If they connect, they're _kill_ each other!!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Stop…! Stop it!" Her teammates remained oblivious to her cries, still preparing to hit each other with their strongest jutsu. "STOOOOOP!!!"

Just then, a blur sweep-kicked Naruto off of his feet and made him land face down, his Rasengan making impact against the roof at the same time that another blur appeared above Sasuke and jumped onto him, making the young Uchiha fall and land flat on his face on the roof, his Chidori making a hole in the roof.

"Huh?" Sakura, Hanzo and Kazemaru blinked in surprise as Nataro stirred.

"What's going on…?" The future blonde mumbled as he sat up, rubbing the side of his head. His eyes widened at the sight of the person sitting on top of Naruto and Sasuke at the same time.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, kiddo!! I know you were a little _mentally disturbed_ last time I saw you, but that doesn't mean you can go around attacking people!!" Kira shouted as he struck Naruto in the head. "Idiot!! Are you _trying_ to get me in trouble?"

"And _you_!! You better have a good reason for trying to attack him!" The Kira clone said as he dug his knee into Sasuke's back. "_Well_?!"

"G…get off of me!!" The raven-haired boy growled as he tried to get the bunshin off of his back.

"Yeah, you weirdo!!" Naruto shouted as he tried squirming out from under Kira.

The mad genius arched an eyebrow. "Weirdo? Whatever happened to—?"

"KIRA-SENSEI!!!" Nataro shouted as he tackled the mad genius off of the future Rokudaime. "You actually came for us!!"

"Oof! Hey, lemme go! This is _so_ unmanly! I— Wait a second…" Kira stared at Nataro. "If _you're_ Nataro… Who the heck was I on top of?" His student leaned down and whispered something into his ear. When he was done, the mad genius's eyes became large and white. "What? Old Man Naruto?!" He turned his head to look at the whiskered blonde and arched an eyebrow. "Huh… He was short as a kid."

Naruto gave the mad genius a look. "What'd you say?!"

"Although he sure _shouts_ like him…"

In a poof of smoke, Kakashi appeared beside Sasuke and the Kira clone. "Excuse me, but that's my student your on top of."

"You know, you need to teach this kid some manners." In a puff of smoke, the clone disappeared.

"I saw the whole thing. What exactly were the two of you doing? If this was just a spar, you're taking it too far…" The Copy Ninja told his two male students

Sasuke sat up and observed the size of the hole he made in the roof. It was big enough for him to stick his head into and look into an empty hospital room. He smirked with satisfaction until a shadow overcast him.

"Why are you so obsessed with your superiority complex, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked with an arched eyebrow. "The level of that Chidori you used isn't to be directed against your own comrade. Were you trying to _kill_ Naruto?" The raven-haired boy just glared up at him. "Where did such immature behavior come from…?"

"I knew it!! That guy's _no good_!!" Kazemaru shouted as he pointed a finger at Sasuke. "God knows why Nataro's so obsessed with him!!"

'_I see… So this is the sort of person Grandfather became…for revenge…'_ Hanzo thought with half-lidded eyes.

Sasuke snorted and jumped onto the fence. He noticed the crater Naruto's Rasengan had created and saw that it was far large than the effect of his Chidori. He sat there in shock before he bit the inside of his cheek in irritation. _'Naruto… Just how strong __**are**__ you…?'_ He then jumped off of the roof.

Naruto stared down at the ground, seemingly deep in thought. Or at least he was until he was struck in the back of the head by Hanzo. "OW!! Hanzo?! What—?!"

"Idiot!! What sort of person uses an A-rank jutsu on his own teammate?!" The future Uchiha shouted loudly, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "You showed that you were just as immature and idiotic as Sasuke was!! Did you even think about what would happen if your attacks connected?! What would happen if you actually _hit him_ with it?! In _his_ state?! Who would want a person like _you_ for Hokage?!"

"I— OW!!!" The whiskered blonde didn't get the chance to react as Nataro tackled him and landed a punch across his face.

"STUPID!!! You could've just been the bigger man and walked away!! But you just _had_ to fight him, _didn't you_?!" The future blonde shouted as he punched Naruto once again. "And now, because of _you_!! Because of you, he's going to leave us all over again!!" Tears started to well up in Nataro's eyes as he clenched his teeth. "I…I HATE YOU!!!" He raised his fist to strike the blonde one more time when Kira grabbed his fist and easily threw him into the fence.

"Sheesh! What's _wrong_ with you?" The black-and-white-clad man asked with an arched eyebrow. He started to walk towards the blonde boy and grabbed his head as he got on his knees. "Tell me. This wouldn't have anything to do with your little breakdown about being part of the old man, is it?"

Nataro narrowed his eyes before he jumped onto the fence and jumped down into the streets.

"Geez, he sure is starting to become a nutcase…" Kira said with a sad expression on his face.

"He's been like this ever since we got back here." The out-of-action shinobi looked over his shoulder at Hanzo and Kazemaru as they walked over to him. "It's like he's obsessed with Sasuke. At first, we thought he was doing this to help Hokage-sama, but it sounds like he's trying to help _himself_…"

"Not sure what _he'd_ get if Sasuke-san was saved from Orochimaru, though…" Kaze said as he folded his arms across his chest. "Not sure _why_ he'd want to do it. That guy seems like a jackass to me…"

Kira sighed and rolled his eyes. "I think _I_ know why… Come on, let's go find our little blonde doofus." And with that, the future shinobi disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Sakura dried the tears out of her eyes and sniffled. _'If they hadn't stopped in time, they might have…!'_ She felt a hand on her head and looked up to see Kakashi in front of her, his single eye smiling at her.

"Don't worry! Things will soon go back to normal," he told her before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The pink-haired girl smiled sadly. _'Thank you, Kakashi-sensei…'_

Naruto continued to stare at the ground. _'I… What I did wasn't wrong, was it? I've always wanted to prove I'm better than Sasuke…'_ He looked over at the crater and the hole that he and his teammate created with their botched attacks. _'Did I…go too far…?'_

**X-X-X**

"It's very obvious that what Nataro wants is to stop Sasuke-sensei from going to Orochimaru, right?" Kira asked as he walked down the street with Hanzo and Kazemaru behind him. "If he does, he'll have done a _major_ change to history."

"I don't get it. How is keeping Sasuke in Konoha a major change?" The pyromanic genin asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I doubt you'd understand, but…if it weren't for Sasuke-sensei's leaving, things probably wouldn't be the way they are now back home. Who knows how things would've turned out?"

"Hmmm…" Hanzo looked out of the corner of his eye. _'What could change the world so much that it would make Nataro flip out over it…?'_

"I'm not sure what exactly will happen if the timeline _does_ change…but if we don't stop him, we may not go back to the Konoha we know and love."

**X-X-X**

Somewhere in Konoha, Sasuke was sitting high up in a tree on a branch. He clenched his teeth in irritation and glared out into space as he remembered his humiliating defeat to Itachi and his obvious one-uppence from Naruto.

"I like those eyes…" A gray-haired young man named Sakon said with a smirk as he stood on the edge of a rooftop. He wore brown robes that had a white yin-yang symbol with black pants and a string of purple prayer beads around his neck, and what appeared to be another hand stuck out from behind his neck. Behind the gray-haired young man were a dark-skinned young man with brown hair set up by an Oto hitai-ate named Kidomaru, a girl with long reddish-pin hair wearing a sort of hat named Tayuya, and a large orange-haired young man with a necklace hanging from his neck made up of three silver bars named Jirobo. "Let's begin, shall we?"

Just then, wire wrapped itself around Sasuke, attached to a shuriken, binding him to the tree. The Uchiha struggled against his bindings and looked up at the culprit, who turned out to be Kakashi. "What's the meaning of this?"

"If I _didn't_ do this, you'd just run away. You aren't exactly the type to listen quietly while I preach…"

"Tch!"

"Sasuke… Quit seeking revenge." At those words, the Uchiha glared up at him. "In this line of work, I've seen guys just like you… Guys who seek revenge. But in the end, those who tasted revenge were not satisfied… It all ended in tragedy for them. You keep on this path and you'll only hurt and suffer more. And even if you are successful in your revenge, all you'll have is emptiness."

"What the hell do you know?! Don't talk to me like you understand!!" Sasuke shouted loudly. "How would you feel if I killed the one you love most?!" He started to smirk in a disturbing manner. "How far would you go? I can make you feel true pain!"

"That would work, but unfortunately…" The gray-haired man's visible eye smiled. "There is no such person anymore, because all my loved ones are dead." Sasuke stared at him in shock. Kakashi continued, "I've also lived a hard life. I know just how terrible true pain and loss feel. We haven't been lucky…but at least we aren't worst off. Because both you and I have found precious comrades."

Sasuke got a somber look on his face as the thought of Naruto and Sakura popped up in his mind.

"The power of Chidori was given to you because you've found things important enough for you to protect." With a tug, the wires restraining his student fell. "That power isn't something to be used against your friends or for revenge. You should know what that power should be used for. Think hard on whether or not you can hold onto what I've said." In the blink of an eye, the jonin disappeared, leaving the Uchiha alone to his thoughts.

Sasuke stayed there for hours until the sun set and moon had rose up in the sky. Once again, he started to think about Naruto and Sakura, but their faces disappeared into darkness and were replaced with Itachi's. He clenched his teeth and slammed his fist on the branch. _'Damn it!'_ He looked up at the sky and noticed four dark figures in the light of the full moon falling towards him. Sakon, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Jirobo landed on the branches around him, prompting the Uchiha to stand up. "Who the hell are you?!"

"The Sound Four. I'm Kidomaru of the East Gate."

"Jirobo of the South Gate."

"Sakon of the West Gate."

"Tayuya of the North Gate."

In the blink of an eye, the Sound Four seemed to disappear. Sasuke's eyes widened and he immediately raised an arm to block a punch. He jumped aside and began to dodge and block attacks from the Sounds. He grabbed Jirobo and in an impressive display of strength, he threw the larger teen into his allies, but when they made contact, they disappeared in a poof of smoke and were replaced with logs. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and turned around to look at the Sound Four, who were standing on the edge of the roof behind him.

"You caught me in a bad mood… If you want more, I won't hold back."

**X-X-X**

At this same time outside of the entrance into Konoha, Kira half-heartedly glared down at Nataro, who was standing there with a far-off look in his eyes.

"He's going to come through here…and when he does, I'll stop him…"

"Nataro, knock it off. You can't change _this_."

"Why not?!" The blonde genin shouted, his eyes flashing red for a moment. "Why can't I save him?! Isn't that the _point_ of this jutsu?! To change the past and stop bad things from happening?!"

"Bad things, yes. But Sasuke-sensei's leaving Konoha doesn't turn out to be so bad."

"What're you talking about?! Of _course_ it's bad!!" The blonde genin shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Only for _you_, for some reason. Mind telling me why?"

"None of your business!!"

Hanzo slumped over and sighed. "Can it be…? Has Nataro lost it?"

Kazemaru scratched his cheek and tilted his head to the side in thought. "Could be… He's been acting weird for so long, maybe he _has_ lost it!"

Kira slipped his hands into his pants pockets and arched an eyebrow, looking down at his student skeptically. "Right… As if it matters what _you_ want, kiddo. I have to return you guys home as soon as possible."

"No!! Not until I save Sasuke!!" Nataro shouted as he slid into a fighting stance. "And until then, _nothing_ you say can make me leave!!"

"Are you picking a fight with _me_?" Kira laughed. "_Me_? Seriously?! You really _have_ lost it, kiddo!" He held onto his head and smirked. "Alright, so be it. But if I knock the sense back into you, don't get pissed off!"

The blonde clenched his teeth and formed a hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" In a poof of smoke, a dozen of shadow clones appeared around him. The Nataros ran to the mad genius, some wielding kunai.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Kira formed a hand sign and two bunshin appeared alongside him. He gestured towards the charging blondes and one of the clones began to form a chain of hand signs. When the clone was done, he held his hands out in front of him and a blast of wind pushed the blondes back, making them all disappear in a puff of smoke. The mad genius and his bunshin disappeared in the blink of an eye, just before a large fireball hit the spot they were standing on.

'_Damn it!!'_ Nataro thought as smoke wisped out of his mouth as he fell from the air. He didn't have time to protect himself as Kira and the three clones appeared around him. One grabbed him by the head, the other grabbed him by the legs, and the original, who was on his back, had pinned his arms to his sides. When they landed on the ground, the earth beneath the blonde genin cracked.

"Give up yet, kiddo? You know you can't beat _me_!" The black-and-white-clad man said with a cocky grin as he dug his knee into the boy's back.

"Guh…! FUCK OFF!!!"

Kira sighed and shook his head. "You're a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" He jumped off of his back and landed a few feet away from him, his clones disappeared in puffs of smoke. "C'mon, c'mon! Hit me with your best shot so we can get this over with. Use that Rasengan thing." The former ANBU captain gestured for the boy to come at him. "Come get me~."

Nataro got to his feet and grit his teeth. He grounded his feet and formed a familiar hand sign. As soon as the kage bunshin appeared beside him, it was beginning to form the Rasengan in the palm of the original's hand. "You asked for it!!" He shouted once the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Nataro charged at his teacher and thrust the spinning ball of chakra forward. "RASENGAN!!!"

"Oooh, _so _close!"

"Huh?" The orange-clad boy blinked and realized that he hadn't hit anything but air. The Rasengan dispersed, its creator not even noticing the black-and-white-clad man behind him holding out his hand.

"Lemme show you how it's done, kiddo." Nataro looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he saw Kira form a Rasengan in the palm of his hand. The mad genius thrust the spiraling ball of chakra forward, striking the genin in the back with it. "RASENGAN!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" The force of the blow sent Nataro flying back. When he hit the ground, he rolled back, skidding to a halt and causing dust to rise.

Kira held the palm that had been holding the Rasengan up and blew on it as if it were a smoking gun. "Between the two of us, you're a _gust_ and I'm a _storm_."

"WHAT THE HELL?!?" Kazemaru shouted as his jaw dropped and eyes widened comically. "That lunatic can use the Rasengan!!"

"H-how is that…? _When_ did he…? _Who_ would teach…?" Hanzo was too shocked to even finish a sentence.

'_Move… Come on, move…!'_ Nataro thought as he laid down on the ground, staring up at the full moon in the sky. His vision was starting to get blurry and he taste something like copper in his mouth. _'If I don't save him…who will…?'_

**X-X-X**

Nataro's eyes slowly opened and he found himself staring up at the fluorescent lights of a hospital room. He blinked and tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't. Looking down, he saw that he was once again bound to the bed. "WHAT THE HELL?!? Not again…!" As he struggled to get free, the door cracked open, not even noticing the person who had stepped inside. "Need…to…get…_out_!!"

"Well, you're finally awake." Nataro's eyes widened and he turned his head to look at Naruto, the old one, walking over to his bed. "I was worried when Kira and your friends woke up and you didn't. The doctors thought you were still in a coma…until Kira said he knocked you out with the Rasengan," he spoke the last part flatly. When he got to the seat next to the boy's bedside, he started to sit down. "But, at least now we can talk—"

"Get away from me."

Naruto blinked. "Hm?"

"I _said_ get away from me!!" The younger blonde shouted as he tried in vain to roll over on his side so his back was to the elder. But when that failed, he settled for turning his head away. "I hate you!! I don't want anything to do with you anymore, so just leave me the hell alone!!"

"**Well, well… I believe you've finally snapped,"** the Kyuubi spoke, sounding amused.

Naruto sat down and arched an eyebrow. "And what exactly did I do?"

"I…I don't know!! I don't know what you did or how you did it!! I don't even know _why_ I feel this way, but I _hate it_!!"

"Nataro, what are you talking about?"

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, the restrained blonde turned his head to look at the Rokudaime with half-lidded eyes. "You mean you can't tell…? I'm just…a part of you… I have your memories…your jutsu…even the Kyuubi, sort of. So if I'm just a part of you…does that make me you? Or is Kazaki Nataro not a real person…?"

Naruto stared at him for a moment before he sighed, bowing his head. _'So, Kira was right. And here I thought he was just making stuff up.'_ "Young boys…shouldn't be thinking about whether or not they exist. I think you either hit your head a little too hard or that jutsu affected your mind."

Nataro narrowed his eyes. "I know all your secrets… Like how you had a child with Sakura-san." Those words seemed to make the Hokage stiffen up. "Yeah… I know about him. I don't know his name, though…"

"Nataro… You don't honestly expect me to believe a thing like _that_, do you?"

"Why not? You've seen a lot of weird things in your life."

Naruto hummed in thought for a moment before leaning back and sighing. "I _might_ believe you if you told me everything from the beginning..."

**X-X-X**

"Come oooon, tell meeeee!" Kotaro whined as he pulled on Hanzo's ponytail while the older brother was reading a book with a glazed look in his eyes. They were both lying on their stomachs on the rug in Hanzo's bedroom. "Just one more time?"

"I'm busy. Maybe later," said Hanzo as he turned a page. He then looked at the younger Uchiha. "Why don't you go train or something?"

"Hmph!" Kotaro frowned, which looked more like a cute pout. He got to his feet and stomped out of the room.

'_Geez… You'd think he'd get sick of that story by now…'_ The raven-haired boy thought as he went back to reading his book.

"I suppose you're feeling fine now, huh?" Hanzo looked up from his book once more and saw his grandfather standing over him.

"O-of course!" The young Uchiha said as he got on his knees and closed the book shut. "It was just my spirit that was affected by the jutsu. Physically speaking, I feel fine. I don't understand why I was relieved for a week."

"It's perfectly sensible. The last time Nataro was in a coma, he woke up and thought he was the Rokudaime," the elder said with his eyes closed.

"Right… But I'm alright." _'I've seen the past, seen what sort of kid you were, and I'm still alright.'_

"Alright… If you say you're fine…" Sasuke mumbled as he turned his back on the boy and began to walk out of the room. When he was in the doorway, he stopped. "And if you wanted to learn about human body, you could've just asked your grandmother."

After his grandfather had left, Hanzo sighed. He flipped open the book on the page he had left off on—a diagram of the human chakra system. _'Maybe it was just because of what I saw back there, but…the power to save life and take it…may not be so bad to have.'_

"**What's this? You suddenly want to become a god? Whatever happened to asking Grandpa and Auntie for training?"**

'_Couldn't you have shut up and left me alone for a little while longer?'_

The Kaijuu laughed darkly, its eyes narrowing into slits. **"I suppose you're right, though. Just imagine all the damage you could cause with one **_**flick**_** of your finger! One swipe of your hand! With the right precision and aim, you could **_**kill**_** someone without breaking a sweat!" **It started to growl under its breath. **"Then again, something so simple doesn't **_**sound**_** very destructive…"**

Hanzo wasn't even listening to the Heavenly Beast of Chaos as he continued to read the book. _'I want to become stronger…but…'_ The thought of an upset young Sasuke appeared in his mind, making him shudder. _'I don't want to wind up doing what Grandfather did… I'll find my own path to vengeance.'_ "I wonder if he'd be willing to teach me Chidori…" Though he didn't hear anything, he swore he felt the Kaijuu grinning wickedly deep within him.

**X-X-X**

"I wanna be a man!!"

Hakubo arched an eyebrow. Bao Zi and Kagura stared at their guest with mixed expressions: the former had stars shining in his eyes while the latter had a half-lidded stare and a sweatdrop running down the back of his head.

"Hey!! Didn't you hear me? I said _'I wanna be a man'_!!" Kazemaru repeated as he slammed his open palm down on the wooden floor.

"Ooookay… And _why_ exactly is it that you're here?" Hakubo asked the boy with an arched eyebrow.

"Isn't it obvious, Hakubo-sensei?! He wants to come here and train with us so he can put some hair on his scrawny chest!!" Bao Zi exclaimed energetically as stars continued to shine in his eyes.

Kaze gave the yellow-clad boy a glare. "Who you callin' scrawny?!"

Hakubo sweatdropped before looking back at the pyromanic genin. "Uh… Is _that_ what you meant, Kazemaru?"

"Lemme put it into words that _haven't_ been warped by Mr. Man over there… I'm sick of being left behind! I'm sick of _being_ protected by someone instead of _protecting_ someone myself! I…" The orange-haired genin pouted as he tried to think of more things to say. "Uh… I wanna be a strong, reliable guy like you…Hakubo-sensei."

Bao Zi's eyes began to water and he opened his mouth to say something, only to have Kagura kick him in the side of his face hard enough to send him flying into a wall. "Don't even think about saying something dumb, Zi," said the purple-clad young man as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets, his teammate lying down on the ground with swirls in his eyes and birds fluttering around his head.

"Hm… Alright!" The red-haired martial artist punched a fist out towards the orange-haired genin with a smile. "You've gotten to me! I'll help you become a fine man!"

Kazemaru started to blush, and then he grinned. "Thank you, Hakubo-sensei!!" He bowed low, his forehead hitting the floor as he did. "Ow!" _'Heh-heh-heh…! Get ready, Nataro! I'm gonna be able to kick your ass in no time!'_

**X-X-X**

Back at the hospital, Nataro had stopped resisting and stopped trying to avoid looking at Naruto. Now his empty, dull blue eyes wouldn't leave the Rokudaime, and quite frankly, it was starting to scare Naruto a bit.

'_This is impossible… Maybe he really is a clone of me…?'_ Naruto thought as he closed his eyes. _'No, that makes no sense. That doesn't explain the Kyuubi… But when did it transfer itself to another host? And how…?'_ "One more thing, Nataro."

"Naruto."

"_Nataro_… You said you kept trying to save Sasuke, even though you knew he was going to be okay in the end. Why did you do it?"

"Because…everything you've felt…affects me… Like Sasuke… Like Asura-chan."

Naruto blinked. "Asura-chan?"

"She went away…just like Sasuke. She went to Akash…just like Sasuke went to Orochimaru…and I couldn't stop them. I couldn't save _either_ of them! I saw the future and I _still_ couldn't save him!! I wonder if I could've even saved _her_?!"

The Hokage inwardly winced as the blonde boy began to thrash about wildly, trying to break free as tears welled up in his eyes. _'Poor boy. He's been killing himself over this because he doesn't know…'_ He placed a hand on Nataro's head and got him to stop moving and make eye contact. "You don't have to worry. She's fine."

"H-huh?"

"Asura-chan is fine."

Nataro's eyes widened. "I've been killing myself…over nothing?" He turned his head and began to smile. "Thank God… Why the heck didn't anyone tell me?! Where is she?!"

"She's gone away for a while. With her condition…she needs to get better. So you won't be able to see her."

"Why not?"

"She…needs to rest," Naruto said as an image of the comatose Akasha appeared in the back of his mind.

"Rest?" After a few moments in silence, the blonde boy nodded. "Okay. I can understand that. But…she _is_ gonna come back, right, Gramps?" The old man remained silent. "Gramps?"

After a few seconds, Naruto ruffled Nataro's hair with a smile on his face, much to the genin's irritation. "Of course. I don't know when, but she'll have to come back someday."

**X-X-X**

Kira leaned against the wall next to door leading into Nataro's room, his arms folded across his chest and eyes closed. After a few seconds of silence, the door opened and Naruto walked out, looking a bit worn out. "Yo," he spoke, catching the Rokudaime's attention.

"You're already up and walking again? What would the doctors say if they saw you like this?"

"What do _they_ know?" The mad genius asked as he pushed himself off of the wall. "I'm _way_ tougher than a bunch of genin."

"That's true…" Naruto mumbled as he looked down at the floor sadly.

"Lemme guess: either A) told him his little pink-haired girlfriend's in a coma and he's pissed off, B) He's mad at you because of something you did in your childhood, C) He's gone crazy—_again_, if what the hospital staff said was right—and thinks he's you, or D)…you lied and said everything was okay. It was D right? I know it's D. D is _so_ like you…"

"Actually… He _was_ mad at me for starting that fight with Sasuke when we were kids…he even called me an idiot." He noticed Kira stifled a laugh at that one. "He _still_ seems to think he's nothing but a part of me, or something like that…and I just told him that Asura-chan went away for a while."

"Uhhh, correct me if I'm wrong, but can't a coma last for _years_ at longest?" The black-and-white-clad man asked with an arched eyebrow, scratching his head. "Plus, you don't know if she'll actually ever wake up. If she doesn't come back, he's gonna get suspicious…"

"Not if he has something to do to keep him preoccupied."

"Like _what_?" Kira flinched as he noticed the elderly blonde was staring at him. As if he had read the Hokage's mind, he reacted, "No, no, no! No way! Why should I?!"

"I thought you liked him." Naruto arched an eyebrow.

"That was before he dared to defy me and tried to attack me with an A-rank jutsu!! I mean, he'd never hit me, but he still _tried_ to! He's nuts!"

"Nataro…isn't in a fair state of mind right now. What he needs is to find himself."

"From what _I_ can tell, he's found himself in _you_," the mad genius muttered in SD-chibi form as he pointed at the Hokage. "Why don't _you_ do it?! Oh, that's right, your excuse is your _job_… Anyway, what makes you think _he'll_ want to do it?!"

Naruto gestured to the door. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Kira returned to normal and groaned in irritation. He walked over to the door, muttering things under his breath as a vein popped up on his forehead. He suddenly kicked down the door with enough force to break it off the hinges and send it sliding across the floor, making Nataro jump up in shock—well, as much as he _could_ while being bound to a bed.

"Wh-what the heck?! Kira-sensei!!" The blonde boy shouted, his eyes large and white with shock.

"Oh, you think you have the _right_ to call me _'-sensei'_ after the stunt you pulled?!" The black-and-white-clad man snapped, pointing an accusing finger at the child. He calmed down a bit, muttering, "Although I never _wanted_ to be called that in the first place…"

"Sensei, I—!"

"Up-up-up! Whoa there, Naruto or Nataro or whoever the hell you're calling yourself!! Before you go off on a tirade about _why_ it was oh-so important to save Sasuke, let me give you a little history lesson," Kira said as he flicked the boy in the forehead with half-lidded eyes. "Y'see…if Sasuke-sensei hadn't left for Orochimaru, Naruto-sama wouldn't have left with Jiraiya-sama to train and Sakura-sama wouldn't have gotten a reason to train under Tsunade-sama. That, in turn, would weaken them, making them both easy kills during the time a group known as the Akatsuki, who were abducting jinchuuriki—Naruto-sama being a jinchuuriki and Sakura-sama having fought one of the Akatsuki, and thereby having a major effect on world history as we know it!!!"

The mad genius slumped over and began to pant. After a few seconds, he stood up and sighed. "Phew! Not to mention, there wouldn't be a _you_ to spazz out over your existence. Which leads me to my next question: what is your name? _Who_ do people regard you as? What do you call yourself?"

"Uh…I already told you, I'm a part of Uzumaki Naruto."

"WRONG!!!" The mad genius shouted as he pounded the genin on the head with a bedpan. "You are _Ka-za-ki Na-ta-ro_!!" He pounded on the boy's head with each emphasis. "_You're_! _Your own_! _Person_!!" He was about to strike Nataro one more time when Naruto caught his hand.

"_This_ is how you're trying to help him? Be serious!" The Rokudaime chided him with narrowed eyes.

"Huh? Help? Oh, right…" Kira tossed the dented bedpan aside. "Look, do you _want_ to be Uzumaki Naruto or Kazaki Nataro? 'Cuz in my opinion, the last thing the world needs is another one of the old man." He ignored the glare he was getting from said old man. "And I may miss Nataro…maybe…a teeny-tiny bit. Practically the size of a dust mite, really…"

"Really? I'm glad…but I can't change the truth about me," Nataro mumbled as he looked out of the corner of his eye. "And the truth is…I don't know _what_ I am."

The ex-ANBU captain scratched his head in thought before shoving his hands into his jacket pockets with an apathetic expression on his face. "Well then… Until you find that out, why don't you stay as Nataro? At least then, people won't keep asking why you call yourself Naruto…" A perverse grin spread across his face. "And if you're not sure who Nataro is, why don't you try being someone your little _Asura-chan_ would like, huh? I'll even help you out in that department! Heh-heh-heh!'

A light red blush appeared on the boy's cheeks. "H-hey!! I don't like her like _that_!! But, uh… Could…could you train me to be different than Gramps?"

"If by _'different'_ you mean _'faster, better, stronger'_ then yes, I can do that," Kira said with a nod. "Oh-ho! Believe you me, kiddo! When I'm done with you, you'll be a lean, mean killing machine known throughout the nations as _Kazaki Nataro_!! Uh…we'll come up with a cool nickname later on…"

"Alright!! I'm gonna learn all sorts of jutsu and become super-strong, and then I'm gonna kick Gramps' butt and _prove_ I'm superior!!" Nataro exclaimed with a fox-like grin as he bounced on his bed. "That'll show you and your influence!!"

Naruto sweatdropped and gave a wry smile. "Is that right…?" _'I can't tell if he's serious or if he's just putting on an act…'_ "When you say it like that, I'd like to see that," he said as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Get well soon, kiddo. We start training as soon as you get out," Kira said with a creepy glint in his eyes and a wicked smile on his face. "It's gonna be _hell_~! Kukuku…!" He walked out of the room as well, chuckling to himself.

"Heh-heh…" Nataro looked up at the ceiling and smiled. "Everything's…going to be okay now... 'Cuz I'm me…and nothing no one says can make me someone else…"

**X-X-X**

"So…why is it that we have to wait again?" The cloaked man asked as he and another person wearing a cloak walked behind three figures through a cave.

"We can only do it at a certain time. From the looks of the Kyuubi, the other beasts will be hesitant in accepting what they really are," said the person in the lead, a man. "Not to mention that we need the time to look for certain people to help bring the plan into fruition."

"It makes no sense. Surely you're powerful enough to take care of the Bijuu yourself," said the other cloaked figure in a breathy woman's voice.

"I have other things to do. I will do as I am told."

"Hmph! I don't see why I have to help out when you're the only one He talks to," said one of the figures behind the man in lead, sounding like a young girl.

"Considering that your power isn't exactly as it used to be, you shouldn't go picking fights just yet. Be patient…" At the end of the cave, the man stepped out into the light, revealing a man in his 20's with shoulder-length black hair and black eyes, wearing a black hooded cloak with the hood down and the cloak zipped down a bit to reveal a black tattoo of a nine-pointed star on his chest. "We _will_ break the spiral…"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Whoopee!! We're done!!**

**Naruto cast: HURRAY!!!**

**Blu: Now on to Naruto Gaiden!!**

**Naruto: Yeah!! Wait, what? I thought Arashiden was next?!**

**Blu: It is. After the gaiden.**

**Naruto: What gaiden?**

**Blu: The gaiden where you shine, buddy! That's right, Kakashi got his own backstory, and now, so do you!**

**Naruto: (-.-) I already _have_ a back story! It's called _Naruto_—the _manga_! Remember…?**

**Blu: I meant the back story for this _fan fiction_. The part _after_ Shippuuden. The story that reveals a lot of background for this fanfic that is actually important to Arashiden's storyline!!**

**Naruto: It's that important?**

**Blu: Yup. I even plan on having Kabuto in there. I'll make sure you look _cool_~!**

**Naruto: (O.O) Alright!! Let's get this gaiden on the roll!! (Runs offscreen)**

**Blu: …I haven't finished writing it yet… Oh, well… (Looks at the readers) Thank you very much for sticking with me through the first part of Naruto X (again, for those who read the original), even if you didn't review—which I highly encourage! I hope you have enough patience to stick through Arashiden and remember to review for the sake of Blu! See you in the next…uh…in the Gaiden, I guess!**

**(The screen fades out as a banner appears onscreen of SD-chibis of the Naruto X Rookie 9 and Naruto Rookie 9 holding up a banner that says "See you in Arashiden!!" writing in bold orange colors with different-colored spirals on it and Naruto and Nataro's faces on the opposite ends…)**


	53. Naruto Gaiden: Hurricane's Legend

**Blu: Lo and behold!! The first part of the Naruto Gaiden has begun!!**

**Naruto: Whoo-hoo!! Finally, I get my spotlight time in this fic!!**

**Sakura: But wait, why is it the **_**first**_** part?**

**Blu: Well, I wasn't even halfway through it in particular when it was over 13,000 words. I had to split it in two or else it would be too long for people to read. I know I don't like that.**

**Kazemaru: Wow… 13,000?**

**Hanzo: She really wants to impress her fans.**

**Blu: Nah, I just wanna make things clear. So, this part of the gaiden reflects among the time **_**before**_** Naruto becomes the Hokage. I hope you all enjoy. Now roll it!!**

_Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Whatever it is that Blu Rose does to his story is not cannon or belongs to her. Only this story and her OCs are her property._

**X-X-X**

_#53: Naruto Gaiden: Hurricane's Legend_

_Over 53 years ago... The ninja world was heading towards destruction… The Akatsuki, a group of shinobi outlaws, were determined to cause a massive war and rule the world… To do this, they tried to catch the 9 bijuu, who had been sealed into 9 jinchuuriki—humans who had each been granted immense inhuman power…and suffered lonely lives because of the pain that came alongside that power… Amongst them was the jinchuuriki of Konohagakure, the container of the strongest bijuu, and the boy who would become one of the strongest ninja in the world…Uzumaki Naruto._

**X-X-X**

_**16 years…**_

_It had all come down to this. The two young boys, still in their teens, were probably amongst the strongest shinobi in the world. They were talented. They were rivals. They were friends—at least in the opinion of the blonde boy._

_They were low on chakra. They couldn't use anymore of their strongest jutsu. All their weapons had been discarded. Even the dark-haired boy's eyes had returned to their normal black color. They stood there, panting, both daring the other to move in for the final blow._

_In a flash, they were running towards each other with teeth bared. When they were close, they pulled back their fists and punched each other in the face at the same time. Normally, the punch would be too weak of a blow to deter either of them, but in their current condition, it was enough to knock the both of them out…_

"NARUTO-SENSEI!!!"

**X-X-X**

_**25 years…**_

Naruto's head immediately shot up, the back of it hitting the tree trunk he was leaning against. "Ack!!" He slumped forward and started to rub the bump that was forming. "Ooohhh…!"

"Sensei!!" He looked out of the corner of his eye to glare at the 12-year old girl standing next to him. She had short magenta-colored hair and honey brown eyes, and wore a red top with short white sleeves and black bicycles shorts, red fingerless gloves, a yellow scarf around her neck with a maple leaf imprinted on it, and a Konoha hitai-ate on her head like a headband on a piece of red cloth. "Sensei!! You weren't paying attention to us again!"

"Huh? I must've dozed off…" The 25-year old jonin mumbled as he rubbed his eye. He wore the standard Leaf jonin vest with a long-sleeved orange and black shirt underneath and orange and black pants. "You guys done with your training?"

"Duh!! For the last_ hour_!!" The magenta-haired girl shouted as she pointed a finger at her teacher's nose.

"You're taking things outta proportion, Aki," said one of the two boys who were standing behind the girl. He had light tan skin, messy white hair that spiked back and bright blue eyes, and wore a sleeveless blue shirt that was zipped down to the middle of his stomach, revealing a dark blue undershirt, and dark blue pants, the Konoha hitai-ate tied around his head.

"Yeah, it's only been ten minutes," said the boy with the short pale blonde hair and green eyes, wearing a long-sleeved green jacket that had a black flower symbol on the back with black pants, the Konoha hitai-ate tied so that the metal plate was on the back of his head.

"Minutes, hours, same thing! The point is that you promised that you were going to buy us lunch! And I, for one, will make sure you make good on your promise, sensei!" Aki proclaimed as she pointed down at Naruto.

The blonde man beamed at his students. "Yup! And I'm gonna keep it right now!"

**X-X-X**

Aki glared down at the bowl of ramen that had been placed in front of her. She shifted on her stool to glare at Naruto, who was already slurping up the noodles in his bowl. "I wanted _real_ food, for once…" She said as a sweatdrop ran down the side of her head.

"Maybe you should've told him it couldn't be ramen," the blonde boy said with a wry smile.

"Yeah, right, Natsu. Like _that_ would get our dumb sensei to listen."

"D-don't just insult him when he's sitting right next to you!"

"Like he's even listening. He's too into his ramen to pay us any mind! I could say anything and he wouldn't hear me!"

True, he wasn't paying attention to his students, but it wasn't because of the ramen. No, his mind was on the friend that was sent away 10 years ago. It was one part punishment, one part rehabilitation, seeing as how after their last battle, the Uchiha was broken emotionally and spiritually. The members of Team 7 hadn't been told his whereabouts, but that was okay. At least they knew this time he'd come back someday…

"I bet I could tell the whole world he has a stack of porn magazines under his bed and he wouldn't even notice!"

'_10 years… That should be more than enough for Sasuke to pull himself together, shouldn't it? I mean…with everything he's been through…'_

"Hey, Naruto-sensei! A crow just came in here and pooped on your head!"

'_Will he ever get better…?'_

"Hey, look! There's Sakura-san, sensei!"

"D-d-don't joke about things like that!!" Naruto suddenly snapped as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Aaahh!!" Aki fell off of her stool in surprise.

"So much for not hearing you…" The white-haired boy, Haru, mumbled as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head.

"But she wasn't joking, sensei. Sakura-san's right over there!" Natsu, the blonde boy, pointed into the street where a lovely-looking woman with short pink hair and bright green eyes, wearing a red blouse with short white sleeves, a white miniskirt, and a red Konoha hitai-ate on her head like a hair band was walking by.

Aki immediately sat up with a sly look on her face. "Eh, sensei. If you want, you can go try and hook up with her again and let us stack up the bill. Go tap that ass!"

Naruto stared down at her with half-lidded eyes. "You know, most girls wouldn't say that."

"Most girls aren't taught by a guy who calls transforming into a naked woman a distraction, far as I know. Now are you going to hit on her or not?"

"Hit on _who_ exactly?" The genin and their sensei turned around to find Sakura standing behind them with an arched eyebrow. "Just who do you plan on hitting on, Naruto?"

The blonde man flinched. "Uh, well I—!"

"He was supposed to go hit on—" Aki began before she was silenced by a noogie to the head. "ARRRGH!!! Lemme go!!"

"If I wanted to tell her who it was, I'd tell her myself!" Naruto growled as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"It doesn't matter. I actually came here to tell you something." Sakura looked down at the genin and smiled. "Do you guys think I could have some alone time with your sensei?"

"_Alone time_…?" All three children repeated as their stared at the woman suspiciously.

"Not like _that_, you little idiots!!" Naruto shouted.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, the blonde and pinkette were walking down the street.

'_I wonder what she wants to talk about… Could it be…'_ He looked aside and a light red blush appeared on his cheeks. _'Were the kids right about what they were thinking…? That doesn't seem right! Shouldn't the guy be the one to make the first move…?'_ Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that they had reached the village entrance. "Huh?" He looked at his female companion. "What're we doing here?"

"Tsunade-sama got word on Sasuke today." Those words got Naruto's attention. "He's coming back today." And those nearly made his heart stop.

"Really?! Has it really been that long since…you know?"

"I can't believe it either." The pink-haired woman started to smile. "We should stay here and greet Sasuke when he arrives, don't you think? We'll be the first people he meets!"

Naruto grinned and placed his hands behind his head. "Sounds good to me! I've got nothing else to do, anyway…"

"Um, excuse me?" A voice called out to the two jonin. They looked over at the booth next to the entrance where a pair of chunin were. "Uchiha Sasuke… He wouldn't happen to be a dark-haired guy with this creepy aura about him, would it?" One asked.

"What creepy aura? You were imagining things," the other chunin said with a laugh.

"Wait a minute! Sasuke was here already?" Sakura asked with her eyes wide in surprise.

"Mm-hm!" The first chunin nodded. "He passed by here, like…fifteen minutes ago with some ANBU. They were heading towards the Hokage's Tower— Hey, where are you going?!" He shouted as the two jonin burst into a run in the direction of the Administration Building.

**X-X-X**

"Do you understand, Sasuke?" Tsunade asked as she stared at the Uchiha from behind her desk. Even after ten years, her jutsu had yet to wane and she still retained the appearance of a 20-something year old beauty.

"Mm-hm."

Just then, the door burst open and Naruto and Sakura stood in the doorway, panting. Their eyes widened at the sight of the dark-haired man standing before the Godaime Hokage. His bangs were long in the front, reaching his shoulders, the hair was still spiky in the back, his skin seemed a bit paler than it had been before and he was wearing a simple wide-collared white shirt with blue pants, but it was still him. "Sasuke…" They spoke at the same time.

"Oh. It's you two."

Naruto's eye twitched. "_'It's you two'_? It's been ten years and all you can say is _'it's you two'_?" After a few seconds, he started to smile. "Haha! Well, at least we know it's you! Too bad you couldn't fix that attitude while you were gone…"

"I could say the same for you," Sasuke replied with an apathetic look on his face. "You still have that dumb expression."

"Dumb expression?!" Sakura elbowed Naruto in the ribs before he could say anything more. "Oof!"

"You've just met again and already you two are picking fights! You're so immature…" The pink-haired woman spoke with her arms folded across her chest.

"You haven't changed much, either. Still quick to use violence." The Uchiha didn't flinch at the expression Sakura gave him or the look of pity from Naruto.

'_That poor fool…'_ The blonde man thought as Sakura walked up to their old friend with a balled-up fist.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, the trio were at Ichiraku's. Naruto and Sakura were enjoying their ramen and attempting to start a conversation with Sasuke, who was just stirring around the contents in his bowl with his chopsticks and ignoring the stinging pain coming from the bruise on his cheek.

"So, what're you gonna do now that you're back? You _are_ gonna try to become a chunin, right?" Naruto asked. When Sasuke flinched in realization, the blonde couldn't help but smirk. "Heh-heh-heh…! You forgot you're still a genin, didn't you? You must be feeling _really_ pathetic right about now…"

"Oh, hush up! You're one to talk! Remember when you found out everyone from our class but you got promoted to chunin and Gaara was the Kazekage?" Sakura reminded him.

Naruto's head slumped over as a cloud of gloom surrounded his head. "Don't remind me…"

"The Godaime said I wouldn't be allowed back into service until I complete a task," the Uchiha spoke up for the first time since Sakura had slugged.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I have to have an heir."

"An heir? What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"What do you think? It means that before I can be allowed to go on missions again, I have to marry…and have a child."

Naruto and Sakura almost choked on their noodles. They gave Sasuke incredulous looks, their eyes large and blank. "Marry?!"

"You're joking!! Why would Granny Tsunade want you to _marry_ to become a ninja again?!"

"What could she possibly be thinking…?"

"Actually, she said that the village council suggested that if they were to have an Uchiha in the village, they may as well have more Sharingan users for the future," Sasuke answered as he picked up a fish cake, inspecting it scrutinously.

"O-oh… Well, you've said that one of your goals was to restore your clan. Now you have a reason to," Sakura spoke with a stiff smile.

"Hn…"

"Alright! So, I guess you'll need some help hitting the town and scoring a girl, huh?" Naruto asked with a perverse look and a wiggle of his eyebrows. "But that'll be easy for you, considering how many girls used to drop at your feet when you were a kid! I'll bet you'll have a wife in no time flat!"

**X-X-X**

A week later…

"I can't believe no one in the village wants to date you!!" Naruto exclaimed with wide, blank eyes as he stared into his bowl of ramen. "Not one woman! Not even a _gay guy_ will look you in the eye! What the hell, Sasuke, did you lose your sexiness in rehab?"

The Uchiha didn't honor him with a response. He simply ate his noodles slowly and tried to ignore the spastic blonde.

"At this rate, you may never become a ninja again…" The blonde man looked at the Uchiha from out of the corner of his eye and pouted. "Hey. At least _act_ like you care! Aside from never becoming a ninja again, you're gonna wind up as one of those crotchety old men who never got married or had kids and spends his days yelling at people who step on his property! This is a serious problem!"

When he was done chewing on a fish cake, Sasuke turned his head to look at the jinchuuriki. "And the reason why you're bothering yourself with my problems is because…?"

"_Because_ you're my friend! And also because it's pathetic to see a guy who has less luck with women than Sai! _Sai_, Sasuke!!" The Uchiha shook his head and went back to eating his ramen as Naruto mused aloud. "Let's see… Maybe if we put up one of those dating ads—"

"No."

"Set up a blind date—"

"No."

"Offer money—?"

"_No_."

"Goddamn it, Sasuke!! If you're not gonna help, you don't have to shoot down my ideas!!" Naruto growled with narrowed eyes. "Gah, forget you!" He pushed himself up off the stool he was on and stood up, stretching. "I'm going to meet Sakura-chan at the hospital. You wanna come with?"

"No thanks."

"Alright, suit yourself."

**X-X-X**

A while later, Naruto and Sakura were walking down the street together.

"So Sasuke hasn't been able to find _anyone_ who's interested in him?" The pink-haired woman asked with a frown.

"Nope. It's kinda sad, really," said Naruto as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Come to think of it…exactly _how_ many girls were Sasuke even on a daily speaking basis with?"

"Well…there's that Karin woman who was traveling with him."

"What happened to _her_?"

"I don't know. I she just got sick of waiting for him and left, saying, _'I can't cling to him like you and Naruto can'_."

"I wouldn't call it _'clinging'_… But that only leaves one person…" Naruto looked down at Sakura. After a few seconds, the pink-haired woman realized he was looking at him.

"Huh? _Me_?"

"Of course you! I can't think of another woman who cares for Sasuke as much as you do."

"But that doesn't mean I want to _marry_ him!! Besides…I don't care for him like that anymore," the medic said as she looked down at the ground sadly. "And why would _you_ of all people want me to date Sasuke?"

The blonde jonin forced a smile onto his face. "Well, if one of us should be happy, it may as well be Sasuke. I'm a man now, after all, and there are plenty of other fish in the sea who are willing to get with me!"

"Really." Sakura arched an eyebrow. "So you're not interested in me anymore?"

Naruto stopped walking and sighed. "Don't make this any harder than it already is, Sakura… Just…just go out with him a few times and see where it goes, okay?"

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright… I'll give it a try. But I don't think it's going to work, knowing Sasuke…" She gave him a smile and a wave. "Well, good night!" She walked through the glass doors that led into her apartment building, leaving the blonde ninja alone in the sparse streets.

Naruto sighed…then he slapped himself in the head. "Go out with him a few times and see where it goes…? What am I, an idiot…? I'm too nice for my own good…" The jonin mumbled to himself as he walked in the direction of his own apartment building.

**X-X-X**

"You went on a date last night?! With _Sasuke_?!" 26-year old Ino shouted as she and Sakura sat outside of a dango shop. The Yamanaka woman was curvaceous and lovely with long hair that had a set of bangs covering her right eye and an off-the-shoulders purple dress with a slit up the center to her torso, dark blue pants and black heeled sandals.

"Actually…we've been going out for almost a week now," the pink-haired medic admitted with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Ino's jaw dropped and she dropped the stick of dango in her hand, her eyes large and blank. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the blonde medic screamed, "WHAAAAT?!? It's bad enough that you went out with _Sasuke_ without telling me, but you've been doing it for _days_?!" She shouted as she pointed an accusing finger at her sempai.

Sakura arched an eyebrow. "What're _you_ overreacting for? I thought you were over Sasuke?"

"I am! It's just upsetting that you didn't tell me about this from the _beginning_! What sort of friend are you?" Ino leaned in closer with a cat-like smirk on her face. "So, what was it like? If you've been going out for days, it must be enjoyable or you'd feel too bad about dumping him outright!"

"Well…he _does_ seem to try to be nice. He's a bit awkward at it, but that makes him so cute!" The pink-haired woman touched her cheek and smiled. "Last night, we went to that new café that opened up, and he was trying his hardest to act like a gentleman…and when he walked me home, it was so hard for him to kiss me good night…!"

"Wow. I never thought I'd hear of _that_ stick in the mud trying to be social. But are you _seriously_ thinking of going steady with him?"

"Well…"

**X-X-X**

"You're gonna do _what_?!" Naruto screamed as he, Sai and Kakashi stared at Sasuke in shock. The blonde's expression was more humorous, his jaw slack and eyes large and blank.

"Proposal?" Sai pronounced with an arched eyebrow.

"You haven't even been going out for a month yet and you wanna _marry her_?!" Naruto shrieked. Kakashi immediately placed a hand over the blonde's mouth before he could say anymore.

"Naruto has a point. Aren't you rushing things a bit?"

"The sooner I marry and begin the reconstruction of my clan, the sooner I can become a shinobi again, and the sooner I can have something to do with my life," the Uchiha explained.

"If you want something to do, _get a hobby_!! Take up stamp collecting, gardening, heck, _read a book_!! Don't get married!!" Once again, Kakashi slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth.

"Sure that isn't jealousy talking, Naruto?"

"MMPH!!!"

"But how exactly do you think your marriage with Sakura will go if you've only been going out with her for a month?" Kakashi asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I have a way," said Sai, gaining everyone's attention. The dark-haired shinobi pulled out a red and pink book with the title _'Signs of Love: A Guide to Romance'_. "I believe there's a test in here that you can take to see if you are compatible with your relevant other." The artistic ninja flipped over to a page and pointed at the first question. "Why don't we see how Sasuke-kun fares?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Hn."

"That's a _'yes'_," Kakashi informed with a nod.

"Okay… Your gender is male…her's is female… Your relationship with Sakura is both that of a friend and a girlfriend… You've been dating her for less than a month… And on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest, how would you rate your relationship?"

"Five."

"_Five_? Aren't you even gonna _lie_ and say it's a 10?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow as Sai flipped the page.

"Question 1: do you think she's beautiful?"

"If you mean if she's alright to look at, yes."

"Of course she's beautiful! She's the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth!"

"Naruto, this is Sasuke's test. Stop interrupting," Kakashi told the younger jonin.

"Question 2: does she know you?" Sai asked.

"I suppose."

"Does she dress stylishly?"

"Yes."

"Do you know her parents?"

"No."

"Does she know _your_ parents?"

"…No."

"Is she taller than you?"

"No."

"Do you know her friends?"

"Unless she got new ones while I was away, yes."

This went on for several minutes until they had reached the end. As Sai tallied the scores in his head, Naruto and Sasuke waited with bated breath while…Kakashi continued to read his outdated copy of Icha-Icha Tactics. When he was done, the artistic ninja arched an eyebrow. "Hm."

"Well?" The blonde and raven asked at the same time.

"It says here that Sasuke-kun is only 32 percent compatible with Sakura…and that she is only 21 percent compatible with him. _'You may think you know a lot about your partner, but you might want to spend some more quality time together. Love, trust, understanding, affection, honesty, tolerance and loyalty are important factors in a successful relationship. Think about what is missing in your relationship and work to improve on it.'_" By the time Sai looked up, Sasuke was already walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Tch…! As if I'm going to listen to a piece of paper. I know for a fact that Sakura won't turn down my proposal…"

**X-X-X**

That night at the hospital, a cry of " SHANNARO!!!" was followed up by Sakura's fist striking Sasuke in the face. The force of the blow sent him flying back into one of the stone pillars near the entrance, breaking it down. "What the _hell_ are you thinking?! Have you lost your mind?!" Sakura screamed as she held up a shaking fist. "You can't just go out with a girl for a few weeks and tell her to marry you!! I don't care for you like _that_!!"

"You lie." The medic narrowed her eyes and looked over her shoulder at Sasuke, who was standing behind her unscathed. "If you didn't care for me, you'd have punched my clone to the other side of town. Listen: this isn't just for me, Sakura. This is for the future of the Uchiha and the continuance of the Sharingan. My bloodline is the only reason why the council agreed to keep me alive—along with you and Naruto." The raven-haired man leaned in closer to her. "I'll give you a choice. Yes? No?"

"I…" Sakura turned around and stared at the ground. For a moment, she saw Naruto in her mind. "I…need time, Sasuke. I need to think it over for a while."

The Uchiha's face was blank, but in truth, he was upset. "Fine. I could wait a few days for an answer."

"A day or two?! That's not enough time to—" When the pink-haired woman looked back over her shoulder, she saw that he was gone. She slumped over and sighed. "What am I gonna do…?"

**X-X-X**

"You should do it," Naruto told her on their walk to her apartment building.

"What?!" Sakura whirled around to look at the blonde jonin with wide eyes. "_You_'_re_ telling me to go through with marrying Sasuke?!"

"Don't act so surprised. I already told you that I didn't mind you going out with Sasuke. Why should I mind you marrying him?"

"Seriously?! You don't think it's too soon?!"

"Too soon? You're 26 years old, your profession has a very low life expectancy rate and you're not getting any younger—not that that's a bad thing!" He immediately added after seeing the dark look she was giving him. Naruto sighed and looked down at the ground sadly. "Believe me, I don't like the idea of…the two of you in bed together, but…right now, Sasuke needs something that'll make him stop acting like such a stiff and make him happy for once, and the only one with a shot of doing that is _you_."

"But…marry him? I just don't know…" The pink-haired woman mumbled with a dazed look in her eyes.

"Look at it this way: you're the only one who can make Sasuke truly happy! You can give him back a family to love!"

"I don't know…" Sakura repeated as they stopped in front of the glass doors of her apartment. "I need to sleep on it and see. Good night." She turned to walk into the building when Naruto grabbed her hand. "Huh?" She felt him pull her closer to him and spin her around, and then she felt his lips on hers. When he pulled away from her, the pink-haired woman could only stare in shock. "Why did you…?"

"Heh… I always wanted to do that. I figured I may as well do it now, while you're still single," the blonde spoke as he looked out of the corner of his eye, his face red from embarrassment. "Well, good night!" he spoke quickly before running off.

"H-hey, wait a minute!! Naruto!!" Sakura's shouts were in vain as he continued to run.

'_Stupid, stupid, stupid!! Is this your idea of letting go?!'_ He shouted in his mind as he clenched his teeth and disappeared into the night.

**X-X-X**

Married. She was married now. Married to Sasuke. But it sure didn't _feel_ like they were married. Sasuke went from being awkward around his newlywed bride to being downright avoidant. The only time they actually connected was when they made love, but even that seemed stiff and void of emotion to Sakura, and it upset her greatly. That was what had started the entire mess…

"I know he's not the best at being social, but we've been living together for two months now and we're acting as if we're nothing more than…roommates! No, even _roommates_ develop a relationship after _two months_!" Sakura complained over an uneaten bowl of ramen.

Naruto put down his fifth bowl of ramen. "Hey, like you said, he's not the best socially. Maybe he just doesn't know how to be a husband. I mean, it's not like he's had any good examples…"

"If he'd just _try_, I wouldn't be this upset!" The pink-haired woman huffed and brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes. "I'm starting to think this was a bad idea. Maybe we should get a separation…?"

"But if Sasuke doesn't start to rebuild his clan, the council won't allow him to rejoin the forces! He's a born fighter! Living a civilian's life would make him go crazy!" The blonde man stared at the pinkette in deep thought before a smile spread out across his face. "Aha! Let's go out!"

"Idiot! I'm a married woman now! How would it look if I went on a date behind my husband's back with his best friend?" she replied with a sad smile that betrayed the tone of her words.

"Who's talking 'bout dates? I was thinking we could go get a couple of drinks and let saké ease our troubles away for tonight." He pulled out his little frog wallet and waved it enticingly in front of his female friend. "I'll pay~! And I won't tell Sasuke~!"

"Mmmm…" After a few seconds of waiting, Sakura shrugged. "Alright. But no funny stuff!" A broad grin stretched out across Naruto's face. "Just _one_ drink or two…"

"Yes!! Let's go begin a night on the town!!"

**X-X-X**

About a dozen jugs of saké and a drinking contest later…

The electric alarm clock sounded off with Hi no Kuni's #1 radio station at max volume. It was some song from some popular TV show, but it all just sounded like noisy gibberish to Naruto.

'_Man, what did I do last night…? I had drinks with Sakura… My head's killing me!'_ The blonde thought as the lyrics continued to persist. "Shut uuuup…! I wanna sleep…!" He mumbled, and reached over to press the snooze button when he felt something soft and supple. "Huh?" _'What's this?'_ He gave it a squeeze. _'Too soft to be a pillow…'_ He blinked his eyes open and found himself staring into Sakura's face slightly red face. "Sa…kura?"

"Naruto…?"

They both remained in their positions until they realized just what _sort_ of position they were in. They were on each other…sweating…and naked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

They had convinced themselves that nothing happened and no one, but _no one_ was the wiser—especially Sasuke. God knows how he would react to such a thing given his mental state. Because of that incident, Naruto and Sakura felt uncomfortable around each other, and when forced to be together on missions, eye contact and conversations were curt.

Then, months later, Sakura announced that she was pregnant. With the coddling and preparations that came after that, the two forgot that dreaded night until the day had arrived. Sasuke was with her in the delivery room after much prodding from Kakashi whose exact words were _'husbands should be with their wives in delivery—no matter how gruesome it is.'_

From the waiting room, it certainly sounded gruesome. Sakura's constant screams of pain and cursing kept making Naruto, Sai and Ino jump until her screams were replaced with shrill cries. Everyone began to breathe easy until Sasuke ran out of the delivery room, shaking and livid.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

The sole Uchiha glared at Naruto, making the blonde flinch. "_You_…!" He marched over to the blonde man and punched him in the face. "You bastard!!" He continued to punch until Sai and Kakashi pulled him off. "You bastard…! How could you?! HOW COULD YOU SLEEP WITH _MY WIFE_?!?"

Kakashi, Sai and Ino stared at the Uchiha in shock while Naruto felt his heart plunge into his stomach.

"Wh-what?! What makes you say something like that, Sasuke?" Their former sensei asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Because the baby has _blonde_ hair!! It's _his_, I can tell!!"

Naruto wiped the blood dribbling down his lip off on his shirt sleeve. He bowed his head, bangs hiding his eyes. "He's right. It was just once, but…" He looked up at the Uchiha, returning his glare. "But you're just as much to blame!"

"Excuse me?!"

"If you treated Sakura like a husband should treat his wife, then she wouldn't have come running to me!!" In that moment, Sasuke broke free of Sai and Kakashi and tackled Naruto to the ground. _'Damn it…! Why did it have to turn out like __**this**__…?'_

**X-X-X**

He should've left after Tsunade came in and separated the two of them, but he just had to see the baby first. So here he was, standing in front of the glass window with a black eye and a bruise on his cheek that was slowly turning blue, trying to find his son.

"Fourth row, tenth to the right." Naruto whirled around and found himself looking into the slightly miffed face of Tsunade. "Don't look at _me_! Look at _him_!"

The blonde man did as she said and looked back into the maternity ward. After spotting him, he realized that Sasuke was wrong. The tufts of hair that barely covered his head were a darker shade of yellow than his own.

The baby fidgeted in his crib, seemingly bothered by all the noise the other babies were making until finally… "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" His crying somehow scared the others into crying as well, but his voice drowned the others out.

"Yup. He's yours alright. He's louder than all the others," said Tsunade with her arms folded across her chest, but Naruto couldn't help but smile. "You're going to have to come and fill out his birth certificate."

"Huh? But he's Sakura's baby," the jonin spoke as he pressed his hand against the glass. "Which makes Sasuke his father."

"No, biologically speaking, that would be you. Sasuke doesn't want to keep the child, so rather than put him up for adoption, Sakura opted to give custody of the baby to you."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?" _'Raise…a child? Me?'_ He couldn't raise a child!! But he didn't want the kid to go through adoption, never knowing his real parents. He already knew what that was like…and it _was_ better to have one blood parent than none. "Alright…"

"Good. You'll be given pay for paternity leave and should you be confused, I'll recommend a book on childcare for you. And if anything appears to be wrong with him, bring him for a checkup at the hospital. You're going to have to live with this dumb mistake for the rest of your life."

Naruto looked back at the crying baby. "I know."

**X-X-X**

_**29 years…**_

"AZUKIIIIII!!!" Naruto screamed as he chased after the 4-year old hellion that was his child. The child was annoyingly playful when it came to his bath time, but _this_…! Stripping down to his undies and running around was cute in the apartment, but when you went out into the streets…! God knows what people who saw the almost-naked child thought of the infamous Uzumaki Naruto…

The little devil stuck his tongue out. "Nya-nyah! Can't catch me!!" His hair had turned from dark blonde to strawberry blonde—almost orange, really—and his sky blue eyes held the same mischievous look Naruto's once held at that age. Of course, while he'd deny being that bad, he recalled Iruka saying how he hoped the blonde man would have to deal with a child just like him…

"Get back here!!"

"Hahaha—OOF!!!" The little blonde's taunting ended as soon as he tripped over his own feet and was sent sprawling to the ground at someone's feet. He got up as tears welled up in his eyes and he began to bawl. "WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Awwww… There, there." Before Azuki knew what was happening, he was being picked up and held against the biggest chest he had ever seen. Well, maybe _second_ biggest compared to Granny Tsunade. The child's cheeks reddened and he started to grin broadly before pushing his face into the unknown woman's chest.

"Azuki!!" Naruto growled as he skidded to a halt and blinked at the sight of his son cuddling up to the breasts of a casually clothed dark-haired woman. "Azuki! What are you _doing_?!" He hissed, his eyebrow twitching in irritation. God know what the child had for women with big breasts, but Sakura kept insisting it was because of lack of breastfeeding as a child...

"Hm? Naruto!" The woman gasped as her pale eyes landed on him.

Naruto blinked and observed the woman's features. Blue-tinted black hair…pale eyes…a tint of re don her cheeks… "Hinata? Oh, Hinata! I haven't seen you for a while!"

"Yeah… You, too… Is…this your son?" Hinata asked as she shifted Azuki in her arms. The child wasn't in a hurry to let her go—or was it her breasts he wasn't going to let go of?

"Um, yeah!" The blonde man grinned and scratched the back of his head. "His name is Azuki ."

Hinata blinked. "Azuki…?" The image of a bowl of red beans came into her mind, making her sweatdrop.

"I know, I know! It's a weird name, but I was hungry and nervous and I wasn't in the mood for ramen….!" He trailed off, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. Silence went on between the two of them after that. Ever since the incident with Pain all those years ago, it had been a bit awkward to be around Hinata. Every time he tried to confront her about it, she'd say it was a mistake and just run off, like she was embarrassed of her confession of her love to him.

"So…who is his mother?" The Hyuga heiress asked when Azuki continued to rub his face against her breasts. However, the word _'mother'_ made him look up and pout.

"Mother? His mother is…" _'Married to another man.'_ "No longer with us. Or rather…" Naruto looked out of the corner of his eye. "It doesn't matter who she is because you don't know her." He walked up to Hinata and grabbed hold of Azuki. "Sorry for the trouble! He's such a little troublemaker, he just…runs…off!" He grunted as he tried to pull his son off of Hinata. "Come…on…Azuki! Stop being rude and let go of Hinata-san!"

"No!! I like Boobie Lady!!" The blonde brat cried as tears welled up in his eyes. "And she likes me, right? Right?!?

""Oh! Um... Yes. I do. I think you're a very sweet little boy."

"Sw-sweet?! He just called you _'Boobie Lady'_!! How is that sweet?!" Naruto shouted, making the boy flinch.

Hinata gasped. "Naruto! Do you always speak in such a tone to your son?"

"Uh... N-no! I mean, I don't speak that way _to_ him, but...well, he's a bit thickheaded and it's like fear's the only thing that'll get through to him..." He sighed and released Azuki, allowing Hinata to hold the boy. "It's just been really hard raising him by myself. Sakura-chan helps out, but whenever I leave him with Kakashi-sensei, Konohamaru or Sasuke, I'm afraid of what influence they'll have on him…"

"W-well... If you'd like some help, I could look after him. Maybe babysit for you while you're on missions."

"That'd be great, but you've got missions, too."

The blue-haired woman looked down at the ground. "Well, I won't be doing that anymore. I'm engaged."

"Oh. ...WHAT?!?"

**X-X-X**

As surprising—and upsetting—as it was to learn that Hinata had an arranged marriage set up, letting her babysit Azuki was a brilliant idea. Naruto was getting upset with the treatment Sasuke was giving his son and the way his eldest son Naota liked to punch him. Sakura told him he was just imagining things, but he was pretty sure their so-called bundle of joy was actually _glaring_ at him when he came to pick up Azuki one time as his son clung to his leg in fear. And the last time he let Konohamaru look after his child, his favorite word became _'boobies'_. And forget about the few times Kakashi was free, because he somehow thought it was alright for Azuki to look at his books since he couldn't read that well.

"Alright! Our first mission with Naruto-sensei in _forever_!" 16-year old Aki exclaimed, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts of his son and onto his students. She looked pretty much the same, except her top was opened up at the chest, showing off her fishnet undershirt and her black shorts had been replaced by a black miniskirt with a slit in the front revealing red short shorts.

"Yeah, but what a lame mission… Honestly, looking for monsters? Who believes in monsters in _this_ day and age?" Asked Haru, who was wearing a long-sleeved blue jacket with white shoulders and a broad white stripe running down the front and the Konoha spiral on the arms, dark blue pants that reached his ankles and blue and black sandals, the Konoha hitai-ate tied around his head.

"Just because you've never seen a monster doesn't mean they don't exist," said Natsu, who was wearing the chunin flak vest over a plain green shirt with sleeves that reached his elbows, black pants, and black gloves.

"Yeah, right. I'll believe in them once I have solid proof. Like a claw or a blood sample… Of course, what person would be stupid enough to try that with a monster—if they exist?" Haru inquired with an arched eyebrow.

'_I wonder how Azuki and Hinata are doing…?'_ Naruto thought as he looked up at the cloudy gray sky.

Their mission had taken them to Komugi no Kuni (Land of Wheat), where people had begun to mysteriously disappear and rumors of a black beast drove many of the people who lived there into a panic. Oddly enough, this began _after_ the formation of a mysterious village named Onigakure (Hidden Demon Village). While it sounded odd for a country with its own ninja village to hire another, it seemed as if the Oni forces were only to be used by the Daimyo. The commoners had to rely on their previous ninja source, Konoha, for assistance.

"SENSEI!!!" Aki shouted before Naruto could trip over a rock. "Where is your head at?!"

"Sorry, sorry…" The blonde man shook his head as fog began to roll in from seemingly nowhere. "That's funny. It was clear a while ago."

"Maybe the enemy's sensed us and set up this fog to hinder us," Haru suggested as he narrowed his eyes.

"In that case, be alert."

"Yes, sir."

The squad moved further down the dirt road until they reached a gorge, where the mist seemed to be rising up from. The Konoha ninja jumped off of the ledge and landed within the gorge, in front of the entrance of a cave. The mist that came out from within the cave made the situation seem ominous.

"Anyone else getting a weird vibe?" Aki asked no one in particular.

At that moment, a scream came from within the cave that made the three chunin flinch in fear.

"What was _that_?" Natsu asked with a tinge of blue on his cheeks.

"Heh! Ya scared?" Haru asked with an arched eyebrow and a smirk.

"Stop fooling around! It sounds like a life's hanging in the balance," said Naruto as he motioned for the team to move in.

**X-X-X**

When they entered the cavern, they realized that there were two tunnels leading farther in. The group decided to split up, Haru, Natsu and Aki walking down one path while their sensei went the other way alone.

Naruto walked down the torch-lit path until he stopped in front of a large metal door. He placed a hand on the handle and got a short jolt of pain for it. "Ah!" Upon further inspection by the torches' dim light, he saw several scribbles on it. The door was sealed. "Uh-huh…"

The blonde jonin took a few steps back and formed a hand sign. In a poof of smoke, a kage bunshin appeared beside him. The original held out his hand and let the other quickly form a sphere of chakra. As soon as the clone dispersed into smoke, Naruto ran forward and blasted the door with the Rasengan. The steel door hit the wall within the room and light streamed in…and on further notice, the ninja noticed that it wasn't a room, but a cell. There were bones, blood stains and little pieces of flesh on the floor and wall, and in the corner was a large black lump that twitched every couple of seconds.

"What the…?" Naruto's eyes widened as the black mass began to move and change shape, forming a body that was top heavy with a torso as skinny as a person's body with a pair of large, bulky, and three-clawed hands stretching out from the torso—the third on its back. Up out of the black mass' heaviest part was a white oval-shaped mask with oval-shaped eye sockets and mouth socket, the mask stained with sanguine splatters.

The black mass made a squelching sound as if it were sucking on something—a noise that disgusted Naruto even more than the boneless way it seemed to move. The creature lunged forward, its claws raised to attack, but Naruto jumped back and dodged before the monster could slash him with its claws. It squeezed out of the doorway and made a noise that almost sounded like laughter. It shot forward only to get punched in the face. The blow was enough to make a small crack in its forehead, which caused it to withdraw into a lump, crying.

"Well, well. If it isn't Naruto…" The jonin turned on his heel to face a man who was standing a few feet away. He wore a cloak with the hood up so his face was hidden. "How do you like my little creation? Hm?" The cloaked man appeared to take notice of the quivering black lump. "It seems as if you've frightened it…" The black creature suddenly came out of its lump and returned to its normal stance. "It's just a prototype, but it doesn't seem to fare so well against shinobi… No worries, though. The ones that come after it will be far more durable."

'_That voice!'_ Naruto's eyes widened. "Kabuto…?"

"So you remember me, huh? After all this time…"

"How are you still alive? Sasuke killed you!"

"Hmhmhmhm…!" Kabuto held reached a hidden hand up to his hidden face held onto his head. For a moment, Naruto swore he could see the light reflecting off of pure white scales. "I have someone to thank for that. In fact, I'm in the midst of paying them back for their kindness…"

In the blink of an eye, the sound of steel clashing against steel was heard. Kunai pressed against knife as sky blue eyes glared into bright gold ones, then the two men broke apart.

"SSSSYAHA!!!" The black beast cried out as its claw pierced Naruto in the back, dripping blood. The blonde man then disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to the creature's confusion until it was pierced in the back with several kunai wrapped with bomb notes. The bomb notes exploded, the force propelling the black beast forward and to Kabuto's feet. "Saaaa…!" The creature slowly got up and its mask-like face changed direction with a sickening crack so it was now facing Naruto. "Y…ou…ar…de….d…!" It choked out before it shot forward with the intent of slicing the jonin to ribbons. However, it didn't see the Rasengan he was forming behind his back until it was too late.

"Rasengan!!" The spiraling ball of chakra made impact with the creature's face and broke the mask-like casing, making it scream and convulse in pain before it fell to the ground in a puddle that had been covering something in black liquid…a man's corpse. _'What on earth…?'_ He looked up in time to notice that Kabuto was now gone. "Damn it!! I won't let him get away!" Naruto shouted as he stepped over the corpse and ran down the tunnel.

**X-X-X**

There had only been two paths within the cave, so before wondering if he had escaped to the outside, Naruto went further into the cave where his students had went. What he saw when he caught up to them was a sight he hadn't been expecting.

Aki and Haru were lying on the ground, battered and bloody, but seemingly still alive as their bodies twitched with each breath they took. But Natsu was nowhere to be seen—just splatters of blood along the walls and floor and the signs that something had been dragged along the ground.

"Sensei…!" Aki cried, sounding pathetic for the first time since her genin days. "He…took him…!"

"Bastard…! Damn that bastard…!" Haru panted as he struggled to get up, only to cough up blood. "He took…Natsu…!"

**X-X-X**

Kabuto had disappeared, along with Natsu. According to Aki and Haru, there had been another person aside from Kabuto there—a young man who claimed to know them all quite well before he went on beating them all to an inch of their life. Then he told them that he was going to take one of them to dissect and chose Natsu…just because he looked like he was the quickest to scream.

Needless to say, Naruto felt vulnerable and guilty all the way back to the village. Not even Azuki pestering him if he brought him something from his mission could cheer him up. It was so discomforting when one's student dies before they could realize their true potential… He just needed some closure, but ever since _that_ incident, Sasuke wasn't on proper speaking terms with him and Sakura was off-limits. He just wanted _someone_, so maybe that's why he went to the first person he saw that he assumed would be comforting.

"He was still young… He hadn't even reached 18 yet," Naruto mumbled as he and Hinata stood outside of his apartment while Azuki was inside, drawing on the walls. "I joked about promising him…that when he was old enough, I'd take him to a strip club…" He didn't notice how Hinata's face reddened as he continued, "So he'd get over his fear of sexy women." He sighed and leaned against the wall. "Why is it that a good kid like Natsu dies young while bastards like Kabuto and Orochimaru find ways to keep coming back…?"

"I suppose it wouldn't make you feel better if I said _'he's in a better place,'_ would it?" The Hyuga heiress asked as she stared down at the ground.

"Yes, it would… And it does. I just… I'd love to know _why_ things like this happen…" He scratched his head and sighed. "You'd think by now I'd stop asking such dumb questions…"

"They aren't dumb. It just seems like even though we know the answers…we can't help but ask _'why'_? It's all a part of being human, I guess." At that, Naruto looked down at Hinata with an arched eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, no! You're right, you're right. I was just thinking of something… Do you think you'd want to spend some time with me and Azuki tonight?"

"Hm? Tonight? With you?"

"N-not like a date or anything! It's just that ever since you started to look after him, Azuki's been asking if you could sleep over. This is just to satisfy _him_ and give _me_ some sanity." Naruto flinched inwardly as the Hyuga woman pouted. "Of course, it's not like I'm saying I wouldn't enjoy your company, either!" He added quickly. _'Nice save.'_

"Hmmm… Okay." The dark-haired woman gave a nod and a smile. "I'll be back here later tonight. See you then." She waved goodbye and walked away with, if Naruto had to guess, was a bounce in her step.

The blonde jonin stepped into his apartment with a smile. "Oh, Azuki~! You'll never guess who's coming— AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" He screamed as he saw Azuki's little masterpiece all over the walls of the room. The little strawberry blonde was still drawing a distorted version of his own face when Naruto scooped him up and pulled the pack of crayons out of his grip. "Why can't you behave just _once_? You do _not_ get this devilishness from _me_! Sakura must have an _evil side_ I know nothing about!"

"Gimmeeeee!!" Azuki whined as he struggled to break free of his father's hold.

"Listen up! Unless you want me to go find Hinata and tell her she can't sleep over here because _you're_ being a naughty brat, you will behave this instant!" The only thing that got him to stop fidgeting was the word _'Hinata'_—everything else was blocked out as a smile spread out across the little blonde's face while his eyes squinted in delight.

"Hinata-san is coming? Yay!"

Naruto sweatdropped and rolled his eyes. "I _seriously_ don't know where he gets it from…"

**X-X-X**

That night, long after Azuki had been put to bed, Naruto and Hinata sat down in front of the small TV in the darkness.

"This is great! I can't remember the last time I watched something with actual violence!" Naruto whispered excitedly as a character onscreen stabbed a man in the chest with a knife. "If it isn't rated PG, Sakura would _kill_ _me_…!"

Hinata blinked. "Sakura?"

"Mm-hm… She's made it her responsibility to make sure I don't corrupt Azuki and turn him into a carbon copy of me." The jonin glared at the wall. "I don't know _why_ she thinks that. He's a brat all by himself."

"Naruto…is there a problem between you and Sakura?"

The blonde man looked down at the Hyuga in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"You used to be so close…but after Sakura and Sasuke-san got married and you had Azuki, people don't see you talking as much as before."

"It's nothing. Just some trouble between me and Sasuke—that guy sure can hold a grudge for a long time!" Naruto said with a grin. Technically, he told the truth, so there was nothing wrong with that.

"Oh… And here I thought that maybe…I was Sakura's replacement to you," Hinata mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"What do you mean?"

The dark-haired woman turned around to stare into his face. "I mean… As much as it pains me to think of it…a part of me was hoping…that with Sakura married now, you would maybe…"

The blonde man froze and gulped, his eyes wide. He already knew what she was talking about…and he couldn't help but wonder if Hinata was right. Had he _really_ gone and replaced Sakura with Hinata just to fill the void that the pink-haired woman had left? "Hinata… I—"

She didn't give him the chance to finish as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. They stayed that way for only a few seconds before they broke apart. Hinata bowed her head, bangs hiding her eyes as a tint of red appeared on her cheeks. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, but… No matter what I do, I _still_ love you. And even if I'm nothing like Sakura, I still want…to be with you...and try my best to make you happy…!"

Naruto stared at her with unreadable eyes. In a matter of seconds, his hands were cupping her face and he was kissing her forcefully until she gave in. In the middle of tongue wrestling, the blonde pulled his mouth off of her own for a moment to say "Don't ever change… Don't stop being you," before they started making out once more, falling down onto the couch as the light of the television shone on them.

**X-X-X**

_**30 years…**_

How did it get like this? Sakura was bad enough, but Hinata as well? There must have been something wrong with him to just sleep with other men's women... And the worst part was that there was no alcohol. It was all done on an impulse. She didn't love her fiancée and he knew that, but she had to marry him in order to become the Hyuga clan's leader. That was a tradition. One couldn't marry nor have children with one outside of the clan, either, for the sake of keeping the bloodline pure, and the worry of what such a child would be like. But even then, she couldn't stop herself from loving Naruto, and as much as he hated to say it, he somehow started loving her, too. But he felt bad about it because it felt as if he was settling for her because he couldn't get Sakura.

Oh well. It didn't matter now, because once again, he managed to cause trouble for someone. Hinata was pregnant. They knew it was his. Depending on the state of the child, she would either remain in the clan and their baby would be raised by her and her fiancée, or she and the child would be disowned. That was what they decided, but he didn't know what exactly was best for his love and their child.

"I don't know why you're acting so weird! It's just a baby...!" Azuki said with a pout as he pressed the buttons on the vending machine absentmindedly.

Naruto looked up at his son and gave him a smile. "It's gonna be your baby brother or sister! That means you're going to have to look after them and be a good big brother. Alright?"

"I'm not its brother. We don't have the same mom." Azuki started to press the combinations for snacks he wanted. "If we had the same mom, then maybe I'd think of 'em like that."

"You've got the same dad, though."

"It's not the same if we don't have the same mom..."

Naruto opened his mouth to deny that when the double doors opened and Sakura walked out with a tired expression and a forced smile. "It's a girl!" The blonde man felt his heart leap. A daughter. They had a daughter!

"How is she?! Is she alright?! Is she healthy?! What do her eyes look like?!"

"We don't know yet, but...Hinata..." The pink-haired woman looked down at the ground sadly. "Hinata passed away during the birth. The child was born head last, and she was stuck, so…we had to perform a C-section to get the baby out."

He stared at her in silence. The sounds of the hospital were muted out. All he was aware of was that as soon as the tears welling up in his eyes began to fall down his cheeks, he felt a pain in his chest.

**X-X-X**

Her hair was blue-tinted black, her skin pale white, and her eyes were a light mixture of blue and purple. As much as it pained Naruto, she looked almost exactly like her mother with the exception of her lack of the Byakugan. Because of that, she was his to raise.

"Nori… Nori…" He teased his new bundle of joy as he ticked her stomach. Azuki was on his knees next to the bed, glaring at his new little sister. She reached up and grabbed his cheek. "Aww, I think she likes you!"

"Yeah, well, the feeling's not mutual! Nyah!" The blonde boy stuck his tongue out as his sister, but she only imitated him. The two got in a contest of sorts to see who could stick their tongues out farther before Azuki broke it off by turning around with a huff. "Hmph! You're not worth the effort!" Little Nori could only giggle and started to raspberry at her brother. "Gross! You're disgusting!"

"Hey, don't talk to her like that! She's your little sister, after all," Naruto said as he scooped Nori up in his arms and began to cradle her, the child reaching up to grab a handful of his hair. "You have to protect her and be a good role model. That's what big brothers do!"

"Isn't all that _your_ job?" The strawberry blonde muttered with a dark look in his eyes. He didn't like the new baby at all. After all, she had killed Hinata-san and was taking all of _his_ father's attention. Okay, so he may have acted like he hated being watched over so many times, but it was nice to know when someone was looking—especially his dad with those messed-up expressions of his.

"Well, of course! But in the event that I can't do it, it's your job to take care of Nori-chan and make sure she's safe!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

**X-X-X**

War is a common thing in the shinobi world. Ever since Madara's defeat and the fall of Akatsuki, things had been peaceful, and while there were no actual treaties signed, the Five Major shinobi villages and the Five Kage were on good terms. It wasn't until Onigakure appeared that things seemed to go wrong.

Months after the incident in the Wheat Country, people in Hi no Kuni began to disappear—and among them were some genin and chunin from Konoha. Then came the rumors of odd-looking creatures appearing near villages, supposedly abducting people in the dead of night, never to be seen again. But soon, it became clear what the threat was...

"I am Oni no Nyorai. Who are you and how dare you interfere with my feast?" Asked the humanoid creature standing before him as he held up the body of a dead young woman, the side of her throat ripped out and her bowels entwined around its clawed fingers. It stood on long, arched legs with inhumanly pale skin covered in scars and stitches, an oni mask on its face with a series of small seals written along the edges. "Well…?"

"I am Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure," Naruto spoke as he glared at the creature from the branch of the tree he was standing on. He jumped down and landed in front of the Oni with a steely look in his eyes. "And I've been sent to stop you!"

"Konohagakure…? I see…" Nyorai tossed aside the woman's corpse, her head cracking open when it hit a nearby rock and her bowels splattering on the ground. "In that case, I must take you back with me as master says." It dashed towards the blonde shinobi and began to spin around like a top, attempting to slice through his chest. Naruto ducked the attack and elbowed the Oni in the stomach, followed up by a sweeping kick that knocked it off of its feet. Before the creature could fall, however, it landed on the ground and backflipped away from Naruto before the Leaf ninja could stab it with a kunai. The Oni landed on all fours and dashed towards him, making sweeping motions with its claws. Naruto jumped up landed on top of the masked creature's back.

"I oughta kill you right now, but I still need some answers from you!" The blonde jinchuuriki spoke. "Who's your master?"

The Oni hissed and attempted to stab Naruto in the leg, but the Leaf ninja jumped up into the air. In the blink of an eye, the creature had disappeared off of the ground. The blonde turned looked over his shoulder and elbowed the Oni in the face, slightly cracking the mask. "Guh!!" The Oni's response was to shove its claws through the blonde jinchuuriki's chest. "Heh…!" Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Huh?"

"Above you!" Nyorai looked up seconds before a Rasengan made impact with its face, cracking the mask and shattering it to pieces. "Rasengan!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The Oni's screamed were nearly drowned out by the sound of the Rasengan grinding away at it until it hit the forest floor. When the smoke cleared, the pale-skinned Oni was shown to be lying on the ground, its eyes blank and its face now marked by a spiral marking.

**X-X-X**

Tsunade stared at the reports lying on her desk. "Report."

"It seems as if the _'Oni'_ as Naruto called it, was a medically altered commoner. If he had been a shinobi, he _may_ have been able to do more damage," said Shizune as she read the chart in her hand. "Unfortunately, the mask that was on his face had a seal on it. From what could be deducted by the markings, it was triggered to completely erase his memory if it was destroyed. It would also seem as if the inside of the mask had seals within that made it keep fighting no matter what, unless the mask was removed."

"I see. Whoever did this was smart enough to make sure no traces were left behind." The Godaime Hokage leaned back in her seat and bridged her fingers. "In that case, let us inform all units that should they encounter one of these _Oni_, they have to do their best to bring it back alive."

**X-X-X**

In the past couple of months, the amount of Oni that had infested Hi no Kuni became larger and stronger. Many good warriors had been lost and all attempts at retrieving even one Oni alive had been failures, as they were getting too strong to simply hold back and allow them to live. Slowly, their numbers dwindled and it seemed as if peace would return to the land until that day…

5 months old Nori stared up at the stuffed frog puppet that Naruto was moving in front of her, making funny noises and tickling her while Azuki watched a sentai cartoon on their small television set. The baby girl held her arms up in the air and began to wave them, seemingly begging to be carried. Naruto scooped her up into his arms and held the frog puppet in front of her. Nori immediately grabbed the puppet and began to hug it tightly.

"Hey! I get the feeling that Froggy's getting more love than me…!" The jonin spoke with a mock pout. His daughter stared at him with those big periwinkle eyes of hers before she grabbed his cheek and started to pull on it hard. "Ow!! H-hey! Is _this_ your idea of love?"

"Heh-heh!" Naruto's eyes wandered over to the couch, where Azuki was peering over the top at them in delight. The strawberry blonde dropped back down onto the couch and turned his attention back to the TV, but he had already been spotted. Seconds before the sentai ninja and the monster of the week—some chameleon-looking thing with wings and a snake tail—collided, he felt Nori tugging hard on his cheek while his father held her up. "Ow!!"

"That's it, Nori-chan! Give your brother some love! Heh-heh!" The jinchuuriki laughed with a broad grin while a vein throbbed on Azuki's forehead as the boy tried to pound his father from his current position. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Naruto placed Nori down on Azuki's lap and walked over to the door. When he opened them, he found himself looking at Sasuke, fully dressed in his jonin attire. "Sasuke…? What're _you_ doing here?" Ever since Sakura had given birth to Azuki, Sasuke carried a grudge towards Naruto and wanted as little contact with the blonde outside of missions as he possibly could.

"Get dressed and get your kids' stuff packed," the raven-haired man spoke curtly.

Naruto arched an eyebrow as Azuki peered over the couch to stare at the two men, Nori trying in vain to imitate his actions. "Why?"

"Hokage-sama's called all shinobi. It's urgent."

**X-X-X**

"As you are all aware, we have had problem recently in the Land of Fire with a group of creatures known as the Oni. While we do not know where they come from, they are responsible for the abduction of several civilians across the country and shinobi of Konoha. It's been months since an Oni had last been spotted…until a few days ago," Tsunade told the troops that had been lined up on the ground below. "We've received reports of thousands of Oni entering the border. They've been terrorizing the land, destroying all in their path, and they seemed to be heading in Konoha's direction. But we will not let them get that close! We're going to head them off at Kikyo Pass and finish them there!"

**X-X-X**

The once-peaceful field was now a battleground, littered with the corpses of shinobi and genetically altered mutants. Though the majority of the Oni were mindless, mute, and attacked all Leaf ninja with the intent of devouring them, there were a few who were far more intelligent, the most dangerous being two in particular.

"Give up now—"

"So we may become one," said the pair standing before the fallen corpses of a pair of ANBU.

Physically speaking, they looked no older than 16 or so years. They were a boy and girl with long white hair and pale skin, their eyes hidden by the cloth bands that covered their faces from their foreheads to their eyes, the bands covered with an odd seal. They wore similar short-sleeved light gray kimono tops with gray pants that had white rope belts tied around the waist.

Tsunade stood a few feet away from them, her eyes narrowed and her clothes splattered with the ANBU's blood. "Never! As the Godaime of Konohagakure, I won't give in to the likes of _you_!!" The blonde woman shouted as she stomped her foot, causing a crack to travel from her foot over to the white-haired kids that made the earth quake. Tsunade bent over and opened the cracked earth with her bare hands, making her twin enemies fall into the abyss. Seconds later, with little effort, she closed it and seemingly ended their lives.

But just then, a large circular beam of black energy blasted up from the ground, creating a large hole. The twins jumped out and landed onto the edge of the crater, their bodies radiating with black chakra. The bands over their eyes had come off, revealing their entirely black eyes. In the blink of an eye, the girl was on Tsunade's right while the boy was on her left. Their arms turned black and became claw-like. With one swipe, they attempted to slice through the Godaime Hokage, but she seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. The twins looked upwards with emotionless expressions and jumped back before Tsunade landed on the ground, leg first, her Tsutenkyaku cracking the earth and forming a small crater.

The male twin looked down at his feet and noticed a swarm of kikaichu beetles gathering at his feet. Undaunted by the bugs, he turned to look at the group of Aburame clan members that were standing before him. "Insects." His claw-like hand seemed to shift and change, becoming similar to a whip. With one swing of his transformed hand, his arm extended and transformed, attempting to attack the clan members. They easily dodged the attack, but the male twin's arm snaked around and followed the female Aburame, stabbing her in the stomach and going clean through her.

"He doesn't seem to have been affected by the kikaichu­?!" One look at the dead beetles on the ground was enough to silently shock the remaining Aburame.

"They just couldn't handle my power…" The white-haired boy spoke softly as his whip-like arm retracted. "After all, we are your biological superior." Seconds later, the Aburame members had been sliced to pieces by a pair of large black blades, formed from the claws of the white-haired girl.

"And with the fall of Konoha, we will at last prove our right to existence, just as we've been told…" said the white-haired girl as several ANBU appeared around them. "So get out of our way."

Meanwhile, Sasuke had just stabbed a large, bird-like creature in the wing, making it shriek in pain as it tried to shake him off. The Uchiha disappeared in the blink of an eye, seconds before two dozen kage bunshin of Naruto fell down from above and exploded as soon as they landed on top of the beast, taking it out in a massive explosion along with a few more Oni.

"Tch! When is this gonna end?" Naruto thought aloud as he landed next to Sasuke. The raven-haired jonin turned on his heel and decapitated a four-armed Oni with ease. The blonde grabbed the fist of an Oni that was about to strike him in the side. With his free hand, he sliced the creature in the throat, making blood spurt out of the gash before he grabbed the mask and ripped it off of the Oni's face. It screamed in pain, grabbing its raw and bloody face before falling over, dead. A duo of female Oni with needle-like teeth poking out from their masks' mouth holes suddenly jumped out from nowhere, their mouths open as mist-like chakra wafted out. Sasuke focused his Sharingan eyes on the female Oni as electricity sparked to life in his hand. With a flick of his hand, a flurry of Chidori Senbon were sent flying into the Oni, paralyzing them where they stood just as Naruto formed a hand sign. Three Kage Bunshin appeared beside him and the four blondes began to form a pair of familiar balls of chakra. In the blink of an eye, they were dashing towards the needle-mouthed Oni and rammed the Rasengan into both their chests, sending them flying back into a large rock, their heads cracking open upon impact.

"Chidori Nagashi!!" Sasuke shouted as he sent a stream of electricity racing towards a trio of tall brawny Oni that were lumbering towards them. When the brawny Oni fell, about a dozen smaller, thinner blade-armed Oni came racing towards him. The first one that came close to the Uchiha began to swing its arms in a hasty manner while Sasuke blocked. Eventually, the others jumped over them, hissing with the blade-like arms raised. "You must be joking…!" The raven-haired man muttered as electricity crackled around his body, paralyzing the blade-armed Oni. In the blink of an eye, they were all cut down by the Uchiha's blade. When the final Oni corpse fell to pieces, Sasuke narrowed his eyes as several more continued to keep coming. _'There's no end to it __**this**__ way...'_ His Sharingan eyes suddenly changed, the red becoming black with a red six-sided star around the pupil. A transparent figure began to appear around the Uchiha as the Oni got closer.

"Huh?" Naruto looked out of the corner of his eye and saw the looming figure of Sasuke's Susano-o with its sword up in the air. With one swing, it easily took out more than two dozen Oni—and unfortunately, a few of their own comrades. "Sasuke!! Watch where you're attacking!! You're gonna hurt someone!"

"That's the _point_, idiot!" The raven-haired man muttered with a smirk as Susano-o swung once more, cutting down several Oni.

"Damn it!! Sasuke!!" The jinchuuriki shouted before he noticed something else. The white-haired twins, covered in blood and stepping on the ANBU's bloodied corpses, were circling around Tsunade. _'Granny!'_

"And now," the male began.

"You'll die," the girl finished as their arms formed whips. With a swing of their arms, they restrained the Godaime, whip-like appendages wrapping around her arms and legs. The twins began to pull with the intent of pulling Tsunade apart when the male twin was attacked by a blow to the face that sent him tumbling away from the Godaime.

"Hm?" The white-haired girl looked Naruto up and down. "Uzumaki Naruto," she pronounced.

The blonde man looked at her and arched an eyebrow. "Know who I am, huh?"

"Kabuto-sama said we should be careful of you… You are amongst the people he explicitly said we must kill."

"Kabuto?"

"The reason for our existence," said the male twin as he got to his feet, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth, "Is so that we may _kill you_." He swung his whip-like arm at the blonde jonin and struck him across the face. The white-haired boy moved to strike him once again when his whip-like appendage was caught by Naruto.

The white-haired twin tossed Tsunade aside, unraveling her whip-like arm from around the Sannin's leg to try and making it fly towards Naruto. It seemed to narrow and sharpened like a blade, aimed directly for the jonin's back. But before she could strike him, the blonde man spun on his heel and swung her twin in front of the black blade just in time for it to pierce his stomach. "Izanagi!!" The white-haired girl shrieked as the blade immediately retracted, dark blood dripping on the earth. Her arms returned to normal and she held onto her face, smearing blood on her cheeks. "No, no, no, no…!"

"Ugh…!" Izanagi got to his feet and glared at his sister. "Quit acting like such a weakling, Izanami and attack him!!"

Izanami's eyes widened before she suddenly spread out her arms. They began to take shape and formed a pair of black sickle-like blades. She then shot towards Naruto like a blur, barely visible. The blonde barely ducked in time and had only a few strands of hair chopped off for it. He flipped back in time to avoid a second slash that would've sliced him in half and began to jump back, dodging her sickle arms as he led Izanami away from her brother.

"So, Kabuto is responsible for all of this?" Asked Tsunade as she wiped the dirt off of her face and clenched a fist. "It's pretty interesting that you're capable of saying such things when your comrades cannot. We're going to have to keep _you_ alive then." As if on cue, a group of ANBU and jonin appeared from out of nowhere, surrounding Izanagi.

"We doubt that you'll give in so easily, though," said Kakashi, who had blood streaming down the side of his head from an earlier injury.

Izanagi stared at the Copy Ninja apathetically. "Do _not_ put me in the same category as _them_." At that moment, the black chakra that had been emanating from him suddenly became thicker and began to form wing-like appendages on his back. "I am superior to them and light years ahead of _your_ kind…" He took up into the air, the gust of wind from his takeoff blowing back the Konoha ninja. Once he was high enough, the white-haired boy's wings spread open and began to flap quickly, shooting down several senbon-shaped projectiles made from black chakra.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, Naruto and Izanami were leaping around the battlefield, over corpses and through fighting Konoha nin and Oni as the white-haired girl continued to swing her sickle arms. After landing on top of the corpse of a particularly large and Oni, her arms returned to normal and she bent over. Picking up its arm, Izanami opened her mouth, revealing several sharp teeth, and chomped down onto the arm. After a few seconds, the Oni began to wither and shrink to the point where it resembled a husk. _'It's not enough…!'_

"**Heh-heh-heh…! Where's your precious Sage Mode now?"** the Kyuubi spoke up, surprising Naruto. It had been a while since the fox dared to speak to him.** "Oh, that's right… You need **_**time**_** to go into it, don't you? And I doubt you could beat something like **_**that**_** on your own—no matter how much you've grown." **As it said that, Izanami threw the husk of an Oni aside with ease as dark chakra began to swirl around her in a greater amount. The grass withered away, as had the few trees that had been nearby, and the ground beneath her gave way, forming a small crater as a small ball of black chakra formed in front of her.

Naruto's eyes widened. _'It can't be!'_

Izanami grabbed the ball of chakra and shoved it into her mouth. After keeping it there for a while, she did something Naruto wasn't expecting her to do. She swallowed it. Instead of firing it off in a blast of chakra, she swallowed it. And after a while, the amount of chakra swirling around her increased in size as she continued to hold her hand to her mouth. When she pulled the hand away, the white-haired girl raised her head and screamed, firing off the blast of black chakra that Naruto had been expecting. "More…than enough…!" Izanami panted as she wiped her mouth off.

'_What was that…? It almost looked like she took energy from almost everything in the area for her to add to her chakra.'_

"**I'm dying to see how you deal with **_**this**_** on your own…"**

The blonde jonin narrowed his eyes and formed a familiar hand sign. "Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" In a large poof of smoke, over a hundred Naruto clones had been created and were surrounding Izanami.

"I am your genetic superior," said the white-haired girl as her arms formed large, black four-clawed hands. "Resistance is futile, Uzumaki Naruto." She then began to tear through the bunshin at amazing speed, ignoring any punches, kicks or stabs thanks to the endurance she had gained from that energy boost. The clones were dropping like flies almost _too_ easily? Had they been made this weak on purpose?

"Rasengan!!" A bunshin shouted as it tried to strike her in the back with a Rasengan. She disappeared before the jutsu could even touch her and reappeared beside him, stabbing him through the back and stomach.

"This is tedious. Reveal yourself to me now, Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm right here!!" A clone shouted as it landed a drop kick on her head that only stopped her for a moment, then she spun on her heel and sliced him in half, making the clone disappear in a puff of smoke. During that spin, she slashed through four more clones with ease.

"Whatever you're planning, it won't serve you any good," Izanami spoke as she grabbed a clone's arm and snapped it in two, making it disperse in smoke. She continued killing off the clones as they attacked her, one by one with incredible ease. When the white-haired girl was done, all that remained was the real Naruto, who was standing a few feet away with his head downcast. Izanami darted towards the blonde jonin with her clawed hand raised in the air. When she was but a few inches away from him, Naruto punched forward and some unseen force sent the girl flying back several feet until she rolled to a halt. _'What was that? This chakra…isn't normal!'_

Naruto looked up, his eyes now gold with rectangular pupils and orange gradations around them. "Let's end this."

'_This chakra…I…!'_ Izanami's claws raked the ground as she began to drool. "I…have to…HAVE IT!!!" She shouted as she suddenly jumped up into the air, towards the blonde jonin. When she was over his head, her arm transformed into a whip and stretched out to wrap around him, but he grabbed it and threw her up into the air with amazing strength. Izanami stopped herself somehow and landed a few feet away from the blonde.

Naruto formed a hand sign and two kage bunshin appeared behind him. The white-haired girl was already running towards him again, her arms this time resembling blades. Within seconds, the man and his clones had already formed a ball of spinning chakra with four blades curving out from it, resembling a large shuriken. As soon as the bunshin dispersed, Naruto threw the Rasenshuriken at the charging girl. She simply ducked underneath the spinning projectile and came back up, still running when suddenly…it expanded, unnoticed by her until she felt a stinging sensation in her stomach. Looking down, Izanami saw that the Rasenshuriken had cut through her body in a buzz saw-like manner. The upper half of her torso went flying forward, landing a few feet away from Naruto. She twitched every few seconds or so and coughed up blood until she finally stopped moving.

**X-X-X**

Izanagi's eyes widened. His wings were currently sticking out of Kakashi's limp body, the jonin's blood staining the ground and his clothing. Looking towards the distance, his eyes narrowed before he heard coughing noises. Tsunade was the only one left alive after that brutal assault, her forehead marking gone as a result. The white-haired boy tossed Kakashi aside and stalked over to her, licking his lips in anticipation. "You first…then _him_...then I'll devour the rest of these weaklings…and then I'll go to your precious village and devour those in it as well," he spoke darkly under his breath.

"Even if…you kill me…the flame of Konohagakure will burn on!! It will never die!" The Godaime proclaimed with a smirk.

"I suppose you'll want to cling to that thought…as it will be the only comfort you have during your last moments," the white-haired boy said with a smirk as his chakra wings stretched out from behind, divided into four and stabbed Tsunade's arms and legs, pinning her to the ground. As he came closer to her, Izanagi's smirk twisted into a disturbing smile. He bent over wrapped his hands around Tsunade's neck. His wings slid out from her arms and legs, circled behind her and stabbed the blonde Sannin in the back, the tips just barely touching Izanagi's stomach. "Mm!" His grip tightened and he could just barely hear the sound her throat made when he crushed it. "Ah…" The wings of chakra dispersed and Izanagi raised Tsunade's body up, licking his lips once more. He opened his mouth wide, but disappeared in the blink of an eye, dropping the woman's corpse as he did. The white-haired boy reappeared in the sky, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the culprit. "You…"

Naruto stood on the ground below, his eyes narrowed and his bared teeth beginning to resemble canines. "Bastard…!" The pupil of his eye became slitted and his eyes flashed red for a second.

"**That's it. Let it out. Just release all the feelings you've been keeping inside and let me loose!"** The Kyuubi growled in the back of its host's mind.

'_Shut up!! How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my life?!'_ The blonde jonin thought as his eyes became golden and frog-like once more, but there was the addition of a slit going through it similar to the Kyuubi's.

**X-X-X**

He wasn't sure what had happened after that. Had he fainted of chakra exhaustion? Did the Kyuubi win control and take over for a while? Had he hurt any of his comrades? He didn't know… All he knew was that he woke up in a hospital bed, because of Nori tugging on his hair and Azuki poking him in the side and saying to stop faking and wake up. When he opened his eyes, Naruto saw Sakura sitting by his bedside holding Nori towards him while pulling Azuki away from the bed, her stomach round and swollen from hers and Sasuke's second child. The image of her there with his kids…it just seemed _right_.

"I should've been there," the pink-haired woman said as she bowed her head. "If I had been there, I could've done something… I could've saved them…"

Naruto blinked, wondering what she had been talking about when he suddenly remembered the battle. They had won the battle against the Oni, but many lives had been lost as a result. Amongst those lost lives were their childhood sensei and Godaime Hokage.

**X-X-X**

Days later, a funeral had been held in honor of all the shinobi who had lost their lives in the battle against the Oni. The sky was clear and sunny—the complete opposite of the mood that hung over Konohagakure on that day. During the procession to honor Tsunade, Naruto's eyes kept darting over to Sasuke, Sakura and little Naota, only to be brought back to reality by Nori gripping his neck tightly and Azuki clenching his leg with a pout while trying not to cry. Even if they didn't have a good idea of what had happened, it was as if they knew their father could have been one of the names etched into the memorial stone that day, and they were sure that letting go of him meant losing him forever.

Days after that, life slowly returned to normal. Just as it had so many years ago, the Leaf put up a strong front and continued going on missions even with the decrease in manpower and the death of their Hokage. But rather than going out to take missions, Naruto preferred to stay at home with his kids, who had grown so clingy all of a sudden. Besides, if they wanted him in particular for a mission, he would take it, but for a while, he just wanted to be a father. Hence why they went to the park that day.

"Okay, Nori-chan! Throw Azuki the ball now!" Naruto told his baby girl as he sat on a bench with Nori on his knee. The shaggy-haired baby was holding a worn out tennis ball in her chubby little hands, giggling and smiling toothlessly.

Azuki sweatdropped. "You're joking…right? She can't pitch!! She's not even a year old!!"

"Oh, hush! Just because you've got five years on her doesn't make you better!"

"Do you know what you're saying?!" At that moment, Nori tossed the ball and it landed a few inches away from Naruto's foot. Her big brother squinted his eyes and slumped over, sighing. "See?"

"Very good, Nori-chan!" Naruto cooed as he kissed the girl on her cheek, getting a shriek of delight in return.

The strawberry blonde grit his teeth. "Hey!! At least listen to me!!"

In a poof of smoke, a pair of ninja dressed in the standard chunin uniform appeared beside the bench where Naruto and Nori sat. "Huh?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. We need you to come with us. The Council wishes to see you."

**X-X-X**

Days later…

"I can't do this! I feel sick all of a sudden!" Naruto exclaimed as he walked back and forth across the room, his cheeks tinged blue with worry. Sakura and Sasuke stood there, the woman arching an eyebrow as she held Nori while Sasuke, uninterested in his actions, looked off to the side. Azuki and Naota were watching him in confusion. "I just can't!"

"Your dad's a weirdo," said Naota.

Azuki sweatdropped and sighed. "Yeah… I know."

"Naruto, will you relax? You're getting worked up over nothing," Sakura tried to calm down the blonde as he began to walk in circles around them now.

"No, no! What if something goes wrong? Something could go wrong!"

"Will you stop acting like an idiot and get your act together?" Sasuke muttered once the blonde passed through his range of sight.

"But what if--?" At that moment, Sakura held Nori out in front of her, stopping Naruto in his path.

"Just think of it like this: you're doing it so your son and your daughter can have a bright future."

As Nori giggled and started touching her daddy's face, Azuki folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "Geez, don't act so dumb! It makes the entire family look bad, Dad!"

After a few seconds, Naruto started to smile and nodded. "Okay. I'm ready!"

"About time…"

**X-X-X**

"And now, we give you your Rokudaime Hokage!!"

It all seemed like something out of a television show. The wind was blowing just right, so when he stepped out onto the terrace, the white and red robe was fluttering in the breeze as he held the hat onto his head.

"From this day forth…I swear to protect this village and everyone in it with all my strength!!" Naruto exclaimed, causing the crowd below to cheer.

Azuki grinned while Nori clapped her hands ecstatically and Sakura smiled. "Heh-heh-heh! Pretty cool, Dad!"

"Hm? What's wrong, Sasuke?" The pink-haired woman asked her husband with an arched eyebrow.

Sasuke had been looking off to the side, frowning. "Great… Just one more thing to make him unbearable: having to work for him and having no say at all…"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Naruto's students are named after seasons: Haru (Spring), Natsu (Summer), and Aki (Fall).**

**Naruto's children are named after food condiments. Azuki stands for "red bean paste", used to make Anpan and other sweets, and Nori is "dried seaweed", commonly seen on onigiri. **

**Oni no Nyorai's name comes from Amatsu-Nyorai, Japanese god of the paradise realm whom people turned to at their time of death.**

**Izanagi and Izanami were named for the Japanese creation gods of the same name, who made the land of Japan. Izanagi is represents life and the sky and Izanami represents death and the earth.**

**The characters Izanagi and Izanami were inspired by the main character of the game **_**Prototype**_**.**

**Kikyo Pass was the name of a location in the Naruto series. It was where Kabuto was found by Konoha after a battle.**

"**Boobie Lady" is the nickname of Litchi Faye-Ling, a character from the 2D fighting game **_**BlazBlue**_

**Susano-o is the name of the Japanese god of the storms and the technique used by the Mangekyo Sharingan.**

**Fuuton: Rasenshuriken means "Wind Style: Spiraling Shuriken". **

**X-X-X**

**Blu: And so ends the first part of the Naruto Gaiden! So, how was it? I kinda felt bad about killing Tsunade off like that. I didn't even have it in me to give her a good fight before I killed her off.**

**Kakashi: Well, I felt that you may have skipped over some parts that may have been important.**

**Blu: (—.—) Are you upset at me for killing you offscreen?**

**Kakashi: A little, yes. I mean, you didn't kill Yamato offscreen…**

**Blu: Or _did I_…?**

**Yamato: What?**

**Naruto: Did you?**

**Blu: I dunno! I was wondering myself! ^__^**

**Naruto: Oh, brother…**

**Blu: Anyway, please review for the sake of Blu! She would really like to know everyone's opinions about this gaiden and expects at least five reviews on it! …Pretty please…? T.T**


	54. Naruto Gaiden: Storm's Beginning

**Blu: Okay! It was a long time coming, but the second part of Naruto Gaiden is here! You'll notice that despite the fact that it says **_**Naruto**_** Gaiden, the main character has been exchanged with another.**

**Naruto: What?!**

**Blu: Yeah, I know. But there were a lot of parts that had to be explained that couldn't be explained through Naruto alone. Plus, Hokage isn't exactly an active job…and most of the info that's vital to Part 1 and Part 2 are explained through this.**

**Naruto: (Sighs dejectedly) I guess…**

**Blu: Cheer up, would ya? Just relax and enjoy the fic! That goes for you too, readers!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#54: Naruto Gaiden: Storm's Beginning_

**X-X-X**

_For the next several years, the age of the Rokudaime was mainly one of peace. There was the occasional problem with ninja organizations, nukenin, and politics and diplomacy, but it was nothing major. Everyone thought that with the threat of Akatsuki gone and the Oni seemingly having disappeared off the face of the earth, the world was at peace…_

**X-X-X**

_**37 years…**_

'_I'm getting the odd feeling of déjà vu here…'_ Naruto thought as he stared at the 12-year old boy sitting in front of him. His strawberry blonde hair had grown more unruly over the years and his sky blue eyes reflected boredom. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt with blue lines going down the arms and blue pants. "Why…did you…do it?"

"…I'm sorry, what? I wasn't listening," 12-year old Azuki said as he snapped back to reality.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched for a moment before he rubbed his temples. "Why did you draw on the walls of the administration building, Azuki?"

"I dunno. It just felt right."

"What the hell feels right about defiling the village's property?!"

Once again, the strawberry blonde shrugged. "Beats me. I just felt that since I'm a genin now, I had to do one last prank before I grow up."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "What? Grow up?"

"When we got our hitai-ate, sensei said that it was a sign that we were on our way to adulthood. So what better way to start it off by pulling one last prank?"

"So…that's it? No explosions? No getting the villagers mad at you? Just writing graffiti all over the village?"

Azuki gave his father a half-lidded stare and snorted. "Hmph! I'm on my way to adulthood, Pops! I'm leaving all the immature things of my youth behind."

"Ah… So no more wanting to become Hokage?" The Rokudaime asked with an amused smile on his face as he drummed his fingers on the desk.

"Well, I still wanna do it…because I can't think of a better way of besting you than becoming Hokage at a younger age than you…aside from being smarter than you, at least."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched and a small vein popped up on his forehead for a moment. "Just go pick up your sister…"

"'Kay." Azuki got up from the seat and straightened out his shirt. "So I'm off the hook?"

"I never said _that_. You're just going to pick her up from school because she can't walk home alone. As soon as you drop her off, you're to come right back here and clean up your mess."

The blonde boy sweatdropped. "Sure she can. You're just too protective to let her do it alone," he muttered.

"What was that?!"

"What? Is your hearing going or something, Pops? I ain't said nothing!" Azuki said as he ran out of the office.

**X-X-X**

Later at the academy, a 7-year old girl with boyishly short black hair was lying down on the cot in the nurse's office, wearing a long-sleeved purple and orange shirt with black shorts and an orange hair band in her hair with an ornament resembling the Konoha spiral on the right.

The door opened and in walked Azuki. "Yo, Nori! Let's get out of here!"

"Big bro!" Nori exclaimed as she sat up. "I thought you were getting your final exam today!"

"It's after 3. I've been done with that test for hours!" The strawberry blonde reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a brand new hitai-ate, the steel glinting in the light. "Check it out! Your big bro is now on the fast track to becoming Hokage!"

"Oooh…! Wait, I've been asleep for six hours?!" His little sister shouted with large blank eyes and a dumbfounded expression. "Wh-what happened to do something like that?"

"You don't remember? Your teacher said you got a cut on your finger and you started spurting blood everywhere."

"Huh?! R-r-really?!"

"Kidding, kidding! Sheesh, you're so gullible…!" Azuki said with a sweatdrop running down the side of his head. "As usual, you fainted for no apparent reason whatsoever."

Nori tapped her cheek with her finger, looking thoughtful. "Hmm…" After a while, she smiled. "Oh, right! I was tired and I just fell over."

"You say it like it's so normal…" The newbie genin said as he took hold of his sister and took her off of the cot, placing her on the floor. "Let's go. I've got things to do. Sheesh, I gotta wonder what Pops was thinking when he decided to send you to the Academy to learn. You could've done the same thing with a home tutor!" He said as they walked out of the nurse's room. "A kid with your weird condition shouldn't be going to public school."

"Why not?" Nori asked with a pout.

"Because you keep fainting and you're failing."

"So? I don't wanna be a ninja anyway, so why should I pass?"

Azuki looked down at Nori with half-lidded eyes. "Nori, why do you think you go to the Academy?"

"Um…" The dark-haired girl shrugged. "I dunno."

"I don't know why I try…"

**X-X-X**

The next day at the Academy, the entire class was buzzing. The newbie genin were all passing time until their sensei walked in. She cleared her throat, but they didn't seem to hear her. After a while, her eyebrow twitched and she pulled a kunai out from her back pouch. She dragged the kunai across the blackboard, making a screeching noise that made the genin cringe and turn their attention to her.

"Now, as you all know, today you are no longer mere Academy students, but shinobi. Granted, you are genin, and as such you will have to train and work your way up through the rankings before you could be called true shinobi. Either way, I wish you all the best of luck! As genin, you will be put in squads of three and placed under the watch of a jonin until you are deemed worthy to be promoted. I will call the names of the squads and the genin placed into them. Do not ask me to repeat myself because I will only say it _once_. Understood?"

"Yes, sensei," the class answered back in perfect synchrony.

'_One thing I'm not gonna miss about this place is Iron Maiden-sensei…'_ Azuki thought with a half-lidded stare as he leaned back in his seat.

"I hope we get put on a squad together!"

"Totally! We'd be an unstoppable team!" He heard two boys beside him chat.

"What I would give to be on a team with Azuki-kun~!" A girl sitting behind him swooned.

"Please! If there's _anyone_ you'd want to be teammates with, it's Naota-kun!" Another girl said.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

Azuki's eyes traveled down the row to an 11-year old boy with short, spiky raven hair and black eyes, wearing a high-collared short-sleeved black jacket with the Uchiha symbol on the back, a sleeveless red shirt and black pants, the Konoha hitai-ate tied around his head. Uchiha Naota was a year younger than everyone else in the class—the result of being moved up a year when he showed amazing ability. Half the girls that once swooned over Azuki were now swooning over _him_ and his skill, and it pissed the blonde off to no end. Not the girls, but the way the little twerp managed to take his spot of #1 Student, dropping Azuki down to #2, which Naota just _loved_ to point out…the bastard.

'_I hope that whatever team that jerk winds up in, he's miserable the entire time he's a genin!'_ The blonde boy thought with a half-lidded glare. Naota noticed him and returned the glare at full force.

"Squad 9: Uchiha Naota, Uzumaki Azuki, and Kazama Minoru."

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!?" Azuki, Naota and a girl screamed loudly.

"S-sensei!! What's the meaning of this?!" 12-year old Kazama Minoru shouted as she blushed furiously. She was a girl with boyishly short brown hair and green eyes wearing a short-sleeved dull white shirt with the kanji for her name written across her flat chest, ankle-length black pants with yellow knees and her hitai-ate tied around her forehead. "Shouldn't people like Naota and Azuki-kun have a teammate who comes…_closer_ to their skill?"

Their sensei stared up at her pointedly. "In case you've forgotten, Minoru…" She pointed an accusing finger at the brunette girl. "Your overall score was so bad that the only way to balance it out was to place you on a team with the #1…" she pointed at Naota, then at Azuki, "and #2-ranking students!"

The other kids in the class began to laugh, causing Minoru to sink in her seat from embarrassment. _'Maybe so…but why did you have to put me on the same team as Azuki-kun…? I'm not sure I could handle being so close to him!'_ Meanwhile, Naota and Azuki radiated auras of anger as their bodies shook with rage.

'_Perfect! So I get stuck with __**that guy**__ because some idiot got a low score?'_ Naota thought with half-lidded eyes and a frown.

'_But no matter who it was…I'd still get put on the same team with Naota and the lowest-scoring student…'_ Azuki thought with the same expression. "This never would've happened if he just stayed in his year!" He hissed darkly.

**X-X-X**

"Yo!" said the man standing in front of the three genin as they sat on the rooftop. He was about 24 years old with pure white hair that spiked to the back with spiky bangs parted to the right, wearing a dark blue long-sleeved jacket with scroll pouches on the front like a Konoha flak jacket's, a black sleeveless vest underneath, dark blue pants, a black glove on his left hand and the Konoha symbol emblazoned on a piece of metal on his belt buckle. "Nice to meet you guys. From this day forth, I'll be your squad sensei."

Azuki, Naota and Minoru sat on the steps before the spiky-haired man. The blonde narrowed his eyes as he looked the man up and down. _'Have I…seen this guy somewhere before?'_

"We'll start off by introducing ourselves. I'm Yasakani Hatsuharu, but I'd prefer it if you called me Haru-sensei. I'm not sure if I could tell you my likes and my hobby…but I can tell you that I dislike brats who complain too much and don't follow orders. Anyone wanna go next?"

Minoru nervously held her arm up. "Um… Can I start?"

"You don't have to ask, just do it."

The brunette lowered her hand and smiled. "My name is Kazama Minoru. My hobby is cooking. I like old movies, meat buns, and uh…" She looked at Azuki from the corner of her eye, who looked at her from the corner of his. The brunette started to blush and changed the subject, "I dislike having to waste my free time helping my parents with their restaurant and being called dumb."

"Kinda hard to _not_ be called dumb when you've got the worst score in the class," Azuki muttered with squinted eyes. He didn't notice how all the color suddenly drained from Minoru.

"My name is Uchiha Naota. I don't have any hobbies. I like swimming, training, and I dislike morons…" He pointed at Azuki. "And him."

"The feeling is mutual…!" The Uzumaki boy growled with a dark aura of anger radiating from him.

"Don't just sit there criticizing your teammates, introduce yourself, Azuki-kun," said Haru.

"Hmph!" Azuki folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "I'm Uzumaki Azuki! I like anpan, strawberry jam mochi, anything sweet, really! I dislike plain and bitter foods! My hobbies are training, pulling pranks, and finding the golden penguin inside of animal cracker boxes!"

Haru sweatdropped. _'It's like all he has on his mind is sweets… What kind of kid did sensei raise?'_

"And now, I gotta ask _you_ a question." The blonde pointed a finger at his sensei. "Who are you?"

"Huh? You honestly don't remember me?"

"If I _did_, I wouldn't be asking now, would I?"

"Heh." Haru smirked and jabbed a thumb to his chest. "I'm one of your dad's students. I haven't seen you since you were a baby, so I guess you really wouldn't remember…"

Minoru's eyes widened. "Say what?! You mean we get a student of the Hokage as our _teacher_?"

'_I wonder if he really __**is**__ an elite ninja,'_ Naota asked with an interested look in his eyes.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, why don't you tell me why you decided to become ninja?" Haru asked as he leaned against the railing behind him.

"Why do _you_ wanna know?" Azuki asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It'll give me a better understanding of you. Now, who's first?"

"Well, I just became a ninja so I wouldn't spend my life wasting away in my parents' restaurant," Minoru said in a bored tone with her eyes closed.

"I became a shinobi to help restore honor to my clan name," said Naota.

"Heh! My reason trumps _both_ of yours! My goal is to surpass my father and become the Nanadaime Hokage!! That'll show the old man what's what!" Azuki said with a cocky grin.

"Wow… I think your reason for being a ninja is…worse than the kid who did it to get out of civilian life," Haru spoke flatly.

A vein popped up on Azuki's head. "WHAT?!?"

"Now that we've gotten to know each other, it's time to tell you guys the deal: though everyone in your class graduated…" The jonin held up nine fingers, "Only _nine_ of you will remain genin while the rest will be sent back to the Academy if they fail a test."

"T…test…?" Minoru whined. "We just took our final exams yesterday! It's too soon to take another test!"

"Would you prefer to be sent back to the Academy?"

"…Uh, go ahead," the brunette said with a nervous smile.

"Later today, we're gonna do a little _survival training test_. I expect you all to meet me at Training Area 21 with all your ninja tools and _don't_ be late. Tardiness will _not_ be tolerated!" The blue-clad jonin said with a wicked smile as he gestured his fingers across his throat. Minoru gulped in reaction, but Naota and Azuki just stared at him with half-lidded eyes until the smile became friendly again. "See you at noon!" The white-haired man then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What a weirdo," Azuki and Naota spoke at the same time. When they realized what had happened, they started to glare at each other.

"To surpass the Hokage? As if a second place loser like you could do that."

"Like a _jerk_ like you could restore honor to your clan. You'd probably make things worse!"

"Moron!"

"Jackass!!"

Minoru clutched her head and sighed, her cheeks tinged blue. _'I'm gonna have to listen to __**this**__ all the time if I pass the test…'_

**X-X-X**

Later that day in the Hokage's mansion, Azuki was walking back and forth, carrying all sorts of weapons from kunai, to shuriken, to paper bombs—all while Nori was standing from a distance watching.

"A survival test?"

"Yup."

"Can I come watch?"

"No," Azuki spoke flatly, bringing out a frown on his sister's face.

"Why not?!"

"_Because_ this is no longer childish Academy training! I'm a _real_ ninja now, so the stakes are higher!" He exclaimed as he dropped the last handful of shuriken in his bag. "There's gonna be blood! And sweat! And…more blood! Little girls like you wouldn't be able to handle it," he told his sibling with a nonchalant wave.

Nori puffed up her cheeks. "I can too! I can bleed! I bleed a lot!"

"Besides, I can't show off why I should remain a genin if I gotta worry about you throughout the entire test! It's gonna be serious! It's gonna be dangerous! It's…!"

**X-X-X**

"CAPTURE THE FLAG?!?" Azuki screamed loudly, speaking out his teammates' thoughts.

Haru shook the little red piece of cloth with an arched eyebrow. "What? What's wrong with capture the flag?"

"It's…it's…kids' stuff! C'mon, we're shinobi now! Give us a challenge!" The blonde said as he jabbed his thumb to his chest.

"Whether or not you're shinobi material is up to _me_. And considering that _I'm_ your opponent, I doubt it's gonna be anything less than challenging." The white-haired jonin smirked as he wrapped the flag around his arm. "Your goal is to obtain the flag by 3 o'clock. You can use any weapons and jutsu you've got. The one who gets the flag will remain a genin and I'll continue to teach them, while the two that fail will suffer a horrible beating and be sent back to the Academy for another year of training."

"Is the beating _really_ necessary?" Naota asked as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head.

"If you can't win a simple game of Capture the Flag, you _should_ be beaten, right?!" Haru growled with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Y-y-yes, sir!" The genin stuttered in fear.

"Well, then, let's start on the count of 3. One…two…three—" In the blink of an eye, the kids were gone from sight. "Well, at least they know how to be stealthy. Let's see who's gonna strike first…"

**X-X-X**

A few minutes later, Haru was walking through the forest section of the training field with his hands in his pockets as he whistled a tune. Bright blue eyes appeared within a bush that he walked past, looking at him with a half-lidded gaze.

'_Does this guy think so low of us that he doesn't even think we're a threat?'_ Azuki thought with a pout as he gripped the handle of the kunai he held. _'Well, I'll show __**him**__!'_ He stretched his arm out from the bush and threw the kunai, aiming it directly at Haru's arm. However, the white-haired man easily sidestepped the attack attempt and spun on his heel. A kunai sprung out from within his sleeve towards the bush, just barely scratching Azuki on the cheek.

"Nice try…" Haru spoke as he started to walk towards the bush.

Azuki started to smirk. "Heh-heh!" When Haru was close enough, he pulled on the wire that he held in his other hand and a net from above slackened and released about a dozen balls attached with bomb notes.

"Huh?" Haru looked up at the balls and arched an eyebrow. "What's this?" The balls suddenly exploded and a rainbow of paint splattered onto the jonin, staining his clothes and getting into his eyes. "FUCK!!!"

"You're mine now!!" Azuki exclaimed as he jumped out of the bush with a confident smirk on his face. He made to grab the flag tied around Haru's arm, but the white-haired man punched in front of him by pure guess…and wound up hitting the boy in the face. The jonin wiped the paint on his face off on the sleeve of his jacket and blinked. The force of his punch had sent Azuki flying back into a tree, and now he was lying on the ground with swirls in his eyes and a large bump on his head.

"Whoops," Haru said with a sweatdrop. "I was so caught offguard by that move, I forgot I was fighting kids for a moment." A vein suddenly popped up on his forehead as he glared at the boy. "But seriously! Paint?! Do you know how hard it'll be getting this out of my clothes?! Grrr…! You're more of a pain now than when you were a baby!"

**X-X-X**

Over an hour into the test…

"Now, who'll be next?" Haru asked as he looked around the training field suspiciously. He was sitting under the shade of a tree, still pissed about his paint-stained clothes. _'Since they're not gonna jump out and attack, I'll have to __**give**__ them an opportunity…'_ He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.

Minutes passed until Naota poked his head out from behind the tree. He stared down at the jonin with an arched eyebrow. _'He fell asleep? What a pathetic excuse of a jonin…'_ His eyes darted to the flag around Haru's arm. _'But his failings are my gain. Now, carefully…'_ He slowly reached around the tree, edging closer ever few seconds as he kept his focus on steadying his hand. The raven-haired boy then immediately grabbed the flag and pulled it off of the jonin's arm. _'Yes!!'_ Then it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "What?!"

"Heh…!" Haru smirked as he cracked open an eye. "Did you really think…?"

"IT WOULD BE THAT EASY?!?" The _real_ Haru shouted as he dropped down from the tree and made to punch the Uchiha boy. Naota dodged by jumped aside and the white-haired man wound up striking the ground instead, forming a small crater.

"No way…!" Naota whispered to himself, slightly blue in the face.

Haru sweatdropped and gave a nervous smile. "Heh-heh, whoops! Once again, forgot who I was fighting here." He suddenly dashed towards the raven-haired boy and pulled back a fist. "Let's begin!!" He punched, but Naota ducked underneath his arm and made to grab the flag, but Haru kneed him in the chest and followed up with a chop to the head, although the Uchiha flipped back to dodge the attack.

"Hmph!" He began to form several hand signs and took a deep breath. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ He blew out a large stream of fire towards his sensei that became a fireball, engulfing the jonin in its flames. When the flames faded, Haru was nowhere to be seen. "Huh?" Naota suddenly felt an intense pain in the back of his head after Haru, who was now standing behind him, elbowed him in the back of his head and sent him flying away.

"Uh…" Haru stood there with a dumbfounded expression on his face until realization hit him. "Uh-oh." His eyes became large and blank as soon as Naota hit a tree headfirst and fell to the ground, semi-conscious with a large bump on his head and swirls spinning in his eyes. "Oh, no! Not the other one…! I just hope he doesn't have a concussion… His parents would kill me."

**X-X-X**

An hour and several minutes later…

Azuki was hiding in a tree while Naota was hiding in the bushes. Both boys were glaring at the same person: Haru, who was sitting in the middle of the path eating a rice ball.

'_Hitomi-chan's rice balls… Practically a delicacy.'_ He opened his mouth and took another bite of the rice ball.

'_While he's distracted…'_ thought Naota.

'_I'll grab that flag!'_ Azuki finished with a smirk.

After a few seconds, Haru paused in eating his rice ball and sighed. _'When are those two gonna get it over with?'_ He closed his eyes and shoved what was left of the rice ball into his mouth. Just then, Azuki and Naota jumped out of their hiding spots at the same time. When they were both close enough to the man, he disappeared in a puff of smoke and they collided.

"OOF!!!" The two boys fell to the ground, piling on top of each other. In a matter of seconds, they were off of each other and in each other's faces.

"What the hell, Uchiha?! What were you doing?!"

"_Me_?! You interrupted me!!"

"_Me_?! _You_ interrupted, you jackass!!"

"Moron!!"

"Bastard!!"

"Imbecile!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!!" The strawberry blonde pounced onto the raven and they began to fight, forming a dust cloud.

Haru, who was standing nearby, sweatdropped and stared at the dust cloud with half-lidded eyes. "Uh…guys? Hello?" A vein popped up on the jonin's forehead and he held up a clenched fist, clenching his teeth. "Seriously…!" He stomped over to the dust cloud and reached inside, grabbing both boys by their necks. "Will you just…KNOCK IT OFF?!?" The white-haired shinobi screamed as he slammed their heads into each other, accidentally making their lips touch.

"YAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!!!" The blonde and raven shouted after they had been dropped. They were choking, spitting up and trying to erase the unpleasant memory. At least until their sensei struck them both and knocked them out.

From the bushes, Minoru stared with large wide eyes and a tinge of blue on her cheeks. _'No…! Azuki-kun…! As if it weren't bad enough that none of us can get that flag from him, did he really have to go and humiliate them like that?!'_

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, the three genin were sitting in front of their sensei, all of whom were tied up in ropes. Haru had his arms folded across his chest, his eyes closed in irritation. "I'm disappointed in you three. _You two_ because you allowed your petty differences to get in the way of your mission," he said as he pointed at Azuki and Naota, who were still blue in the face and twitching in memory of that accident. The jonin then pointed at Minoru, "And _you_ because you didn't even try to _do_ anything!!"

"No offense, but…how could any of us even come _close_ to getting that flag away from you? A genin can't stand up to an elite jonin!" The brunette girl asked with a hint of whining in her voice.

Haru groaned and held onto his head. "You _still_ don't get it."

"Don't get _what_?! You made it perfectly clear that only the one who got the flag would stay a genin!" Azuki shouted as he struggled against his restraints.

"Just shut up!! Unless you guys can give me one good reason why I shouldn't, I'm gonna opt to have you dropped out of the shinobi program _permanently_!!"

"Ha!! You don't scare me! That's an empty threat!"

"Oh, no? Wanna take that risk?"

Azuki gulped. "N-no…"

"Good… Now, let's see what we can do to fix this entire mess of a test…" Haru muttered as he stroked his chin in thought. "Hmmm… How about we play a game of elimination?"

"Elimination?" Naota asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Mm-hm. The rules are simple…" He smiled at Minoru and gestured for the girl to come forward. "Come on, Minoru-chan!"

'_I have a bad feeling about this_…_'_ The brunette girl thought as got up and she walked over to her sensei. In the blink of an eye, he was holding onto her and pressing a kunai against her throat. _'I hate it when I'm right!!'_

"What the hell?!" Azuki screamed, voicing Naota's thoughts as they both stared at the jonin with wide eyes.

"Alright, one of us needs to die here. So unless one of you boys kills the other, I'll kill Minoru-chan," the white-haired man explained in a simple tone.

"What?! I'm not gonna _kill_ him!!"

"What? You were ready to rip each other's throats out a while ago. What's so different about it now?"

"Because…that's _wrong_!! He hasn't even done anything to me!" Azuki exclaimed.

"Ah, so your other teammate's life is that worthless?" To make a point, Haru pressed the kunai against Minoru's throat, drawing a bit of blood.

"N…No!!"

"You won't kill one teammate but you don't want to other to die…what _are_ you gonna do?"

"I…I'd give up my own life!"

"N-no!! Don't do that!!" Minoru exclaimed. "I mean, between the two of us, you'd be a far more valuable shinobi than me!" She bowed her head, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes. "I'm just a dead last ninja…I don't even have a real goal in life… Your future's brighter than mine's!"

"Shut up!! Don't be so dumb!! Just because you're the worst ninja in our class doesn't mean your life isn't worth saving!!" Azuki shouted as he got to his feet.

"And I suppose you're gonna suggest that _I_ be killed, aren't you?" Naota asked in a flat tone.

"No." The Uchiha stared at the Uzumaki boy in surprise before he added, "If you were dead, I wouldn't be able to rub my victories in your face," with half-lidded eyes and a cocky smirk. "And also because I need you to help me save Minoru from that crazy bastard. Unless you _want_ to be responsible for her death—"

"Don't be so dumb. But you do realize that you're suggesting that a pair of genin team up to fight a jonin," the Uchiha said with a half-lidded stare. "I hope you've got a good plan in mind."

"Yup!"

"Does it involve getting out of these ropes first?"

"Of course!! I'm not some fool!!"

Haru sweatdropped and stared at the boys as they both tried to remove the kunai out from each other's back pouches. "Would you guys relax? I think your answers were sufficient enough for you to pass."

The blonde and raven stopped what they were doing and stared at the white-haired man in confusion. "Say what?" They asked at the same time.

"I was only kidding! Did you honestly think I would kill Minoru-chan?"

"I did…!" Minoru squeaked with large blank eyes and her mouth open in shock, her cheeks tinged in blue. "Could you put down the kunai, please…?" When the jonin did that, she immediately went back over to her teammates, panting and sweating. "I honestly thought he was gonna kill me!"

A vein popped up on Naota's forehead. "What…the…_hell_, man?! If that was a joke, you took it too far!"

"Yeah, well, what better way to instill the purpose of this test into your minds?" Haru held up a finger. "You were supposed to capture the flag, but you were supposed to do it as a _team_. With the way you guys acted, I was worried that the concept of teamwork couldn't reach you, but in a life-or-death situation, you guys made it through! I'm proud of you!"

"Don't act so happy!! You nearly scared the crap out of us for the sake of a _test_!!" Azuki screamed.

"It wasn't just for passing the test. To quote my sensei, _'those who fail to think of their comrades are lower than trash'_! And, while I had my doubts about you, you proved you're not as much of a brat as I thought you were."

A vein popped up on the strawberry blonde's forehead. "_Brat_?!"

"Yeah, that pretty much describes you down to a 'T,'" said Naota with a smirk.

Azuki turned his anger on the raven. "Oh, yeah?! Well, if I'm a brat, what're _you_?!"

Minoru sighed and held onto her head as her teammates got into a glaring contest. _'I'm going to have to deal with this for the rest of my genin days…Would I have been better off failing?'_

Haru gave a broad grin. "I can tell we're gonna have some good times together!"

'_Somehow, I doubt that,'_ the brunette kunoichi thought before Azuki and Naota became engaged in another dust cloud fight. "Wait, how can they do that with their arms tied?!"

**X-X-X**

Later that night…

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Azuki suddenly screamed as he pointed a finger at his father, trying as best he could to lean over the dinner table.

"Mm?" Naruto paused in eating his dinner to look at his son in confusion. "What?"

"Giving me that _lunatic_ as a teacher!! Is that your idea of a joke?! 'Cuz I ain't laughing, Pops!! He threatened my teammate and tried to get me to do a life or death decision!! I'm too young for that sort of crap!! How could you promote a guy like that to jonin?!" The strawberry blonde shouted without taking a pause to breathe.

"Uh… What?" Nori asked with her eyes reduced to small dots.

The Rokudaime smiled. "I know. I told him that sometimes fear is the only thing that makes you get over yourself." He popped the chicken into his mouth, completely ignoring the way his son was glaring at him.

"Say what?! You…you…!"

"But he _is_ an excellent shinobi. He'll be a good teacher for you. And I should know because _I_ taught him."

"Hmph! Fine then!" The strawberry blonde snorted as he flopped down onto his pillow, folding his arms across his chest. "Just because he's a great ninja, I'll let him train me! Then I'll become strong enough to beat you up!"

'_You don't have a choice about it,'_ Naruto thought with an arched eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, I'm looking forward to it."

"Damn straight! When I get strong enough, I'm gonna—"

"So, what did you do today, Nori-chan?"

"Hey, don't interrupt me—!"

"Hee-hee! I met a boy…!" The dark-haired girl said with a blush on her cheeks. She hadn't even touched her food yet.

Naruto's eyes became large. "A boy? Not a…_crush_, Nori-chan?"

"He's _soooo_ cute! I'm gonna marry him one day!" She exclaimed, not even minding her father's distraught expression.

"A _boy_…! I thought she'd be Daddy's Little Girl until she hit puberty…!" Naruto moped in a corner of the room with an aura of gloom around him. "They grow up so fast…!"

Azuki sweatdropped. "Geez, don't have a cow. I'm 12 and half the girls in my age group wanna go on dates with me." He looked at his little sister with an arched eyebrow. "So, who's the lucky boy?"

Nori held onto her face as her blush darkened. "Uchiha Ichigo-kun~! I was told all the girls in my class like him!" Her father suddenly snapped out of his moping and got a sharp-eyed look along with his son. "They said that since he's an Uchiha, he'll only like high-scorers, so I'm gonna start studying and—! …What's the matter, Daddy? Azuki?"

"_Uchiha_…?" The white-clad blonde said through his clenched teeth.

"Dear God… Of all the boys you could have put into her class, why did it have to be Ichigo…? I have nothing against Sasuke or his children, but what were you thinking when you let her think _that_ boy was cute?!" The Rokudaime Hokage shouted at the ceiling.

Nori blinked in confusion then sweatdropped. "Huh? What's wrong now?"

**X-X-X**

"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"How much longer?"

"_Much_ longer. Be patient."

"Damn…!"

**X-X-X**

_**40 years…**_

"Is it time _now_…?"

"No, it isn't."

"How much longer?"

"…A decade or so more."

"TEN YEARS?!?"

**X-X-X**

"Haha! This is it!" 15-year old Azuki exclaimed as he tugged on the sleeve of his blue jacket with the black sleeves, white undershirt and blue pants, his strawberry blonde hair slightly longer and messier. "My first B-rank mission! And it's just me and sensei! I can't wait!"

"Keep your pants on, Azuki. We aren't even out of the gate yet and you're acting hyper," said Haru with an arched eyebrow.

"Hee-hee! I can't help it! I'm just that excited!" The chunin said with a broad grin as he folded his hands behind his head. "It's about time Pops sent me on a B-rank! I've been ready for this since day one!"

"Riiiight… Keep telling yourself that, kid…"

**X-X-X**

The mission was a simple one: some people had disappeared from a small village in Hi no Kuni. For some odd reason, they feared that there was some sort of monster picking them off one by one, and they felt that the reason was connected to the trio of mysterious individuals.

'_I don't know __**why**__ this was labeled a B-rank. Missing people sounds more C-rank to me.'_ Azuki thought as he and Haru walked through the forest at a slow pace. "What's the big deal with this mission's ranking, sensei?"

"Well, about ten years ago, similar things were happening around Hi no Kuni. The cause was a group of ordinary people turned into monsters that called themselves Oni."

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "Oni?"

"These monstrous mutated creatures that either eat people like carnivores or abduct them for their own twisted devices. The last time they were seen, they were all killed at Kikyo Pass. But they never did find the guy that was responsible for making them, so people had worried that maybe he would just build another, stronger army and try to attack Konoha again. This recent happening of missing people reminds the villagers of what happened ten years ago, so they're worried that it's happening again."

"Well, gee. Have they even seen anything?"

"Not quite. But whether or not the problem is related to the Oni, we were hired to take care of it," the white-haired man said with a look of determination on his face. At that moment, there was a rustling sound in the bushes. "Hm?"

Azuki's eyes narrowed and his hand sped towards his leg holster. He drew a few shuriken and flung them into the bushes where a yelp was heard. The blonde immediately ran over to the bushes and looked inside, holding a kunai to the neck of the person behind it. "Alright, Oni! Get ready…to…" He blinked before he gave a nervous smile. "Um… Hello there! I hope I didn't hurt you…"

Haru walked over to the bushes and looked over them to see what had his student acting this way. It was a young lady dressed in a simple white dress with a tattoo on her bare arm and a shuriken in her shoulder. "You're one of the missing people from the village. What's the big idea? Your parents are worried sick about you." The girl got to her feet and tried to run off, but Azuki had grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Hey! We're trying to ask you a question! If you're alright, why haven't you returned home to your village?"

"My home isn't in that place! It's with Kagaseo-sama! Now let me go!"

"Kagaseo…?" The blonde pronounced awkwardly. "Who's that?"

In the blink of an eye, a person wearing a black hooded cloak appeared beside the young lady. The sudden appearance of the man in black made Azuki slacken his grip and the girl immediately embraced him. "Kagaseo-sama! Thank goodness!"

'_Kagaseo'_ pulled out the shuriken from the girl's shoulder and placed a hand on the other one.

"So you're Kagaseo, huh?" Haru asked with a look of suspicion. "I've got some question I'd like to ask you about some missing villagers—like the girl you've got there." _'Kagaseo'_ remained silent before he disappeared in the blink of an eye along with the girl.

"Damn it!! Why does he have to run?" Azuki groaned before he and his sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke.

**X-X-X**

"So what you're telling me is that you failed to find the missing villagers?" Naruto asked the jonin and chunin several days later.

"Well, we found _one_. But then she ran away with someone in a cloak," said Azuki.

"It didn't sound as if she was kidnapped by this Kagaseo, but then again, she could have had Stockholm syndrome," Haru added. "She called him _'Kagaseo-sama,'_ and said that her place was with him, so…maybe young lovers? Then again, that doesn't explain the other missing villagers…"

Naruto nodded. "I see. I'll send a tracking squad to make sure of things. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir. I've got something waiting for me, anyway," said the blue-clad man as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"So, think you've got time later tonight to go out and eat?" Azuki asked, scratching his cheek. "I saw Nori a while ago and she said she wants to eat barbeque."

"Hm? Ah, sure, alright. As soon as I'm done here," Naruto said with a grin before he went back to his work.

"Cool. See ya."

After his son left the office, Naruto paused in his work and closed his eyes. "Kagaseo, huh…?"

"Shall I tell the staff to look through the records for any signs of that name?"

"That'd be good, Sai. Please do it as soon as possible."

For a moment, the bird-masked ANBU became visible behind the Rokudaime. "Yes, Hokage-sama." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I keep telling him that he can still call me Naruto… I guess etiquette is hard to break."

**X-X-X**

_**45 years…**_

"Azuki… I'm worried about you."

20-year old Azuki snorted as he folded his arms across his chest. His attire remained the same as it did when he was a chunin, except for the yellow stripes going around the arms of the black sleeves, the yellow outlining of the jacket and Konoha spiral on the back. "You're worried about _me_, old man? You're the one who's gonna be 50 in a few more years. Shouldn't you be worrying more about your health and eating less ramen?"

Naruto's eye twitched and he paused in swirling around the noodles in the cup of instant ramen set on his desk. "Excuse me?"

"You already know that stuff's not good for a man your age… Unless…" He gave his father a half-lidded look. "You wanna get fat."

"Stop trying to change the subject! We're here to talk about your problem."

"Which would be…?"

"You need a social life."

Azuki blinked. "I'm sorry, what did you say? It sounded like you think I need a _social life_?"

"I don't think. I _know_. You'll be 21 in a couple of months and you've never had a girlfriend!"

"So? If you do the math, you had me when you were twenty—wait a minute, you're not gonna act like a mother and go on some _grandchild_ _kick_ are you? Because that would be _so_ unbefitting of you."

Naruto sweatdropped and looked out of the corner of his eye. "Well… Never mind that. We'll talk about that later when you come back from your mission. It's a simple C-rank delivery," the older blonde said as he held out a small steel box restricted by a seal.

"Why am I going on a C-rank? Just get a chunin to do it."

"Well, I am. It's just that…I don't want her to go alone."

"_Her_?"

At that moment, the door opened and in walked a 15-year old girl with long blue black hair that had bangs sticking out messily in the front, periwinkle-colored eyes and wore a long-sleeved orange hoodie jacket with the Konoha symbol on the arms that been zipped all the way up with dark purple sleeves that nearly hid her hands, black pants and the Konoha hitai-ate tied around her head on a piece of purple cloth.

"Daddy! I'm here for my mission! Oh, hi, Azuki! What're you doing here?"

Azuki stared at his sister with half-lidded eyes before turning his gaze on his father. "Nori?"

Naruto nodded. "Mm-hm."

"May I ask _why_?" The younger blonde whispered. "It's not like she gets as sick as she used to…well, not as much, but still… You could've put her on a team with some other chunin!"

"Due to recent developments, I've decided she can't go with any of the chunin she'd be compatible with on a mission."

"What developments?"

"The developments I just noticed on her _chest_!" Out of the corner of his eye, Azuki looked at what his father was looking at. "I can't pair her up with any male ninja when she's got _those_!" Nori really did take after Hinata in terms of physical appearance—her long hair, her pale skin…the pair of D-cups on her chest…

"Um… What are you guys staring at?" Nori asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.

The blue-clad blonde sweatdropped. "You _just noticed_ that she had those?"

"Well, when _did_ she get 'em?!" Naruto hissed, trying his best to keep quiet.

"For the last two years!"

"Two years?! I'd have noticed them if they were there for two years!"

"Then you must be going senile early!"

Nori stomped her foot impatiently. "Daddy~! Just gimme my mission so I can leave you and Azuki to whatever argument you're having today!"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked and pushed Azuki forward. "Uh, well, sweetie, the thing is you're big brother's gonna go with you on your mission."

"Really?" The dark-haired girl pouted. "Awww…! But I didn't want to go with Azuki!"

"What? My company ain't good enough for you?" Azuki spoke flatly as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"No, no! It's…good enough…" _'It's just that I wanted Ichigo-kun…!'_

"Good. So let's get started. Sooner we go, the sooner we can return," the blonde jonin mumbled as they walked out of the office.

Nori waved goodbye to their father. "Bye, Daddy!"

When they closed the door, Naruto sighed and rubbed his temples. "I hope this mission helps Azuki out a bit. He just hasn't been the same since Haru left…"

**X-X-X**

Enjaku Masui—Konoha nukenin. Medical ninja. Appeared to have committed suicide after he was unable to save his big brother from a fatal wound. Actually grafted the skin of a corpse to make it appear similar to him and left Konoha. Joined with nukenin Kabuto, former Konohagakure and Otogakure shinobi, at some point in time. Possibly helped with the creation of the creatures known as Oni 10 years ago. That was what the BINGO book said.

But to Azuki, Masui was the bastard who caused many people in his home so much pain: his father, his master, and now, he was trying to mess with his little sister?

"BASTARD!!! You better put her down!!"

"Hmhmhm…! Now why would I want to do that? I went through all the trouble of posting that phony mission just to get her out here," said the 30-something year old man who wore a simple faded black cloak. He had dark red hair that reached his shoulders in the back and had a set of bangs hanging above his right eye. The man's crimson red eyes were focused on the blonde jonin as he held the unconscious dark-haired girl slung over his shoulder. "Although, I never imagined that they would send a jonin along on this mission, let alone the Blue Storm. Should I be honored?"

"I told you to _put her down_!!" Azuki repeated as a vein throbbed on his forehead. As badly as he wanted to just beat that bastard down, he couldn't risk it while he still had Nori in his grasp.

"Aw, come now. Don't you want to know _why_ I've been wanting a simple-minded girl with bizarre health problems? There are two reasons, really…" Masui held up a finger with his free hand. "For the sake of research, but most importantly…" He smirked as he held up a second finger. "For her chakra."

"Her chakra…?"

"Yes. You see, Azuki-san, you and your sister are unique. In all the days of jinchuuriki, none ever managed to reproduce. None would dare to touch them and so they lived their days alone until their bijuu was ripped out of them. But Uzumaki Naruto, the host of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, was the first host to reproduce. I suppose I should count the Kazekage of Suna, but without the bijuu within him, there was no separate unnatural chakra to affect his children like it did with you. However, the way the Kyuubi's chakra has affected Nori-san is quite interesting. I have a theory that I would like to test out…and I need _her_ for it."

"Hold it!! I don't know what the _hell_ you're talking about, but I won't just let you kidnap my sister without a fight!!"

The gray-haired man sighed and held a hand to his forehead. "Of course not… But unfortunately, I'm a researcher, not a fighter, so I wouldn't be the best choice to fight you…and that's why I brought protection." As if on cue, a figure appeared in a puff of smoke. They were clad entirely in blue and white armor like a samurai and wore a faceless white mask, their long white hair the only visible sign of the person's identity. The way the armor was built, Azuki guessed it was a man. "I've been working on a new experiment. I haven't worked out any names as of yet, but this is sure to be better than the Oni as soon as I work out some kinks. Why don't you play along with it and see?" Masui looked at the experiment. "Remember: don't come back until he's dead." And with that, the gray-haired man disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"NORI!!! NO!!!" He jumped back in time to avoid a punch to the gut from the armor-clad experiment. "Get outta my way!!" The blond began to form several hand signs. He took a deep breath and blew a large amount of water onto the experiment, followed up by a familiar hand sign. _'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!'_ In a puff of smoke, three clones appeared beside him.

One clone began to form several hand signs while the original and the other two clones began to form a Rasengan.

When the single clone was done forming his hand signs, a wave of lightning came shooting out of his hands. "Raiton: Jibashi (Lighting Style: Electromagnetic Murder)!!" The lightning hit the experiment, which was still soaked in water, and electrocuted it.

"Now!!" Azuki shouted as he and his clones held out the Rasengan, which now seemed to be the eye for a small tornado. "Fuuton: Rasentatsumaki (Wind Style: Spiraling Tornado)!!" They thrust the Rasengan, palm forward, and the tornado widened and grew in size and began to suck the experiment towards it.

The white-clad figure, still paralyzed from the Suiton-Raiton combo, was unable to resist and was pulled into the man-made tornado that cut and sliced into him until he reached the Rasengan. Upon making impact with the eye of the tornado, the experiment was sent flying back into a tree with enough force to topple it over.

"Now to find that guy!" The blonde thought aloud as his clones disappeared and he jumped up into the trees. He began to jump across the branches when something struck him fast and hard enough to make him fall out of the tree and land on the ground. "Guh! What?!' He jumped out of the way in time to avoid being punched in the head. The armored fist that missed him struck the ground and went right through it, making a clean hole.

The experiment knelt there in its crouching position for a few seconds until it stood up, pulling its hand out of the ground. Despite the fact that its armor was covered in scratches, it was still moving.

"The hell?! That's some tough armor!" Azuki touched his chest with one hand. "Alright, maybe I should take it up a notch!"

The armor-clad figure remained silent. It just held its arm out and it began to glow with white chakra. After a few seconds, the chakra began to form a large five-clawed hand. Azuki's eyes widened and his muscles relaxed.

'_This is…!'_

The experiment disappeared, reappearing around Azuki in random places every few seconds until he appeared behind him. The blonde looked over his shoulder just as the chakra claw pierced through his back and out through his chest. The claws slid out of him with ease and he fell to the ground, bleeding on the forest floor. The experiment looked down at him for a moment before disappearing in a whirl of wind without a word.

'_N…no…!'_ Azuki struggled to get up, but he found himself unable to. _'Move, damn it!!'_ He coughed up some blood as he pushed himself off the ground by a few inches before collapsing once more. _'No…ri…!'_ was his last thought before he blacked out.

**X-X-X**

_She whimpered like the little baby their father saw her as. And all over a little story._

"_Come on…! You don't honestly believe that there's a monster hiding in lightning, do you?" He muttered with half-lidded eyes. He was already 10 years old—too old to be frightened by things like that._

_The thunder boomed again. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" She clung to the closest living thing in the room—__**him**__. "Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!" She repeated over and over like it was some sort of mantra._

_He rolled his eyes and snorted before crouching down next to her, holding her close. "Relax… I'm here… No one's gonna take you away so long as I'm here."_

_She looked at him with those big pale blue eyes. "Y-y-you promise?" She hiccupped._

"_Yeah, yeah! Just stop crying all over me!"_

**X-X-X**

What woke him up was the sound of thunder. He blinked and his blurred vision got clearer until he could see the fluorescent lights over his head.

'_Where…?'_ Azuki blinked and tried to get his thoughts together. His eyes widened and he immediately sat up. He felt a burning sensation running through his body and a pain in his chest. "Gurk!! Grrr…! He held onto his chest and winced in pain. "Ah…!" The blonde struggled to sit up, one arm propping him up. "No…ri…" He mumbled as he tried to throw his legs over the side of the bed.

The door opened and Sakura walked in. "Azuki! What are you doing? Get back in bed this instant!" She told the chunin as she walked over to his bed and helped him get back in.

"Nori… Where's Nori…?" The blonde grunted.

"Nori…isn't here anymore," the pink-haired woman spoke in a sad tone.

"What're you talking about…? Of course she's here… Where is she?"

"Azuki, don't you remember what happened? When you came back, you were like a zombie…and you kept saying that they took her."

Azuki's eyes widened before he grit his teeth in irritation. _'Crap…!'_

**X-X-X**

Shortly after visiting Azuki, Sakura decided to spend her lunch break visiting Naruto. The Rokudaime hadn't been in the office since Azuki had returned, doing his paperwork at home. What was frightening was that he was getting far more done there than he was at the office.

"Naruto? Are you decent?" Sakura called as she slid open the shoji door and peeked inside. "Naruto?"

Naruto was sitting down at the table cross-legged, a tall stack of papers resting beside him and a jug of sake on the table. The Rokudaime was just about to down another cup when he noticed his childhood friend enter. "Huh? Oh, Sakura …" He mumbled, slightly red in the face. "What're _you_ doing here…?"

"Azuki woke up today."

"Really?"

"You could go see him if you'd like."

"Uh…" The blonde man rubbed his temples as he set down the cup in his other hand. "I… Maybe later."

Sakura stared at him sadly before she sat down next to him. "You can't keep doing this, Naruto. You've got to go back to the office eventually."

"I know."

"I know you're depressed about Nori, but you can't just shut yourself in and drink the pain away. God knows that doesn't work…"

"I know."

"And you've already got the village's best trackers on it. If anyone could find Nori, it's them."

"I know. It's just…" Naruto held onto his head and closed his eyes. "If something happened to her…I…!"

**X-X-X**

The next day…

"Hey." Azuki looked up at his father from his spot on the bed. The older blonde was smiling, but he had a tired look in his eyes. "I'm glad to see that you're okay."

Azuki had the same tired look in his eyes. It was only probable, seeing as how he barely slept since he woke up. "Where's Nori?"

Naruto visibly flinched and shifted on the stool. "We haven't found her yet."

"What about sensei?"

The Rokudaime blinked. "What?"

"Haru-sensei… That jutsu… That thing was him…I think… I don't know… My head still hurts…" The strawberry blonde muttered, closing his eyes in pain.

"That was probably your imagination. Try not to strain yourself. You need your rest." Naruto smiled. "Trust me: we'll get Nori back…"

**X-X-X**

_**46 years…**_

"How much longer could it take…?"

"Still years…"

"Damn it! I wish we could control time…"

**X-X-X**

"Old man, I need you to train me!!"

Naruto sweatdropped and stared at the boy standing in front of him. The boy who he thought would stop being a pest once he became a genin. Boy, was _he_ wrong. "Kira… What are you talking about?"

The boy was Kira, who looked so ordinary with that messy black hair and blue eyes, dark blue hoodie and black pants with his hitai-ate tied around his head. But he wasn't. In Naruto's eyes, he was the spawn of some devil who decided one day to abandon their child and allow said child wander into this village. During his Academy days, he did the most irritating and annoying things that he deemed as training: breaking into people's homes and stealing their stuff, spying on people, stalking them, putting down traps and not caring who was caught by them, purposely ticking off shinobi and making them chase him to see how long it would take before they caught him… The child was a genius, the #1 student of his year, but unfortunately, he wasn't a stoic little bastard like the majority were. He was a _hyper, eccentric_ little bastard. He could easily pass off as a twisted attempt at making a Naruto-Sasuke hybrid.

The Rokudaime had hoped that being placed under Sasuke after becoming a genin would mellow the kid out or reduce the chaos he caused—if not because of the Uchiha's training methods, then his punishments via Chidori and Sharingan genjutsu torture. But no. Even multiple shocks did nothing to Kira. In fact, they may have made him _more_ demented…

"Hey!! Are you even listening to me?!" Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and gave a nod, though he was still doing his paperwork. "I need someone who'll train me for the Chunin Exam finals! But Sasuke-sensei's being a total jerk and not offering to train me, so I want someone _so_ awesome that it _irritates_ him!!"

The blonde man arched an eyebrow. "And what do _I_ have to do with this?"

"He complains about you a lot, so you qualify. Train me, master!" The dark-haired boy bowed his head in a traditional manner.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I _cannot_ become your master! I have far too much work to do!"

"No, you don't. The most I see you do when no one's looking is eat ramen and read porn."

"How did you—?! Never mind… Despite what you may think, I have a lot of work to do. I'm a person of major importance. I wouldn't have any time to train you." A figurative lightbulb then flickered on in Naruto's mind and a smile broke out across his face. "_But_ I _do_ know someone who's very strong. And your teacher can only stand _him_ a _little less than me_. And he's got all sorts of free time lately with the exams."

Kira's eyes brightened and for a moment, Naruto actually confused him for an innocent child. "Really?! Who is it, who is it?!"

"Ah-ah! That's a surprise…" Naruto wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to the boy. "He's usually at these places. You're sure to find him at one of them."

"Alright! Thank you, old man! You're not the moron Sasu-sensei keeps saying you are!" He ran out of the office before Naruto could say anything.

**X-X-X**

"C'mon… Focus…" Azuki mumbled as he sat in the middle of a training field with a Rasengan formed in the palm of his hand. There were wide trails of upturned earth and uprooted trees all over. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" The wind around him picked up as the Rasengan's surface shape began to change. The blonde held his Rasengan up to the sky and grit his teeth. "RASEN—!"

"HI!!!" Kira, who just seemed to appear out of nowhere, screamed into the blonde's ear.

"AHHH!!!" The Rasengan in his hand suddenly shot upward, transforming and expanding into a blast of swirling light blue air and a roaring effect. The wind coming from the backfired jutsu managed to push back the trees a bit and blew away any birds or other animals nearby along with the clouds in the sky. When it was done, Azuki stared up at the sky in shock. "Ah… So close…!" He uncharacteristically squeaked.

Kira, on the other hand, stared at him in awe. "That was…awesome!! Teach me how to do that, sensei!"

The blonde glared down at the dark-haired boy. "_You_…! I know you! You're that brat who keeps pulling pranks all over the village!!"

"Hey, that was training! And I'm a ninja now, so I train with other ninja—like you!" The genin pointed a finger up at the sky dramatically. "So let us train!! Bring it on, sensei! I can handle anything you've got except that thing you did just now!!"

Azuki shoved his hand into Kira's face, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "WHOA!!! Who the hell do you think you are, calling me your sensei all of a sudden?!"

"But you are my sensei! Old man Naruto told me so himself!" Azuki's eyebrow twitched as a second vein popped up on his head. His grip on Kira's face tightened until the boy was squirming in his grasp. "Ack!! H-hey!! Is this training or are you just using me as an anger outlet?!"

"No…" The blonde suddenly threw Kira up into the sky, the genin becoming a twinkling star for a moment. "I'm using you as a javelin!!" He got to his feet and began to radiate a dark aura of anger, his bangs overshadowing his eyes as they glowed bright red with anger. "You're next, _Pops_…!"

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Naruto was still doing his paperwork—or at least he was pretending to so he wouldn't have to look at the angry expression Azuki was giving him. The boy got his physical traits, but _that look_…that was all Sakura. He had no super strength, but he somehow got a boost of strength and a lack of sanity when he got mad.

"What…is your…_problem_?! I never agreed to being any kid's teacher!!" The strawberry blonde shouted as his overshadowed, glowing red eyes glared at the Rokudaime Hokage.

"Well, how else will I make you get back in touch with humanity? In just one year, you've become antisocial and refuse to go out with me anymore, and you take missions almost every chance you can get. Heck, if it weren't for the Chunin Exams, I wouldn't have a good excuse for making you stay in the country!"

"Number 1: the reason why I don't go out with you anymore is because you embarrass me when we go to a restaurant and I keep getting blamed for not doing anything when you're supposed to be _working_!! Number 2: I'm a ninja—taking missions is my _job_!! If I wanna make more money than the average ninja, so what?! And Number 3: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING ANTISOCIAL?!?"

"What else would you call not going on a date not once in your life and only eating and training every day?"

"That's not antisocial!! That—'s!"

"Denial," Naruto grumbled, finally looking up from the worksheets. "I know that…what happened a year ago affected you, but you shouldn't let it do this to you. It's not your fault."

Azuki's eyes stopped glowing with anger, although his bangs continued to hide them. "Why should I feel like it's my fault? Blame the guys who couldn't find her. Should've just sent me…"

The older blonde narrowed his eyes. "We're _not_ having this conversation again."

"Fine. Then let's have a conversation over why you sent me _that little troublemaker_ and told him I was his teacher!!"

"He needs a teacher. You need something to preoccupy your free time. It seemed like a win-win at the time."

"It is _not_ a win-win!! You've gone and stuck me with a little freak!!"

As if on cue, a blur of blue and black shot through the window and rolled along the floor before coming to a stop. The two blondes stared at the blue lump before it jumped onto its feet and pointed a finger at Azuki. "Ha!! Found ya, sensei!" Kira exclaimed with a wide grin.

The blue-clad jonin's eye twitched. "Didn't I get rid of you?"

"I have good endurance!" The boy said enthusiastically.

"And I am _not_ your sensei!!"

"Well, that's not what Naruto-sama said! And what he says goes, so _train me_!!"

"I said _no_!!"

Naruto rubbed his temples and sighed. "Azuki, just do it. It's only for a month. You won't even have to see him again if you don't want to. Just do this favor for the kid why don't you?"

The strawberry blonde narrowed his eyes and sucked his teeth in disdain. "Geez…! This is the only time I'm gonna do this, you hear me?! _Only time_, Pops!!"

"Yay!!" Kira jumped onto Azuki's back and latched onto him, grinning all the while. "Alright!! Let's go, sensei!!" The jonin reached behind his back and pried the genin off.

"Look, you. So long as I'm training you, you'll refer to me as _Azuki-sama_. Got that?" Azuki said with a frown.

The dark-haired boy blinked in confusion. "Uh… Why would I call you that?"

"Uh, hello! I'm the son of the Hokage and one of Konoha's elite! I think _that_ alone should make you call me by my proper title!"

"No way! You're the old man's son?"

"You didn't notice the similarities?! What are you, _blind_?!" The blue-clad jonin shouted as he shook the dark-haired boy violently. "Just for spite, I'm gonna work you to the bone!! It'll be a miracle if you're alive by the end of the month!!"

"Okay!! Bring it!! If I can survive months of Sasu-sensei, I can survive a month of you, Azuki-sensei!"

"Azuki-_sama_, damn it!!" Azuki shouted as he threw Kira out of the window. Naruto looked at his son in shock, but the 21 year old simply shrugged. "Relax. If he can survive being thrown to another part of town, he can handle being thrown out of a window." As if on cue, Kira climbed back onto the edge of the roof tiles outside of the window. "See?"

"Senseeeeeiiiii…! Let's go traaaaaaaiiiiiin!" The genin whined.

"Just so you know…if I kill him before the end of the month…it's _your_ fault, Pops…"

Naruto sweatdropped. _'You can't pin the crime on me like that…'_

**X-X-X**

Half of the month seemed to go by quickly, and oddly enough, Azuki had grown…_slightly_ attached to Kira. He had gone from being that pesky stray that he didn't want but kept following him everywhere to that annoying pet that made him happy sometimes.

"Sensei! I think I've got…it!" The dark-haired genin exclaimed as he and a kage bunshin of himself held onto a balloon. He was covered in scratches and bruises from the spar that was only a half hour ago, but he was determined to move on. "Yes… I've…I've…!" The balloon suddenly popped and the chakra that had been gathered up in it seemed to explode, making Kira roll back and until he was resting on the ground facedown. "Ooohhh…! Did I do it?"

Azuki sweatdropped and walked over to the boy. "The point is to _not_ make the move. Popping is worse than moving."

"Oooohhhh… I hear something in my head!" The genin whispered with blank white eyes.

"You _would_ be the type who hears things, wouldn't you, kid? Seriously…are you okay?"

"I'm fine… I just need to…lie down for a while…"

Azuki folded his arms across his chest and snorted. "Hmmph…! Slacker…" He looked up at the sky and watched a bird fly by. "Lemme ask you a question, Kira."

Kira rolled onto his back to stare up at the blonde man. "What'd you say, sensei? The ringing in my ears hasn't stopped." A foot suddenly landed on his stomach. "Ugh!!"

"I _told you_ to cut out the _'sensei'_ nonsense…!" Azuki growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "If it weren't for the old man, I wouldn't be here…!"

"What…what'd you wanna tell me?" The dark-haired boy asked as he held onto his stomach.

The blonde calmed down and got a somber look in his eyes. "If you could change anything you wanted about the past, what would you change?"

Kira rolled onto his stomach once more and got on his knees. "Huh? What kinda question is _that_?"

"Just answer it, ya little brat!!" The jonin suddenly shouted, his eyes glowing bright red.

"Aaah!!!" The boy screamed as he suddenly got to his feet and jumped away from the strawberry blonde. "Uh… Um…! Well, I guess I'd try to change things so I came out looking cooler!"

Azuki arched an eyebrow and flatly responded, "And that's it?"

"What do you mean? Of course that's it!"

He signed and held a hand to his head with a frown. "I should've known… You're still just a kid. All _your_ reasons for using such a technique would be juvenile and selfish."

"Hey, I'm not juvenile!! I'm a _genius_!!" The dark-haired boy exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air energetically.

Azuki sweatdropped. "You keep saying that, and yet…"

Kira arched an eyebrow. "Hey, sensei! What would _you _change?"

The blue-clad jonin closed his eyes and he saw Nori and Haru's backs turned to him. "I…would fix all of my mistakes…"

"HYPOCRIIIIITE!!!" Kira's screaming made Azuki open his eyes to see the genin pointing a finger at him, a vein throbbing on his head. "That's the same thing _I_ said!!"

"No, _you_ wanted to make yourself cooler. All I want…is to have them back…" _'To make up for my failure… Nori… Haru-sensei…'_

Kira blinked and arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Uhhh… Who's _'them', _Azuki-sensei?"

"None of your business, that's who they are!!" Azuki snapped. "Kira!!"

"What?"

"Remember this!!" The dark-haired boy was suddenly wearing a pair of large thick-lensed glasses and holding a notepad and a pencil. "Be serious about it!!" Kira tossed the notepad, pencil and glasses aside. "If you _really_ wanna insist on calling me your sensei, then you have to follow my ideals! And those are to never abandon a comrade and to always keep your promises! Because a man who cannot do either one shouldn't be _called_ a man!!" Azuki shouted with flames burning in his eyes.

Kira's eyes grew large and began to sparkle. "So…cool!! Azuki-sensei!! You're _the_ coolest!"

"Unfortunately, I'm not…" The blonde man mumbled as he bowed his head, bangs hiding his eyes. The genin blinked and stared at him in confusion before he raised his head and grinned. "I had a lot of help to get this way! If anything, you should be thanking the ones who helped me out."

"And they are…?"

"Once again, none of your business!!" _'Because __**he**__ would never let me live it down if I said he's always inspired me…'_

**X-X-X**

"Achoo!" Naruto sniffled as he leaned back in his seat.

Sakura blinked and looked up from the report in her hand. "Getting a cold?"

"Nah, someone must be talking about me again. I bet it's Sasuke…"

**X-X-X**

"Is it time _yet_?"

"The year isn't even over yet. Patience…"

"My patience is wearing thin."

**X-X-X**

_**55 Years…**_

"Is it time now?"

"Yes… It is time. Let us begin the process."

"Finally!"

**X-X-X**

"Azuki… I'm worried about you," the Rokudaime spoke as he rested his hands on his lap. The years were starting to take their toll on him, even if it was in the smallest of ways: the wrinkles that had formed at the corners of his mouth, the crow's feet by his eyes and the occasional ache and phantom pain that hit him. Though the biggest everyday pain had been his now completely grown-up son. Even after nine years, he was still a workaholic and still blamed himself over Nori's supposed death and Haru's disappearing off the face of the earth when he left Konoha for some reason.

Azuki arched an eyebrow. "What now? If this is about my love life again and your desire for grandkids, keep your nose out of my business and adopt an orphan."

Naruto gave the young man a half-lidded stare. "I'm talking about _you_ in general. It's been months since you've last taken on a mission…and you're usually so upset about _not_ getting any missions. Is there something I should know about?"

"So I don't wanna go on any missions right now. It's not a big deal."

"Oh." The old man smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Well, how about we meet up for lunch? I've been dying to get out of this office before Tsubaki-chan notices."

"Nah. I'm busy. Maybe next time. See ya," the younger blonde said as he turned on his heel and walked out of the office.

As soon as the door shut, a voice spoke up, "Want me to go into town and put in an order at Ichiraku's for you, Old Man?"

"Not right now, Kira. I have something _else_ in mind for you."

"Oh?" In a puff of smoke, 20-year old Kira appeared dressed in the common ANBU uniform with a white cat mask that had blue markings on it. "Just what are we talking about?"

"Your mission is to follow Azuki and find out what it is that's been taking up all his time lately," the Rokudaime said with a serious look on his face, bridging his fingers together.

Kira stared at his leader for a few seconds before he sweatdropped. "Come again? You want me to spy on Azuki-sensei?"

"Of course."

"That's so low… Of course I'll do it!" _'I'm kinda curious about what's got him acting weird myself…'_ The ANBU member gave a salute. "Don't worry, Hokage-sama! I'll return later to give you a full report!" Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Azuki was walking down the street with his hands in his pants pockets. Whether or not he noticed, Kira was running along the rooftops, hiding and suppressing his chakra whenever it looked like the blonde was catching on. When he noticed the blonde suddenly came to a stop and turned to look across the street, the dark-haired ANBU did the same.

'_What's that…? A sweets shop?'_

Unseen by Kira, Azuki stood there with a light blush on his face, staring at the shop. He gulped and scuffed his foot in the dirt before taking a deep breath. _'Alright… Here goes nothing…'_ Awkwardly, he made his way over to the sweets shop and entered.

'_Sensei's just stopping off for some sweets… But the way he just stood there…'_ With a hand sign, Kira was engulfed in a puff of smoke. In the blink of an eye, a 12-year old boy that resembled Kira at that age with brown hair and black eyes appeared in front of the mirror of the sweet shop. Pressing his face against the glass, the transformed Kira looked inside. His eyes widened at what he saw. _'What the—?!'_

"So, um…what's that?" Azuki asked, pointing down at something behind the glass display case.

"Oh, that's green tea ice cream!"

"Green tea…? Who eats _that_?"

"I'm not partial to it myself. I prefer the traditional flavors like strawberry."

The blush on Azuki's face darkened and he seemed to get excited. "Really? That's my favorite, too! Uh, I mean…" He avoided eye contact with the woman in front of him as a blush appeared on his face. "Mine too."

"Hmhmhm! I knew there was something I liked about you, Azuki-san!" The woman with the long pale blonde hair said with a smile as she stood behind the counter. She was wearing a simple sleeveless blue dress with a bracelet of prayer beads around her wrist. "So, are you going to just stand there drooling or are you going to buy something?"

"Huh? O-oh, right! Uh… Just gimme…a dozen anpan."

"I figured as much. You've been ordering the same thing since I met you," the blonde woman said as she pulled out a prepared bag of anpan and handed it to the spiky-haired man. "Here you go! Have a nice day, Azuki-san!"

"Y-you too…" Azuki walked out of the shop…and slumped over in depression. "Smooth… _Real_ smooth…" He reached into the paper bag and pulled out an anpan, which he shoved into his mouth. _'What the hell kind of man am I…?'_

**X-X-X**

"It's a girl!!" Kira couldn't help but exclaim as soon as he appeared in front of Naruto. He hadn't sounded this excited since he was a kid. "Azuki-sensei's got a crush on some chick at the sweet shop!"

The Rokudaime blinked. "A…crush? You're kidding! I had but given up all hope that Azuki was even straight! This is wonderful!"

"Uh…no it's not. He acted _un_-Azuki-sensei around her. I think she makes him nervous…which is weird, because she doesn't even look threatening."

"I wonder why he never bothered to tell me… It's not like I would've made fun of him." Naruto rubbed his chin in thought.

"Could it be that he's just embarrassed? I mean, he can't talk to a _girl_!! Even _I_ can talk to Hikari-chan without looking like a fool and say what's on my heart's mind!"

"That's not embarrassment, that's stupidity on your part."

"Huh?"

Naruto leaned back in his seat, arching an eyebrow. "Maybe there's more to this than I thought… You're going to have to keep a closer eye on him for me, Kira."

The ANBU gave a salute. "Can-do, sir."

**X-X-X**

Months passed. To Kira and Naruto, it seemed as if Azuki wasn't even making a move. Every time he went into the store, he tried to get out whatever the hell he wanted to say…and wound up ordering a bunch of sweets…all of which he practically swallowed in less than in an hour. Yes, it seemed like their boy didn't have a chance, until one day, he blurted it out!

"Do you…wanna…go out sometime?"

Okay, he didn't blurt it out, but he may as well have to Naruto and Kira. The candy girl—whom Kira discovered was named Natsuki—seemed like she was excited about it to, like she was waiting for him to ask as well. Needless to say, their first date went well. Natsuki was polite and nice, if a bit clumsy. Azuki was awkward the entire time, blushing and stuttering and cursing himself for saying dumb things. God knows how hard it was for Kira to hide amongst the restaurant crowd while trying not to laugh at his master. It was even harder not to whoop when she said she had a lovely time and gave him a kiss good night. The dumb expression on the blonde's face made Kira think of his father.

Azuki and Natsuki continued to date, seemingly without Naruto's knowledge of their relationship…and it ticked the Hokage off. It had been months, and even though he knew about his son's girlfriend, the fact that _he_ hadn't told him was upsetting. He had to wonder why…_why_ his son wouldn't let him into his life anymore!

"By the way, I've got a girlfriend."

Naruto blinked and looked up from the ramen he was eating. "I'm sorry, _what_?"

Azuki blushed. "I said I…have a girlfriend. Are you happy now, Pops?"

"Not one bit," the Rokudaime muttered with narrowed eyes. "First of all, what's her name? Anyone I know? How long have you been dating? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest, how cute is she?"

"Kusanagi Natsuki, she just got here, just recently started dating her, and what the _hell_ sort of question is that to ask?!"

Naruto shrugged and began to swirl his noodles around in his bowl. "Just want to know what sort of grandchildren I can expect in the future…"

"We've just started dating and you think I'm gonna _marry her_?!" Azuki shouted with his face completely red. "Y-you see?! This is why I don't like involving you in my love life!! You always turn the conversation around to--!"

"Alright, alright! Calm down, already! At least let me get to know her," The older blonde said with a smile. "We should go out to dinner sometime. The three of us."

"Actually…" The jonin looked down at his bowl. "She said she wanted to meet you already…"

"Really? That makes things easier."

"But, there's a problem…"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"She…doesn't know that you're the Hokage…or that I'm a ninja…"

Naruto stared at his son for a moment before looking down at his soup. "Tsk-tsk-tsk. A relationship built on lies… I'm ashamed to call you my son."

"I know…! But there's a reason for it! I really like her and I don't want her to not like me because I'm a ninja because that's just not _fair_, damn it!!"

The Rokudaime sweatdropped as his son began to spazz out, muttering things to himself. "Look at you… Acting like a boy who's just discovered girls… Could a son shame his father any more…?"

**X-X-X**

One night several days later, outside of a restaurant, Azuki was sweating and blushing as he wore a long-sleeved blue jacket that was unbuttoned with a white shirt and dark blue pants. "Where is she? Where is _he_?! I _knew_ I should've gone over and made sure he remembered!"

"You thought I would forget? I'm hurt, Azuki!" The blonde man looked over his shoulder and saw Naruto walking towards him wearing an orange long-sleeved haori with a black kimono top and black pants. "I wouldn't want to ruin your chance with your future wife."

"She is _not_ gonna be my wife!!" The younger blonde screamed, his entire face red.

"With the way you blush, I don't think even _you_ believe that!" The Rokudaime said with a grin. "Heh-heh. Don't worry; I won't embarrass you _too _much tonight."

"How about not embarrassing me _at all_?"

"Azuki-san!"

"Natsuki!!" Azuki exclaimed as he spun on his heel, turning his back on his father. Natsuki stood there with her hair set up in a ponytail, wearing a dark blue dress with a necklace of rosary beads around her neck and her usual rosary bracelet. "Wow…! You look cute tonight!" He said with a grin, scratching his reddened cheek.

"You look good, too, Azuki-san!"

"Please, I keep telling you to call me Azuki…" Naruto cleared his throat, bringing attention to him. "Anyway, this is my father, Uzumaki Naruto. Dad, this is Kusanagi Natsuki."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir," the blonde woman said as she bowed respectfully.

"You…don't have to bow to him, you know. You're only gonna inflate his ego," Azuki told his date.

"I was raised to show respect to my elders. I can't help it."

"How nice! I'm so glad my son's dating such a respectful young lady, Natsuki-chan! And so lovely, too…" Naruto said with an arched eyebrow.

"Tee-hee!" Natsuki giggled behind her hand.

'_Knock it off, old man! She's __**my**__ date, not yours…!'_ Azuki thought as he glared at his father halfheartedly.

**X-X-X**

"So… Kusanagi. That's a unique name…" Naruto mumbled as he played around with the food on his plate.

"Well, it is. It used to be something else a long time ago, but my family had their name changed," said Natsuki.

"I see. So where are you from?"

"Nowhere special. Just a little complex hidden away in the mountains," she said as if it were a normal thing. Azuki almost choked on his rice and had to beat on his chest before he could breathe again. "What's wrong, Azuki?"

"Uh… You told me you were born in the middle of nowhere."

"Exactly. No one goes up that mountain because my family owns it and the some of the land around it. The only people I see there are all from my father's side of the family."

"O-oh." The strawberry blonde went back to eating his rice.

Naruto arched an eyebrow and rubbed his chin. "Hm-hm. And when are you two planning to get married?"

Once again, Azuki began to choke on his rice. Natsuki tried to help him by pounding on his back and rubbing it gently. When the younger blonde was sure he could breathe again, he glared at his father with a look that would wither a plant.

"O-oh, my!" His date, on the other hand, just blushed and held a hand to her face. "To tell the truth, I'm not so sure when I'll get married." Azuki looked at her skeptically. Was she honestly going to play along with this?! "My parents told me I have to marry because our family is becoming smaller with each generation. They've even had to marry people outside of the clan in order for it to survive. All I want is a nice guy who'll promise to provide for me and love me, but like I told Azuki, my family is very touchy about what sort of man I should marry."

Naruto looked at his son with an arched eyebrow. Azuki just started to play around with his foods. "Really? And what, exactly, is it that your parents are touchy about, Natsuki-chan?"

"Well… For one thing, they said that if he's rich, or of noble blood or something, that could be okay. They also said he should have this…uh…vibe about him. That's how my father found my mother. My dad doesn't seem to care more or less about what sort of man I marry, but my Mom was specific when she said…_no shinobi_. Something about them being violent and harbingers of death and destruction…but none of the shinobi I've seen here so far look so evil."

Naruto grinned. "Really? Well, I'm not sure about death, but Azuki tends to mess things up and he's kinda violent. Maybe _he_ could be a ninja."

The blonde girl blinked and arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean he _could_? I thought he _was_ a ninja?"

Azuki's eyes became large and blank while Naruto sweatdropped. "Y-y-you mean…you knew…?" The jonin spoke softly, his cheeks tinged with red.

"Well, I can kinda tell. You have this…warrior vibe about you…and this kid came in the store one day and told me you were a ninja."

**X-X-X**

In his small apartment, Kira sneezed. "My ears are burning… Is Hikari-chan thinking about me?" He mumbled with a disturbing smile before he went back to writing his report.

**X-X-X**

"To tell the truth, I don't mind if you're a ninja," Natsuki said as she scooted over to Azuki, making him blush more. "I just didn't bring it up because I thought you'd feel uncomfortable discussing your job with me. Ninjas are all private and hush-hush about their business, right?"

"Y-yeah, but—"

"Well, I'd hate to bug you about something like that."

"It wouldn't be bugging! I'd be glad to tell you about what I've done on some of my missions!" The blonde man said with a dumb grin.

"Mmhm!" Natsuki looked at Naruto. "Were you a ninja in your younger days, Naruto-san?"

The Rokudaime smiled wryly. "Well, I still am. I just don't do as much field work anymore because of my current job… The paperwork's murder, but I'm proud of it."

The blonde woman blinked. "I didn't know ninja did paperwork. I thought they were just spies and assassins and whatnot…"

"It's the country's army. Paperwork is, sadly, inevitable," the elderly blonde said with a sigh. "Even more so in my line of work."

"And what is it that you do?"

"Run the village." Natsuki stared at him in shock while Azuki glared at him. "What? What did I say— Oh, whoops."

Azuki's eye twitched. "Whoops?! That's all you can say?!"

"So, um…you run the village, Naruto-san?" His date asked, her eyes reduced to little brown dots.

"Well, I'm the Hokage. It's my duty to make sure the system runs smoothly."

"Ho…kage?"

"My face is on the mountainside. It's the last one you see. You didn't notice the likeness?"

"Oh." Natsuki stared at the Rokudaime for a while before shaking her head. "No. But then again, the one on the mountain looks a lot younger." Azuki stifled a laugh as he stared at his father. Naruto slumped over in depression. "Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

"Ugh…" The Hokage sat up straight and straightened out the wrinkles on his shirt. "Moving on… When you two have a child, what are you planning to name it?"

Azuki slammed a fist down on the table. "Damn it!! There you go again!! Why don't you—?!"

"Hmmm…" Natsuki held her chin in thought. "Well, if it's a girl, I could name her Nanaho, after my mother… If it's a boy, I could name it after my father, Natatsuro. Or my brother Nato."

"What…? Natto?" Naruto looked at Azuki. "See? You're not alone when it comes to food-based names."

"Please… It's bad enough that you two are playing along with this messed-up idea, but don't give the imaginary baby a name after an awful food…' Azuki muttered with half-lidded eyes.

"Not like fermented beans." The blonde woman went back to thinking. "Of course, if Azuki doesn't mind, we could name him after one of the relatives on his side of the family. If it's a boy, we could name him Naruto."

"HELL NO!!!" The strawberry blonde screamed as Naruto grinned. "Imaginary or not, no son of mine is gonna be named after _him_!!"

Natsuki pouted. "That's not respectful, Azuki! What's so wrong with naming him after your father?"

Azuki calmed down and sank in his seat slightly, glaring down at his plate. "Well, if we name him after my dad, that'll just give him an excuse to corrupt the child— What the heck am I saying? It's not _real_!!"

"Just because he's not real now doesn't mean he won't be!"

"What the? Is that your way of asking me to m-ma-ma…?" The blue-clad blonde turned red and started to sweat. "Ma-mar…?"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Oh, boy. Looks like he has commitment issues…"

"Ma-ma…ma-mar-ma…"

"And he's stuck on it." The Rokudaime smiled at the blonde woman who was trying to snap his son out of it by waving a hand in front of him. "It looks like you're going to have to wait a while before he gets the courage to even _say_ the M-word, let alone propose."

"Puh…pro…pro…!"

Naruto held a hand to his hand. "Oh, brother…!"

**X-X-X**

Thankfully, it didn't take too long for Azuki to gain the courage and propose to her. The two were happily married and lived happily, the wife and her father-in-law still engaging in talk of future children and grandchildren—much to Azuki's dismay. That aside, Naruto couldn't be happier for his son. He deserved someone to be with—not alone like his father.

But that was before Natsuki got that letter. Apparently, her mother was ill and wanted her to come home immediately. Azuki offered to come with her, but his wife was quick to say no, pointing out that the reason why her family didn't show up to their wedding was because she didn't like his profession. She went alone and months passed before they got a letter from her. She wasn't coming back. Her mother wouldn't let her go on being married to Azuki.

'_I'm sorry. I'll always love you.'_ Were the last words Azuki read in her letter as he held onto the small jade bead bracelet that came along with it in the envelope. After that, it was like Nori and Haru's disappearances all over again. First his sensei, then his sister, now his first true love. Naruto just couldn't stand to see his son in such an unhealthy state.

"Thanks so much for coming over for dinner tonight," said Naruto as he sat at one end of the small table. "Ever since you moved out, this place has been too quiet for my tastes… I even wind up summoning some toads just for the company!" It was true—the Hokage's mansion was nice and spacious, but living in it alone just wasn't the same as when his children were there.

"Mm-hm," Azuki mumbled as he played around with the food on his plate.

"You…shouldn't be so depressed… I'm sure you'll meet Natsuki again. Fate's not that cruel."

"It showed how cruel it was when it made her mother lock her up…"

The older blonde sighed and stared at his son sadly. "Azuki…"

**X-X-X**

"I can't believe that it didn't work… Each time we were so close to pulling it out, our souls were almost ripped out of our bodies!"

"Indeed. Whoever did that knew what they were doing, sealing that part within the Shinigami… That is why we must do something a tad more risky…"

"Like what? Without _both_ halves, how can we—?"

"We will just have to substitute it with something else… And I have a wonderful idea of where we can find it."

**X-X-X**

"Azuki…" Naruto mumbled. "You need to…to…" He paused as he felt a slight pain in his body. He lowered his head slightly as it got a bit harder to breathe.

Azuki looked up from his plate to stare at his father. "Pops? You okay?"

The pain went from a slight pain to complete pain. It was as if something was pulling out his innards as forcefully as they could. Naruto doubled over and held onto his chest, the color seeming to drain from his face. He felt weak and tired. Finally, he couldn't hold out any longer and fell over.

"DAD!!!"

**X-X-X**

"Were we successful…?"

"…Yes. We've successfully broken off a piece of its soul. The link between them will allow the transfer to go along more smoothly."

"Excellent! Then will shall we start?"

"We still have to wait…for 16 years."

"Fate isn't fair…!"

**X-X-X**

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as consciousness, along with that dull pain in his body, returned to him. He slowly sat up and felt a twinge of pain in his joints and his chest. That usually didn't bother him, since he started to believe in the saying _'you're only as old as you feel'_ when he hit 50. But for once…he felt old. "Hm? The hospital? What happened…?"

The door opened and Sakura walked in, wearing her normal medical robes, her faded pink hair set up in a bun. It always amazed him how no matter how old she got, she still looked beautiful to him. "You're awake! Thank goodness… We were worried about you, you know?" She said as she approached the Rokudaime's bedside with a small smile. "Of all the people in the world, I'd have never guessed that you would be in here for a stroke."

"Stroke?" Naruto shook his head, ignoring the pain. "No, no. Not a stroke. I didn't have a stroke."

"Don't try denying it! Azuki said you looked like you were having trouble breathing and then you looked like you were sick before you passed out!"

"Did I…?"

The Uchiha matriarch nodded. "Yes. You really need to start taking better care of yourself, Naruto. You've already lived this long…so don't get taken out by a mere heart problem. That means _eating less ramen_." She waited for a reply, but all the aging blonde was doing was staring down at his hand. "Naruto?"

'_That…couldn't have been just a stroke…'_

**X-X-X**

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" The little baby cried as he squirmed around in his mother's grasp, having just been dried off.

"Ugh…! That little brat is loud as hell…!"

"He's not a brat… He's cute." The mother cooed as she cradled her crying newborn in her arms, running her fingers through his pale blonde hair. "Look at him… So small…" The child opened his eyes, sky blue and slightly milky, still getting used to the light, but it kept staring into the golden brown eyes that were staring down at him lovingly. "What lovely eyes my baby has…"

"WAAAAAAAAA—" The baby stopped screaming and tried to move its arms.

"He has _his_ eyes."

"That's why they're so lovely… You're gonna be a big strong boy when you grow up…my little Nataro…"

**X-X-X**

_**60 years…**_

It was like looking back into the past. There was this little blonde boy who looked _just like he did_ when he was young, had been defacing the Hokage Monument for the last couple of days—until he was caught by the Rokudaime, anyway—and knew _nothing_ about being shinobi whatsoever despite living in this village for all five years of his life. Not wanting to allow a boy live without such knowledge, Naruto took it upon himself to teach the child as much as he knew about shinobi history.

"Wow…! That's…_awesome_!!" 5-year old Kazaki Nataro exclaimed as he pumped up his fists in the air. "I wanna be a ninja when I grow up!!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile. Seeing this child bounce around so energetically made him long for his youth. Azuki had been right—he couldn't do this job forever. He was getting old, his joints tended to get stiff, and all those fainting attacks were _not_ signs of good health. He needed a successor. _'The problem is that my two major candidates are too __**chicken**__ to pick up the job…!'_ Naruto thought with a sigh as the images of Azuki and Kira appeared in his mind. _'Of course, it doesn't __**have**__ to be them. It could be someone else, like…'_

"Hey, Gramps!! I'm gonna be the bestest ninja in the world!!" Nataro's little declaration made the old man look down at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

"Yup!" The boy grinned. "I'm gonna be the greatest!"

"So, you wanna be Hokage, huh?"

Nataro gave him a squinty-eyed look. "Whazzat?"

"Didn't I already tell you this? Pay attention! The five Kage are the strongest shinobi in their respective villages—Kazekage of Suna, Raikage of Kumo, Tsuchikage of Tsuchi, Mizukage of Kiri, and Hokage of Konoha. They rule their villages and command the shinobi that reside in them, and get the respect of their people in return."

"Okay then! I'm gonna become the Hokage!" The blonde boy exclaimed, pointing a finger up to the ceiling. "Just you wait, Gramps! People won't even remember you with all the cool stuff _I'm_ gonna do!"

"Big talk for a kid who didn't even know what ninja were until a few minutes ago," the Rokudaime muttered with a sweatdrop running down the back of his head. "Besides, you need to go to the Academy first."

Nataro blinked. "Academy…? Like…_school_…?" A gloomy aura suddenly began to radiate from the child as he slumped over, eyes blank with fear. _'School?! I can't go to school!! But if I don't I'll never become a ninja!!'_ Just then, he felt a hand resting on his head and looked up to find Naruto smiling down at him.

"Relax. All you have to do is work hard and you'll make it through," the elderly blonde said as he playfully ruffled the boy's hair, much to his irritation. The look on his face reminded him of Azuki when he was little. "_Then_ the fun stuff can start."

"Awww…! Do I _have to_…?"

**X-X-X**

"Kira told me what happened yesterday," said Azuki as he and his father sat in the booth of a new ramen restaurant that had just opened up. "Nice to see you're still spurring kids to do the best they can."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto muttered as he stared at his son with half-lidded eyes.

The blue-clad blonde sweatdropped. "What's wrong? Look, I know that your first love was Ichiraku's Ramen and you were so depressed when Ayame-san's son refused to keep it open after she passed and left town, but you've gotta learn to move on! Obsession isn't good in a man your age… Besides, Hagakure is just as good as Ichiraku's—otherwise, why would so many people come here?" He gestured around the bar to show off the number of people who were sitting on stools and in booths, eating ramen.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. That's not what I was thinking about, anyway."

The strawberry blonde blinked. "Oh? Well, what is it?"

"You…" Naruto squinted his eyes some more before pointing a finger at his son. "You're taller than me."

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me! How is it that you grew so suddenly? You were supposed to stop getting growth spurts when you were a teenager!"

Azuki arched an eyebrow in confusion before the look of confusion was replaced with a sly smirk. "Heh-heh-heh…! Oh, I'm not _taller_…you've just _shrunk_!"

Naruto swore he felt his heart stop for a second. "Wh-what…?"

"Now, Pops, don't get discouraged just because you're finally starting to get something _other_ than wrinkles from your old age. It's completely natural for the elderly to get shorter over the years—something about decreasing calcium or something…"

"Sh-shut up!! Just shut up!!" Naruto shouted loudly as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "So cruel…! What sort of son makes fun of his poor aging father?"

"Oh, please! You're aging gracefully, that oughta be good enough for you! Even if you _are_ short!"

"Oh, yeah?! Well, since we share the same genes, _you're_ gonna get like this, too!"

"Excuse me!" The two blondes looked away from each other at the waitress standing in front of their table, holding a tray with two bowls of ramen. "Um, your order, Hokage-sama, Azuki-san."

"Ah, thank you!" Both blondes spoke as they bowed their heads in thanks.

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, Azuki was staring at his father as he ate. After a few seconds, Naruto noticed this and pointed his chopsticks at him. "What now?"

"Nothing. Just thinking that things won't always be like this." At this, Naruto arched an eyebrow, but his son shrugged it off and smiled, laughing, "It's nothing."

"Hmph… Well, I still don't care what you said. This stuff's good, but Ichiraku's was far better…"

**X-X-X**

Technically speaking, Naruto had lived through three small-scale wars and one large-scale war: the Invasion of Suna and Oto in Konoha, Pain's Invasion of Konoha, the 4th Great Shinobi War, and the Oni Uprising in that order. He had hoped that what was left of his years would be lived in peace, along with his village.

Unfortunately, age seemed to have made him forget that life wasn't always that nice. Hearing of people disappearing around Hi no Kuni, followed by reports of people wearing Oni masks was a harsh reminder. It seemed to get worse over time until, eventually, the Leaf came across their first Oni in decades—or something similar to an Oni, at least. According to reports from the surviving shinobi, it called itself an Asura—"a being far more complicated than an Oni and even more complicated than any human hoping to reach our level," they quoted. Like the Oni Izanagi and Izanami, it showed intelligence and looked like a normal man, but its power was on par with an S-rank shinobi. After a one-sided battle, the Asura took the chunin that he deemed to be the strongest and carried him away "as a gift for master".

It was then that several shinobi and civilians within the village began to complain of their children going missing. It seemed as if they had suffered the same fate as the others from around the country before something happened. Some of the first missing children had been returned, altogether outside of the village looking scarred, battered, starved and mentally deranged. They were given immediate medical care, but only a few were able to recover, the others forever scarred to the point where they either saw all things as threats, didn't see anything at all, or even went so far as suicide. This went on for months, with even adults, both chunin and jonin, along with newbie genin who had been separated from their squads. Amongst those people was Azuki's former teammate Minoru, who had come back an empty shell of herself and was found in her apartment days after she was supposedly mentally sound, swaying back and forth from the wire she hung herself by. Azuki was the one who found her and didn't come out of his apartment for days.

The process repeated itself for a few more months until that day came once again. The same as before, the Oni were heading towards Konohagakure, going through Hi no Kuni and devouring anything and anyone in their way that could be a source of revitalization. This time, they were coming from the direction of the half-dead Wheat Country, being led by apparently six Asura—the only ones that came close to looking normal amongst the army of mask-wearing mutants. They shinobi of Konoha headed them off at Miyazaki Plains, miles away from the village.

"Hmhmhm! You're all just too weak," said the blonde, green-clad Asura, Apsaras said with a smirk as a trio of shinobi fell. She sat on top of a large yellow toad with blank glowing yellow eyes, a pair of long curled horns, and a mask on its back. The toad opened its mouth and its tongue shot out, grabbing one of the corpses before it retracted into its mouth with a snap. "You're only worthy of being eaten by this beast!" A flurry of kunai and shuriken went flying towards her, but the blonde Asura jumped up into the air and took a deep breath, her cheeks bulging. She spat out several bullets of green liquid at the shinobi that were attacking her. Only a few were hit in their arms, legs and torso, which began to hiss and emit steam as they slowly melted away. "Hahahaha!! More, MORE!!! I need more of you saps!!"

"Hiya, wolfie," the blue-haired and scantily clad Jala cooed as she pulled a wolf-masked ANBU who had been wrapped up in one of her locks closer to her. Surrounding her were the corpses of several jonin and two of his fellow ANBU. "If you don't have a cute face under there, you're gonna get it~!"

"Gurk!" The masked shinobi felt the blood in his mouth as Jala's grip tightened. Her fingers grabbed the edges and pulled it off, revealing a plain-looking man in his late twenties.

"Hmph! I can't waste my time on the likes of _you_!!" Jala grunted as her hair bent the shinobi backwards, snapping his spine in two. "If I didn't need to chakra, I wouldn't lay a tooth on you…!" She forced him to flop forward with a motion of her hair and bit into his shoulder. A group of needle-toothed Oni began to approach her, ravenously feeding on the remains of the shinobi.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" A bolt of orange lightning cried as he zipped back and forth between the group of shinobi that he had cornered. Very few had managed to lay a hand on him, but those that did were only able to make tiny, insignificant scratches on the source while also defending themselves against sickle-armed Oni. "Come on, come on! Slowpokes!!"

"I've had it!" One of the shinobi shouted as he began to form hand signs. A sickle-armed Oni made to slice his head off, but a larger man blocked its attack with the blade of a cleaver-like sword. The other shinobi finished forming hand signs and spat a thick white liquid on the ground before the orange lightning bolt came close towards him, but it just seemed to disappear before it stepped onto it.

"Hey, losers!!" Seven beams of orange chakra shot down from above and pierced the ground, forming a dome of some sort. Bolts of lightning shot down from the top of the dome and shocked those inside, Leaf and Oni until they all dropped dead, smoking and charred. The dome disappeared and Rudra landed on top of one of the sickle-armed Oni, crushing its throat with his foot. "Hmph! Playing around with you's no fun…!" He looked off into the distance and saw a large dark orange shape in the distance. "Hello~! What's this?"

**X-X-X**

"You really didn't have to come out here, old man! We can take of these creeps ourselves!" said Kira as he and a second ANBU member stood beside Naruto on top of a giant orange toad with several markings on its body. "If you had stayed behind, you could've taken the day off!"

"What sort of leader would I be if I let my men go out into battle alone?" said Naruto as he stood tall and surveyed the battlefield. It had been so long since he was last in a battle himself, but it was all starting to come back to him. Even the loose orange jacket, black shirt, black pants and scarred hitai-ate felt similar to the old uniform he wore in his youth. "Besides…it's not like I've _completely_ forgotten how to fight!" He tapped his foot just hard enough to get the toad's attention. As if on cue, it straightened up, formed a hand sign just as Naruto began to form hand signs and took a breath. The toad spat out a large spiraling bullet of water that made contact with a group of Oni that had cornered and outnumbered some shinobi below, ripping the mutants in half upon contact amidst the water.

"Everything's easier with a summoning…" The cat-masked ANBU muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"As it should," said the dog-masked ANBU with the shoulder-length raven hair.

"Can it, Zen! You agree with me when I say that he should've stayed back in Konoha, right?"

At that moment, a long-clawed Oni that had managed to run up the toad's back unnoticed jumped at the two ANBU, preparing the slice them apart. In the blink of an eye, the two ANBU sliced it into three with their blades and slipped said weapons back into their sheathes as the Oni fell off in bloody pieces.

"Now is _not_ the time to talk about this," Zen spoke sternly.

"It gets my mind off things. Besides, knowing Naruto-sama's state of health, I can't help but worry. Isn't that why Sasu-sensei retried recently? For the sake of his health?"

"It was a bad leg, and like I said, this is _not_ the time to be talking about it."

"But he's _old_! Shouldn't he be back at the village sipping medicinal tea or something?"

"If you two don't mind, why don't you _shut up_ and do your jobs?" Naruto growled as he looked back at the ANBU for a moment before looking back down at the field. His eyes widened for a moment before he ducked, seconds before a hand moved to strike him with a chop. The culprit, Rudra, smirked as he leered at Rokudaime, his body producing orange lightning that occasionally flickered on his being. In the blink of an eye, Zen had already moved to strike the Asura in the face with his fist, but he disappeared and reappeared behind the ANBU.

"Well, you must be the one in charge, old man," the white-haired Asura said with a toothy grin. "I have to admit, I was excited about seeing just how different a Kage's chakra was compared to ordinary soldiers, but now that I know you're just an old man…"

"Never underestimate the elderly. I can still teach you a thing or two," said Naruto as he glared at the white-haired Asura.

Rudra's smirk grew. "Heh! Is that so? Would you like to show me…?"

**X-X-X**

On the ground below, Azuki was tearing through several groups of Oni by himself, completely lost in the flow of battle. The only thing that snapped him out of it was the gust of wind that blew past him, giving him a thin cut across his cheek. Bright blue eyes widened as a white-clad figure appeared before him, white armor decorating his arms and legs, a tight white shirt and leggings clinging to his body. But it was the face that shocked him the most. With the mask gone, he could see the familiar face that had once been hidden.

"Haru-sensei…" The blonde breathed out in disbelief. "What--?" He didn't get to finish as the white-haired man gestured his heavily armored hand and a burst of wind came flying towards him. Azuki disappeared in the blink of an eye and the burst hit a rock, creating a large dent in it. The blue-clad jonin reappeared a few feet away. "Sensei?!"

"You must be the one they call Uzumaki Naruto," _'Haru'_ assumed, bright green eyes focused on the jonin. "If you know what's good for you, you'll surrender."

"_What_? Haru-sensei, what the hell is wrong with you?! I'm Azuki, remember?"

The white-clad man held up a fist. "My name is Asura no Vishnu, and if you aren't Uzumaki Naruto, then you're of no use to me!" He dashed towards the blonde with blinding speed and in the blink of an eye, his fist was blocked by Azuki's. The two locked eyes before they jumped apart and began to jump about, trying to land blows on each other it without much success. The cycle was finally broken when Vishnu grabbed Azuki by the head and immediately threw him down to the ground. The Asura held out his armored hand as it began to swirl with white chakra. When he came flying down, he punched Azuki in the back, breaking through the ground as he did.

"Eat this!!" Azuki screamed as he suddenly appeared above the white-haired Asura, holding a sparking Rasengan in his hand. He slammed the Rasengan down onto Vishnu's back, but rather than grind into it, the chakra sphere sank in and seemed to cause the Asura to twitch. The blue-clad blonde landed on Vishnu's back, pushing his knee into the taller man's spine. "Now answer me!! What the hell happened to you, Haru-sensei?!"

"My name…is…_Vishnu_!!" The white-haired Asura cried as his eyes became entirely bright green, seemingly glowing. He raised his head and used the back to knock the blonde jonin in the face with, then he followed up with an elbow to the stomach followed by a burst of chakra that threw Azuki back. Dark green chakra began to radiate from his body and his armored hand began to swirl with green and white chakra as he bared his sharpened teeth. "And you're _history_!!" He disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind the blonde.

Azuki was quick enough to jump forward when Vishnu attacked with a swipe of his chakra claw, but he didn't move quick enough. The claw grazed the back of his jacket and cut through it. Just as the blue-clad blonde landed a few feet away from the Asura, the white-haired man was in front of him in the blink of an eye with a balled up fist. Before Azuki had time to register what was going on, he found himself flying back with a bruise on his face. The blonde managed to catch himself and land safely, skidding back a few feet. "Damn it…!" _'Is this guy really sensei, or is this some sort of trick?'_ He began to form several hand signs and took a deep breath at the same time as Vishnu. They each blew out a tremendous gust of wind that forced collided against each other. After a few seconds, the two jutsu merged to become one large tornado-like force that seemed to repel all who had been fighting nearby. Azuki just barely managed to endure by clinging to the ground with chakra generating through his feet, as did Vishnu. When the small storm had died down, the white-haired Asura appeared before him once more and began to deliver a barrage of punches and slashes one after the other. The blonde jonin blocked the punches, but didn't bother to block any attacks from the chakra claw. _'A little more…!'_

"You're real pathetic, you know?! You could at least _try_ to move faster! Or is it that you realize there's no hope?!" Vishnu shouted before the blonde grabbed his fist and his chakra claw before they could even hit him. "Huh?!" Azuki drew his head back and headbutted the Asura in the head, making him stumble back—not so much in pain, but surprise. The blonde shinobi then balled up a fist and gave the white-haired man an uppercut that lifted him off of the ground slightly before delivering a punch powerful enough to make him spit up blood and send him flying back several feet. However, like Azuki before, he caught himself in the air and landed somewhat safely, skidding to a halt. _'What was that?'_

Azuki bent over as his body began to glow with bright blue chakra. "I don't know…who the hell you are…but I won't let you walk all over me!! Bastard!!" The blonde screamed as he narrowed his eyes. He dashed towards the white-clad Asura, disappearing for a moment before reappearing a few feet away from his left. He jumped at Vishnu before disappearing once again and reappearing in midair on his right for a few seconds before appearing behind the Asura, then immediately appearing crouching in front of the white-haired man. Azuki shot up and delivered another uppercut, more powerful than the last as it was enough to send the taller man flying upward. In the blink of an eye, he was already beginning to form a Rasengan in the palm of his hand. He jumped up high into the air and slammed the sphere of chakra into the white-clad Asura's back. "RASENGAN!!!"

**X-X-X**

"Guh!" Rudra flinched in pain as he slid down the back of the large toad, dodging the ANBU that seemed to appear from out of nowhere as soon as the Asura made to attack Naruto. "Ha!! Figures that you're so weak that you'll just sic your bodyguards on me!"

"If you want to lay even a finger on Hokage-sama, you'll have to get through me first," said the dog-masked ANBU wearing a white cowl said as his body began to crackle with electricity.

"Oho! Your chakra…is it a Lightning type?" Rudra licked his lips in a disturbingly lustful manner. "Mmmm… I just _love_ Raiton… It makes such a _spark_!" Orange electricity began to crackle around his body as his eyes focused on the cowled ANBU member. "You'll be the perfect appetizer before I have my main meal." He disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind the ANBU, plunging his hand into the man's back. But then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Hm?" Before Rudra knew what had hit him, he was sent falling down the toad's back. Luckily, the white-haired Asura caught himself and clung to the toad's back. "You're fast!" He exclaimed as the ANBU dashed towards him with a fist sparking with lightning chakra. When the ANBU was close enough, spun on his heel and swung behind the cloaked shinobi, attempting a roundhouse. His leg was blocked by the charged hand, and after a while, the spark seemed to just disappear. "Heh-heh-heh! Man, that was _good_!"

'_I see… He must have absorbed my chakra.'_ The ANBU thought as his muscles tensed up.

The white-haired Asura opened his mouth and a small ball of electricity began to form inside. _'Raiton: Raijuu Donaru (Thunder Beast Roar)!!'_ The ANBU immediately released Rudra and jumped back while the Asura braced himself. Rudra drew back his head and screamed loudly, firing off a massive blast of chakra that lightly grazed the toad. In response, the giant amphibian flinched, catching the three shinobi on its head off balance.

"Hey!! Watch it, you dumb frog!!" Kira exclaimed, not really used to fighting like this.

"Toad," Zen corrected. "Not that this is the right time to point that out.'

The white-cowled ANBU appeared behind Rudra, sword in hand and Sharingan eyes fully focused on their target. With one swift gesture, the blade had been plunged into Rudra's chest. The white-haired man's screaming was cut short and the blast of chakra faded away. His hands dropped to his side and he slumped forward. "Shit…! That's the biggest flaw with that move…!" He licked the blood streaming down the corner of his mouth. "Alright, I guess I've gotta get serious now…!" He formed a hand sign as bright orange chakra began to radiate from him. His eyes became completely black except for his pupils, which became orange. Out of caution, the ANBU pulled out his sword and jumped back. "Now…you're gonna get it…!" The white-haired Asura growled as he looked back at ANBU, baring his fangs as electricity and orange chakra swirled around him.

'_This foul chakra…'_ Naruto thought as he looked down at Rudra. _'It's almost like…'_

"Huh?" Kira turned his head away from the battle to look off in one direction. "Azuki-sensei is going all out?" He jumped off of the toad and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Kira! Get back here!" Zen called out as he jumped off of the toad and disappeared as well.

'_Damn it! Why'd those two idiots run off?!'_ The ANBU member thought as his Sharingan eyes narrowed.

"Well, it looks like…we're all alone…" said Rudra as he turned around completely. His eyes were on Naruto and he licked his lips. "_Please_ tell me you're a Raiton type…Hokage-sama."

Naruto's attention, however, was more on the source of Azuki and Vishnu's chakras. "Azuki…"

**X-X-X**

By the time Kira and Zen had arrived at the battleground, what awaited them were the corpses of several Oni and Konoha shinobi. At the moment, a headless mutant had fallen at Azuki's feet, blood spurting out from its twitching corpse before it ceased moving while a pair of Konoha shinobi who had tried to assist hit the ground, their bodies mangled into odd positions. Azuki and Vishnu continued to stare at each other, the chakra around them so dense that it was visible. Their bodies were covered in scratches and bruises, the blonde's jacket had long since been discarded and most of the Asura's armor had been broken away.

"Azuki-sensei!!" Kira called out as he leapt towards the blonde shinobi. "Azuki-sensei, are you alright?!"

"Go…away."

"Huh?" The dark-haired ANBU just barely ducked a punch from his teacher. "Now is _not_ the time to be using me as an anger outlet!! We're in the middle of a war here!!"

"What's the meaning of this, Azuki?" Zen asked as he came over.

"Go away… This is _my_ fight," Azuki spoke as he kept his eyes on Vishnu. "This guy…! If he's some sort of apparition…or a living ghost…or a demon that's possessing his body…then _I_ am the one who must defeat him!"

"Hm?" The shorter ANBU looked at the white-haired Asura.

"Don't be ridiculous! This guy's an Asura! Even an ANBU would have trouble with one of them!" Kira exclaimed. "The three of us need to take this guy down together! I won't take _'no'_ for an answer!! You can deal the killing blow if it means that much to you!"

Vishnu gave a toothy smirk before cracking his knuckles. "If you feel you need some help in taking me down, go ahead. It'd be an insult if by some miracle only _one guy_ took me out!"

Azuki smirked and narrowed his eyes, baring his slightly fanged teeth. "Ha!! I'll take you down before these two can even make a move!! 'Cuz I'm Uzumaki Azuki!! Konoha's Blue Storm and Shocking Superstar!!"

"I'll be sure to put that on your epithet, brat!!"

Zen unknowingly sweatdropped. _'It sounds like all Azuki wants to do is beat him up…'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, on a hill far from the warfront stood Bhumi, who was holding a large scroll in her arms. "I don't understand how they can go through this war nonsense… It seems illogical. You can just tell that Konoha's once again going to win…so long as they have their powerhouse of a Hokage," she drawled as explosions went off in the distance. "Oh, well… Maybe these two can help to change the tide of battle." She grabbed the page of the scroll and unrolled it. A pair of blood-written symbols were on the paper that began to glow ominously. In a puff of smoke, a pair of black figures leapt out and began to growl. "Alright, you two. You know what you've got to do…"

When the smoke cleared, the black figures could be seen more clearly. A pair of humanoid beasts with completely black skin. The smaller one had purple eyes, while the larger had black eyes and nine tails squirming about like they had a life of their own. The black beasts hissed, chakra coming out of their fanged mouths in the form of steam. The nine-tailed beast gave an eardrum-damaging roar before it bounded down the hill, followed immediately by the tailless beast.

"I hope those two are going to succeed… Otherwise, I'll have to put up with master's complaints."

**X-X-X**

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU LOSE!!!" Rudra screamed as the white-cowled ANBU fell off of the giant toad. The ANBU was able to land on the ground somewhat safely by positioning himself in a certain manner, but he was too weak to be a threat anymore. "And now…YOU'RE NEXT, OLD MAN!!!" The Asura cried as he ran up the toad's back. "Lemme see…what sort of chakra you've got!!" He shouted, making a jump as he reached the top. His eyes widened as he felt something blowing a hole through him.

'_Damn it…! If only I hadn't wasted all that chakra before confronting him…! But would it even make a difference?'_ The ANBU coughed and pulled up his mask slightly, allowing him to spit blood onto the ground. He wearily got to his feet, straining to see what was going on at the top of the giant toad. He was surprised when he saw the same Asura fall to the ground, eyes wide with a sickened expression on his face. "What the--?!"

"Guh…! Fuuton… I…_hate_ wind types…!" He coughed before his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Naruto stood on top of the toad, his arm still held out. "You're just like her… Your hunger was your end…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, with Azuki, Zen and Kira, the blonde shinobi was standing over Vishnu's body while the two ANBU were kneeling on the ground, out of breath from their attack strategy.

"Haru-sensei… I'm sorry…" Azuki spoke softly as his bangs shadowed his eyes, seeming much calmer than before. "Do you remember me now…?"

"Bastard…! I keep telling you that may name…is Vishnu…" The Asura spoke slowly, his eyes returning to their normal color. "I'll die…as Vishnu… The man I used…to be…died a long time…ago…" He whispered before his eyes lost their light and what little life—if one could call it that—he had remaining left his body.

"Sensei…!"

A loud roar suddenly went through the entire area, shaking up the two Konoha ninja. Seconds later, the two black beasts came tumbling down a hill, the nine-tailed one snapping its jaws and trying to maneuver its tails to restrict the tailless beast. When they had stopped tumbling, the larger monster managed to successfully pin the smaller one beneath it using its tails to pierce it to the ground. The black-eyed monster opened its mouth, chakra steam hissing out as it wrapped its clawed hands around the smaller's throat.

"What the hell?!" Kira exclaimed with eyes wide, his ANBU mask having been destroyed long ago.

"RRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" The tailed beast growled lowly while the small one beneath it seemed to…cry…like a _child_, even.

"I think now would be an excellent time to get out of here," said Zen as he struggled to get up, but found himself dropping back down to his knees. _'Crap!! I've wasted so much chakra already?!'_

The nine-tailed beast turned its head to look at the three Leaf ninja and stared at them for a while before opening its mouth. Small balls of black liquid rose from its body and three small balls. The balls shifted into large black needles that went flying towards the trio. Azuki and Kira managed to dodge to avoid being struck, but the Zen was still unable to move from his spot. The three needles struck him and sank into his body with ease.

"ZEN!!!" Azuki shouted with wide eyes as the green-eyed raven lurched forward. The three needles immediately shot out of his body, spilling blood onto the ground before they sank back into the beast's body.

Kira disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared above the monster. It pulled its tails out of the smaller beast and attempted to stab him with them, but the ANBU kept maneuvering his body in such a way that the tails could only cut him slightly. He landed a punch in the monster's face before two tails stabbed him in the shoulders and threw him back. The dark-haired ANBU landed in front of Zen as he tried, in vain, to get enough chakra out to heal his wound. "Yo, Zen! If you can't heal yourself, I'll cover you."

"You don't have to do that…!" The shorter ANBU coughed as the green chakra around the hand over one of his wounds flickered. "I just have to…focus…!" His eyes widened slightly as he started to realize something. _'This wound…why hasn't it started to close up yet…?'_ He started to breathe heavily before the chakra gave out and he slumped over.

"!!!" The nine-tailed beast roared before it jumped off of the smaller beast and charged towards Azuki. The black beast pounced at him, but the blonde disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared in midair while it sliced a log in half. Its tails reacted by shooting up towards the blonde and wrapping around his legs, pulling him back down towards it. The black beast raised its clawed hand to stab the man in the chest when a jolt of electricity erupted from him, traveling down the monster's tails and shocking it once it made contact with the body.

As this happened, Kira turned away from Zen and jumped at the beast, sword in hand. He stabbed it through the stomach, letting go in time to avoid being shocked by the electrocuted creature. A hand stretched out of its back, punching the ANBU and sending him flying back into Zen. It then tossed Azuki aside with a flick of its tails and into a tree before slowly pulling the sword out of its stomach and tossing it aside.

'_Damn…! Just having that thing touch me makes me feel weak…!'_ Azuki thought as he leaned forward, gripping onto a tree branch. _'No weapons left… Raiton won't knock it out… I doubt trying to use Rasentatsumaki would work. But I…'_ "I won't give in!!" He formed a hand sign and a pair of Kage Bunshin appeared along with him in the tree. He held out his hand and began to form a Rasengan. The clones placed their hands around it and began to help reshape the sphere, their hands moving quickly to form a small tornado.

At the same time, the black beast had opened its mouth as a large black ball of chakra formed before it. The ball grew bigger and bigger before it compressed, at the same time that Azuki had finished up forming his jutsu. The creature opened its mouth up even wider and ate the chakra ball whole as the blonde thrust the small tornado palm forward.

"Fuuton: Rasentatsumaki!!!" Azuki shouted as the tornado expanded and grew larger. Its sucking force was beginning to pull in the black beast even as it expanded and bloated up. But that didn't seem to matter as the beast opened its mouth and unleashed a massive blast of chakra that was large enough and wide enough to be seen by all on the battlefield.

**X-X-X**

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a particular chakra die out. "No…! Not him…!" He didn't even seem to notice several more explosions occurring in the area or the other chakras that immediately died out. He disappeared off of the toad's head in the blink of an eye, his emotions taking full control now. He made his way through the plains, dodging Oni and shinobi, practically a blonde blur until he came to a stop. The source of that dreaded, yet oddly familiar chakra he had felt from before…was now standing right in front of him, and he couldn't believe his eyes. He never did know what he looked like when he used more than three tails of the Kyuubi's power, but after some poking and prodding, he managed to get it out from his friends. An awful red beast that was like a mini-Kyuubi with just four tails…but the thing in front of him had _nine_, and it was completely black and currently holding a sickle-like arm in its mouth. The beast was obviously not lucid enough to differentiate friend from foe—all it saw were chakra and meals.

"Rrrrr…!" The nine-tailed creature growled, snapping the sickle in its mouth in half. It stared at Naruto for a long time with its empty black eyes, before it opened its mouth and hissed, breathing out chakra steam as its body shook excitedly. The black beast held out an arm and it stretched towards him, the claw becoming large enough to crush him if it ever got a hold of him. The Rokudaime jumped to the side and avoided the arm with ease before running towards the tailed beast with a balled up fist. Its tails stretched forward and tried to stab the blonde man with them, but when they struck, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The monster didn't have time to react as a pair of Rasengan struck it in the back from above.

'_Senjutsu: Rasenrengan!!'_ The impact from the jutsu was enough to blow a hole into the nine-tailed beast's back and make it buckle under the pressure of Naruto's body on top of it. But the black beast remained standing and its nine tails managed to stab the Rokudaime in the back all at once. "Guh!" A small trail of blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth. He reached behind his back to pull out one of the tails when he was suddenly flung aside and landed on the ground, gold eyes focused on his foe.

Once again, the black beast's body began to shake excitedly. "RAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" It roared, throwing its head back and moving its tail about in a frenzied manner. The grass underneath it began to wither away and the ground beneath that sank until it resembled a crater. A ball of chakra had been formed above the beast's head, which it grabbed and shoved into its mouth. Its body swelled for a moment and its cheeks puffed out. It raised its head and roared, shooting up a massive blast of black chakra that cleared the sky of any clouds.

Naruto tensed up a bit. _'It used the same technique that that girl used…'_ An image of Izanami appeared in his mind for a moment before the nine-tailed beast began to move once more. It positioned its tails in front of its face as it opened its mouth wide. A small ball of black chakra began to form in its mouth, which slowly came out and became bigger and bigger—far too big for it to swallow this time. The Rokudaime formed a hand sign and a pair of Kage Bunshin appeared beside him. He held out his hand the clones quickly went to work on creating a Rasengan and changing its shape. As soon as the beast's ball was five times its size, a Rasenshuriken had been formed, its bell-like screech making the nine-tailed beast's skin quiver excitedly once more. It fired the ball of dense chakra at Naruto at the same time that he Rasenshuriken flying. The shuriken-shaped jutsu went right through the chakra ball, making it break apart into black droplets that immediately dispersed.

The nine-tailed beast just stood there as the Rasenshuriken came closer and closer. By the time it was close to it, the jutsu expanded. Droplets of condensed black chakra were sent flying all over, easily disappearing into thin air. Naruto gave a breath of relief once the Rasenshuriken faded. Then he noticed something on the ground where the nine-tailed beast had once been. Upon getting a bit closer, the blonde realized that it…was a child. A little girl with dark red hair and dead red eyes that looked about the same age as Nataro. In the blink of an eye, the girl had disappeared, and before Naruto knew it, he felt something clinging to his leg. Looking down, he saw the little red-haired girl, trying to bite and scratch his leg in vain—and she seemed to be doing it rather pathetically. The blonde man pried the girl off of his leg and held her out in front of him. She looked a bit underfed, but she still managed to struggle against his grip.

"Relax. I won't hurt you," he tried to calm her down, but that just made the child struggle even more to free herself. He couldn't blame her. He didn't know what had happened, but that Rasenshuriken would have ripped her to shreds if she hadn't changed back. _'Just who the hell does Kabuto think he is, putting a child through this…?'_ The little girl leaned down and bit his wrist hard enough to get Naruto to release her. The girl jumped away from him and stumbled back into someone else who immediately scooped her up and placed her under their armpit.

"Hey, stop squirming like that or I'll drop you," Bhumi drawled as she tried to keep the red-haired girl from moving. Underneath her other armpit was a little red-haired boy who was knocked out and covered in scratches. "It's time to go home." She turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!! You can't just run away after what you've started!!" Naruto shouted at the gray-haired woman.

The Asura looked at the Hokage from over her shoulder. "Are you serious? Shouldn't you be happy that we're leaving your village alone again?"

"After everything you've done to my village, you think you can just walk away from it all?!" He shouted as a small vein popped up on his forehead.

Bhumi just stared at him before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

**X-X-X**

"Naruto… Come now, you have to open up." Sakura folded her arms across her chest as she waited for the door to open. A latch unlocked, the door slid open slightly, and a tired blue eye gazed out at her. "Naruto…"

The door opened all the way open, allowing the aging woman to see her friend's disheveled appearance. He was still wearing his sleeping robe and he smelled strongly of alcohol. "Sakura… Morning."

"It's afternoon. Have you just been sitting here drinking the entire day?" She asked as he walked back over to the table and plopped down onto a cushion. A bottle of hard alcohol in a bottle with foreign writing was on the table, half empty, alongside other bottles of alcohol and jugs of sake. "It's been about a month since the funeral… Are you still in mourning?"

The Hokage took a sip of his glass and sighed. "Are you? It's always hard…when the child dies before the parent. We couldn't even find all their bodies… The survivors managed to make off with some corpses… Damn them…!"

Sakura looked at the elderly blonde and approached him. She sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head on his shoulder. "I still haven't forgotten… It's hard to just move on without knowing what happened to my baby… I want to believe…that he's still alive…but given the chances linked to that…" She held Naruto a little closer to her. "We can't change anything about what happened… All we can do is move on and try to rebuild what was broken."

"It's not fair… This life isn't fair…"

"No, it's not."

"I guess…Azuki and Nori wouldn't want me to keep moping, would they?"

"And Zen always hated it when I was sad. So we have to be happy and move on."

Naruto gave a small smile. "I guess so."

**X-X-X**

_**61 years…**_

He had hoped that he wouldn't have to go through any depressing events for a while—or better yet, none until his death. But Fate was cruel. It had already taken his children, but now it was starting to affect one of his son's most precious people.

Apparently, there was a reason for Kira's retirement from ANBU. It was reported by several members in his squad that their captain had shown signs of dementia. He would mutter things to himself, never notice a serious injury from a mission unless one of his men pointed it out, and his methods of assassination were becoming less secretive and more violent and attention-drawing. Azuki's student found out about these reports and injured his second in command—the recently inducted Hanasotu—who had worried for his mental health. Days after that, Naruto had begun contemplating stripping away his rank of captain, Kira walked into his office one day and turned in a resignation form.

"If I can't lead a squad or protect two of my closest friends, how can I go on in such a position? Forgive me," he said. And that was that, or so Naruto had hoped.

Weeks afterward, Kira had been found in one of the empty cells of the hospital's insanity ward, holding his ANBU blade in his hand and trying to figure out what he should do. The hospital staff, already knowing what sort of damage Kira could do normally, didn't want to know what he would do in such a broken mental state. Sakura simply didn't want to try moving him since that may have made him even more mentally unsound. Even threats of bringing down Sasuke, whom the former ANBU was still afraid of after all these years, didn't faze him until he made a request: he wanted to see Naruto.

And so that led to this moment in time, with Naruto standing in front of the dark-haired young man as he held onto his head, biting down on his lower lip.

"Naruto-sama…! I think I'm losing it…! Should I kill myself or…not…?" Kira held up the kunai in front of his eyes, the steel of the blade still carrying the scent of blood. "I've often heard some people saying that the weak should die and the strong should thrive… Am I weak for being unable to save them? Should I have survived that day?"

"Those people are wrong. And you're _not_ weak. One of the strongest shinobi in the village."

"And yet I was unable to kill that monster. How does that not make me weak?"

"It's not your fault. You had just beaten an Asura. That alone is difficult. The chakra you had to expend and the strength you gave would've made you weak afterwards."

"So I _am_ weak?"

"No, you're not! Listen to me, Kira! You can't let this get to you! You have to endure! What would Azuki want of you?"

Kira looked up at Naruto with child-like eyes that betrayed his age. "Sensei…? Sensei would yell at me for being an idiot…"

"He'd also tell you to stop whining and move on," Naruto said as he looked down at the ground sadly. "He'd hate to see you tearing yourself apart like this."

"'Cuz it's…unmanly…!" Kira stabbed the blade into the padded floor. "But I…can't…! I'm afraid of letting go…and I'm afraid of moving on…! I don't know what I can do…!" He held onto his head and brought his knees up to his face. "Sensei…! Help me…!"

The Rokudaime looked down at the former ANBU sadly. "Kira… Maybe _I _can help," he said as he walked over to him and slid down next to the younger man. "I think you need some time away from the village. You need to just relax… Take a few years to see the country, the world…and when you come back, lucid and clear of mind, we can talk about giving you back your title." He placed a hand on Kira's shoulder and smiled. "Okay?"

"Okay… Thank you, Naruto-sama…for caring about what happens to a weakling like me…"

**X-X-X**

_**69 years (Present)…**_

Within the Hokage's office, Nataro stared down at the sheet of paper he held in his hand, his eyes squinted in concentration. "Hmmm…"

Meanwhile, Kira was sitting at the desk, rummaging through it. "Come on…! It's gotta be here _somewhere_…!"

The recently-made student-teacher pair had gotten into a bit of trouble lately. One of their training sessions went a _biiit_ too far and they wound up wrecking one of the training fields. Okay, Kira was mostly to blame, but Nataro helped make the tags and…well, in the end, they were both punished—the genin's squad would be forced to go on nothing but D-ranks for a month until the debt to repair that field was fulfilled, and he and the mad genius were to fix it up. Needless to say, this pissed off Kira, whose probation had already been lengthened, and he decided to get revenge the best way he saw fit.

As for Nataro…Kira just convinced him to think of breaking into the Hokage's office and stealing one of his items as _stealth training_. They had to leave no stone unturned, yet make sure they left no trace of their being there. Unfortunately, that idea went downhill once Nataro opened a drawer and sent a bunch of papers flying about. Not really sure what Kira was looking for, as he was pretty much knocked out by the former ANBU, the orange-clad blonde went on looking through the papers.

"Kira-sensei… What's this?" He finally asked after reaching a half-written page. There were over a hundred pages, but Nataro skimmed through most of the boring stuff and only read what he thought was exciting.

"What's what?" Kira asked, sounding only half-interested.

"These papers that I found. Are these supposed to be part of Gramps' memoir or something?"

The black-and-white-haired man sucked his teeth. "Memoir? We're not looking for any memoirs! We're looking for… Aha!! _This_!!" He held up a magazine with an attractive young woman on it wearing nothing but frilly, revealing nightwear.

The blonde boy just stared at him with squinted eyes, a sweatdrop running down the side of his head. "What's that?"

"It's a women's lingerie catalog~! Haha!" Kira gave an evil grin as his eyes gave an evil glint. "This'll teach that old man to punish _me_ twice in one month!!" He slipped the magazine into his jacket, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, whatever." _'Ya big crybaby…'_ Nataro thought as he went back to reading the memoir. _'Now, where did I leave off?'_ He was so busy looking through all the papers that he didn't even notice when the door opened and someone stepped in. A hand touched his shoulder and gripped it tightly enough to make the young blonde look over his shoulder, and what he saw made him stiffen up.

"Nataro… What do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked flatly as he stared down at the genin.

"Um, um, um! Y'see, Kira-sensei and I—!" He stopped talking when he noticed that Kira was nowhere to be seen and the window was open. _'He…he…HE DITCHED ME AGAIN!!!'_ Nataro looked up at the old Hokage with a sheepish expression. "Heh-heh! I can explain…"

**X-X-X**

Minutes later, the blonde boy was picking up all the papers and putting them together in separate piles.

"Remember: put them back in their proper order," said Naruto without looking up from his work. "The last one needs to be on the top. I still haven't finished it."

"You still haven't finished it? Seriously?" Nataro grumbled as he finished placing all the piles on top of each other. "Finally, I'm done! Oh, wait. I missed one." He picked up a sheet of paper that had gone underneath the cabinet. He started to read it, hoping it wasn't from the first years. "Hm? This is…"

**X-X-X**

_**61 years…**_

"Hee-hee-hee! Check it out, Gramps!" 7-year old Nataro exclaimed as he held up a worksheet with an odd-looking A written on it in bold red. "I got an A on my very first test at school! Read it and weep!!"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" He took the paper from the boy's hand and inspected the A carefully. When he was done, he rolled it up and hit Nataro on the head with it. "I'm not so old that I can't tell the difference between a forgery and the real thing! This is an _F_ that made look like an A! I thought it looked funny…"

Nataro turned blue in the face. "Y-y-you could t-tell…?!" _'Oh, no…! If an old man could tell it wasn't real, then Mom'll kill me once she sees my test!'_ Realizing that said old man was staring at him, the boy straightened up and grinned. "HA!! Like a dumb letter grade matters to the future Hokage!! I don't need to know math in order to become a super cool ninja! You'll see!!" He tried to stand on his toes and grab his paper on his own until Naruto just gave it to him. The young boy ran over to the door and spun on his heel, saying, "And if you think about pitying me, then _nyah_!!" He stuck his tongue out at the Rokudaime before running out in a hurry.

After a few seconds of staring at the doorway, Naruto just leaned back in his chair and smiled. _'Despite all the tragedies that have happened…there are still some good things that make life worth living…'_

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Enjaku means "Death of the Buddha". Masui means "Anesthesia".**

**Kazama is a normal surname. Minoru means "to bear fruit."**

**Raiton: Jibashi (Lighting Style: Electromagnetic Murder) was used by the filler character Fuka in the Shippuden anime.**

**Fuuton: Rasentatsumaki means "Wind Style: Spiraling Tornado".**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: I can't believe that took so long to finish! See what I go through for my fans? It was hard trying to shorten down this chapter as best as I could.**

**Nataro: Well, at least now we can move on, can't we?**

**Blu: That's right!! On to SiNful Rose II!!**

**Nataro: WHAT?!?**

**Blu: I meant Icha-Icha Evil Academy!**

**Nataro: Seriously?!**

**Blu: Oh, you know I'm just kidding. I've been waiting for this too! Next chapter…we are truly moving on…to Naruto X: Arashiden!!**

**Nataro: Yes!! Finally!!**

**Blu: Here's hoping you guys will endure this long chapter and review, for the sake of Blu! Your comments make writing this fic worthwhile! See ya in the next chapter!**


	55. 3 Years Later: Our Heroes' Comeback!

**Blu: Hey, everybody!! Arashiden is finally begining!! This would've been up sooner, but there are some problems with our phoneline at home, so I can only access the Internet at school. Also, I've got a new computer!! It runs faster, has a better video card, and as soon as I can customize it, I'll be able to write whatever I want with no problems! Anyway, sit back and enjoy the first chapter of Naruto X: Arashiden and remember to review for the sake of Blu!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto in any way or form. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#55: 3 Years Later: Our Heroes' Comeback!!_

_3 years ago, I became a genin—a low-rank ninja—alongside two boys from my class. Our goal was to become powerful shinobi of the army of Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village. At first, it was normal. We went on D-rank missions and did mundane things…but as soon as we went on our first C-rank mission, things changed. They especially changed for me after something woke up inside of me. My "other self", the strongest of all the bijuu—or at least a part of it—the terrifying Kyuubi no Kitsune._

_According to the Kyuubi, I'm a part of Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's Rokudaime Hokage. I didn't believe it. How could I believe it? Back then, I thought I was just Nataro. Who knew that after so many experiences, battles, victories and losses, I'd be questioning my identity…my existence? That's too much for a 12-year old's mind to take. In fact, it's still hard to get it out of my mind and not have it affect me. I just try not to let it show too much._

_I hadn't even started to question my identity until **she** left. One moment she was the there, the next I was fighting to keep her back home. It reminded me of Sasuke—of how he left the village to join Orochimaru. So when I lost…and **she** was nowhere to be found…I started to see…just how similar we were…and I wondered if I was doomed to repeat all of Gramps' mistakes. I wondered if…I should have just resigned myself to fate and stop referring to myself as Nataro._

_But…now it's different. Now I know she didn't leave. She's gonna come back someday…and when she does…and I want to be the person she knew when she left… I wanna be…Nataro…'_

**X-X-X**

"KAZAKI NATAROOOOOO!!!" A woman's voice could be heard throughout a district in Konohagakure. The source came from the Aigyo Buki (Loving Arms) Apartment Complex. Within the apartment's walls was an angry woman banging on the door of an apartment. "KAZAKIIIIIIII!!!" The woman looked to be in her late 20s, had short black hair and gray eyes, and wore a short pale pink dress with blue pants. The woman chewed on the cigarette in her mouth and took a long drag before blowing out smoke in frustration. A vein could be seen throbbing on her forehead as her eyebrow twitched. "Damn kid doesn't pay his rent on time…tries to sneak out to avoid me…and now he's trying to lock me out of one of my apartments…?" The smoker growled with an evil glint in her eyes. She pulled out a large ring of keys and began to search through them, muttering curses all the while.

"Auntie… Isn't this against Nataro-kun's right to privacy?" said the 14-year old girl standing behind the smoker as she sweatdropped. She had long, straight brown hair and light brown eyes and wore a long-sleeved black shirt with a black miniskirt and black shinobi sandals with blue undersoles.

"Sakuya-chan, you need to learn that men _always_ hide things, and as a woman, it is your right to find out what those things _are_. So _screw_ the right to privacy—he lost it months ago when he forgot to pay the damn rent!" The smoker grumbled with murderous intent. The angry aura faded when she started to smirk and hold up the right key. "You're in for it now, you brat…!"

**X-X-X**

Apartment 21 was a messy one, with clothes, scrolls, weapons, maps, empty cups of instant ramen and boxes of spoiled milk out all over the floor of the living room. The coffee table was relatively cleaner than the floor as it only had magazines and scrolls. Incredibly cleaner if you happened to see the cockroaches that liked to hide under the crude in there. And in the bedroom, there was a lump visible underneath the sheets that only moved every few seconds.

"Nnn… Asura-chan… I missed you… Don't go away without…telling me first, okay…?" A smile appeared on the lump's face as a hand clenched the bed sheet that covered it. "Oh, well… At least, we're finally—" Before the lump could speak anymore, the door of his room was kicked open and he could hear loud stomping. The sound was enough to snap the lump out of his sweet dream and make his bright blue eyes widen in shock. _'Oh, shit.'_ The sheets were pulled off, revealing a young man of 15 with short, messy sunshine blonde hair that stuck out in tufts and sky blue eyes that stared at the intruder half-heartedly. "O-oh! Kameko-san! What're you doing here?"

Inoue Kameko growled and pulled out her cigarette, holding it between her thumb and index fingers…then proceeded to jab the blonde in random areas with the still burning cigarette, her eyes narrowed in anger. "You! Little! Brat!! How many times must I tell you to _pay your rent on time_?!" She growled as a vein began to throb on her forehead.

"Oww!! Hey, hey!! That hurts! Quit it, will ya?!"

"Not until I get my rent, Kazaki Nataro!! Now where the hell is it?!" Kameko grabbed a fistful of his shirt and began to shake the blonde teen furiously, the cigarette still in her free hand and waiting to be pushed into his head should the need come up.

"I-It's in the drawer!!" Nataro shouted, his eyes now reduced to swirls. The dark-haired woman pushed him off of his bed and started to rummage through his bedside drawer. She tossed aside boxers, kunai, a few questionable magazines and a photo frame that hit the blonde right in the head and knocked him back down.

Sakuya slowly poked her head into the room and looked around, a blush coloring her cheeks. _'So __**this**__ is what Nataro-kun's room looks like… I've always wanted to see in here!'_ She tiptoed inside as her aunt opened another drawer and began tossing out clothes. A pair of boxers landed onto her head by coincidence and she started to swoon. "Ohhh…! He wears _boxers_! God knows how big it is…?"

"Sakuya, stop it. It's unsettling to see you swooning over this lazy ass boy," said Kameko before she went back to searching through his clothing.

Nataro sat up, rubbing the bruise on his forehead with a frown. "Who do you think are? A loan shark?"

"Loan sharks _lend_ money, kid. Though I _will_ break your legs if I don't find my rent."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're going through my stuff! This is an invasion of privacy, y'know!!" The blonde pointed a finger at his landlady as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Aha! I'll _sue_ _you_!" He hissed with a smirk on his face. In a matter of seconds, a cigarette was pressed against his bare forehead. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" He bent down and held his forehead, tears welling up in his eyes. "Would you stop _doing that_?! It _hurts_…!"

"Awww…! There, there, Nataro-kun!" Sakura said as she immediately appeared next to the blonde boy, his undies still on top of her head. "Want me to make help you get rid of the pain?"

"Are those my boxers?"

The brunette girl flinched slightly, her entire face completely red. "Uh, well, you see—!"

"Aha! Found it." Kameko held up an envelope that had the words _'rent money—due in three weeks!!'_ scribbled on in rushed handwriting. "How the hell could you write this and forget your rent was due weeks ago?!"

"Ah… I've been busy! I can't help it if I've had so many missions as of late!" Nataro hadn't bothered to say that he had to _beg_ to get all those missions from the moment he became a chunin.

"Making up excuses isn't always gonna save your ass, boy."

"Whatever! You've got your money now, so just leave, would ya?! You're stinking up my room and making it smell like an ashtray!"

"Keep saying things like _that_ and I'll shove a cigarette down your throat! Especially if you don't pay your rent on time again," his landlady growled before she left the room. "Come on, Sakuya-chan! There's nothing on him that's worth looking at."

"Um, bye, Nataro-kun!" The brunette said with a nervous smile as she got up and hastily walked out of the room. Seconds later, she walked back in and handed him his boxers. "Um, I…was gonna take this with me…" She chuckled nervously before she ran out of the room.

"Geez…! I shouldn't have to deal with this so early in the morning…!" He muttered as he heard a door slam. He noticed the picture frame on the floor and picked it up, observing the photo inside. It was a photo strip that came from a photo booth, showing him and Akasha when they were younger. "Well, Asura-chan, today's the big day." The blonde stood up, saw the mess Kameko had made, and sighed. "But first, I gotta clean this mess up…!"

**X-X-X**

Later, at the Hokage's office, the Rokudaime Hokage was doing some paperwork. There was a large pile of mission reports, mission requests, and other important documents that he had to check, as usual, but it was a bit harder to focus on today. Mainly because of the teenager leaning against his desk, staring at him expectantly. Finally, after several minutes of feeling the boy's eyes on him, the old man spoke up.

"Nataro, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he paused in his work to look up at the blonde. Nataro was wearing a short-sleeved orange shirt and a pair of dark green pants, his Konoha hitai-ate sticking out of his pants pocket and a pair of orange goggles hanging around his neck.

"You know why I'm here, old man," the younger blonde said as he tilted his head slightly to the side. "So, when's she coming?"

"When is _who_ coming coming?"

"You know who!! Uh…sir," he quickly added, twiddling his fingers nervously as he mumbled, "Sorry 'bout that…"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "You mean Asura-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah! That's right! She's coming back today, isn't she?!" The blonde exclaimed, eyes bright.

The Rokudaime frowned and glared at the boy. "I knew it: you've been sneaking in here and looking at my files, haven't you?" _'I was right to plant that phony file about Asura-chan then!'_

"Maybeeee…" Nataro mumbled as he began to stare at a wall from the corner of his eye.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his temples in exasperation. _'Kira's been a bad influence on this boy…'_ "You do know that you could go to prison for this."

"You could go to prison for reading a piece of paper, but perverts peek into hot springs and they get off scot-free? What sort of lame rule is that?" The blonde teen asked with half-lidded eyes.

"_Nataro_…"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! It's your own fault for not telling me anything!" Nataro folded his arms across his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. "Look, just tell me when she's coming and I'll be on my way."

"She's _not_ coming back today, Nataro," Naruto spoke sternly. "I put a false document there because I thought someone was looking through my papers. I _thought_ you'd be the one I caught." In the blink of an eye, the elderly blonde was holding his hand in the air while Nataro held onto the bump on his head. "What have I told you about looking through these files?"

"Uh… Don't look through 'em?"

"_Exactly_. Now, isn't today your day off? You've been taking on so many missions as of late, I assumed you'd be tired."

"I just want my Asura-chan baaaack!!" The blonde ten whined as he sat down on the floor, cross-legged and SD-chibified with waterfall tears streaming down his cheeks. "If I don't get her back, I'll…I'll do something drastic like mass graffiti of the Hokage Monument!! And your face'll look the worst of them all!!"

'_Obviously giving __**him**__ a day off was a bad idea,'_ Naruto thought as he stared at the crying blonde. "Uh, Nataro…how would you like another mission?"

Nataro looked back at him, arching an eyebrow in interest. "Eh? A mission? What kind of mission?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Eh?! Why not?! C'mon! Tell me, gramps!" The chunin shouted as he jumped onto his feet. "Please…Hokage-sama?"

Naruto smirked. _'That's more like it.'_ "I'll only tell you what sort of mission it is when you get your team together. But I _will_ tell you this: it's something _dangerous_…"

"Ohhhh!" Nataro smiled and saluted the Hokage. "Yessir!! I'll be back before you know it!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the Hokage alone to his paperwork.

"Finally, I'll get some peace and quiet…" Naruto sighed.

**X-X-X**

"Huh? Another mission? You just got back from a week-long one yesterday! Don't you want to take a break, Nataro-kun?" Sakuya asked the blonde teen. Sure, fate had been cruel enough to take her parents away during the Oni's attack three years ago, but one of the few bright rays was that her crush lived in her guardian/aunt's apartment building. Even if he never really did notice all the hints she was trying to drop in the form of sweets she made especially for him.

"I can't help it if I can't stay in one place for too long!" Nataro spoke as he closed the door of his apartment. He was now wearing an open black jacket with orange slanting along the torso, except for the orange sleeves, black pants, his hitai-ate tied around his head on a piece of long black cloth with his goggles over the headband. He zipped up his jacket and placed his room key under the welcome mat. "Hey, you'll save me a slice of that cake for when I get back, won't you?" He asked the brunette with a wide grin.

"O-of course! You know I will!" Sakuya said with a blush and a wink. "Um… Good luck on your mission, Nataro-kun!" She gave a nod before quickly walking back down the hall.

The blonde took a deep breath and sighed before holding up a fist. "Right! First up is Kazemaru, since he's the closest by. Then to find Hanzo and Tsuki-sensei and see Gramps about that mission!" He shoved his hands inside of his pants pockets and walked in the direction of the stairs. _'I just hope I won't find Kaze in the same position I did last time…'_

**X-X-X**

At the home of Temashi Yutaro, Natsume and Kazemaru, which was above the family bookstore, 16-year old Temashi Kazemaru was sleeping in his bed, a copy of _PLAYNiN_ magazine—the swimsuit edition—lying open on his face, with only a few strands of his short, flame-orange and red-tipped hair visible. If he had been standing, one would notice his growth spurt, making him the tallest member of Team Tsuki. Light snores could be heard as Kaze's chest rose slowly. Clad only in a black shirt with the sleeves torn off and dark red boxers with little black skulls printed on them, it was apparent that the flame-haired chunin had intended to spend the day sleeping in.

"Mmmm… And how are _you_, Kukuri-chan…? Oh? You wanna run my back with lotion…? Go right ahead…" He mumbled in his sleep with a content look on his face.

"Oh, Kaze-kun~!" A bubbly female voice cooed into Kaze's ear. The chunin immediately sat up, the magazine falling onto his lap and showing a pin-up page of a Suna kunoichi lying on her stomach in a skimpy two-piece bikini. Kazemaru looked to his left and saw a girl with shoulder-length mahogany hair and large brown eyes, wearing a red two-piece bikini. And she was staring at him with a cat-like grin on her face. He pinched himself in the cheek just to make sure he wasn't dream, and his orange eyes widened in amazement.

"You're…! You're Chubachi Kukuri of Kusagakure!!" The perverted pyro gasped with his eyes reduced to dots. _'This has gotta be a dream. Even if it is, I don't mind!'_

"Do you want me, Ka-ze-kun?" Kukuri asked as she climbed onto his bed and kneeled on his legs. "Do you _really_ want me?" The girl leaned forward and stroked his cheek. "I mean _really_ want me?"

'_Well, if this is a fantasy, then I'll say…'_ "Hell yes!" Kazemaru exclaimed with a perverted grin and a shine in his eyes, blood trailing down from his nose.

The brunette narrowed her eyes slightly. "Well then, close your eyes and pucker up, cutie! Hee-hee!" The pyromanic redhead immediately puckered his lips, leaned forward for a kiss…only to receive a punch to the face. The force was strong enough to send him flying back headfirst into the headboard of his bed.

"YEEEEEEEOOOOOOOUCH!!!" Kaze yelled as he rolled off of his bed, grabbing the back of his head. "Wh-wh-what the hell?! This is no dream!! It's a nightmare!"

"Hahaha! Sucker!" Kukuri gave a fox-like grin and squinted her eyes until they looked like a kitsune's. In a puff of smoke, Kukuri became Nataro, who was rolling around on his teammate's bed holding his stomach and laughing his ass off. "I can't believe you! You are _such_ a perv!! And a fast one at that! Like a model would wanna kiss _you_!!"

"Nataro!! How the _hell_ did you get in here _again_?!" His energetic blonde teammate had managed to sneak into his rooms several times before by coming through his unlocked window and tried to wake him up with several tricks and pranks, so Kaze simply got a lock for his window and made sure to lock it every night before he went to bed.

"Hey, don't blame me. Your sister's the one who let me come up here to wake you up," the blonde chunin stated as he sat cross-legged on his teammate's bed, hands behind his head.

Kazemaru began to growl as flames appeared in his eyes. "_Natsume_…!" Heat began to radiate from his body as a result of his anger, and eventually, his entire body caught aflame. "Damn you, woman!! It's my day off and I wanna _sleep_!!"

Nataro sweatdropped and slowly inched away from Kaze, his eyes half-lidded. "Uh… C-calm down, Kaze…! You're gonna burn your room down if you keep it up!"

As if on cue, someone began to knock on the door. "KAZEMARUUUU!!! Are you burning something _again_?!" The voice of Kaze's sister, Temashi Natsume, shouted from behind the door. "Kaze!!"

"No, _sister_!" The orange-haired chunin spoke in a mocking tone as the flames disappeared around his body.

"I smell something _burning_ in there!" The doorknob began to jiggle as Natsume pounded on the door from the outside. "Let me in there!!"

"Um… That's Nataro!! I'm burning his ass because he tried to kiss me!"

"What?!" Nataro shouted, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Well, ya did and I'm gonna!" The pyromanic genin hissed as his eyebrow twitched. He held up his hand, which was suddenly covered in flames. "How do you like your butt roasted?!"

"Wait, stop!! STOP!!! I'm sorry, okay—?"

"IT'S MY DAY OFF, I _TRY_ TO GET SOME SLEEP, AND _YOU _JUST HAD TO BARGE IN AND RUIN A WONDERFUL DREAM, YOU MORON!!!"

"KYAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

As the sounds of fists pounding flesh and a certain blonde ninja's screams came from within the room, Natsume nodded in satisfaction. "Take it easy on 'em, Kaze! We may need him to wake you up next time!"

"Don't worry~! Ramen Breath's gonna be only an _inch_ away from being admitted into the emergency room for intense burns when I'm through with him!" Kaze shouted back with an evil tone in his voice.

A few seconds after Natsume walked away, the door opened and Kazemaru's head poked out. His shifty eyes tried to see if his sister was still in the hallway, but after hearing her greet a customer downstairs, the orange-haired teen sighed in relief before going back inside. "Well, now she's gone," he told Nataro, who was sitting down on his bed and slumping over. The blonde was now sporting a black eye and had a burn mark the shape of a fist on his face that was slowly beginning to heal, thanks to the Kyuubi. "So, have you learned your lesson, Ramen Breath?"

"**Heh-heh-heh!"** The Kyuubi chuckled in the back of its vessel's head. **"Even when you claim to have improved, you're **_**still**_** a pathetic excuse of a shinobi!"**

'_Who the hell was talking to __**you,**__ you giant fur ball?'_ Nataro thought as he glared at Kazemaru. "What'd you do _that_ for…?"

"It's your fault for ruining the beginning of a lovely day off, idiot!" His teammate bared his teeth and shook a fist at him. "I mean, where do you get off coming in here and waking me up disguised as a swimsuit model?!"

"Better than what I did last time, though. Remember when I put that bomb note on your back when I tried to wake you up?" The black-clad blonde's response was a glare. "Yeah… I decided that this time, I'd try to wake you up in a happy mood. That's why I transformed into that chick on the cover of your magazine." He rubbed his healed cheek and bit down on his bottom lip.

"And the _reason_ you came is…?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow, his arms folded across his chest.

"We've got a mission! So suit up and we'll go get Hanzo and Tsuki-sensei together."

A vein popped up on the orange-haired shinobi's forehead. "A _mission_?! You bastard!! I bet _you're_ the one who accepted it, didn't you?!"

"Maybe…" The blonde mumbled as he looked at the wall.

Kazemaru slumped over, his body radiating heat. "Na…NATAROOOOOO!!!" He screamed, his entire body, suddenly engulfed in flames. "I'm gonna kill you!!!" He tackled his black-clad teammate off of his bed.

"Not again!! Ow!! Quit it, would ya?!"

**X-X-X**

"So where are we going?" Kazemaru grumbled once he and Nataro walked outside of the Temashi shop. The pyromanic chunin was now wearing a sleeveless black shirt with an upside-down triangle on the back, red arm warmers, black pants and a red wrap-around cloth tied around his waist, his Konoha hitai-ate tied around his arm on a dark red cloth. "You gotta promise me we won't be going to Hanzo's aunt first, 'cuz the last thing I wanna do in the morning is visit that creepy store of her's."

"I agree with you there. And after we accidentally broke that one vase that contained an evil spirit, I'm not sure if she'll let us back in there or not…" Nataro mumbled.

"We got it back, didn't we?"

"At the cost of someone's dinner from an outdoor restaurant."

"No one would miss a tofu roll…" The orange-haired teen muttered as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"I guess the first place we should check is his grandparents' house. He might be training or something…" Nataro began to scratch his head. "Hmmmm… I wonder: what do you think Sasuke-san's training is like?"

"How the hell should _I_ know? I hardly even know that old guy!"

"On your first impression of him, then!"

"Well… My sister said that my great grandaunt said that Uchiha Sasuke was a crazy psychopathic murder who killed his entire clan…but then Natsume told me the old bag was a little _coo-coo_!" He exclaimed while making the well-known sign for crazy people. "It turned out that it was his _brother_ who killed the entire clan and left him alive. Yutaro said something like that has to mentally scar a person for life, so…I'd say that Hanzo must feel right at home with his grandpa."

Nataro stopped walking and glared at the orange-haired chunin. "Quit making it sound like Hanzo's nuts!!" The black-clad blonde shouted.

"Well, I wouldn't call him _nuts_, per say… I'd say he's _'on the edge of a breakdown'_."

"You know damn well that Hanzo's the sanest of the three of us!"

"Yeah, of the three of _us_. Two of us are a pyromaniac who was dumb enough to idolize a nukenin and a loudmouth blonde who's shown signs of a personality disorder," the pyro spoke flatly as he stopped to look back at his teammate.

"Good point…" Nataro mumbled before they continued to walk down the street. "Still, ever since that little time incident stint, he's been…different, you know?"

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "Huh? What do you mean _'different'_?"

The blonde shrugged. "I dunno… I guess it's just me." _'Cuz to me, Hanzo's starting to act a bit like Sasuke-san.'_

**X-X-X**

"Ah-choo!!" A voice echoed through the Uchiha mansion. _'I think someone's talking about me.'_

"**Maybe it's that blue-haired girl you're so fond of,"** the Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu chuckled.

'_Weren't you asleep or something?'_

"What's wrong? Why did you stop all of a sudden?" A voice spoke, suddenly frightening the young man.

"Ah!! G-grandfather! H-how long were you standing there?" Hanzo stuttered nervously as he clutched the bokken in his hands. According to multiple girls, over the last three years, Hanzo had gone from being simply _'cute'_ to being _'hot'_. The 16-year old Uchiha's raven ponytail was now a bit longer and the bangs that framed his face now reached down past his chin, and just about every girl would melt when he looked at them with those almond-shaped eyes of his. His grandmother kept teasing him about it by saying he was starting to look like his grandfather when he was young. At the moment, he was wearing a black undershirt with fishnet sleeves and dark gray pants—his normal sleepwear.

Sasuke frowned and walked up to his grandson. He stared at the teenager for some time before striking him on the head with his cane. "Unbelievable. So skilled for one so young, and yet you couldn't sense my presence before I revealed myself."

"But I—!"

"But nothing. Just for that, we're training early today. The first thing you can do is practice your Chidori."

Hanzo blinked. "But…it's my day off!" He exclaimed, trying very hard not to sound like he was whining. That would only make things worse.

"Weren't you training a few seconds ago?"

"Th-that was personal stuff! Just exercise! And…" The raven-haired young man shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. "I don't see a point in learning a jutsu I can't use effectively. That's just…useless."

The elderly Uchiha took a deep breath and sighed. _'16 years old and no sign of the Sharingan trait. I'm starting to wonder if he's like Zen and the trait just skipped him. Or could it be something else? Maybe that Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu thing is affecting it somehow.'_ The image of the so-called _heavenly_ beast possessing his grandchild appeared in his mind, the Sharingan in the middle of its forehead.

"So, how many times do I have to do it?" Hanzo asked, not looking forward to the training.

"You'll know when I tell you."

'_I was afraid he'd say that!'_ The raven-haired teen thought as he slumped over slightly. Without another word, he followed his grandfather out of the room, a dark cloud floating over his head.

**X-X-X**

'_This isn't fair!'_ Hanzo thought after they had arrived outside. The sound of the wood arm from the nearby koi pound could be heard. _'This is the first break I've had from missions in months, and here I am wasting it on __**training**__.'_ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke was starting to slowly sit down, his hand against the wooden post. After he sat, he began to lean on the post and stare at his grandson expectantly. _'And it's because of Grandfather…!'_ He didn't even know why his grandfather had offered to train him after that time travel incident. He simply assumed that he was doing it either out of the kindness of his heart, or more likely, to try and steer him away from learning more dark arts and otherworldly spiritual things from Shitomi. Of course, that didn't work. His Yagami blood was still begging for more insight on the world that no ordinary being could witness, and his aunt was happy to oblige in helping him see every bit of it. He just had to be more careful and secretive, and make sure nothing relating to spells, curses and demons was found around the house. Still, he supposed it was nice of the old man to go out of his way to actually teach his grandson something.

"**I don't understand you. If you don't like it, don't do it,"** said the Kaijuu in a lazy tone. **"All you have to do is use logic to tell him how useless it is in having you learn such a jutsu. Just stop being so pathetic."**

Its container blinked. "Is this really necessary, Grandfather?" He asked, looking back at the old man. "There really isn't a point in making me learn Chidori if the only way I can use it effectively is with the Sharingan."

"You know what they say: practice makes perfect," said Sasuke. "Besides, you're a smart boy. I'm sure you'll figure out a different way to use this to your liking if you'll just _shut up and think_."

Hanzo flinched before he turned around once more and snorted.

"**You sure showed **_**him**_**," **the Beast of Heavenly Chaos muttered.

'_Shut up!'_ Hanzo thought as he held out a hand. In less than a second, it began to crackle with electricity, though others would think there was a flock of birds nearby from the sound alone. His eyes focused on the wooden dummy before him and with a swift thrust of his arm, the Uchiha had plunged his arm through the dummy.

"Shot channeling time. Good," Sasuke commented. "Now try Chidori Eisou _(1000 Birds Sharp Spear)_." His grandson began to stare at him, causing the retired shinobi to sigh and roll his eyes. "Have you forgotten how to do it? I expected better of you."

"I-I remember! I just… Never mind." The chunin turned back around and held out his hand. It began to crackle with electricity as the sound of a thousand birds sounded off. _'I was just wondering when you started to look so tired…'_ The young raven began to channel his chakra into the blunt katana. In a matter of seconds, the intense electrical current began to form a blade that shot out towards the wooden dummy when the most bizarre thing happened.

"AAHHH!!!" The wooden dummy suddenly ducked, holding onto its head with its wooden sphere-shaped hands holding its head. "Pl-please stop!! Don't hurt me!! The hand through the chest was bad enough!!"

"Huh?" Hanzo stopped, blinking in confusion.

"What…the…hell…?" Sasuke mumbled as his eyebrow twitched.

"Please don't kill me! I have a wife and little buds to think about!" The mokujin pleaded as it got on its knees. "Surely you can understand what I'm saying! I'm in the prime of my life! Just check my rings— Actually, nix that part, because that would mean you'd have to cut me open. But please, _spare me_, kind sir!!"

Hanzo blinked again, still not believing what was happening. The lightning chakra emanating from his hand had long since disappeared and his eyes were reduced to little brown dots. "What the…? Are you another one of Kotaro's attempts at making a tsukumogami? But… Aunt Shitomi said this thing was fairly new, so…you must be a spirit trapped within the dummy!"

"You see what happens when you accept gifts from your witch of an aunt?" Sasuke asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"In that case, lost soul, I will do you a favor and send you to the afterlife." He held out his hand and it began to glow with a bright blue aura. The raven-haired boy began to chant words in another language with his eyes closed. His eyes suddenly snapped open and and his mouth spread out into a wicked grin. "Now…rest in peace!!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" The mokujin was soon engulfed in smoke. When the smoke had dispersed, Nataro and Kazemaru were in the dummy's place, on their knees bowing to their dark-haired teammate. "Don't kill us!!"

"I knew it." Hanzo stared down at his friends with half-lidded eyes. "What are you two doing this time?"

"We should be asking _you_ that, Fan Boy!! Who do you think you are, attacking your beloved teammates like that?!" The orange-haired chunin shouted as he pointed a finger at the Uchiha.

"I wouldn't be attacking you if you hadn't pulled that little stunt. Now what do you guys want?"

Nataro and Kaze looked at each other warily. "Well…" The blonde started.

"Nataro went and got a mission and he's dragged us into it. So, if you wanna be pissed off at anyone at the moment, it's _Nataro_," the orange-haired genin finished.

"What the hell, Kazemaru?!" Nataro screamed, his eyes bulging out of his head. He suddenly froze as he felt a cold shiver running down his spine and turned his head to see Hanzo, his bangs hiding his eyes and a dark aura coming from his body. "Um… You're not mad, are you? Hanzo?"

The raven-haired boy raised his head and stared at the blonde apathetically. "I'll go get changed," he spoke before he turned on his heel and walked back into the house.

A snort from Sasuke caused the two chunin to look in the old man's direction. "Idiots," he muttered as he stood up and walked back into the house.

"Was it something we said?" Nataro asked no one in particular.

"The least you could do is invite us to breakfast!!" Kaze shouted. "I smell food!!" He elbowed the blonde in his chest. "Hey! You better help me woo that old lady into giving me something. It's your fault I never got to eat breakfast!"

"Yeah, yeah. Quit your complaining!"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Team Tsuki had exited from the Uchiha District and were now walking down the road towards Tsuki's apartment building.

"Let me get this straight: you've once again accepted a mission where we don't know what the objective is?" Hanzo asked. He was now wearing a loose-fitting white jacket with a black shirt that had the collar folded over the jacket, black pants, black shinobi sandals, and his hitai-ate tied around his neck on a short dark blue cloth. "May I remind you of what happened the _last_ time you took on a mission without getting all the details?"

"Yeah, remember when we had to babysit the Daimyo's brat of a son?" Kaze added as his eyebrow twitched and a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"How could I forget…?" The black-clad blonde shivered at the thought of that particular mission. "Who knew a 5-year old could be so _violent_?"

"Speaking of violent, I doubt Tsuki-sensei will just take you accepting another mission for the team on our day off?" Hanzo asked. "If I'm correct, this is the only day she's had off this year. Apparently, they had to _force_ her to take a day off so she wouldn't wear herself out. Sound familiar?" Both he and Kaze looked at Nataro.

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "Hey!! I'm not a workaholic!!"

"Are too. For the entire year so far, I estimate you've taken close to…10 missions a month at most. That makes it…close to 60."

"Most of those are D-ranks—they don't count!!"

"Face it: you're a workaholic, _workaholic_," Kazemaru said with a grin while his blonde teammate frowned and folded his arms across his chest.

"Well, excuuuuse _me_ for trying to make a living! You guys don't know what you're saying!! The more missions you take, the stronger you get, so being super busy is a good thing!!" Nataro exclaimed.

Hanzo sweatdropped. "For you, maybe. But for people with _normal_ stamina, they'd be rundown and under stress from so many missions." _'Kinda makes me wonder what sort of mental state you're in these days.'_

The trio then stopped in front of a building that was _way_ taller than the Aigyo Buki. In the blink of an eye, the chunin trio had disappeared from the ground and reappeared on the third floor where Tsuki and Yomi lived.

"So, who's gonna knock?" Hanzo asked as he leaned against the railing, hands in his jacket's pockets.

"Not me! I did it last time!" Nataro was quick to answer.

"So long as that thing in there, I ain't doing it!" Kazemaru exclaimed. "I barely escaped with my life the last time!"

The Uchiha gave his teammates a half-lidded stare. "Fine. _I'll_ do it. Just goes to show which of us has more balls in this team…"

"I'LL DO IT!!!" Nataro and Kaze shouted at once after having their manhood questioned.

"You _both_ can do it. I'll wait here in case things get out of hand."

"Fine!" The blonde and redhead blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Just go and do it."

Nataro and Kazemaru both approached the door of Tsuki and Yomi's apartment. They gulped, and after the pyro nudged the blonde to open the door, they braced themselves for what would come next.

"WOOF, WOOF!!!" A low bark came from within the apartment. Before either boy knew it, they were tackled to the ground by something big, black and heavy that started to lick them.

"GET OFF OF US, YOU MANGY MUTT!!!" Kazemaru screamed at the large bulldog that was sitting on top of them both.

"Gross!! Get off of me! Hey, don't chew that!!" Nataro shouted as he tried wrestle his goggles out of the dog's mouth.

In the background, Hanzo sweatdropped and gave a sigh of relief. _'I'm glad that's not me.'_

Yomi soon appeared in the doorway, wearing his usual jonin uniform. "Hm? Oh, it's you guys. I see you're playing _Chew Toy_ with Ushi again." The overly friendly dog named Ushi belonged to a person that Yomi knew. She had gone away for a while to visit relatives in another country and asked him to look after the massive canine. The reason behind it being living in the apartment—which had a fierce 'No Pets' rule—was a simple increase in their rent alone, for which Tsuki took it out on Yomi for.

"GET THIS MUTT OFF OF US!!!" Both Nataro and Kaze shouted.

"What're you guys getting so uptight about? That means he likes you," the jonin drawled.

"Well, we don't like _him_!!" Kaze shouted. Ushi whimpered and retreated back into the apartment. "Yeah, you _better_ run back in there!!" The redhead shouted as he tried to wipe the dog slobber off of his face. When Hanzo approached, he glared at the Uchiha. "Nice backing us up, _Fan Boy_."

Ignoring his teammate, Hanzo looked at Yomi. "Wouldn't it make more sense to put a dog that big in a kennel?"

"Hey, I was _asked_ to look after Ushi. I can't just put him in some small, cold kennel until his master gets back!" The purple-haired man spoke, sounding slightly hurt.

"You're doing this to score with the daughter, aren't you?" Kaze asked flatly.

"Niece."

"Close enough."

"Better yet, give 'em over to the Inuzuka. He'd make a pretty good ninja dog," Nataro muttered as he inspected his goggles. Thankfully, there were no visible bite marks or a trace of dog slobber. "He's already good at pouncing people when they least expect it!"

"Whatever. Anyway, if you guys are here for Tsuki, she's not here."

The three young ninja blinked. "Huh?"

"Shocking, isn't it?" Yomi sweatdropped. "Kira came over here a while ago and dragged her off somewhere. Said something about celebrating…_something_…at some bar?"

"What?!" Nataro shouted, a vein popping up on his forehead.

"Oh. Thank you very much, Yomi-san," Hanzo said with a nod.

"Whatever," the older shinobi muttered before shutting the door.

"Damn it, sensei!! If you're gonna be celebrating something, have the decency to invite your apprentice!!" The blonde chunin shouted at the ceiling.

"You mean I got covered in dog slobber for _nothing_?!" Kaze seethed as an intense heat began to surround his entire body. "Damn it!!"

"I wonder what Kira-san is celebrating?" Hanzo thought aloud as he looked down at his teammates.

"I wonder why he didn't invite me?!" Nataro shouted.

"Because you're annoying and loud!! Besides, anything Kira likes, you probably _won't_ like," said Kaze with half-lidded eyes as he stood up and dusted himself off.

Nataro remained sitting on the floor, arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face. "What makes you think I won't like it? I wanna see it! I wanna _see it_!!"

"You just revealed _another_ reason why he probably didn't tell you: you're a whiner!!"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, the boys of Team Tsuki found themselves standing outside of a bar. They had already checked all of the few bars that were open in the day except the one in front of them.

"They have to be here. There're no other bars open at this time of day," said Hanzo as he continued to stare up at the bar's dingy sign. A few seconds later, a man was thrown out of the open entrance and landed in front of the boys.

"And don't come back, ya drunk!!" A familiar voice slurred from inside.

"That's interesting, considering that you're pretty drunk yourself…" Another voice muttered.

"I recognize that drunken slur anywhere!!" Nataro exclaimed before he ran into the bar, stepping on the poor drunk's back as he did.

Hanzo sweatdropped and bent over to look at the man as Kazemaru walked into the bar. "Please forgive my friend. When he's excited, he forgets his manners."

"SEEEEEENSEEEEEEIIIII!!! How could you just go an' have a celebration without me?!" The black-clad blonde shouted as he shook a fist at his drunken master. The black-and-white-haired man was standing on top of the bar stand, holding an empty glass and a bottle of some sort of blue alcoholic drink. Kira's face was very red and his eyes showed drunken mirth as he stared at his blonde apprentice. "H-hey! Hey! If it ain't Na…Naruto! Nataro! Whatever you're freakin' name is!!" The mad genius shouted as he started to sway from side to side. When Kazemaru and Hanzo came in, he added, "And the little living matchstick and Lil' Z! How y'all doing?" He held up his class as if making a toast. "Three cheers...to my dear apprentice and his friends! May they live long enough to…lose their virginity!!" The black-and-white-haired man shouted. He threw his head back and took a shot, only to fall backwards and crash behind the counter.

A few stools down sat Asahara Tsuki, wearing a short-sleeved black shirt with fishnet sleeves that reached her wrists and a dark blue version of the Konoha flak vest sans the pouches with the red spiral on the back, dark blue pants, formal black heeled sandals, and a hitai-ate tied around her waist on a blue cloth. Unlike her childhood teammate, the purple-haired woman wasn't drunk. If she was, she probably wouldn't have looked so pissed off and embarrassed. Sitting on the stool to Tsuki's left was Hanasotsu, who was wearing a long, dark blue jacket that was buttoned down, showing his sleeveless black shirt and black pants.

The blonde ANBU noticed the boys and blinked. "Hm? Tsuki-san, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru aren't old enough to drink, are they?"

"What? Of course not… What are you asking that for, Hanasotsu?" Tsuki mumbled as she rubbed her temples.

"Because they're in here. Right now," Hanasotsu stated as he pointed at the three chunin.

"Huh? What the hell?" She muttered under her breath as she pushed herself off of her seat.

"You inconsiderate bastard!! Just what are you celebrating anyway that you couldn't invite _me_ to?!" Nataro shouted as he climbed onto the counter and glared down at Kira.

"Ahem!" Both master and student looked to their right to see the bartender/owner glaring down at them, a steel bat in one hand and a crowbar in the other. They both gave sheepish grins, and in less than a second were both standing behind the customer's side.

"Uh… Just what the hell are you celebrating anyway that you couldn't invite _me_ to?!" The blonde teen screamed as he shook a fist at the taller man. Without warning, he soon found his face buried in Kira's chest. "Guh?!"

"I'm so happy today that not even _you_ could ruin it for me, kiddo!! For today is the day that they _finally_ reinstate me as a Konoha shinobi and give me back my ninja license!!" The mad genius exclaimed as tears fell from his sparkling, puppy dog eyes.

"I-is _that_ what this is for?" Hanasotsu asked with a nervous grin as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "Kira-sempai… I didn't say you'd be reinstated _now_. I said that the Council was…_considering_ agreeing to give you back your license."

Kira's left eye twitched and his grip on Nataro tightened. The black-clad blonde tried to squirm out of his master's grasp as the older shinobi slowly turned his head to look at his former subordinate. "What did you say…_Hana-chan_…?" He asked in a dark and scary tone as his eyes glowed a creepy shade of yellow.

"W-well, considering all the trouble that you've been causing _after_ repaying your debts—not to mention your attempts to train Nataro into becoming another you—"

"MMPH!!!" The blonde tried to scream as as he continued to try and get out of Kira's hold, but his master just wouldn't let go. Hanzo and Kazemaru sweatdropped in the background, deciding not to get involved.

"—the council just doesn't agree with Hokage-sama about you being ready to take back up your position in the ANBU again. They think…you need to show more…maturity."

A vein popped up on the black-and-white-haired man's forehead. "Maturity…? MATURITY?!?" He shouted as he chucked Nataro at the blonde ANBU, managing to hit him square in the head. "RRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHH!!!" He screamed before pouncing on both blondes and proceeding to beat the crap out of them.

Hanzo and Kaze sweatdropped once again. "Shouldn't we go and help him?" The Uchiha asked.

"Maybe. But considering that he's gone and ruined our day off by accepting a mission, I say we should let Kira-san pound on him for a while. Y'know, to teach him a lesson," the Temashi smirked as he placed a hand on his hip.

"Are you sure _you_ don't have some evil entity living in you?"

"He's got a point. That's so mean, Kazemaru."

"It's not mean, Tsuki-sensei— Tsuki-sensei!!" Kaze exclaimed in surprise as he stepped away from the purple-haired woman that had somehow managed to appear at his side.

"So, Nataro's gone and accepted another mission for us, huh?" Tsuki smiled as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "I don't mind! I could use something to do today, and anything's better than spending time with Kira…"

"HOW _DARE_ YOU GIVE ME FALSE HOPE LIKE THIS!!!"

"N-now, sempai! Calm down! It's n-not _that_ bad!"

"Lemme outta here!! I didn't even know about this!!"

"HEY!!!" The bartender shouted, suddenly appearing next to the dust cloud, wielding his bat and crowbar. "Knock it off, you three!!" A hand suddenly reached out from the dust cloud, pulled the crowbar out of the man's grasp and swung it upside his head, knocking him out.

"Oh my gosh! Boss!" A few waitresses exclaimed in shock while the others gasped.

"Why don't _you_ knock it off?! Bastard!!" Kira shouted as the dust cloud dispersed. He was crouching on the floor with the crowbar raised in the air. Behind him, Hanasotsu and Nataro had several cuts, bruises and a bite mark or two on them. All Kira had was a small cut under his left eye and a bruise on his cheek, courtesy of his young apprentice.

"Kira-sempai… P-put the crowbar down," said Hanasotsu, cautiously holding a hand up in defense.

"Lie to _me_, will ya? I'll fix you good!!" The black-and-white-haired man shouted, his eyes glowing that eerie yellow again as he raised the crowbar high over his head. "C'mere, Hana-chaaan!"

"W-wait!! If not for me, then do it for Nataro! You're setting a bad example for him—which is one of the reasons why you haven't been given back your license yet!"

Kira arched an eyebrow and rested the crowbar against his shoulder."What apprentice? I see no apprentice for which I might set a bad example for."

"Huh? You're not blind!! He's right…" The blonde man trailed off as he glanced at the spot Nataro was and did a double take. "What the heck?!" In Nataro's place was a life-size plushie of the blonde chunin with a note on it that read _'Sorry!'_ written in bold kanji.

"You think I'll set a bad example for a _doll_…? And they call _me_ mad! Heh!" Kira blinked and looked up at the ceiling in concentration. "Now, where was I…? Ah, yes! I was gonna bash your head in for betraying my trust, Hana-chan!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Outside of the bar, far away from it, Team Tsuki was walking down the street.

"I'm not sure if we should've left Hanasotsu-san alone back there…" Hanzo mumbled as he stared at his best friend's back.

"Aw, Hanasotsu'll be just fine! I'm sure Kira won't do anything to hurt him seriously!" Nataro told the raven as he looked over his shoulder with a broad grin.

"The screams back there say otherwise," the Uchiha spoke flatly, causing the blonde to sweatdrop.

"He'll recover from it! …Hopefully."

"You can bet for sure that if Kira keeps this up, he'll never get his license back," said Tsuki as she folded her arms across her chest. "Someone's gonna report that little outburst."

"Ain't it funny how in the same way Kira causes trouble when he hears he's not getting his ninja license back, Nataro causes trouble whenever he's denied a mission?" Kazemaru snickered. "Like I said: they're too damn similar to ignore…"

"That _is_ kinda true," Tsuki mumbled while scratching her cheek. "The only difference is that Nataro isn't as violent or extreme as Kira. Plus, his record is juvenile compared to Kira's…"

"But you gotta admit that they've got some similarities," said the pyromanic chunin, ignoring the blonde's glare.

"That's not funny!!" _'Besides, acting like Kira-sensei's better than acting like Gramps.'_ "If anyone acts like their teacher, it's Hanzo!"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Nataro stifled a giggle and looked back at the Uchiha. "Whenever you do a certain thing, you remind me of Sasuke-san!"

Hanzo stopped walking and glared at the blonde loudmouth. "Knock it off! We are _not_ alike!" He snapped.

"You even _glare_ the same."

"Shut up!! If I was _really_ like my grandfather, I would have shut you up _way_ before you started yapping off!!" The raven shouted, red in the face.

"Oooh, now you're reminding me of Sakura-san. Don't punch me through a wall, okay?" The Kazaki giggled mischievously as his best friend sighed in defeat. "Now…LET'S GET A MOVE ON!!!" Nataro then ran off, leaving his team in the dust. "Come on, come on!! Let's go, let's go!! Time's a-wastin' people!!"

"Slow down, will ya, Ramen Breath?!" Kazemaru shouted as he, Tsuki and Hanzo ran after him. "We don't have as much _pep_ in the morning as you doooooo!!"

**X-X-X**

'_I was hoping he would take a while longer in rounding them up…'_ Naruto thought after Team 14 came into his office. He glanced down at what remained of his paperwork and sighed. _'Curse his exuberance.'_

"So, what's our mission, Gramps? Tell me it's something good!" Nataro exclaimed as he bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly. "It better be something good!"

Kaze stared at the blonde out of the corner of his half-lidded eyes. "Freak."

"Now then, the assignment that I'm giving you is very important," the Rokudaime began, gaining the shinobi's attention. "It appears as though there's a problem that has fallen out of the hands of our ally, Sunagakure."

Tsuki blinked. "The Sand Village…? Why would they call on _us_ for?"

"I was _getting_ to that… The daughter of the Rokudaime Kazekage, Sayuri, was abducted by a group of unknown shinobi during a mission."

"Aha! Our mission is to save the daughter of the Kazekage!" Kazemaru grinned, folding his arms across his chest.

"No."

"Huh?"

"The ones who sent the message are the same ninja who were with her on a mission: the Kazekage's son, Mamoru, and his cousins, Otokaze and Yasha. It's believed that the kidnappers were last seen passing into the River Country, as were Mamoru and his team. Your mission is to find Mamoru, Yasha, and Otokaze and bring them safely back to Sunagakure."

"Th-that's all?!" Nataro shouted, slumping over as his mouth hung open. "But…I thought we were gonna get to fight the kidnappers!!"

"And save the Kazekage's daughter!" Kaze added.

"I already assigned another team to rescue Sayuri-san. What _you_ need to do is find and retrieve those three before any harm comes to them. Otherwise, the Kazekage will be furious. Is that clear?" Naruto asked as he looked at the blonde chunin.

"Crystal," Nataro mumbled, making the okay sign before turning on his heel and walking out of the room.

"Cool. We've been hired by a foreign Kage," said Kaze as Tsuki took the mission scroll from the Rokudaime along with photos of their targets. "I still wish we could've rescued the girl, though…"

"I wonder: will we be working with the team that was sent to rescue Sayuri-san, Hokage-sama? Or are we doing separate jobs?" Hanzo asked.

"Perhaps, if your missions happen to make it so. But they have a head start."

"Aha!! Then we'll just have to beat 'em to the punch!!" Nataro exclaimed, popping his head back into the room. _'And maybe __**we**__ can rescue the girl while __**they**__ take care of finding those guys!'_ "Heh-heh-heh…!" He chuckled darkly as a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

"What were you saying about Kira not rubbing off on you?" Kazemaru said with a smirk.

"Shut up!!"

**X-X-X**

Days before, near the borders of Kaze no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni (River Country)…

"Ugh…! Where the hell are we _now_?!" A man wearing a black hooded cloak shouted into the sky. Strapped onto his back was a long object wrapped up in bandages that was almost as tall as him.

"I believe we went around in a circle. We're back in the desert _again_!" said a second man that sounded slightly younger than the other. He, too, was wearing a black cloak with the hood up, hiding his face.

"Well, we wouldn't be lost if someone knew where we were going," said the smaller figure wearing a black hooded cloak that sounded like a young girl.

"Hey, it's not my fault! It's not as though I know the terrain of damn Kawa no Kuni anyway!! It's not like I have a map of the mainland!"

"I knew you wouldn't be able to do it. Everything about you just screams _'failure'_."

"How do you expect me to concentrate when I'm lugging around _this_ kid…" The man muttered as he suddenly dropped the teenage girl who was slung over his shoulder. She looked about 16 or 17 and had long, messy reddish-brown hair. She wore a short-sleeved black shirt with a fishnet undershirt, a long black skirt with a slit up the front, revealing her black shorts and fishnet stockings, black heeled sandals, black eye shadow and the Suna hitai-ate tied around her neck. The man then pulled down his hood and revealed the face of a 30-something year old man with orange eyes and short scarlet hair that had bangs grown out to hide the left side of his face. Hitsuke groaned, "God, I hate the desert…!"

"Watch it, would you?! We can't damage the goods!" The other hooded man exclaimed as he picked up the girl as carefully as he could and slung her over his shoulder.

"Pssh! I still don't get why you don't just kill her now. Then once we're out of the country, we could leave her body lying around Hi no Kuni for him to find."

"What was the plan…?" The other hooded man asked expectantly.

Hitsuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "The one assigned to the bijuu we're chasing makes the rules…"

"And _who_ is the Ichibi assigned to?"

"_You_…"

"Exactly. And I say that she lives…for now."

The scarlet-haired man snorted and pulled his hood back over his head. "All I know is that I better be the one killing her…"

The short hooded person, who was now sitting down on a flat rock, spoke up, "Speaking of the Ichibi, I wonder where it went. I could have sworn it was right behind us. It wouldn't give up at the last minute, would it?"

"I've done my homework. It wouldn't abandon its sister," said the hooded man.

Just then, the sand-covered ground exploded beneath the shinobi trio. A few seconds later, a hole was formed in the ground as sand and gravel fell from the sky. Hitsuke and his partners appeared a few feet away from the hole as three figures jumped out of it and landed near its edge. One was a young man of 16 with skin tanned from the desert sun, short spiky brown hair and black eyes with the number 0 tattooed on his cheek, wearing a black shirt with long gray sleeves, a fishnet undershirt, black pants with the number 0 printed on the right leg, gray armguards and shinguards, a long, broad blade resting over his back pouch, and a Suna hitai-ate tied around his forehead on a gray cloth. Another was a pale-skinned 15-year old with long sand blonde hair that was tied into two low ponytails and sea green eyes, wearing a short-sleeved black dress with a green sash tied around her waist in a bow, fishnet stockings and black formal sandals, a large scroll on her back and her Suna hitai-ate tied around her neck on a piece of black cloth. The third, who was standing in front of the other two, was a young man of 15 with tan skin and short reddish-brown hair and amber gold eyes, wearing a long black jacket with several straps keeping it closed, a black shirt beneath that, long black pants, and a large gourd strapped to his back with a long dark red sash that had the Suna hitai-ate sewn onto it.

"Well, well. It took you forever, but you finally showed yourself again, _Ichibi_!" The hooded man spoke.

"Give her back, you bastard!!" The shorter teen shouted. Sand began to swirl around him as he glared at the hooded trio.

"Calm down, Mamoru!" The taller brunette known as Otokaze exclaimed as he reached out to his cousin.

"Mamoru-kun…" The blonde, Yasha, spoke softly as she looked at her cousin with half-lidded eyes. "You might hurt Sayuri-chan if you continue to act like this…"

"Grrrr…!" Mamoru gave a low growl under his breath, narrowing his eyes. "Give me back my sister or else…I'll _kill you_…!" He spoke in a soft, but bone-chilling tone as the sand floated around his body. His teammates froze up while the hooded kidnappers remained unfazed.

"Or you'll _kill us_… I see you're finally giving in to your nature, Ichibi no Tanuki," said the man holding Sayuri, shifting her on his shoulder.

Mamoru narrowed his eyes. Yasha stared at the ground. Otokaze looked at the shorter boy in confusion. "Ichibi no Tanuki…? What's that?"

"If you continue to stay around it, you'll see it in its _true_ form soon…" said the short hooded figure as she placed a hand on her hip.

"Just wait and see. But before that can happen, you've gotta _catch us_ first!" Hitsuke laughed before they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Ah…! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" A vein began to pulsate on Mamoru's forehead as the wind picked up and sand swirled violently around his being as though he were the eye of a sandstorm. Otokaze and Yasha covered their eyes and stood in their places until the storm died down.

"Wha… What the hell, Mamoru?!" Otokaze shouted. "Why'd you have to get pissed off so easily and make 'em run away?! We could've gotten something from them if you hadn't let them rile you up!"

"Let's go…" Mamoru muttered as he took a step forward. The older boy's hand stretched out and grabbed his shoulder before he could take another step.

"We're not going anywhere until I get some answers—!" The older teen's eyes widened as he saw sand wrapping around his entire body.

"I have my reasons for doing this…Otokaze. I don't want my sister to be killed because of me…" Mamoru mumbled with expressionless eyes.

"I understand…" Otokaze mumbled with a sad look in his eyes. "Sayuri is like a sister to me. I don't want to see her get hurt either. So let's go…"

Yasha stared at her cousins with unreadable eyes while Mamoru nodded and muttered, "Thank you." In the blink of an eye, the Suna Trio was gone.

**X-X-X**

Back to the present in Konohagakure, Team Tsuki stood at the village gates, fully prepared and ready to go.

"Alright, let's hit the road!!" Nataro shouted, fixing up the straps of his backpack and tightening his hitai-ate around his head. "C'mon!!"

Tsuki cleared her throat and looked at the blonde out of the corner of her eye. "_I_ am the squad captain, remember?" Nataro gave a nervous grin and scratched the back of her head. "Alright, let's move out, Team Tsuki!!"

"Yes, m'am!" The three chunin saluted.

**X-X-X**

**Kameko means "Turtle child" while Inoue means "In the well".**

**PLAYNiN is an obvious parody of Playboy.**

**A bokken is a wooden sword used in kendo training.**

**Tsukumo-gami are mythical haunted objects. It is a Shinto belief that objects such as combs, umbrellas, and shoes can gain a soul and come to life under the right conditions, such as being used for a hundred years.**

**Mokujin literally means "wooden person". Inspired by those wooden training dummies and the character of the same name from the Tekken series.**

**X-X-X**

"Welcome to the ending of episode 1 of **Naruto X: Arashiden**—the rewrite!!" Blu Rose exclaimed after the camera suddenly turned on. In her hand was a microphone and hanging behind her was a large banner that said, _'GOOD LUCK, ARASHIDEN!!!'_. "In order to commemorate this wonderful part of the rewrite, here are the chunin of Team Tsuki and the stars of Naruto X, Kazaki Nataro, Uchiha Hanzo, and Temashi Kazemaru!!" She exclaimed as she walked over to sit down in a chair. Sitting on the couch beside her were the three stars.

"Hey, are we on TV?" Nataro asked. He then gave a dumb smile and began to wave at the camera. "Hi, Mom!!"

"This is _fan fiction_, Nataro," Hanzo told the black-clad blonde. "No one's actually _seeing_ us."

"They're _reading_ it, dumbass!" Kazemaru added.

The blonde pouted and folded his arms across his chest. "If no one can really see us, then what's that camera for?"

"The sake of posterity," Blu spoke frankly as shed crossed her feet.

Hanzo blinked and arched an eyebrow. "But if nobody's seeing this, why are you—?"

"I _said_ for posterity," the authoress insisted, a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"That's what _she_ says…" Saiyuri muttered as she stood behind the camera.

"So, how does it feel to be teenagers again after so many chapters?"

"Wonderful!! I missed this body…!" Kaze exclaimed as he hugged himself. "I missed being the tallest member of my team and I missed being a kickass shinobi!"

"We were all kinda afraid this rewrite would end prematurely like the original did," said Hanzo while Nataro nodded in agreement. "There was even a pool on how long this story would last."

"Wanna hear the outcomes…?" The blonde teen asked warily.

"Let's not. She may get mad when she she's the chart."

"_Ahem_!!" Blu cleared her throat and got the boys' attention. "Is that so? You better give me the names of all those who bet so I can punish them!" She calmed down and smiled to the camera. "Anyway, what would you guys like to say about Arashiden?"

"Ooh, ooh!! Me first!!" Nataro exclaimed and began to jump up and down on the couch, causing his teammates to bounce a bit. "Prepare for more chapters where I actually _look_ cool and strong!! And more explosions and more jutsu! And more perverted innuendo! It wouldn't be Blu's fic if there wasn't perverted innuendo…!"

"Na-ta-ro!!"

"Stop-it-ra-men-breath!!"

"Huh? What?" The blonde asked, still jumping.

"SIT DOWN!!!" His teammates shouted at the same time.

Nataro dropped himself back onto the couch and snorted. "You don't have to yell…!"

"What else can we say that _motor mouth_ here hasn't already said?" Kaze spoke as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Well…there'll be new characters! Evil villains, strong allies…hopefully a hot springs scene with some sexy women…"

"There's going to be some secrets revealed—both shocking and obvious," Hanzo spoke calmly. "Also be prepared for the deaths of a couple of major characters."

"Not us?!" Nataro and Kaze shouted, suddenly chibified and cowering in a corner.

Blu gave an evil smirk. "We'll have to wait and _see_~!" All three boys sweatdropped with blue-tinged cheeks. "Well, that's all the time we have for today! This is Blu Rose and Team Tsuki signing off, and _this_ is the true end of Arashiden's first chapter! Buh-bye!" She made a cutting motion across her neck. "And _cut_!" The camera suddenly turned off.


	56. The Konoha Rescue Squad!

**Blu: (Rereading chapter 473 of Naruto manga) Huh… I never thought Kisame would die via beheading.**

**Kazemaru: All his fans are probably denying that he's dead, like Orochimaru fans denied **_**he**_** was really dead!**

**Blu: Hm. I wonder if someday, I could create a villain as popular as the ones in Akatsuki?**

**Hanzo: It's nice to dream big, but I doubt that'll happen.**

**Blu: Why not?**

**Hanzo: Fans seem to be a bit picky when it comes to OCs. And unless there's some cool character art, you'll never get a fanbase for your OCs. Just look at Naruto Eledia.**

**Blu: But that site hasn't been up for months!!**

**Hanzo: So? The character art's still up on another website and people seem to like it.**

**Blu: I just wish that guy would update… (Notices the readers) Oh! Uh… What're you waiting for? Go read the chapter!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#56: The Konoha Rescue Squad!_

Near the border of Hi no Kuni, in the town of Shinjuri, the trio of cloaked individuals were walking down the street, the one in lead carrying Sayuri in his arms. Needless to say, that caught a lot of people's eyes. Hitsuke's eyes, on the other hand, kept darting about, looking at the different people passing by—happy families, happy couples, and happy friends. Just a great, big bundle of happiness that made the Kiri nukenin twitch sporadically.

"What's _your_ problem, Hitsuke?" The short cloaked person asked, looking up at him.

"This seems like such a nice, quiet place… I just gotta raise some chaos around here!" He hissed as the air around him began to grow warm. At least, until the short person kicked him in the shin, making him stumble forward. "Ow!! What the fug was that for?!"

"_Some_ of us can control our bloodlust! Why don't you take an example and learn some control?!" She shouted before kicking him in the shin once more.

"Arrgh!! You _little_—!!" Hitsuke raised a hand to strike her when the man in lead spoke up.

"Tetsuotome has a point, Hitsuke. I would prefer that for the duration of this mission, you keep your destructive tendencies under control. No need to attract unwanted attention." The leading cloaked figure walked into an inn.

The short cloaked figure, Tetsuotome, raspberried Hitsuke before running into the inn as well. The Kiri nukenin began to growl and twitch as waves of heat began to radiate from him. _'I…__**hate**__…this…job…!'_ He stomped into the inn, leaving scorch marks in ground in his wake.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the forest near Shinjuri, four figures traveled through the trees, mere blurs to the eyes of the few travelers on the common path who _could_ see them. One of the figures stopped on a tree branch and the three behind him stopped as well. He reached into his back pouch and pulled out a map. He unfolded it and observed the markings that were made near the River and Fire country borders. "According to the information we were given from Suna, the kidnappers will be heading to Shinjuri, the town closest to Kuwa's borders."

"What makes you so sure about that, taichou?"

"It's a long way from the Land of Wind to the Land of Rivers, followed by the Land of Fire with little time to rest. At the moment, they're being chased by Suna shinobi. They'll want to rest eventually, and what better place to do so than the nearest town possible?" The leader put his map away and folded his arms across his chest, his back turned to his squad. He was a young man of 16 years with short raven-colored hair that had spiky bangs strands and sky blue eyes. He wore a long-sleeved white jacket with red trim along the cuffs and down the front, black pants, black sandals and a long red scarf with a Konoha hitai-ate sewn into it. His name was Masaru, and he was the leader of the squad assigned to rescue the Kazekage's daughter. Masaru looked back at his squad. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Yes, sir, Masaru-taichou!" exclaimed 17-year old Bao Zi. He had short, messy black hair with a short, scruffy ponytail tied in the back and large, child-like black eyes. He wore a short-sleeved open yellow jacket with black trim, yellow and black shorts, bandages wrapped around his exposed torso, his hands up to the elbows, and legs up to the knees, a Konoha hitai-ate tied around his waist on a red piece of cloth.

"Yes, taichou," said Kagura, a short 17-year old large with large plum purple eyes and sable-colored hair that was tied into a braid and held up by a dull gold metal band. He wore an oversized purple jumpsuit with long sleeves that almost hid his hands, a high collar that hid the bottom half of his face and blue wind-like patterns along the sleeves and leggings, black leggings beneath the jumpsuit and the Konoha hitai-ate hidden within the outfit.

Masaru looked over his shoulder at the third member of their squad. "Inahime?"

The dark-haired 15-year old newbie jonin blushed. "O-of course, taichou!" Over the years, her raven-colored hair had grown out to reach the middle of her back if it weren't being held up in its usual ponytail with the hair sticking out in separate spiky tufts. She wore a sleeveless white blouse with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, an open, knee-length white skirt that was almost unbuttoned all the way in the front, revealing black ankle-length pants, black finger-less gloves and a short sword strapped over her back pouch in a black sheath, her hitai-ate tied around her head on a black cloth.

"Remember: our objective is the safe return of Sayuri-san to Sunagakure, along with the elimination of the kidnappers. Shinjuri is a small town, but there are still a lot of people. It will be hard to kill them in public without causing a big commotion. Therefore, we have to be stealthy and quiet…and take them out before they notice our presence and threaten the life of the Kazekage's daughter or any of the civilians."

'_How irritating…'_ Jin thought as he frowned behind his high collar. _'The chances of us being able to kill them without endangering someone's life are slim.'_

"If we can't get to them while they're in town, we'll wait until they leave to make our move. I won't know what will work until I get a better look at the surroundings… For now, let's move out!!"

"Yes, sir!" The squad shouted before they commenced traveling through the trees.

A few minutes later, another squad of Konoha ninja went by. "Alright, Mamoru-kun and his team _should_ be nearing the town of Shinjuri. That's where we'll trap him and proceed to drag him back to Suna," said Tsuki as her squad jumped through the trees.

"Yeah, yeah…" Nataro muttered, obviously still upset over their mission. "But what if we meet up with those kidnappers before or after finding those guys? What then?"

Tsuki sighed and looked at the blonde chunin out of the corner of her eye. "Nataro…"

"He has a point, sensei," said Hanzo. "What's to say that Sayuri-san's kidnappers won't try to kidnap Mamoru-san as well to double the ransom?"

"Mm-hm!" Nataro agreed as he nodded with squinted fox-like eyes.

"They could've just kidnapped him before they left the country or when he was chasing them, so what's the point of kidnapping him now?" Kazemaru asked his teammates with an arched eyebrow.

"They could've changed their minds!" The blonde exclaimed.

"If they, then _we_ don't need to be here, since the _other_ squad's the one dealing with the kidnappers. _Not us_," the pyromanic chunin muttered in a flat tone.

"Still, it's a small village," said Hanzo. "It wouldn't be unusual if we just bumped into them by accident."

"And you never know if that other squad will need backup, right?" Nataro added quickly.

"Right, right!" Kaze said with eyes brighter.

The purple-haired jonin gave another sigh and closed her eyes as she continued to jump—a feat that amazed the young chunin because she always managed to precise timing and not fall or stumble. "_If_ we encounter the kidnappers and the other squad has either failed and been killed, or is in need of help, then it is our duty to help our fellow Konoha shinobi."

'_Hurray for the Konoha way!!'_ Nataro and Kazemaru thought happily as proud grins appeared on their faces.

"We don't know who our enemy is, so they could be seriously dangerous. If any of you encounter them, be on guard!" Tsuki informed her subordinates. "That goes especially for _you_, Mr. Risk Taker," she said as she looked at Nataro out of the corner of her eye.

The black-clad blonde gulped, his cheeks tinged with blue. "Y-yes, m'am! No showboating on _this_ mission!" _'That is, __**if**__ we were going to stay true to our original mission. Heh-heh-heh…!'_

"What's with that look in your eye, man?" Kaze asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Nothing! I was just thinking about a really funny thing that happened that involved Kira, Hikari-san and lots of attempts at showing affection. Hee-hee!" The blonde then gave his teammate a wide grin, which made the pyromanic pervert look away from him and mutter something insulting under his breath.

**X-X-X**

Later, inside of an inn in Shinjuri, Sayuri was lying down on a bed, still unconscious. "You know, for a girl who comes from the desert, she has such _nice, pretty pale skin_..." Tetsuotome spoke as she and Hitsuke stood on opposite sides of the bed, looking down at her like they were the predators and she was their freshly-killed meal. Tetsuotome resembled a 9-year old girl at best, with short silver hair and gray eyes, and unnaturally pale skin, wearing a short-sleeved black dress with red trim along the skirt, black gloves with metallic cuff-like bracelets around her wrist, black bands around her elbows and knees, and full-toed black boots. Hitsuke wore a simple red open jacket with a black shirt with fishnet sleeves and black pants. Their cloaks were hanging off of the bedpost.

In less than a second, the tip of Hitsuke's covered object was hovering over the red-haired girl's face, lowered every couple of seconds. "I wonder if that skin will be so pretty once it's lying on the floor? Is it tough like tanned hide or soft and easy to slice through like butter?" He asked with a toothy smirk as the object came closer to her face. "_But first_...let's see how much _heat_ you can handle, desert girl!" However, before he could make his move, the doorknob turned. Hitsuke immediately pulled back his blade and rested it on the ground while Tetsuotome sat down in a chair next to a small desk near the bed.

The door opened an in walked a man with dark skin and red eyes with white pupils, his black hair was short and slightly disheveled, and he wore a long-sleeved black hooded jacket that was shorter than the cloak he left behind and long black pants with a pair of white Styrofoam food containers in his hands. He arched an eyebrow at the sight of Tetsuotome checking her nails and Hitsuke staring at him with an arched eyebrow. "What were you two trying to do?"

"What makes you think we were doing something? Don't you have any faith in us, Ichi--?"

"I _told_ him not to do it, Ichinisan! But this brute just couldn't control his bloodlust!" Tetsuotome interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at the Kiri nukenin.

"What?! Why you little--? I didn't do a _thing_ to her and you can't prove otherwise!!" Hitsuke shouted as he pointed his bandaged weapon at the silver-haired girl.

"Who will you believe: some arsonist or me?!"

"Why, you little brat!! I'll _kill you_!!"

"You can _try_!!"

Ichinisan whistled and got the attention of his partners. He tossed a Styrofoam container at the scarlet-haired man, who caught it in the air. "I don't know what you two were doing, but I'd prefer if you don't do it. For my plan, the girl has to be _alive_...for now, at least. Do what you want when you're chasing after _your_ targets, but for this mission, _I_ am the one in control."

"Yes, sir," Tetsuotome said with a pout.

"Yeah, yeah. So long as I can cut into someone, I'll go along with this kooky plan," said Hitsuke as he opened the Styrofoam and found himself looking down at an eye. A large fish eye. He glared at the dark-skinned man, and after a moment of silence, he shouted, "I _hate_ fish!!"

"Really? But I swore that your homeland was an island country. You've had to have eaten fish more than once."

"Yeah, Hitsuke! I thought it was natural for Kiri nin to like fish! What with those _teeth_..." Tetsuotome added

Hitsuke narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. "Look, you bastards!! Just because I ate fish doesn't mean I liked it! Now you better give me your food so I can eat and we can leave!!"

"Fine..." Ichinisan tossed the Styrofoam container with his food over to the Kiri nin. "If it'll get you to stop complaining." He walked over to the bed, put on his cloak, and scooped Sayuri up into his arms just as Hitsuke opened the Styrofoam container.

"Gah!! This is fugging _tuna_!! Oh, forget this!! I'll just starve until we're done with this mission!!" The scarlet-haired man shouted as he threw the container at a wall, Tetsuotome giggling at his anger. "And what're _you_ laughing at, ya little bitch?!"

"_You_! You're such an idiot, freaking out over a piece of fish! Hahahaha!" She ducked just as Hitsuke swung his weapon down and made to strike her when he suddenly stopped. "Huh? What'd you do _that_ for?"

"You know what... you aren't even worth the trouble." He smirked. "I _know_ I could burn you to cinders, anyway. Let's just get the hell out of here so we can move on to _my_ target!" He grabbed his cloak and threw it on, strapped his sword onto his back as Tetsuotome put on her cloak.

"Now, unless anyone else has more complaints, let's move," said Ichinisan before walking out the door, followed by his partners. "I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen..."

Outside of the inn, crouching on the roof above their room's window, a certain purple-clad shinobi activated the radio in his ear. "They're on the move," Kagura spoke as he touched the small radio communicator in his ear. "But I think they know we're following them."

On the ground below, in a bar near the inn, Masaru frowned. In the background, Ina and Bao Zi were talking. The yellow-clad chunin was talking exuberantly while the Uchiha girl stared at him with half-lidded eyes. "I see. Well, since they think someone's chasing them, let's not disappoint them. Trail them and we'll meet up with you."

"Yes, sir," Kagura mumbled as he jumped off of the roof and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Bao Zi, Inahime. Our targets are moving," the dark-haired teen spoke as he rose from the bar stool. He flinched when he heard the sound of a fist meeting flesh and someone collapsing to the floor. He turned around and sweatdropped at what he saw. "Uh... What just happened?" Bao Zi was no lying on the floor with a steaming red imprint of a fist on his face and swirls spinning in his eyes. Ina still sat on her stool with her arms folded across her chest and a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Nothing!" Ina replied quickly.

"Right... Let's just go." He walked out of the bar, leaving his two subordinates alone.

"Hm." The raven-haired girl got up from her seat and stepped on Bao Zi's hand, either accidentally or on purpose. "You heard Masaru-taichou. Get up, you weirdo."

The yellow-clad chunin got to his knees and rubbed his bruised cheek. "Ohhh..." _'She looks so pretty...but has a left hook like a man's!'_

**X-X-X**

A while later, after exiting Shinjuri, the cloaked trio were jumping through the trees of a nearby forest, eyes set forward.

"I'm surprised she's been able to get through all this without waking up once," said Tetsuotome as she looked at the unconscious Sayuri.

"That man knew what he was doing when he gave me that concoction," said Ichinisan, shifting the red-haired girl on his shoulder.

"Hmph! Whatever, I still don't trust that guy..." Hitsuke muttered. All of a sudden, the scarlet-haired man stopped on a branch, his eyes closed in thought. His comrades stopped a branch ahead of him. "Where the hell are we going?"

Ichinisan sweatdropped while Tetsuotome glared at the Kiri nukenin. "You moron!! You forgot about our plan?!" She shouted.

"We wouldn't want anyone to find out our plans too soon, since there would naturally be those who would react negatively to us. Therefore, we have to force the Ichibi to reveal its true form out of the public eye," the dark-haired man explained.

"No, I _meant_ why are we running from some little kids?" Hitsuke smirked. "It's not like they can harm us. Besides, what better way to get the Ichibi to show its true power than a fight?" Before he could say anymore, he gave a grunt of pain and fell off of the branch with several kunai sticking out of his back. Tetsuotome and Ichinisan only had the chance to get looks of shock before a shuriken hit them both square in the forehead. They fell back and began to fall as well. A flash of yellow passed by the dark-skinned man and grabbed Sayuri before he hit the ground.

"That was easier than I expected," said Bao Zi as he landed on a tree branch. The dark-haired shinobi cradled Sayuri in his arms as he gave a thumbs-up and a big grin. "I have her!! She's safe!!"

On the ground, Masaru, Ina and Kagura observe red the bodies. A few seconds passed and the bodies were replaced with rag dolls. The Konoha shinobi's eyes widened for a moment before they turned on their heels and drew their weapons, bracing themselves for some sort of attack.

"Bao Zi!! Get down here!! They're still around here!!" Masaru shouted up at the chunin.

"What? For real?" At that moment, Sayuri's eyes opened and she gave Bao Zi a disturbingly and frighteningly sweet smile. "Huh?"

"Yes. _For real_!!" She shouted as she punched the yellow-clad chunin with enough force to send him flying off of the branch. Luckily, he grabbed onto a branch of the tree he fell past and flipped up onto it, eyes focused on Sayuri. The red-haired girl stood up and smiled. In puff of smoke, she transformed into Tetsuotome. "Oh, you're not from Suna! You're Konoha ninja!"

Bao Zi blinked in surprise. "A...little girl was able to punch me so hard?"

"Konoha ninja?" Masaru and his other subordinates flinched and looked over their shoulders. Hitsuke was behind them, crouched in the same spot that his doll substitute was in. He gripped the hilt of his weapon and gave a toothy smirk. "Perfect! I've been wanting to burn some Leaves for a long _time_!!" He shouted as the bandaged weapon suddenly caught on fire and the bandages burned to cinders to reveal a large, long sword with a blade designed like a flame. "ORRRRAAAHHH!!!" Hitsuke swung the blade, but the three teens jumped away from him before his sword could so much as touch him. He jumped towards Kagura while he was still in midair and was about to swing his blade when Masaru attacked him with a flying kick to the face. The white-clad boy jumped back and skidded to a halt, crouched and ready to go. Hitsuke stopped chasing after Kagura and turned to look at the raven-haired boy. "Was that honestly all you've got?" Just then, a stream of fire hit him from above, erupting into a large fireball that completely engulfed him, courtesy of Ina, who had been standing on the side of a tree trunk. However, to her surprise, the fireball seemed to shrink until it was a trail of fire swirling around the Kiri nukenin's blade.

The raven-haired girl's eyes widened. "What the—?!"

Hitsuke gave a disturbed smile. "Heh-heh-heh! Eat…THIS!!!" He slashed upwards and sent a wave of fire flying towards her.

Ina disappeared in the blink of an eye before the flames hit the tree, immediately setting it on fire. The Uchiha twisted in midair and threw down several kunai and shuriken at the scarlet-haired man. He easily deflected them with his blade and made to fire another wave of flame when Kagura swept him off his feet with capoeira-like moves and attempted to land a kick on the Kiri nukenin's chest when he was down. But Hitsuke moved his sword over his chest and as soon as the purple-clad chunin's foot struck the blade, it lit on fire and scorched his leg. However, Kagura didn't seem to be hindered by it and jumped back, trying to put out the fire on his pants leg.

"A bit of advice for you guys," said Hitsuke as he got to his feet and positioned his sword against his shoulder. "My Shounetsu Jigoku (Burning Hell) can take _any_ flame known to man! You'll never burn _me_! Hyahahaha!!"

'_No Katon can harm him, huh?'_ Ina thought as she narrowed her eyes. Her Sharingan flickered to life as she focused on the scarlet-haired man. _'Let's find something that __**can**__, then.'_

"DIE!!!" Ina looked up and ducked in time to avoid being punched in the face by Tetsuotome. The silver-haired girl was smiled until she was suddenly elbowed in the back of her head by Bao Zi. The yellow-clad shinobi then grabbed her by the back of her head and threw her down into the ground in front of Hitsuke. Bao Zi and Ina landed beside Kagura.

"Are you alright, Kagura?" The raven-haired girl asked without taking her eyes off of the cloaked kidnappers.

"This pain is nothing. But my leg'll give in if we don't finish this quick."

Tetsuotome got to her knees and wiped the dirt off of her face. "I can't believe that weird-looking kid touched me!! Maybe I should've tried to _punch off his head_!!"

Bao Zi held out a fist with a look of determination on his face. "Forgive me, little girl, but I cannot hold back even for a child!"

"Suits me just fine! I'd love to go all out on you and _rip_ your limbs off!" The silver-haired girl spoke with a disturbing smile as she got to her feet. "Ichinisan won't mind us killing _these_ kids, will he?"

"Heh-heh-heh…! I don't see why he would…!" Hitsuke spoke slowly with the same disturbed smile as he held his sword out in front of him and flames began to cover it.

Ichinisan then landed behind his partners just as Masaru landed beside his own team. "It would seem as if these shinobi are searching for someone. The Kazekage's daughter, apparently."

"Kazekage's daughter? Never seen her," Hitsuke said with a shrug.

Masaru narrowed his eyes. "What have you done with Sayuri-san?"

"That is no one's business but our target's. Why get involved in our affairs?" The dark-skinned man asked.

"The Hidden Sand and the Hidden Leaf are allies! You think we would just let you go through our country after what you've done?"

Ichinisan sighed. "I had hoped to avoid conflict with anyone else, but… If you won't leave of your own free will, we'll have to resort to physical violence."

"Yes!!" Tetsuotome hissed as she pounded her fist into her open palm. "Finally, some bloodshed!"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in Shinjuri, smoke could be seen wafting up from the forest nearby the town. The smoke was seen by all in town, including Team Tsuki.

"What's that? A fire?" Kazemaru asked as he tapped the radio in his ear. The orange-haired chunin was standing on top of the roof of the tallest building in the northwest as he stared at the black smoke rising in the distance. For a moment, he thought he saw fire rising.

**X-X-X**

"What smoke?" Nataro asked as he looked around. He was on the road leading out of town in the northeast.

"_Look up!"_ Kaze spoke through the radio. _"Get a good vantage point!"_

The blonde chunin jumped onto a house and hopped onto the chimney. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward a bit as he looked towards the distance. He could see thick clouds of black smoke rising from the forest. "It's probably just a normal fire, you matchstick! Leave it alone!" A loud explosion was soon heard and Nataro almost fell off of the chimney in shock. "Whoooa!!" He regained his balance and blinked. "What the heck was _that_?!"

**X-X-X**

"I think that the other squad has just encountered the kidnappers," said Hanzo as he stood on top of a building in the southwest.

"_They aren't exactly being very secretive, are they?" _The raven heard Tsuki speak. _"They're either new at this or they can't control their power."_

**X-X-x**

Back in the northwest, Kaze blinked as he saw three blurs jumping along the rooftops on the other side of the street. "Huh? Hey, I think I've found them!! I found the Sand ninja!!" he shouted.

"_Really?! Damn, __**I**__ wanted to find them first…"_ Nataro mumbled.

"_State the direction that they're heading in, Kazemaru," _Tsuki ordered.

"Somewhere around the Northeast, I guess. I'm going into pursuit," the redhead spoke as he jumped over to the other side of the street and began to follow the targets.

**X-X-X**

Tsuki, who was hopping across rooftops in the southeast, narrowed her eyes slightly. "They're trying to get to the forest. Nataro, block the exit!"

**X-X-X**

The blonde gave a grin as he jumped off of the roof. "Yes, m'am!!" _'I may just get a little action after all!'_

**X-X-X**

"Kazemaru, keep an eye on them and immediately inform us if they change direction. Until then, Hanzo and I will be heading in your direction. Understood?"

"_Yes, sensei!"_

"And Nataro, don't start a fight with them!!"

"_Wh-what?! I wasn't going to do anything like that! I'm not that kind of guy!!"_

The purple-haired jonin got a half-lidded look in her eyes. "That's what you _say_, but…" She mumbled flatly.

**X-X-X**

"Mamoru, we really should stop to rest!" Otokaze spoke up. He and Yasha were lagging behind Mamoru, who was still jumping across the rooftops at a fast pace despite having the large gourd on his back. "We haven't stopped running for days!! We're tired and hungry… You can't expect us to _fight_ those guys in our current condition!!"

Mamoru stopped jumping and stood up straight. Otokaze and Yasha stopped a few feet away from him, unsure if it was safe to get too close to him. Without turning around to look at them, he spoke, "Are you saying you don't want to help me?"

"That's not it! We care about Sayuri, too!"

"Liar…! If you cared about her at all, you wouldn't be complaining this much… No amount of hunger could compare to not knowing what's happened to Sayuri!"

"We _do_ care about her!! But we won't be able to save her in this state!! Neither can you!! I mean, I haven't seen you sleep more than _five minutes_ since this all started!!" The older brunette shouted.

Mamoru slumped over slightly and held onto his head with one hand, the free hand twitching every few seconds. "Shut up! _Shut up_!!"

Yasha walked towards her cousin and held out her hand. It hung in the air out of hesitation. "Mamoru-kun… We'll get Sayuri-chan back…and then we can go back home together." Her pale hand final came to rest on his shoulder. "Okay?" The redhead flinched and before his cousin knew it, sand had begun to wrap around her arm and squeeze it tightly. "Ah!!"

"Yasha!!" Otokaze dashed towards his cousins. "Let her go, Mamoru!!" He tried to pull the blonde girl out of the sand's grasp, but something hard struck him in the stomach and sent him falling off of the roof.

"Mamoru, pl-please!! What are you…?" Yasha cried, tears streaming down her face as she dropped to her knees. She could feel the bones in her arm cracking under the sand's pressure. "Why are you doing this…?!"

The brunette slowly turned his head to look at Yasha. What the blonde saw sent chills down her spine and made her feel as though she couldn't breathe. His eyes were now dark gold with diamond-shaped black pupils, the whites of his eyes now completely black. Monster eyes… "I'm doing this for _her_. And if you don't feel the same, then _get lost_!!" The brunette shouted as the sand threw Yasha off of the roof, but she landed in Otokaze's arms.

"Otokaze…! I-it's happening again! Mamoru-kun is…!" Yasha whispered into her cousin's chest as she clutched his shirt in her hand.

Otokaze blinked. "What happened again, Yasha? Is there something you're not telling me about Mamoru?"

"It's that _thing_…! That awful th-_thing_!" The blonde stuttered, her eyes wide and pupils small from fear.

"What thing are you talking about?"

Mamoru held onto his head even tighter. He swore he could feel his heart beating loudly in his head, and he twitched each time he heard that sound. "It's just _me_…! I'm the only one…the only one who can…! Guh!!" He doubled over and began to breathe heavily. Fangs began to grow in his mouth as the gourd on his back began to change shape a bit. What appeared to be a long tail stretched out from the gourd, covered in blue markings and connecting to the container. The sand from the gourd began to slither around his arm and formed a claw with the same blue markings as the tail. "GUWAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" The brunette roared as sand began to cover his entire body.

On the ground below, Otokaze flinched. "What's that…?" He mumbled as he looked up at the roof. _'What's this feeling I'm getting…? This chakra doesn't feel like Mamoru's! It's...__**dark**__…!'_ He looked down at Yasha, who was still clutching onto his chest and breathing hard in fear, her eyes large and pupils small. _'Whatever it is, it's got Yasha afraid. And she doesn't scare easy!'_

"GUWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" The roar sounded again, this time loud enough to get the attention of the civilians on the street. Mamoru jumped off of the roof and landed on the ground below, causing dust to rise. As the dust cleared, the shorter brunette shinobi's form became more apparent. His entire body was now covered in sand, except half of his face, forming a monstrous body. The sand body had blue markings all over it and a large tail on the ground, dull gold chakra radiating from his being. The civilians, frightening at the sight of this monstrous hybrid, ran away screaming things like _'monster'_ as they did.

"Mamoru…?" Otokaze whispered with wide eyes as the transformed genin took a step towards him. "What… What the heck's happened to you?"

"If you won't help me, I have no use for you!!" The Suna genin shouted before taking a deep breath. He blew out a large amount of air that forced the two Suna chunin to fly backwards.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Yasha screamed as she held onto Otokaze's chest. Her brunette cousin held onto her tightly and refused to let her go. When his back hit the wall of a house on the street opposite of Mamoru, the chunin still held onto his female cousin. "Otokaze…?"

"You alright?" Otokaze asked. After the blonde nodded, he stood up and placed her on the ground on her knees. "Good." He drew the sword on his back and held onto the hilt in the middle of the circle. "Yasha… We have to do something about Mamoru."

Yasha's eyes widened and she got to her feet. "What?! You're not going to try to hurt Mamoru, are you?!"

"It's not like we have a choice! Whatever's wrong with Mamoru, he's not himself!" The spiky-haired brunette glared at his transformed teammate. "I don't wanna do this…but in this state of mind, Mamoru may try to kill us! So we've gotta take care of him first!"

The blonde gasped in shock. "Kill…us…?"

"!!!" Mamoru growled as his tail slammed the ground, causing a small wave of vibrations to go through the earth. "You two…are weak! How is it that such weak, useless shinobi got promote to chunin when _I'm_ still a genin?!" He held up one of his claw-like arms. "I'll do you a favor and put you out of your misery!!" Just then, a flurry of shuriken hit him in the arm. They were steaming hot and made small cracks in his thick hard body. Seconds later, the shuriken exploded, sending chunks of sand flying all over.

Yasha and Otokaze covered their eyes until the dust cleared. "Who's that…?" The gray-clad shinobi asked. There was a figure standing in front of them, shrouded by the dust.

Mamoru growled in irritation as the sand that formed his claw slowly reformed. "Who are you…? Who do you think you are interrupting in my business?!"

The dust cleared, revealing Kazemaru standing before the transformed genin with his arms folded across his chest and a smirk on his face. He stepped back at the sight of Mamoru. "Whoa!! What the hell happened to _you_?! Better yet, what are you doing attacking your own teammates?"

"Hey, you!! Get out of there!!" Otokaze shouted at the pyromanic shinobi, lowering his sword. "He's not thinking straight! He really _will_ try to kill you!!"

"Hm?" Kaze looked over his shoulder at the dark-haired Suna ninja and arched an eyebrow. "Don't worry! I can handle myself—" He stopped talking as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and looked up into the sky to see Mamoru jumping at him.

"If you want to interfere, I'll kill you, too!!" The transformed shinobi screamed as his claw stretched out towards the Konoha ninja. The claw dissolved into sand and wrapped around Kazemaru, constricting him with enough force to crush his bones. "HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mamoru laughed. "Let's see how you get outta _this_, weakling!!"

"Ugh…! Gurk!" Kazemaru barred his teeth as a vein throbbed on his forehead. After a few seconds, his body went slack and he slumped over. Mamoru gave a crazy grin before steam began to waft out of the seemingly dead shinobi's mouth. The grin faded as heat began to radiate from the red-haired chunin until he suddenly exploded and became a large burst of flame! Yasha and Otokaze jumped onto a roof just for safety. Mamoru covered his face with his arm and allowed the flames to scorch his sand armor. Once the flame had disappeared, his arms and the rest of his torso had been scorched to a dark black crust. The burnt earth crumbled away and was immediately replaced with more sand.

"Where'd he go?! Don't tell me he ran!!" The transformed Suna genin shouted as he began to look around, his tail striking the ground every second. After a while, a crack appeared beneath the tail. The crack became a hole. From out of the hole, a pair of hands clutched the end of the tail and stabbed a kunai in it. "AAAAAAHHHH!!! What the hell?!" Mamoru looked over his shoulder and glared at the pair of hands. He lifted his tail and sent Kazemaru flying out of the hole and over his head. "Bye-bye, Red!!" He took a deep breath, causing his chest to expand. With one pound of his claw-like arm against his chest, he blew out a large air bullet in the direction of the Leaf ninja who was still flying in midair. The bullet hit Kazemaru and pushed him back with a large amount of force before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Another bunshin…?" Mamoru growled in irritation as he slumped over.

"Boy, you were right, Kaze! He sure looks ugly!" A voice shouted loudly behind him.

"Told ya," a second voice spoke.

"Aha!" Mamoru turned around to see Nataro and Kazemaru standing a few feet away from him. "There you are!!"

"I gotta admit that this wasn't exactly what I was hoping for when I said I wanted a fight… I wanted those kidnappers! Oh, well, a vicious monster'll have to do," the black-clad blonde spoke as he cracked his knuckles. "Alright, you beast!! Get ready to feel the beatdown to end all beatdowns from Kazaki Nataro!!"

"Slow your roll, would ya?! He's the same guy we're supposed to be chasing after!!" Kaze exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the transformed genin. "Now he's some kind of monster! Something's definitely wrong with him…!"

Nataro blinked and then slapped himself in the head. "Duh! Of course! I should've realized it as soon as I laid eyes on him!" His orange-haired teammate glanced at him for a moment. "There's no doubt about it now! This guy has a bijuu in 'em!"

"What?!"

Mamoru growled under his breath and glared at the two Konoha ninja. "Bijuu…? What the hell are you two talking about? Who are you idiots who dare to get in my way?!"

"Aha! We're you're worse nightmare!!" Nataro shouted as he pointed at the transformed Suna genin. "We're the rescue squad sent by the ally of Sunagakure, shinobi of Konohagakure!!"

"Technically, we're two-fourths of the rescue squad, but you get what we're saying, don't you?" Kazemaru asked as a large sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "We're here to bring you and your little friends back to Sunagakure. So, unless you want us to hand your ass to ya, I suggest you just give up and change back to normal!"

"Heh-heh-heh…! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mamoru laughed loudly as his tail thumped on the ground, making cracks in the earth. He suddenly looked at the Konoha shinobi with an insane grin, baring his fangs for all to see. "I see! So, he thinks so lowly of me that he has to send for another village to help?! Well, your assistance has been denied! Leave now and you won't have to go back to your village in a matchbox!!"

"I don't think we're getting through to him. He's gone completely loony!" Nataro whispered.

"Look, you!! It doesn't matter what _you_ want! It's what the Kazekage wants, and he wants you to come home!" said Kazemaru.

"That's right!! If you won't go peacefully, we'll take you down by force!" Nataro exclaimed with a frown before he started to smile. "Heh! Too bad for Tsuki-sensei and Hanzo. They're missing out on all the fun!"

"'_Fun'_ my ass!! This guy's a monster!! We need help if we wanna take him down!" Kaze shouted.

"Monster…?" Mamoru mumbled. "That's what _they_ called me, too… And so did _that thing_… Monster… _Demon_…" He slumped over and began to shake. "Heh-heh-heh… HAAAAAAHAHAHA!!! I finally see the truth!! They were right!! They were right about _everything_!!" He raised his claws up into the air. "You don't know who you're messing with!! I am the legendary Bijuu of Kaze no Kuni—the one, the only Shuuuuukakuuuu!!! I'M BACK, BABY!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Otokaze and Yasha looked on in shock. _'Demon… Shukaku…?'_

Kazemaru glared at the transformed genin. "Damn it! I didn't wanna believe it, but you were right! This guy's got a Bijuu in 'em, too! But…what the _hell_ is a Shukaku?!"

"It's…what the people of Sunagakure called their tailed beast." Nataro balled his hands into fists and focused on the deranged teenager in front of them. "The Bijuu of the Sand…the Ichibi no Tanuki!!" _'But how did it get here?'_

Mamoru began to leer at the blonde Leaf ninja. "You look…kinda familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before…? No, _that_ can't be it! Anyone _I_ see always dies before they get the chance to run away! Heh-heh-heh!" He licked his lips. And turned his head to look at Otokaze and Yasha, who were still shaking in fear at what their cousin had become. "That reminds me: it's been so long since I've last cut loose that I think I've gotten a little rusty…!" The transformed host began to bare his fangs and grinned like a madman before looking at the Konoha chunin. "Which of you should I kill off first…?"

"You're not killing _anybody_, you freak!!" Kazemaru shouted as he held up a fist.

"Damn right!!" The black-clad blonde shouted as he began to glare at Mamoru. "Whether you like it or not, we're gonna beat some sense back into ya!!"

"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…! Oh, yeah? MAKE ME!!!" The Ichibi container roared as his tail pounded the ground once more. The two chunin tensed their muscles as sand began to gather in the air. "I'll show you why you should fear demons like me!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Masaru means "to excel," "to outrival" and "to surpass".**

**Tetsuotome is made up of the words "iron" (tetsu) and "maiden" (otome).**

**Ichinisan is, uncreatively, 1, 2 3 (Ichi, Ni, San).**

**Shounetsu Jigoku means "burning hell".**

**Kagura means "Shinto music".**

**Bao Zi is a kind of steamed bun filled with meat and/or vegetables.**

**Shinjuri is made up of the words "New" (shin) and "acceptance" (juri).**

**Ichibi no Tanuki means "One-tailed Raccoon Dog." Shukaku is the name of the priest in the series who was supposedly corrupted and became a demon.**

**Tanuki are a certain species of dog found in Japan that have similar appearances to raccoons (hence why they're called "raccoon dogs"). Tanuki in myth and popular culture are often mischievous, have the ability to shapeshift and have incredibly large balls (no offense to anyone).**

**X-X-X**

"Here we are at the end of the second chapter of Naruto X Arashiden!!" Blu Rose exclaimed into the microphone as the camera turned on. "Here's hoping that more people review this time than the last!"

"Don't be upset, Blu! I'm sure the readers are just as busy as you are at the moment! It _is_ the start of the holidays!" Tsuki exclaimed as she patted the depressed authoress on the back.

"Yeah, yeah… Everyone always uses the holidays as an excuse—including me! Moving on… For this chapter ending segment, we'll be reviewing what Team 14's been doing for the past three years! And here to help me is their loving and sexy sensei, Asahara Tsuki!"

"Charmed, I'm sure," the purple-haired kunoichi spoke as she winked at the camera.

"Let's start, shall we?" She pointed at the right side of the camera and the camera turned to the right to reveal a 12-year old Nataro.

"When I was a little kid, I was pretty short, huh? But not anymore!" The blonde shouted. In a puff of smoke, he transformed into his teenaged self. "Now I'm a lot taller—one of the taller members of our graduating class! And if I must say, I'm not bad to look at either. Heh-heh!"

Tsuki and Blu sweatdropped. "Nataro… We're talking about improvements as a _shinobi_, not improvements in how dateable you are," his sensei spoke flatly. "You're as bad as Naruto-sama…!"

"Oh… Well, after Asura-chan went away, I completely devoted myself to my training with Kira-sensei! His training methods were…well, they were pretty weird. For spying and stealth training, we actually broke into people's houses!" A picture of him and Kira sneaking into an apartment building appeared on the screen behind him. "You won't believe how sick some of the people in Konoha are. There's this one guy, with this thong, and he—"

"Nataro!!"

"R-right! Well, aside from training my stealth skills, he also helped me learn more jutsu that were more _'suited'_ to my fighting style," the blonde said with a grin.

"In other words, Kira showed him more destructive jutsu to cause havoc with," Tsuki told the readers as a picture of Kira and Nataro standing in a destroyed training area appeared on the screen behind the chunin.

"If I may say so, I think I'm a _pretty badass ninja_ now! I'm already a chunin, and I _swear_ that I'll become a jonin at a younger age than Gramps did! I won't go back on my word!!" Nataro shouted as he punched a fist in the air, eyes burning with flames.

The camera soon changed to Kazemaru, who was in his 12-year old form like Nataro. "Okay, I'll admit that I was kinda…immature as a kid. Not to mention that compared to Nataro and Hanzo, I always felt weak for a ninja… But I've _seriously_ improved since then, and I can say that I'm just as good as them! Believe it!!" In a puff of smoke, he became his 15-year old self, smirking at the camera. "Not only did my growth spurt make me the tallest member of my team, I'm the tallest member of my graduating class! My height's not the only thing that's changed though. Since that whole time travel incident, I've started to train with Hakubo-sensei!" A picture of a dojo appeared behind the orange-haired chunin as he began to nod.

"Personally, I always felt that taijutsu was your best out of the three basic ninja fighting styles, Kazemaru," Tsuki spoke.

"Yup! I've become a lean, mean fighting machine! My physical skills are higher than they were before! Of course, I don't think I'm on the same insane level as Bao Zi, though…" A picture of Kazemaru lying unconscious at the feet of a cheering Bao Zi appeared on the screen, making him slump over slightly in embarrassment. "_But_, I can say that I least surpass _Nataro_ in terms of physical speed. Then again, a _rock_ is faster than Nataro."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY, YOU MATCHSTICK?!" Nataro shouted off-screen.

"Quiet, Nataro!!" Tsuki shouted at the blonde. "Kazemaru, no teasing Nataro right now. You've gotta be serious."

"Yes, sensei…" Kaze mumbled. "I've also gotten a better grip of my Houka no Seirei. Observe." He held up a hand and it suddenly became covered in flames. "Instead of my entire body, I can focus on making one point of my body generate fire, like my hands and feet. I can even create Katon Kage Bunshin (Fire Release Shadow Clones), though it takes some work. I'm still working on controlling fire I didn't create, though." The pyromanic chunin punched forward and grinned. "I've come a long way, haven't I?"

The camera soon changed to a 12-year old Hanzo, who was giving the camera a small smile. "Um… I always had a lot of talent as a kid, but…modesty and fear of pressure made me hide it. But I think that's changed a bit over the years." In a puff of smoke, he became his 16-year old self. "Okay, I'm the second tallest member on my squad—"

"Meaning Nataro is _still_ the shortest of us!" Kaze interrupted off-screen.

"That does it!! I'm gonna clobber you!!" Nataro shouted.

Ignoring the sounds of fighting coming off-screen, Hanzo continued, "Under my grandfather's training, I've greatly improved to the point that people ask me why I haven't become a jonin yet. It was harsh…and brutal… All those Chidori training sessions…but I've learned how to manipulate chakra much better as a result!" He exclaimed as a picture of a young Hanzo practicing Chidori with Sasuke in the background appeared on the screen. "I've also gotten over my fear of snakes thanks to Grandfather's…discipline."

Tsuki sweatdropped and bit her lower lip. "You poor, poor boy… I remember Sasuke-sensei's punishments from when I was a kid… Kira _still_ can't look at snakes without thinking Sasuke-sensei's spying on him."

"Things just got worse once he clued my grandma in on me wanting to learn medical jutsu. I'm not sure who between them was worse…! They were both so awful...when it came to physical training…! I wondered if they enjoyed making me go through such pain…!" He moaned, slumping over with blue-tinged cheeks. After a few seconds, he regained his composure. "But, at least I know how to increase the strength of my blows with my chakra control, even if it's not my style, and I know jutsu to help heal my comrades whenever we get banged up on a mission. I had to fool Grandma into thinking I wasn't as skilled as I am to get out of helping at the hospital… Though I fear that she knows…and she's gonna beat me up for it!"

"Both of them at once… I never thought it could get any worse than Sasuke-sensei, but personal training with Sakura-sama…" Tsuki sweatdropped. "You poor, poor boy…!"

"Training hell aside, at least you're not as aggressive as your grandparents! If you used that monster strength or that Chidori every time you got angry at us, you'd be testing your medical skills _way_ more!" Nataro spoke off-screen.

"Well, somebody's gotta patch up these boys," Tsuki said with an arched eyebrow. "So it may as well be the smartest one, Hanzo-kun!"

Hanzo blushed and scratched his cheek. "Thank you, sensei…"

"WAIT A MINUTE!!!" Nataro and Kazemaru shouted as they shoved their way onto the screen. "Are you trying to say he's smarter than _us_?!"

"Yes," Blu Rose spoke flatly, getting glares from the two young chunin while their raven-haired teammate inched away from them. She looked at the camera and smiled. "That's it for our second chapter ending segment! This is Blu Rose asking you to review! See you in the next chapter!" She exclaimed as the camera turned off.


	57. Ichibi no Tanuki! Shukaku Awakens!

**Alane: Ugh!! Finals are this week!! I've got portfolios to turn in, reports, and studying…and I've only done the studying part!! This sucks!!**

**Naruto: I guess the pressure of college is finally getting to you, huh?**

**Alane: It's not so much pressure. I've already done all this stuff—the problem's in organizing it all!! UGH!!! I've barely had time to enjoy that raw of the second Naruto fanbook, Kai no Sho!!**

**Naruto: By the way, what's the deal with Suna only getting two stars for its military power?**

**Blu: I guess there's no love for the sand… T__T Well, whatever. Start the fic!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#57: Ichibi no Tanuki: Shukaku Awakens!_

"Whether you like it or not, we're gonna beat some sense back into ya!!"

"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…! Oh, yeah? MAKE ME!!!" The Ichibi container roared as his tail pounded the ground once more. The two chunin tensed their muscles as sand began to gather in the air. Otokaze gripped the hilt of his sword and Yasha pressed her body back against the wall, breathing slowly as her wide sea green eyes continued to stare at the monster her cousin had become. "I'll show you why you should fear demons like me!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The sand swirled around his protective body.

"Shukaku…" Otokaze whispered as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. "Just like that old kid's story we were told as kids… A priest who was warned that stepping off the path to enlightenment would result in his punishment. But he didn't listen and became corrupted. He was then possessed by an evil wind spirit and became a demon of the sand that wreaked havoc on Kaze no Kuni for centuries."

"Ma…Mamoru…is possessed…" Yasha breathed out as she clutched her hand to her chest.

"No, that can't be! Even if it _were_ true, the Shukaku's supposed to be long gone!"

"No… He really is…possessed!" The blonde kunoichi thought with tears welling up in her eyes. Memories of corpses half hidden in sand, roasting under the desert sun, came to mind. The grainy earth that had been stained with pools and splatters of red that had come from bodies being crushed from sheer pressure or exploded from having too much sand crammed down their esophaguses. The little girl she used to be covered in blood—some of which was her's, but most belonging to the corpse that had been flung into the air and crushed, mixed with the sand that caused his demise. The memory of her dear, sweet cousin transforming into a monster and tearing into the group of rogues was something she pushed down and tried to forget. "I thought…that it was just a bad dream…! That the bad thing only existed in my mind! But it's real!!" She screamed as she felt all feeling disappear from her body.

"Yasha, what the hell is wrong with Mamoru? What did you see?!"

Mamoru bared his fangs at the Konoha shinobi. "All of you…! The whole lot of you are against me…!" He began to frown and his dark gold eyes shrank. "Get out of my face!!" He took a deep breath and blew a powerful wind at the Konoha ninja. Nataro and Kaze shielded themselves from the brunt of the blow, but found themselves being pushed back every few seconds until they were finally flying backwards.

"WHOOOOOOOAAAAA!!!" The boys screamed before disappearing from the Ichibi's container's sight.

"So long, chumps!!" The possessed Suna genin turned his head to look at Otokaze and Yasha. "I'll finish _them_ off later… But for now, I'll take care of _you_ two wusses!!" He held out a claw. "You wanna sleep?! I'll make it so you can sleep all you WANT!!!" He shouted as the claw extended towards his two teammates. They jumped out of the way and dodged the claw, and it smashed into the wall of a house instead, causing it to shatter and collapse. Dust began to rise and a few seconds later, Otokaze dashed towards Mamoru, who was grinning insanely. With a swing of his claw, a barrage of sand shuriken was sent flying towards the dark-haired Suna ninja. Otokaze quickly sidestepped the sand projectiles, blocking a few of them with his blade, and proceeded running around his transformed teammate. After a few seconds, it appeared as though more than one Otokaze was circling around Mamoru—and they were slowly becoming blurs.

'_Gotta wait for the right moment!'_ Otokaze thought as he narrowed his eyes. Mamoru hadn't made a move to attack him and appeared to be staring out into space. _'NOW!!!'_ The gray-clad brunette suddenly appeared behind the Ichibi container. He swung his sword down and managed to make a thin cut in his back when the spiked Tanuki tail knocked him away a second later, sending him crashing into a building wall.

"So predictable…! Are you even _trying_?!" Mamoru shouted as he gave a wicked grin.

"Ugh…!" Otokaze held onto his ribs as he slowly stood up, struggling to keep himself up. The impact was so hard that it felt as if he had broken a few ribs upon impact. He winced as blood streamed down the side of his head and blood began to soak into his shirt. He looked up and his eyes widened. Mamoru was rushing towards him.

"You're mine!!" Mamoru screamed. With one swift movement, he slashed the gray-clad Suna shinobi. Or so he thought. Just seconds before his claws made contact, Otokaze disappeared in a puff of smoke. Mamoru growled and his tail pounded the street once more, creating a small crater.

Behind the other side of a building roof, Otokaze and Yasha laid low, suppressing their chakra in order not to be found. This was quite hard for the dark-haired shinobi to do, the pain in his chest making it difficult to concentrate.

"Otokaze, what were you doing?" Yasha whispered to her cousin. Her eyes eventually landed on the blood on his shirt. "Were you…actually trying to _hurt_ Mamoru?"

"I wasn't planning on using any of my stronger jutsu, but now, I'm starting to think that over." Otokaze held up his bloody hand and stared at it for a while before forming a fist. "Mamoru tried to _kill me_. As much as it pains me to say it, if we want to survive, we have to fight him as if we were going to kill him, too."

The Suna kunoichi's eyes widened. "But…it's not his fault! It's the evil spirit possessing him! It's those people in the black cloaks! It's anything but him…!" She began to tear up and clenched the hem of her dress. "The _real_ Mamoru wouldn't dare to hurt his friends!"

Otokaze stared at his female teammate. Even though her voice carried its usual monotone sound, the look in the blonde's eyes gave off the effect that she was upset. "Yasha…"

"Now, where did they go?" Mamoru thought aloud as he looked around. "This is taking too long! I oughta just blow down this entire town!!" Unaware of the figure that was running across a nearby building, the transformed Suna genin bared his fangs for a toothy grin. "Heh-heh-heh! Yeah, I'll do that!" He was about to take a deep breath when a black-clad figure jumped down from the roof and landed on top of him, stabbing him in the back with a kunai in each hand. "!!!" The sound of Mamoru's pained roar made Otokaze and Yasha tense up. They peeked from behind their side of the roof and saw Mamoru stomping about, trying to shake a familiar figure off of his back. "Get off of me, you pest!!"

Nataro grinned as he kept a tight grasp on the handles of his kunai. "Fat chance, ugly!! I still haven't paid you back for blowing me away like that!" If one were close enough at the moment, they would think the blonde's eyes had slits for pupils like some sort of beast. "There's _no way_ you'll be throwing me off!!"

"That loud guy…" Yasha spoke flatly. "He's hurting Mamoru."

"Well, better him than us! At least that so-called rescue squad's doing their duty!" Otokaze whispered to the blonde girl.

"Oh, yeah?! We'll see about THAT!!!" The Ichibi host shouted as he crouched down a bit. He started to thrash all over, knocking into walls, buildings, and posts in an attempt to get Nataro off of him. The black-clad Konoha ninja continued to hang on, though, even if he got hit in the head once or twice.

"**It's been so long since I've last seen the Ichibi's host, but I still remember how loud and irritating he was,"** the Kyuubi spoke in an irritated tone. **"He makes the more intelligent bijuu, like myself, seem like dumb monsters."**

'_What're you complaining about?! Before you were sealed into Gramps, all you did was cause massive destruction!! That ain't intelligent!!'_

"**So naïve… But in this case, it would take an idiot to fight and idiot."**

'_Be glad that I'm busy right now, or else I would've—!'_ "WHOA!!!" The blonde host exclaimed as he lost his grip and was suddenly bucked high up into the air. "Aw, crap!" He cursed as he began to fall back down.

Mamoru grinned and turned around slightly, happy to get the deadweight off of his back. But then, Nataro somehow managed to land on his back again. The pupils of the possessed Suna nin's eyes shrank as drool ran down his chin and dull gold chakra radiated from his body. "That's it!! You're DEAD!!!" He shouted as he slammed the blonde on his back with his spiked tail. Mamoru gave a satisfied grin before Nataro disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Grrrr…! WHAT THE HELL IS WITH ALL THESE DAMN CLONES?!?" The Ichibi host shouted as he raised his claws in the air. "Just come out and let me KILL YOU so I can get this OVER WITH!!!"

"Never!!" A voice shouted from above. The transformed teenager looked up and saw a dozen Nataros standing along the rooftops before they all jumped down and landed on top of him, stabbing their kunai into his hardened sand armor. "I'll let you kill me over my dead body!!" The clones shouted as they clung to the fuming monstrosity.

"You're like a _bug_! Multiplying every second!" Mamoru growled as sand began to swirl around his body. The clones, to his confusion, started to smile. "What's so funny?!"

"I prefer to think of myself as _'the bomb'_." A bunshin that was hanging onto his tail spoke while the rest tried to hold back their laughter.

"Huh?" In a few seconds the clones, still clinging to Mamoru, exploded, causing smoke to rise in the area. Yasha and Otokaze stared in shock as several clumps of sand fell from the sky. On the ground below stood Mamoru, his mini-Shukaku body missing bits and pieces that revealed most of his original face, his legs, an arm, and part of his torso—all of which were undamaged by the attack. "Guh…! Grrrr….!" He held onto his head and gnashed his teeth in irritation.

"Heh-heh-heh!" The brunette looked up and saw Nataro sitting on the edge of the rooftop, looking down at him with a foxy grin. "Bunshin Bakuha!! And they said it would be a bad thing if I learnt it…" he took a deep breath and shouted, "KAZEMARUUUUUUU!!! You're up!!"

In the blink of an eye, Kazemaru appeared a few feet away from Mamoru. "About time! I thought you were gonna hog all the fun for yourself!" He smirked and pounded his fists together before dashing towards Mamoru with great speed.

"No one…is going…to stop me…!" Mamoru breathed out softly. "No one… NOBODY'S GONNA STOP MEEEEEEE!!!" The clumps of sand around him began to fill in the gaps on the large tail that was still connected to his gourd. Spikes suddenly appeared in the tip of the tail, and as Kazemaru came closer, it swung itself at the orange-haired chunin. But Kaze managed to jump over the tail in time and over Mamoru's head before delivering a kick to the Ichibi container's face before jumping behind him. The pyromanic chunin spun on the ball of his foot and elbowed the Suna genin in the back of his head, but the blow had been blocked by a floating clump of sand that seemed to form from out of nowhere. The orange-haired teen then performed a flurry of blazing blows aimed at the exposed parts of Mamoru's body. Most of the hits were blocked by sand, but a few were fast enough to actually strike the shorter boy. Mamoru growled under his breath before his tail retracted back into the gourd and a large claw of sand came out, grabbing Kazemaru and pinning him against the wall of a building.

Nataro's eyes widened and he got up to his feet. "Kaze!"

"I've had enough of all of you…! You're getting in my way…!" The brunette whispered darkly as he narrowed his eyes. "_You_… You just wanna take the glory and make me look like a fool!! WELL, I'M NOT HAVING IT!!! _I'M_ GONNA BE THE ONE WHO SAVES HER!!!"

"Gah!!" Kazemaru coughed up some blood and tried to ignore the pain of the sand tightening around his body. _'I think…something's…gonna break soon! Gotta get out of this!'_ He thought as he struggled to break free. He suddenly stopped, eyes widening in realization. _'Wait a minute! How'd Nataro beat this guy again…?'_ A memory of Nataro using Katon jutsu to turn Mamoru's sand into glass suddenly appeared in his mind. _'That's it!!'_ The perverted pyro took as deep a breath as he could while being squeezed, but only managed to breathe out a small, pathetic flame that fizzled out quickly. _'Crap! I can't concentrate when I'm like this! Then maybe I should—!'_

"Kaze!!" Nataro jumped off of the roof and began to form hand signs. As he skidded to a halt, he drew back his head, taking a deep breath, and blew out a large fireball. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ The fireball engulfed Mamoru from behind, along with Kazemaru, trapping them both within the flaming sphere.

"Ma-mamoru!" Yasha gasped, feeling faint.

'_That's just overdoing it!!'_ Otokaze thought with his jaw hanging slightly open and his eyes wide in shock.

As the flames faded, Mamoru had been turned into glass, as was the Shukaku arm that was still holding Kazemaru, whose clothes only look slightly charred at the ends and skin remained undamaged. The redheaded chunin immediately burst free of the glass claw, the shattered shards cutting his bare arms and shoulders before they fell to the ground. He looked at his teammate with a half-lidded gaze. "Geez, thanks for the help, Ramen Breath, but _I_ was gonna do that before you decided to butt in," he spoke flatly.

The Kyuubi container returned the half-lidded stare. "Oh, yeah? Looked more like you were gonna get _killed_ to me."

"Oh, sure. When _you_ do it's, it's called _'adding dramatic tension'._ For anybody else, it's just plain _dumb_, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"Just shut up."

As their conversation went on, up on their rooftop hiding spot, Otokaze fell backwards and landed on his butt, managing not to slide down. Yasha just stared out into space with her mouth hanging open, completely speechless. After a while, the gray-clad brunette choked out, "What the hell?! Mamoru's been encased in glass! He's going to suffocate in there!!"

Kazemaru blinked. "Um…Nataro? As cool as he looks like this, _can_ Mamoru breathe in there?" He asked the black-clad blonde.

Nataro blinked and rested his chin on the knuckles of his fist, eyes squinted in thought. "Uh… I don't think so."

The Konoha chunin remained silent for a moment. When reasoning finally hit them, their eyes became large and blank and they screamed, "HE CAN'T BREATHE!!!" They began to pound on the warm glass statue that was now their target in the hopes of breaking it. When they succeeded in making a crack, the boys breathed in relief…until Mamoru fell to pieces. And all they could do was stare at the pile of glass, mouths open in shock. Otokaze lost all his color, as did Yasha, who fainted promptly afterwards.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!! Aw, crap!! I didn't think he'd crack like _that_! The Kazekage's gonna kill us!! He's gonna have us fucking _executed_!!" The pyromanic teen whimpered as his face turned slightly blue. Thoughts of various forms of torture he once read about in a novel suddenly popped up in his mind, further frightening the chunin.

"Quit overreacting!! I-It was an accident! How was _I_ supposed to know that he was _entirely_ made of sand, for crying out loud?! They can't blame us for an accident, can they?!" Nataro asked with fear reflecting in his eyes.

"Like hell they can!! They'll probably be so pissed off that they'll break all ties of peace and aliment with Konoha and start a war!! Let's face it: _we are boned_!"

"Oh, no!" The blonde gulped and looked down at the glass remains. He then blinked and tapped Kaze on the shoulder. "Hey, Kaze? Shouldn't there be blood and guts and stuff like that among all this glass?"

"Huh?" Kazemaru looked down at the glass shards. "How the hell am _I_ supposed to know?! It's not like I've ever done _this_ before!!"

"But only his _skin_ was covered in sand. Therefore, his entire body couldn't have been turned into glass—just the sand on his _skin_. So unless he was _made_ of sand, he should still be alive!"

"Ah. So that explains why we're slowly _sinking into the ground_!!" Kazemaru shouted, causing his blonde teammate to look down. They were almost knee-deep in a pool of sand.

"Aw, great! Not _this_ again!" Nataro groaned as he looked around, trying to find Mamoru. "C'mon! It's been three years! You could've at least come up with a new trick!!"

As soon as those words left the blonde's mouth, thick tendrils of sand shot out of the pool and wrapped themselves around the teens, causing their arms to be wrapped flat against their sides. The tendrils then began to pull them down into the sand at a faster rate than when they were simply sinking.

"**Idiot,"** the Kyuubi snorted.

"You just _had_ to egg 'em on, didn't you?" Kaze muttered, his glare intense enough to burn more than the flames of his kekkei genkai.

Nataro sweatdropped. "Well how was I supposed to know that he perfected this tactic?" He mumbled. By the time they stopped sinking, the two teenage shinobi were up to their necks in sand, their arms still tied against their bodies. "Now what're we gonna do? I can't make any hand signs like this!"

"If we weren't so deep in, I could use my Houka no Seirei!" The orange-haired teen hissed. He attempted to struggle, but only sank a bit more. "No good…! All we can do now is pray that Hanzo and Tsuki-sensei come—" Just then, sand began to swirl around them on a sudden breeze. The sand began to gather in one spot in front of the pool, building up until they began to take the shape of Mamoru. "And fast!!"

"How dare you get in my way…?" The brunette mumbled in a soft, dark tone. A vein throbbed on his forehead as he bared his fanged teeth. "Now you'll pay for it with your lives!!" He shouted as sand began to swirl around him violently. The two chunin narrowed their eyes and growled underneath their breath. Nataro's eyes were beginning to resemble the Kyuubi's again. "Heh-heh-heh!" He held up a hand and it became covered in sand, forming a Shukaku-like claw.

'_Crap!'_ Both chunin thought as the Ichibi host raised his claw. All of a sudden, something grabbed Nataro and Kazemaru by the back of their collars and pulled them out of the sand pool just before Mamoru could swing the claw in a horizontal arc. After being pulled up to a rooftop, the two teens took a deep breath and wiped the sand off of their bodies.

"That was _way_ too close!!" Kaze shouted as he dusted off the sand on his shoulder. "Took you long enough! No offense, but I thought you were going to get here sooner, Tsuki-sensei!"

On the ground, Mamoru glared up at the Konoha ninja and narrowed his eyes as a dull gold chakra radiated from his body once more and sand swirl around him in the air. "Why…don't you…JUST STAY STILL?!? Always moving, always dodging!! I should just break your legs and get it over with!!" The Suna genin shouted as sand began to snake up the wall of the building.

"Not so fast!! No one breaks _my_ boys' legs if I have anything to say about it!"

"Huh?" Nataro and Kazemaru looked up at the building on the other side of the street and saw Tsuki and Hanzo standing on top of the roof.

Mamoru turned around and glared at the other Leaf shinobi. "More pests…! You guys just keep popping up everywhere!!"

Hanzo threw a flurry of kunai and shuriken flying at the enraged Sand ninja, but they were blocked by a wall of sand that suddenly rose in front of Mamoru. Tsuki immediately began to form hand signs and took a deep breath just as Mamoru turned around to face her.

'_Ninpo: Suppai Kushi (Ninja Art: Acidic Spit)!!'_ The purple-haired kunoichi spat out a thick glob of purple saliva at the brunette. It was blocked by the sand wall, but began to burn through it quickly, making a hole. "Hanzo!"'

"Got it!" The raven held out a hand as it began to crackle with lightning chakra. With a fling of his hand, several senbon-shaped bolts of lightning chakra were sent flying at the hole in Mamoru's barrier that was beginning to shrink. But even after the hole had been repaired, the lightning senbon went right through the sand wall and struck Mamoru in the chest, the shoulder and the leg.

"Guh!!" The Suna genin looked down and saw blood flowing from his wounds. Gold eyes widened as their pupils shrank. All Mamoru could hear was the throbbing of blood in his ears as his heart began to beat against his chest. He began to breathe slowly as he held a hand against one of his chest wounds and raised his hand up to his face. The rate of the pounding in his ears increased as much as his heartbeat and the sand barrier dropped completely.

"I think he's gone back to normal," said Nataro as he looked down.

"Uh, I don't think so," said Kaze.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Your _eyes_, Ramen Breath! Your _eyes_!" The orange-haired chunin whispered t his teammate.

The blonde reached into his back pouch and after a few seconds, he pulled out a small mirror. He looked at his reflection and blinked. "What the hell?!" _'What did you do to me?!'_

"**Hmph. Don't blame me. I can't help it if you're too **_**weak**_** to control me,"**the nine-tailed demon gave a wicked smirk in Nataro's mind, showing all of its sharp fangs. **"Besides, it would be doing the world a favor by killing that boisterous tanuki."**

'_As if I'm gonna kill Mamoru! In case you've forgotten, my mission is to bring him back __**alive**__!'_

"So, Mamoru-kun. I trust you'll come with us peacefully?" Tsuki asked as she folded her arms across her chest. She arched an eyebrow as she saw the brunette teen was starting to tremble, holding his hands on to his head. "Hanzo… You didn't hit any of its vital spots, did you?"

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and observed Mamoru. "It's hard to say… I couldn't see where I struck with that sand in the way."

"You…hurt me…?" The brunette mumbled softly. "Grrrrr…! YOU HURT ME!!! HOW DARE YOU BASTARDS HURT ME?!?" The Shukaku shouted as sand and dull gold chakra began to swirl violently around his body.

Hanzo winced and grabbed his head, almost stumbling off of the edge of the roof. "Uh…!"

"**This chakra…it feels familiar…!"** The Amatsu-Kaosu no Kaijuu spoke. **"It isn't as strong as that blonde boy's though…! Nonetheless, we ought to kill him! All that shouting is giving me a headache!!"**

'_Shut up! Wait. Are you saying that Mamoru's like Nataro? He has a bijuu in him?'_

"**Bijuu? Is that what you call them? But yes, while the differences are great, this chakra is similar in nature to the demonic chakra that blonde idiot tends to generate. You can feel it, can't you?"**

Hanzo blinked. _'What?'_ He felt a twinge of pain within him.

"**What do you say? Let's devour them both and show them who the supreme demon is!! I know you want to…!"** As if on cue, Hanzo subconsciously licked his lips.

Tsuki looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed the young medic's flinching. "Hanzo, can't you control that _thing_ any better?"

"S-sorry! I can control it, but…it's a reaction to _him_!" He pointed down at the upset Mamoru.

"BASTARDS, BASTARDS, BASTAAAAAARDS!!!" The Ichibi host shouted as the chakra around his body became thicker. Eventually, a huge tornado of sand appeared with Mamoru in the eye. The shinobi had to cover their eyes in order to avoid having sand hit them in their eyes. The tornado soon disappeared, along with Mamoru.

Tsuki clenched a fist in anger. "Damn it! We lost him!"

"It shouldn't be _too_ hard to find him. I mean, in his state, he's sure to do something that'll get our attention," said Hanzo as he rubbed his pounding forehead.

"Hmmm… Y'know, Kaze, I just had a thought," said Nataro as he narrowed his eyes in a fox-like manner.

Kazemaru gave a fake gasp and looked at his teammate in shock. "_No_! You had a _thought_?"

Ignoring the taller boy, the blonde continued, "If Hanzo and Tsuki-sensei are over _there_… Then who pulled us out from the sand?"

After a few seconds, both boys looked up and saw a human-sized puppet with the body painted white, the torso painted like a green shirt, green spiky fake hair. Its head was large and circular, with large white blank eyes and a stitch-like smile on its face. On its back was what appeared to be a giant steel cross with spikes attached to the ends that had tags hanging from them. It looked down at the chunin, its head making creaking noises. Nataro and Kazemaru stared up in fear, speechless until the latter spoke up.

"What…is _this_?"

"Karakuri Aodeku," a soft voice spoke beside the redhead. He turned around and saw Yasha bending over beside him. "He's my dolly."

"Dolly…?"

Nataro blinked and looked at Yasha, then at Aodeku, then at Yasha again. "Ohhhh, so it's a puppet, right?"

Kazemaru turned slightly blue in the face. _'Sheesh! Why are all puppets so scary-looking?'_

"No, he's my _doll_," the blonde kunoichi spoke flatly as she looked at Nataro with cold eyes. The blonde boy immediately began to sweat under her gaze and couldn't break their stare-off until Tsuki and Hanzo jumped onto the roof they were on.

"Nataro. Kaze. Mind telling me what's going on with Mamoru-kun?" The purple-haired jonin asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

"He's possessed by the bad thing," Yasha told the woman before either boy could speak.

"And the bad thing is…?"

"A bijuu," Hanzo answered.

"The Ichibi no Tanuki—Sunagakure's old bijuu," Nataro added.

Tsuki's eyes widened. "Bijuu? Not another one! Is this why your…" She glanced at Yasha. "Why you two have been reacting so _weirdly_?" The Kazaki and Uchiha nodded. "That's odd. You two could stay around together even after that…incident…and not have your…_you-know-whats_ acting up, so why…?" The seductive kunoichi shook her head. "Never mind. Just keep your _things_ under control."

"Yes, m'am."

"Now, if only we knew where Mamoru-kun was going to strike next… With his state of mind right now, it'd be hard to tell." Tsuki folded her arms across her chest and hummed. "Hmmmm…"

"Well, he kept going on about saving someone and how we were stopping him from doing that," said Nataro.

"Saving someone? You mean—?"

"Sayuri!" Otokaze gasped as he limped over to the Leaf ninja. "Mamoru's going to find his sister…and kill the people who took her."

"I already figured _that_ out. The problem is that we don't know where in town to look for them!"

"They're _not_ in the village anymore! Mamoru said he saw it with his third eye! They left through the northeast entrance and were headed into a forest, and out to the country!" The brunette Suna chunin exclaimed, wincing slightly as he held onto his injury. "I'm not sure what he saw, but they must've done something to her to make him upset. That was probably the reason why he…turned into _that thing_…"

Nataro bowed his head slightly as his eyes softened for a moment. Then they widened in shock. "Damn!!" He exclaimed, causing everyone to look at him. "I left some Kage Bunshin at the entrance just in case and he went right through them!"

"Meaning that the other rescue squad's gonna have their hands full with three kidnappers and a raccoon-possessed teenager!!" Kazemaru shouted as he sprung to his feet.

"Well, Mamoru is _our_ responsibility, so _we _have to take care of him," Tsuki informed the boys. "We've got no time to waste. Let's go!!"

"W-wait! Let us go with you!" Otokaze spoke as he grabbed the attractive kunoichi's arm. "Even if he's acting like some sort of monster, the fact that he still remembers that Sayuri is in danger and that he wants to save her _proves_ he's not lost to us! I know we can help bring him back to his senses, but only if you take us with you!"

"Are those injuries from your teammate?" Tsuki asked as she removed the boy's hand. He lowered his head and bit inside of his cheek. "It's too dangerous. What makes you think you can get through to him in that state?"

"He's our cousin… I'm sure we can help him…"

"Aw, come on, Tsuki-sensei! Hanzo can heal his wounds and then he can come with us," said Nataro.

"His injuries aren't the point, Nataro. If either one of them is killed, we've failed our mission."

"But this is their teammate—their _cousin_! You can't expect them to just stay behind while he's running around possessed by some demon!!" The black-clad blonde shouted as he clenched a fist. "They want to help him!! Isn't that enough?"

Hanzo looked at the black-clad blonde for a few seconds before looking at his squad leader. "Tsuki-sempai, we should let them come. While the Ichibi's possessing Mamoru, he's almost like a juggernaut! We'll need all the help we can get in order to stop him, don't you think?"

"Please, miss!" Yasha cried as she held her hands together and tears welled up in her eyes. "I want to help my cousin! I know what he's like, and that wasn't him! I can't stand to see him like that!!" She bowed her head. "I want to bring him back!"

"Please, Tsuki-sensei!!" Nataro and Kazemaru exclaimed.

"Fine, fine! Whatever!" Tsuki shouted, throwing her hands up in the air after breaking down. "_She_ can come with us, but _he_ can't— Huh?" She blinked as she saw Hanzo was already in the midst of healing the boy, glowing green chakra surrounding his hands as the wounds on Otokaze's stomach and the lower part of his chest were beginning to close and form small scars. "When did you…? Never mind…" _'Sometimes, I think I'm too lenient with these boys…'_ She thought as she sighed in exasperation. "Alright, let's move out!!"

**X-X-X**

Joining the other Konoha rescue squad and the kidnappers where they left off minutes earlier, Tetsuotome cracked her knuckles and smiled sweetly. "Now then, which one am I gonna kill first?" She began to point at the Konoha shinobi. "Eeny, meenie, minee, mo. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers let him go…"

Hitsuke glared down at the silver-haired girl. "You idiot! Stop playing around and pick one! It doesn't matter to me which one I kill, anyway!"

"Quit rushing me, you moron! Grrr…" She pointed at Bao Zi. "You! I'll kill _you_! Just 'cuz you're ugly! Hee-hee!"

"Whoop-dee-doo! I've got the chick and the shrimp! I ain't done with 'em yet!" The scarlet-haired man smirked. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared and reappeared above them, falling sword first. The Konoha ninja jumped out of the way before he crashed down, shattering the ground and sending pieces of earth flying all over.

Tetsuotome appeared beside Bao Zi while he was in midair, smiling. The yellow-clad chunin attempted a roundhouse kick, but she blocked it with her arm and punched him in the gut. Bao Zi had the wind punched out of him, but he immediately recovered and elbowed the silver-haired girl on her head, followed by a knee to the face and a second roundhouse that successfully sent her flying towards a tree. Tetsuotome caught herself in time and flipped over so she could jump off of the trunk and went flying towards the dark-haired teen with a balled up fist. Bao Zi balled up a fist as well and their punches connected. The dark-haired teen winced as he felt even his skeleton being shook up from the force she had used…but the silver-haired girl looked unaffected. They both jumped onto the branches of separate trees, a few feet apart.

"This is getting boring! Let's spice it up!" Her hand disappeared into her cloak and when it came out, Tetsuotome was holding a scroll. She whipped it open and pressed a seal on the parchment. The silver-haired girl was engulfed in a puff of smoke. A bead of sweat ran down the side of Bao Zi's face as the smoke cleared. He gulped. Tetsuotome was now holding an axe that was twice her height and three times wider than she was with a long chain that was wrapped around her waist. The silver-haired girl smiled disturbingly and her gray eyes showed murderous intent. "Let's play _Tag_. Guess who's it!!" She suddenly threw the axe with one hand and sent it spinning towards the dark-haired boy. He easily ducked it, but looked up in time to see catch Tetsuotome's foot with his hand. The silver-haired girl tugged the chain in her hands. Bao Zi turned his head and noticed the axe spinning towards them. Without thinking, he raised his hand and caught the blade of the axe. It just barely touched his palm, drawing blood. He pushed off Tetsuotome's foot and threw the axe aside before she could pull on it and cut his hand off.

"Whoo!" The silver-haired girl flipped in the air before landing on her branch once more. "Not bad, not bad~!" She spoke in a sing-song tone while smirking. "But I'm just warming up!!"

Meanwhile, on the ground, Kagura and Ina were battling Hitsuke. The scarlet-haired man swung his flaming sword at the purple-clad teen, but he fell down to avoid the blade and rolled back once it had passed. While Hitsuke's back was turned, Ina had drawn her sword and made to slash him in the back. But the nukenin turned on his heel and blocked the blade with the hilt of his sword. Their eyes locked and the scarlet-haired man smiled.

"Those eyes… You're an _Uchiha_, aren't you?" He smiled. "Those eyes… I've never seen it myself, but I've heard about the Sharingan. Red eyes with comma-like pupils…the ability to read any move and copy any jutsu…" His smile turned into a smirk. "I've always wanted to kill one of _your_ kind. I can't _wait_ to make a prey out of you!"

The raven-haired girl smirked. "You're underestimating me. We Uchiha aren't the prey—we're the predators!"

"Is that so? I can change that." Hitsuke's sword suddenly burst into flames, surprising Ina and allowing him to push her back a bit. "I guess if I can't cut the Kazekage's daughter…I'll cut _you_, open, Uchiha-chan!!" The raven-haired girl jumped back before the scarlet-haired man brought his blade down on the spot she was in, scorching the earth and burning away the grass. "Heh-heh-heh…!" _'Katon: Hibashiri (Fire Style: Running Fire)!'_ A flame sparked to life at the tip of his blade and moved towards the raven-haired girl. She jumped up into the air to avoid the attack and the flames began to swirl around until they formed a swirling tornado, trapping Ina. "No escape!!"

At that moment, Kagura pulled out a scroll and opened it. In a puff of smoke, a folded Fuuma shuriken appeared in a puff of smoke. He grabbed the handle of the shuriken, spun on the ball of his good foot and sent the shuriken flying towards the scarlet-haired nukenin. Hitsuke closed his eyes and sighed before turning on his heel and blocking the large shuriken with his blade. The scarlet-haired man looked down at the shuriken and noticed several bomb notes attached to the top. Kagura smirked and ran some chakra along the chakra string. He immediately ducked as the shuriken exploded, sending its blades flying all over and engulfing Hitsuke in smoke.

"FUCK!!!" Hitsuke screamed in pain from the shuriken blade in his leg. He pulled it out and threw it on the ground.

The flames surrounding Ina dispersed and disappeared, and the Uchiha ran towards the Kiri nukenin with her sword in hand. She jumped at Hitsuke as the smoke cleared and made to stab him. The scarlet-haired man locked eyes with her and grit his teeth in irritation as he spun around and slashed. And with that motion, he sliced through Ina's torso and cut her in half. The separate pieces of her body landed behind him. He turned around and looked at Kagura with a smirk. "Tricky little shrimp, aren't we? Probably should've used more firepower. Allow me to show you what _should_ have happened." He held up his Shounetsu Jigoku and it once again caught on fire. With a swing of the blade, he sent a blast of flames towards the purple-clad chunin that completely engulfed him. _'Katon: Inferuno (Inferno)!!'_ When the flames faded away, Kagura appeared to have been turned to ash along with the grass and trees that had been in the path of the flames. "Heh-heh-heh…heh…huh… Something's off here…" He then felt something pierce his chest and go through him. Looking down, he saw the tip of a steel blade, dripping with blood, coming out of his chest.

"Now, what was that about making it so I was the prey and _you_ were the predator?" Hitsuke turned his head slightly so he could see Ina out of the corner of his eye. The raven-haired girl was smirking, the tomoe of her Sharingan still spinning.

"Of course… The Sharingan can cast genjutsu with only a look. But you're wrong about being a predator, Uchiha-chan. Otherwise, you would've made a killing blow."

Ina's smirk faded. "I missed your vitals because I have a mission: to rescue Sayuri-san. Now where is she?"

"Oh, as if I'll tell _you_! This is none of your business, so you should just keep your nose out of it." He flinched as the Uchiha twisted her blade slightly. "Gurk! Besides, even if I tell you, you'll just kill me."

"Of course. You're Tatsujin Hitsuke. You've committed crimes in many countries, including this one. It'd be an insult to my honor if I didn't try to kill you. Now _talk_ before I make you talk."

Kagura, who had been resting behind a scorched tree and tending to his injured leg, looked out from behind his hiding spot. _'I hope Inahime knows what she's doing.'_

"Make me?" Hitsuke smirked. Heat began to radiate from his body as flames appeared around his sword. "DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO?!?" He shouted as his body suddenly caught on fire. Out of shock, Ina pulled out her sword and jumped back. "I'm Tatsujin Hitsuke, damn it!! No little kid's gonna take me out!!"

As this happened, Masaru and Ichinisan exchanged blows. There were no jutsu used, simply hand-to-hand combat. The raven-haired boy punched the dark-skinned man in the face, but his arm was grasped and he was tossed up into the air. Reaching into his thigh holster, Masaru sent several kunai flying down towards him. Ichinisan disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared above the young jonin. He made to land a kick on the boy, but he turned over in time to block the blow with his arm and began to form hand signs. Masaru took a deep breath and blew out a thin stream of wind, but Ichinisan moved aside in time for him to only get a slight cut on his arm. The older man disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared on the ground beside Hitsuke.

"What happened to you?" He asked the flaming nukenin.

"Damn Sharingan brat put me in a genjutsu with those eyes of her's," the scarlet-haired man growled as the flames resided.

"Yes… It's truly an amazing Kekkei Genkai."

Hitsuke grit his teeth, biting down on his tongue as he did so. "It's not _'amazing'_! It's fugging _frustrating_!! God!!"

Tetsuotome then appeared on the ground next to them, holding onto her blood-stained axe and smiling. "It's kinda funny to me! The great Hitsuke gets beaten up by a girl with genjutsu!"

"You shut up or _you'll_ be killed before her!!"

"Will you two be quiet? We're in the middle of a fight. Hm?" Ichinisan looked down and saw that a pair of mud hands gripping his feet by the ankles, along with Hitsuke's and Tetsuotome. "Now what?"

Masaru charged forward and began to form hand signs. _'That oughta hold them.'_ He skidded to a halt, took a deep breath and blew out a blast of wind. _'Fuuton: Fuujin no Ibuki (Wind Style: Breath of the Wind God)!'_

Ichinisan took a deep breath and roared. "ROAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!" The sound waves coming from the beast-like roar were enough to dispel the wind before it came close. "Hitsuke."

"Way ahead of ya!!" Hitsuke shouted as he gripped the hilt of his blade and slammed it down hard on the ground, completely shattering the earth and breaking away the mud hands. A hollowed-out tunnel was beneath them, with Kagura staring up at the three shinobi as sweat beaded down his face. The scarlet-haired man raised his Shounetsu Jigoku over his head and smiled disturbing. "When will you little Leaves learn…?" He brought the blade down and seemingly cut Kagura in half, his body exploding in a burst of flames. "HA!!!"

Bao Zi landed near Ina, his body covered in thin cuts and nicks and a particularly large gash across his abdomen. "Kagura!!" Just then, a hand reached up out of the earth beside him, making the martial artist jump in fear. He almost fell back from shock as Kagura pulled himself up out of the earth. "Kagura!! You're alive!!"

"No duh, genius. I was trying to trap them so you guys could take them out." The purple-clad teen slumped over and began to breathe heavily. "I thought I was done for when I saw that weirdo looking at me."

'_So… One is immune to fire. One is super-endurable. And one has some sort of sound-based jutsu,'_ Masaru thought as he stared at the three shinobi. He bit the inside of his cheek. "If only I could…"

"I hate to say this, but these people are too strong for us to take on one at a time. It would probably take all of us to beat one alone!" said Ina.

"Indeed! Small she may be, but that girl can deal a punch and take one back," said Bao Zi.

"And how do you expect us to do that when there are two other dangerous enemies right there?" Kagura asked with an arched eyebrow.

Ichinisan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "All this trouble over a girl… Maybe it _would_ be best if get rid of her."

"Does that mean what I _think_ it means?" Tetsuotome asked with a sweet smile.

"Yes. The plan _was_ to kill the girl in front of the Ichibi, so we could further push it into revealing its true form. But if their mission is to save the girl, we'll just have to kill her and end their mission."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" A loud voice bellowed through the forest, gaining the six shinobi's attention. A powerful gust of wind began to blow, knocking down trees and causing the ninja to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed. A foul, but strong chakra could be felt as sand began to swirl around them all.

"What the hell is this?!" Kagura shouted over the wind's roar as he landed on top of a fallen tree, his eyes closed shut. "A sandstorm?!"

"Outside of the desert?!" Ina shouted, opening her eyes a bit.

'_Sand… The Ichibi's supposed to be able to control sand,'_ Ichinisan thought.

'_Is it here? It's so strong!'_ Tetsuotome thought with a disturbing smile.

'_About damn time!!'_ Hitsuke thought with a smirk.

The wind stopped blowing as the sand disappeared and the transformed Mamoru appeared in front of the cloaked kidnappers, making them take a step back. "Where is she?! What have you done to her?!" He shouted with the dark gold chakra still radiating from his body and thick enough to be seen by the mortal eye.

"What is _that_?" Bao Zi asked with sweat trailing down his face while Ina and Kagura tensed up.

"This inhuman chakra! This is the Ichibi, right?" Tetsuotome asked as she swung the chain of her axe. "It's smaller than I thought it'd be."

"Don't worry. We can make it _bigger_," the dark-skinned man said as he held up his arm. For a moment, a seal with the kanji for _'one'_ appeared on the back of his hand. "I'll see to that." He disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared over the transformed Suna genin. But before he could lay a hand on him, the teen grabbed him with a claw and began to squeeze him tightly.

"I'll make you all _pay_ for interfering with my life!!" Mamoru's grip tightened as he bared his teeth. "I'm gonna crush you and _throw_ you to the wind!!"

"Gurk!" The pupils of Ichinisan's eyes became slits and his incisors became canines. He took a deep breath and howled, the sound amplified to the point where it sounded painful to the ears, and Mamoru, who was point blank in the way, threw the dark-skinned man down and grabbed onto his ears. Ichinisan was immediately back on his feet and was in front of the Ichibi's host. He thrust the hand with the Ichi seal on the back into Mamoru's gut and the seal disappeared. _'Done!'_ He jumped back before Mamoru could slam his claw onto the dark-skinned man.

"Give her back to me…! GIVE HER BACK!!!" The transformed Suna genin screamed as the wind around him picked up.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, as Team Tsuki and the two Suna chunin jumped through the trees of the forest, they all stopped.

"Can you feel that? What intense chakra!" Otokaze spoke nervously. "We're not even in front of him and it's terrifying…!" Yasha stood beside him with a worried expression on her face.

"It's…_him_…!" Nataro growled as he slumped over, stretching his hand to support himself against the trunk of the tree. Hanzo was also slumped over and shaking as he leaned against the tree, his hands covering his mouth.

Kaze, who was standing next to the Uchiha, shot his teammate a look mixed with fear and worry. "H-hey! Don't tell me you guys are gonna…?"

"I'm fine!!" Hanzo barked as he stood up straight, his eyes appearing entirely black for a moment. He blinked and they returned to normal. "I'm fine…!" His fingers scratched into the tree bark as a small amount of black chakra rose from his body.

"**It's close! You can feel it, can't you?"** The Kaijuu growled within its container's head.

"Rrrrr…!!" Nataro gave a low growl as his hair became bushier, deep whisker-like markings appeared on his cheeks, his fingernails became longer, and his teeth began to sharpen and change into fangs as the Kyuubi's red chakra began to radiate from his body in large amounts.

"**Getting excited, are you? Don't worry. Just a little bit further, and then…!"** The Kyuubi spoke, sounding pleased with its host.

"What's wrong with them?!" Otokaze shouted, his hand on his sword hilt.

"They must have bad things in them, too…" Yasha whispered with wide eyes, clutching her chest in fear.

"Nataro, Hanzo! Get a hold of yourself!!" Tsuki commanded the two chunin.

"Trying…to…!" The blonde spoke through gritted teeth. He slammed his fist against the bark of the tree, making a large crack in the tree. After a few seconds of pounding his hand against the tree, his hand was bleeding and quickly healing itself before he finally calmed down.

'_This is starting to get dangerous!'_ Kaze thought as he looked at his two teammates. _'If they lose control like Mamoru, they could!'_ Memories of their mission to Nami no Kuni appeared in the orange-haired chunin's mind, images of his friends trying to kill each other still as vivid as they had been three years ago.

"We can handle it, Tsuki-sensei!" Nataro told the jonin who was staring at him with a solemn look on his face. "We promise we won't go out of control!!"

"You better not. Don't make me do something I'd regret," she spoke in a serious tone. Both Nataro and Hanzo looked worried as the jonin continued on, followed by her team and the Suna chunin.

'_Damn fox!!'_ Nataro thought as he glared at the Kyuubi within his mind. _'Learn to control yourself!! __**I'm**__ the one who gets in trouble if __**you**__ get out of hand!!'_

"**It is **_**not**_** my fault. **_**You're**_** the one who's excited about it, so **_**you**_** can't control it. The problem is with **_**you**_**, not **_**me**_**."** The demon fox laughed darkly.

"**Why so tense? You want to see who's stronger, don't you?" **The Kaijuu asked its host. **"Think about it: if you could be a monster like that, you could beat just about **_**anyone**_**."**

Hanzo narrowed his eyes. "Knock it off…!" He hissed.

Kazemaru stared at his teammate with an arched eyebrow, but said nothing.

After a while, the group arrived just in time to see Mamoru take a step towards the three cloaked kidnappers.

"Mamoru!!" Yasha shouted. She tried to go to her cousin, but was held back as Otokaze grabbed her arm.

"Yasha, calm down!" The dark-haired Suna chunin whispered to his teammate.

"Rrrrr!!" Nataro clenched his fists and jumped off of the branch and behind the possessed genin. "Mamoru!!"

Ina blinked at the sight of the black-clad blonde. "Na…Nataro?"

Mamoru turned around to look at the other bijuu host. "You again!! Why is it that you're always trying to interfere in what doesn't concern you?!" He roared as sand and chakra swirled around his body. "This is between _me_ and _them_!!" He swung his tail and tried to knock aside the Ichinisan, Hitsuke and Tetsuotome, but the Kiri nukenin cut off a large portion of his tail with a swing of his sword. The sand from the sawed off piece began to slither towards them and they jumped into a tree for safety.

"LISTEN TO ME, DAMN IT!!!" Nataro shouted as the Kyuubi's chakra began to pour out and form around his body. Eventually, a tail of bubbling chakra formed, swishing behind the blonde as he crouched over slightly and bared his fangs.

Mamoru flinched and turned around. "That chakra…!" He whispered. "It's…it's…YOU!!!" He shouted as his pupils shrank and his mouth hung open. "You're that kid!! The one from all those years ago! What was your name…? Uzumaki Naruto!!"

Nataro's eyes narrowed. "No!! I'm Kazaki Nataro!!" The tail behind Nataro split into two separate tails and began to swish about. "And if I have to pound you to a freaking _pulp_ in order to make you change back to normal, then so be it!!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!! Bring it on!! I've been waiting for _years_ to get my revenge against you!!" He laughed maniacally. "And _then_, I'll go and save her!!"

"Shut your damn mouth and let's GO!!!" The black-clad blonde shouted as he got on all fours with his fangs bared, his prey reflecting in his red eyes as the pupils narrowed.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Karakuri Aodeku means "Mechanism" (Karakuri) "Green Doll" (Ao and Deku).**

**Bunshin Bakuha (Clone Explosion) is used by Itachi all the way back in the first part of the Naruto series. It's an A-rank jutsu.**

**Katon: Hibashiri means "Fire Style: Running Fire". It was used in the first Shippuden movie.**

**Katon: Inferuno means "Fire Style: Inferno".**

**Fuuton: Fuujin no Ibuki means "Wind Style: Breath of the Wind God". (Fuujin is the name of the Japanese god of wind and ibuki means breath.**

**Ninpo: Suppai Kushi means (Ninja Art: Acidic Spit).**

**X-X-X**

_Ending Omake! Our Youth in Suna!_

Many years ago in Sunagakure…

A young boy with short, spiky brown hair was standing in front of a door, picking the lock in the knob with a nail file. "Nngh! Come on…! Come on…!" When he heard a click, he smiled. "Aha! It's open!" he said, looking over his shoulder at his cousins. The shorter boy with the reddish-brown hair was crouching on the ground, yawning, while the girl with the short blonde hair set up in pigtails was playing with a doll. "Hey!! I _said_ it's open!"

"Wha? What's open?" The shorter boy asked, looking up at the taller boy with sleepy eyes.

"This is where Uncle Kankuro keeps those puppets of his. Don't you wanna see it?"

"Won't we get in trouble?"

"Aw, he's not here. We'll just make sure we don't mess anything up and lock it up when we're done. He will _never_ suspect a thing!" 6-year old Otokaze said as he opened the door. "C'mon! Or are you two chicken?"

5-year old Mamoru pouted. "No…"

5-year old Yasha looked at her cousin with half-lidded eyes. "No."

"Then stop complaining and let's go!!" He grabbed his cousins' hands and dragged them into the room, where several puppets hung off the walls in the midst of being repaired. Yasha immediately moved over to the closest puppet and began to bend its limbs. Mamoru just began to nap on a bunch of crates. Otokaze walked over to a chest and opened it, revealing a bunch of scrolls inside. He grabbed the red scroll on top and opened it. It was suddenly engulfed in a puff of smoke and in shock, Otokaze dropped the scroll. The sound of something dropping on the ground was enough to get Mamoru and Yasha's attention. The three kids gathered around, and when the smoke cleared, a puppet was shown. But this one was different. It had short red hair, glassy brown eyes and—unlike the rest of the puppets their granduncle had shown them—it looked _human_. Even its skin tone looked normal. The only things that showed it was a puppet were the obvious joints and the hole in its chest.

"Ooohhh… What's _this_?" Yasha asked with wide eyes.

"Is this a puppet?" Mamoru asked, tilting his head slightly.

Otokaze picked it up by the torso and stared into its face. "It looks a lot better than the other ones."

"What're you three doing?" The children froze and turned around to face an elderly man standing in the doorway.

"Uncle Kankuro! Um, uh… What's _this_?!" Otokaze exclaimed as he held the red-haired puppet out in front of him. "It looks different from your other puppets!"

Kankuro arched an eyebrow. "Huh? That's Sasori."

"Sasori? Who's that?"

"He was once a famous and powerful puppeteer in Suna, nicknamed Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand), until it was revealed that he used to make puppets out of his fellow shinobi."

Mamoru blinked. "Puppets?"

"Mm-hm? He'd take a human body and _modify it_, and make it into a human puppet, still capable of using their chakra, their jutsu and Kekkei Genkai they used in real life. He made over 300 puppets of them," the elderly puppeteer spoke in creepy tone. The children began to sweat. "And that puppet you're holding…? _That's_ him!"

Otokaze snorted and gave the old man a skeptical look. "As if! For that to happen, he'd have had to turn himself into a puppet!" Kankuro nodded. Otokaze looked down at Sasori and turned blue in the face. After a few seconds, he dropped the human puppet and fell back, his eyes large and blank and foaming at the mouth.

Yasha picked up Sasori with large, sparkly eyes—_very_ uncharacteristic of her. "Cool…! I want a puppet like this…!"

Kankuro sweatdropped as Yasha began to inspect Sasori and Mamoru tried to wake Otokaze up by playing with his face. "Kids these days…"

**Present Day…**

"Otokaze…"

"Hm?" The brunette chunin blinked his eyes open and found himself staring into the face of Aodeku. "AAAAAHHHH!!! SHIT!!!" He rolled out of his bed and hit the floor. He immediately got to his knees and glared at Yasha from over his bed. "Yasha…!"

"It works every time," she said as she made her puppet nod its head in agreement.


	58. Anger! Sorrow! Kyuubi and Ichibi Clash!

**Blu: At last!! Exams are done and school is now out for the holidays, leaving me with time to write as much as I want!! At least until I go over to visit my family for New Year's.**

**Naruto: Does this mean we're gonna go through the story faster?**

**Blu: Maybe. I've just gotten Tekken 6, but the screen is so damn small, I can't even read the instructions!! And it doesn't help that most of the characters speak foreign languages with English subtitles... If only they didn't make the print so damn small!!**

**Hanzo: Talk about a bad choice...**

**Blu: Still, the new character customization is nice. Anyway, don't listen to my moping. Shut up and watch the fic!! And be prepared for a special omake in the next chapter!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series, because if she did, things may have been more confusing than they are now. She just owns this fic and her OCs._

**X-X-X**

_#58: Anger and Sorrow! Kyuubi and Ichibi Clash!_

The forest of Shinjuri was practically radiating with demonic chakra as faint hues of gold and red mingled together in the air. Nataro and Mamoru continued glaring at each other as low growls escaped their mouths. Their spectators watched with bated breath and tense muscles.

Hanzo clung to a tree trunk as beads of sweat ran down his face and a throbbing pulse in the back of his head began to pound against his skull. _'Stay down…! Stay down…!'_ He thought as he began to clench his teeth and groan in pain.

"**Never!!"** The Kaijuu roared within its container's head. It grabbed the raven-haired boy up in its claw-like hand and raised him to its face, all three eyes focusing on him. **"We **_**will**_** satisfy ourselves one way or another!! So quit resisting and just **_**do it**_**!!"**

"You just…want to kill him! He's not even the Ichibi…just the container…!" Hanzo choked out.

"**He may as well be with that chakra! Human or demon, I **_**will**_** devour that chakra!!"** The Beast of Heavenly Chaos roared as it tightened its grip on the chunin.

"Ku…!" Hanzo flinched in the real world as he bent over, eyes wide and black with red pupils. He held onto his stomach as a small black snake slithered out of his mouth, covered in puke and saliva.

"Hanzo!" Tsuki exclaimed as she noticed the Uchiha was taking ragged breaths.

"Come on, Fan Boy!! Fight it!!" Kazemaru shouted as he clenched his teammate's shoulder. "Don't let it control you!!"

"Hey, who the heck is that brat?" Hitsuke mumbled as he propped his sword against his shoulder, arching an eyebrow. "Another bijuu?"

"Kazaki Nataro…" Ichinisan mumbled under his breath. "Kazaki…Nataro… This is the _special case_. The one that _he's_ got."

"Who's _he_?"

"You know!"

"Ohhh, _the Boss_!"

"So, _that's_ the Kyuubi kid?" Tetsuotome asked in a skeptic tone. She stifled a laugh and held a hand over her mouth before she began to laugh loudly. "Hahaha!! He's only on his second tail!!"

"Careful, Tetsuotome. That sounds like you're insulting the _Boss_, and if the Kyuubi brat's nearby, so's _he_—_listening_. _Hearing_ what you're saying about him!" Hitsuke said with a smirk.

The silver-haired girl stopped laughing and smiled in a nervous manner. "Um… I take that back! I was only joking! Okay…Boss? If he's on his second tail, that just means he's a poor excuse of a demon!"

"But he's still a threat, especially if he decides to grow another tail," said Ichinisan. "Remember: the Kyuubi is supposed to be the Boss's target. We've already marked the Ichibi. Our mission's done here."

"Awww! Can't we at least _kill 'em_? I hate to leave in the middle of a game!" Tetsuotome said with a pout.

"Yeah, at least _two_! You know they'll come running after us!!" Hitsuke shouted. "Fucking Leaves are so persistent!!"

"Hmmm…" The dark-skinned man glared at his partners out of the corner of his beastly eyes. "Here we have two bijuu about to collide. One is the Kyuubi no Kitsune—the strongest of the bijuu. The best thing to do, Hitsuke, is leave before they start trying to rip each other apart."

"Well, I suppose _you_ of all people would know about beasts…" Hitsuke sucked his teeth in disdain and sheathed his sword on the strap on his back. "Fine! Way to ruin my fun…!" He looked down at Ina and pointed at her. "Bye-bye, _kids_! I was going to cut you into pieces, Uchiha-chan, but I suppose we'll have to wait until we meet again." He licked his lips before blowing her a kiss. "See ya!" He and his comrades disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Kazemaru's eyes widened. "Was that--?!"

"Hitsuke?!" Tsuki finished. "What could an arsonist like _him_ possibly want in a kidnapping?"

He held up a clenched fist and narrowed his eyes. "I say we go after 'em!"

"Unfortunately, that's not up to us. That's for the other squad to do."

"Grrrr…!"

"Damn it!! Get back here, you bastards!!" Mamoru shouted.

"**Aw, let 'em go!!"** A loud, boisterous voice shouted in the back of the Suna genin's mind. **"Those guys are small fries compared to what we've got **_**here**_**!!"**

"But…Sayuri!"

"**As if you **_**really**_** care about her! Your entire life she's belittled you and our ability!! I say let 'em kill her!! Or better yet, let's **_**rip her apart**_** ourselves!!"**

"Rip her…apart…?" He bared his teeth in an insane grin. "Heh-heh-heh…!"

"**But before that, let's deal with **_**that**_** guy!!"**

"Right…!" The possessed teen turned around to face Nataro and suddenly charged towards him, claw raised to slash his head off. "DIE!!!" However, as he swung, he found Nataro clenching onto it tightly. His grip tightened and cracks began to form in the hardened sand. Nataro glared up at Mamoru, who continued to grin wickedly. A large claw of sand stretched out from the possessed Ichibi container's chest and grasped onto the black-clad blonde, engulfing him. "Hahaha!!" The sand soon began to harden, encasing its prey.

Ina took a step forward, but was pulled back by Masaru. "Huh? Masaru-taichou!"

"We need to find Sayuri-san. They said they hadn't killed her yet, so there's still time," the raven-haired teen told his fellow jonin.

"But, Nataro—!"

The sand that was covering Nataro began to crack. Wisps of red chakra started to float out of the cracks. Seconds later, chunks of hardened rock were sent flying all over as two tails of bright red chakra whipped about. "AAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHHH!!!" Nataro growled before he punched Mamoru in the face, sending the transformed genin skidding back. He jumped onto a tree, clinging onto it as steam hissed from the burning wood, and extended an arm of chakra to strike the mini-Shukaku in the face. The Ichibi host raised a claw to block the blow, but the chakra arm quickly shifted and managed to claw him in the face.

"GAHHH!!!"

"He's fine. Right now, we have to find Sayuri-san and make sure that she's safe," Masaru told the female Uchiha.

"He's right. Our objective is her safety," said Kagura.

"Huh? But we can't leave them while they're fighting that…_monster_!" Bao Zi exclaimed as he glanced at the Shukaku-possessed Mamoru. The transformed genin took a deep breath and blew out a blast of drilling wind at Nataro. The blonde chunin endured the wind and pounced at Mamoru. With a swing of his claw, Nataro struck Mamoru into a tree, causing it to fall over.

"I think they can handle it, Bao Zi!"

"Let's go!" Masaru commanded. In the blink of an eye, he, Bao Zi and Kagura disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ina glanced back at the transformed Nataro for a second before disappearing as well.

"I can't believe this!! They abandoned us!!" Kazemaru shouted just as Nataro and Mamoru charged each other and struggled to push the other back.

"I didn't see Sayuri with any of those guys. Did you, Yasha?" Otokaze asked the blonde kunoichi. She merely shook her head. "They must still have her somewhere!"

"You mean they still haven't found her?" The pyromanic chunin asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Ah! Grrrr…!" Hanzo held on tightly to the trunk of the tree, his short cries and grunts of pain finally gaining his teammate's attention.

"Oh, crap!! Not you, too!! Oh, crap!!" Kaze bit down on his lip until he came up with a solution. He balled up his fist and punched the raven in the back of his head. The punch caused Hanzo to fall headfirst into the tree trunk. "Sorry 'bout that, but two monsters on the loose are enough."

"Kazemaru, you just knocked out our squad's _medic_!" Tsuki told the orange-haired chunin.

"I-I know that!! But he was gonna transform and be like Nataro any second and I don't know what else do to!!"

"Rrrrr!!" Nataro extended two arms of chakra that tried to pound Mamoru just as the transformed Suna genin took a deep breath. The claws grasped the Ichibi-possessed teen just as he spat out a bullet of wind chakra. The burst sent the blonde flying back upon impact into the tree that Kazemaru and Hanzo were standing in.

"Whoa!! Watch it down there, Nataro!!" The orange-haired genin shouted. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Hanzo wasn't there anymore. "Hanzo?" Kaze looked down and saw the raven-haired teen was falling to the ground. "SHIT!!!" He jumped off of the branch and managed to grab his unconscious teammate. He managed to, just barely, cling onto the trunk of a tree with his feet and skidded to a halt while holding onto his teammate for dear life. "God, Hanzo!! Is it just me or are you fugging _heavy_?!" The tree shook as Shukaku spat out another wind bullet, pounding against Nataro's body. After the shaking ceased, Kaze began to walk backwards up the tree, being careful not to drop Hanzo until he sat down on a thick branch and pulled the Uchiha up to him.

"If only Hanzo was awake! His Raiton jutsu would probably put a crack in that sand armor on Mamoru's body!" Tsuki whispered as she clung to the tree. "But he's not… So what else can break down sand?" She closed her eyes and began to think as Mamoru stalked towards her blonde student.

"This is _too_ easy! Are you holdin' back?" Mamoru asked with a wicked grin. "That's it, isn't it? You don't want to hurt me…so you're holding back your _real_ strength! HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!" The transformed genin bent over laughing as his prey began to growl underneath his breath. "Why did that brat Gaara ever see you as a goal, Uzumaki?!"

Nataro's eyes narrowed. "Don't…call me that…!" He whispered. The veil of red chakra that surrounded his body began to bubble as a low growl escaped from his lips. "I'm…NATARO!!!" The blonde shouted as he charged at the transformed genin and punched him in the face, sending him flying back into another tree, causing it to fall over. A third tail began to form from the chakra as Nataro hunched over slightly. "RRRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHH!!!" He roared loudly, sending vibrations through the air. Kazemaru almost dropped Hanzo as Tsuki, Otokaze and Yasha clung to the tree.

"This…this is insane!! How can one person have that much chakra?!" Otokaze shouted as his eyes widened in fear.

Yasha almost lost her grip and bit down on her lower lip. _'He's… He's stronger than Mamoru! He really might…!'_

"You think I'm weak…?" The black-clad blonde mumbled as the tails behind him moved about, eyes focused on Mamoru. "I'll show you just how weak _you_ are!!" he held out a hand and a ball of chakra began to form, changing from blue to violet as it spun and absorbed the Kyuubi's chakra. He dashed forward and rammed the Rasengan into the Ichibi container's stomach. The sand began to crack before he was sent flying backwards. Nataro soon reappeared behind him and knocked him back with a whip of his tails. Mamoru fell on the ground and skidded to a halt a few inches away from a tree, causing a few small clouds of dust to rise. Nataro jumped onto the tree trunk, high above the Suna genin, and jumped off headfirst in an attempt to slash into his back.

"Heh!" Mamoru smirked as he got on his knees. Just seconds before Nataro was in striking distance, several spikes of sand jutted out from his back like the quills of a porcupine and impaled the blonde through several parts of his body. "Gotcha!!" The Ichibi host growled as an evil look appeared in his eyes.

Tsuki's eyes widened. "No…!"

"Huh…? Kazemaru stared at the impaled blonde as the spikes slid back into Mamoru's back, causing Nataro to fall on top of him. "It…can't be…!"

"I guess we know who was _weak_, huh?" Mamoru asked as he stood up straight. The blonde chunin fell to the ground, blood seeping from his many wounds, though the Kyuubi's chakra continued to come from his body. "Hyahaha!! Now it's time I crushed you and threw you into the wind before you pull anything!"

"You…talk…too damn much!"

"Hm? Mamoru looked down and saw Nataro was getting onto his hands and feet, his teeth bared and his wounds already healing. "Damn it!! Why do you always _do_ that?!" He shouted as he quickly turned around, attempting to hit the blonde with his tail. Nataro merely jumped over it, high up into the air. The three chakra tails came together to form a large claw of chakra that slammed Mamoru to the ground as the Kyuubi container landed.

"He…survived…?" Yasha mumbled with wide eyes. "He survived…"

Tsuki gave a sigh of relief. _'Thank goodness. For a second there, I thought…!'_

Kazemaru bit down his lower lip as his eyebrow twitched. "Dammit, Nataro!! You must love scaring people half to death, don't you?!"

Mamoru got up and bared his teeth. "Damn you…!"

"**Having **_**you**_** in charge is getting us nowhere!! Let **_**me**_** take over!!" **Shukaku spoke in the back of its container's mind. **"It's easy! Just let me take the wheel and I'll show him to fear the Ichibi no Tanuki!!"**

"Gah!!" Mamoru slumped over before he raised his claws up into the air. He looked up and gave a manic grin. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" A large amount of sand began to swirl about in the air as the one-tailed raccoon's chakra could be felt. The sand gathered around Mamoru, engulfing him as it began to form something large.

"What's he doing now?!" Kaze shouted over the wind as he held onto Hanzo.

"I don't know!! But it's big!!" Tsuki shouted with her eyes closed and her arms cross in front of her face.

Nataro merely stood there, waiting as his chakra cloak continued to bubble and a low growl escaped his lips.

As the wind ceased and sand cleared, the spectators' mouths opened as they gazed up. Standing in front of them was a _much larger_ version of the Ichibi no Tanuki—most likely the same size as the actual bijuu itself!

"HOW DO YOU LIKE _THIS_, HUH?!?" Shukaku shouted as it pumped its arms up into the air. "OHHHHHHH, YEAH!!! The REAL Shukaku's back, and I'm LARGE AND IN CHARGE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Great…! Just fugging great! He's a frigging behemoth now!! He could probably squish us all like little bugs or something—!"

"Get a grip, Kazemaru! All we have to do is move when it looks like _he's_ going to move."

"Easy for _you_ to say, Sensei! You're not carrying the squad's only hoping of surviving once all this chaos is done and over with!!" The pyromanic chunin shouted as he finally managed to lug Hanzo onto his back.

"That's _if_ we can survive this…!" Otokaze mumbled, fear reflected in his eyes. Yasha remained speechless and looked up at the Ichibi in a mixture of awe and horror.

Nataro gave a smirk. "Bring it, ugly! I'll show you why bigger isn't always better!"

**X-X-X**

In the distance, Ichinisan, Hitsuke and Tetsuotome looked up in awe at the fully transformed Shukaku. "Whoa…! Would you look at _that_?" Hitsuke spoke. "Are _all_ bijuu that big?"

"I suppose so," said Ichinisan.

"So, say we were gonna fight that thing. What were the chances that we could all get out of there alive?" Tetsuotome asked with a quirked up eyebrow.

The dark-skinned man scratched his cheek. "Probably…not a very high number. We still have two more to go. We need to prepare, just in case they decide to get that big."

On the forest floor, Masaru and his team pulled themselves out of the piles of trees and other fauna that had fallen as a result of Mamoru's transformation.

"Is anyone hurt?" The blue-eyed raven asked as he dusted himself off.

Ina rubbed her upper shoulder and winced slightly. "Nothing serious," she muttered.

"I'm…fine…" Kagura grunted as he pulled his foot out from between a couple of trees.

"I…am _not_ fine!" Bao Zi exclaimed, causing his teammates to look in his direction. The yellow-clad shinobi was trapped beneath a pile of fallen trees at the very top of the pileup. His head and his arms were the only parts that were sticking out from the cracks in the pile. "I think something's broken…!"

"Hold on, Bao Zi!" His purple-clad teammate climbed up the pile and drew a kunai. It began to glow with chakra, causing the martial artist to sweat as his eyes became large and blank.

"Um, I don't think that's the right way to help!"

"Trust me on this and stop being a crybaby. This will only take a second," Kagura snorted as he easily sliced through part of the tree that was on top of his friend. He pushed the log off of Bao Zi, rolling it down to the ground. He repeated the process again on the remaining two logs that were on his body. "How do you feel?"

"I was just squashed between trees, Kagura. I think you know how I feel."

Ina climbed up the pile and approached the yellow-clad chunin. Without a word, she helped him to stand up. He had some difficulty, though, and fell to his knees. The raven-haired girl's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"

Masaru approached them and made Bao Zi sit down and lean against a fallen tree. He felt certain areas of his subordinate's body, checking them out until he touched the chest, and the chunin winced in pain. The raven frowned and drew his hand away. "This is bad. Your ribs are broken. So's your left ankle. Not to mention that wound you got while fighting." He looked over at Ina and Kagura. "None of us know medical ninjutsu to heal this, so we'll have to resort to average first aid." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a first aid kit.

"That's not going to help at the moment if _that_," Kagura spoke as he pointed at the laughing Shukaku, "decides to move in _this_ direction, Bao Zi won't be able to run. He'd need someone to carry him. Otherwise, he'd just slow us down."

Ina stared at the ground in concentration before a thought came to mind. "Hanzo's a medic."

The three boys blinked and stared at their female teammate. "Who?"

"Remember the blonde guy who was fighting with that sand monster? He's on a squad with a guy who knows medical ninjutsu. He could heal Bao Zi." She closed her eyes in thought. "But it's a risk…since going back there would mean having to go around that monster."

"Hm…" Masaru began to stare at the ground as he balled up his fist. "This is bad… Bao Zi is injured, and for all we know, Sayuri-san was hurt when that giant monster appeared the same as we were! We have to find her, before she's killed by that thing."

"Huh? But what about the kidnappers?" Ina asked. "Captain?"

"Sayuri-san's life is far more important right now. Kagura! Take Bao Zi back to town."

The purple-clad chunin blinked. "What? Why?"

"He's injured and so are you, and I don't think think we'll be able to reach the medic in time." Azure blue eyes locked with plum purple ones. "If we need you, we'll contact you via radio."

"Yes, sir… I'll do as you say." The purple-clad ninja then disappeared in the blink of an eye along with Bao Zi.

Masaru turned to face Ina. "Do you know Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?"

"Not really. But I have seen it being used a lot." _'It's that jutsu Nataro keeps using.'_

"The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu will be especially useful right now as it can help us split up and find Sayuri-san's location more easily," the blue-eyed raven explained. "Copy the hand sign with your Sharingan. Got that?"

"Yes, sir." Ina activated her Sharingan. Her eyes focused on Masaru. The tomoe began to spin as she saw him form a simple hand sign. She formed the hand sign as well, and in a puff of smoke, a second Ina and Masaru had appeared beside the originals.

"There. Now let's spread out and try to find Sayuri-san. If you dispel your shadow clone, the information it learns will come back to you," he spoke again. "The same thing goes if it is attacked. If we could make more, then searching for Sayuri-san would be easier, but this jutsu takes a lot of chakra. Creating too many Kage Bunshin may wind up killing you! So…just stick with that one. Send up a signal if you find her."

"Yes, sir," said Ina before she and her clone jumped through the trees and went in separate directions. _'So if my clone sees something, I'll know about it after it disappears! That's probably the only reason why Nataro made it Chunin rank…'_ The female Uchiha thought with half-lidded eyes. _'Speaking of him…I wonder what was up with him? He looked like an animal. Not to mention all that weird chakra that was coming from his body.'_ Shivers went down her spine as the Kyuubi's chakra increased again. _'It's weird, but that chakra…! It felt as inhuman as that monster's own!'_ She scanned the ground below for a while before a thought hit her. _'I could always just send a Kage Bunshin to see how he's faring… But that would be a waste of time and chakra since he's probably just goofing off in a fight. Then again, it's been a long time since I last saw that moron fight. If he became a chunin, he's gotta be at least __**half**__ decent in combat.'_ "Hmph! Yeah, right! That'll be the day…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, the Shukaku laughed as it stared down at the Kyuubi host. "Ha ha ha!! You look like a little ant from all the way up here! Hmmmm…" He looked around and saw the other Konoha ninja and the Suna chunin. "Now that I think about it, I'm gonna need more space. Lemme make some _room_!!" The Ichibi no Tanuki shouted as it raised a claw. "I'll knock _that_ tree down first!!"

'_Shit!!'_ Nataro thought as he bared his teeth.

"Uh-oh…" Kazemaru mumbled with wide eyes.

"MOVE!!!" Tsuki shouted. The group hopped out of the tree just before Shukaku slammed its claw down and knocked over the tree, causing a flock of birds that had been nesting in it to fly past the bijuu. As soon as they landed in another tree, the shinobi had to jump into a nearby tree again before it was knocked down by Shukaku's claw.

"We can't keep this up forever!!" Otokaze shouted as he tried to catch his breath.

"Mamoru is too big to hide from. He's too big to avoid," said Yasha. "We can't get away from him."

"Are you suggesting that we attack him?!" Kazemaru shouted as he readjusted Hanzo on his back. "He's fugging huge!!"

"We have to do _something_! Nataro can't fight something so big on his own!" Tsuki exclaimed. She brought her hand up to her mouth and bit her thumb, drawing blood. She pressed the bleeding thumb against each of her fingers and began to form hand signs. "Ninpo: Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" She placed her hand against the wood of the tree and a large cloud of smoke soon enveloped the group. Within the cloud, cracking sounds could be heard. A large thick branch fell from the cloud and landed on the ground below.

"Huh?" Nataro looked up at the trees in confusion.

Suddenly, a large gray hawk with blue-tipped feathers and a vertical scar across its eye flew out of the smoke cloud and began to fly towards Shukaku. Tsuki was standing on its back with a look of determination on her face as she began to form another string of hand signs.

The Ichibi arched a nonexistent eyebrow at the incoming hawk. "Hm? What the hell's that?" Tsuki took a deep breath and began to blow a large jet of water into Shukaku's right eye. The attack went right through, creating a soggy hole where the eye had once been,--along with a good bit of the ride side of its forehead. "AAARRRRGHHH!!! My eye!!" The bijuu bellowed as it clutched the right side of its face as if it were an actual flesh wound.

The purple-haired kunoichi smirked. "Bullseye." The gray hawk began to move around again as its summoner started to form another string of hand signs. Shukaku's spiked tail, however, struck her summon, causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke. Tsuki began to fall, but was caught by Shukaku's claw in midair.

"Tsuki-sensei!!" Kazemaru shouted as Otokaze gritted his teeth and Yasha looked away, unable to look at what might happen next.

On the forest floor, Nataro's eyes widened before he gave a low growl. The transformed blonde jumped off of the ground and onto Shukaku's leg. He quickly ran up, not even being noticed by the demon of the Sand since its attention was focused on Tsuki, who was being held out in front of the beast.

"I know that I can be good as new with a big of sand…but that _still_ hurt!!" The demon Tanuki shouted as its grasped tightened. It smiled upon hearing Tsuki grunt and flinch in pain and bones being cracked. The sand that formed its claw began to slither slowly around Tsuki's body in order to make the compression easier.

"GUHH!!!" Tsuki shouted in pain as something else cracked.

"Maybe I should just suffocate you? How does having a mouth _crammed with soaking sand_ sound?" Shukaku spoke darkly as the sand made its way up to the Konoha jonin's neck.

Unseen by the large bijuu was Nataro, who was already up on its right shoulder. "Let her go!!" He growled as he jumped off of the tanuki's shoulder and sliced off the claw with his chakra claws.

"Gahh!! Damn it!!" The Ichibi no Tanuki screamed as Nataro and Tsuki began to fall. The blonde landed safely on his hands and feet while his sensei landed softly on the sand that formed Shukaku's claw. "First I lost and eye! Now I've lost a hand!!"

"Tsuki-sensei…" Nataro whispered, blocking out Shukaku's complaints as he looked down at Tsuki. She was unconscious—either from the Ichibi's attempt to squeeze the life out of her, the fall, or both. His hand hovered over her body with the thought of trying to see if she was okay, but the feat of harming her in his current state caused him not to touch her. "Sensei… Ah… Ahhh…! RRRRRRRR!!!" Nataro backed away from the unconscious woman and began to press his body closer to the ground. "You're…!" A fourth tail began to emerge from the veil of chakra that surrounded the blonde's body. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!!" His eyes began to glow bright red and his skin started to peel off and burn away as a result of the intense heat of the Kyuubi's chakra that continued to grow with each passing second. The forest wildlife began to flee as they felt the surging increase of foul chakra.

"**Yes…! Do it!! You know you want to,"** the Kyuubi spoke as it looked down at Nataro within the confines of the boy's mind. **"We must finish it."** The titanic beast sat up, its shadow overcastting its host. Within seconds, it grabbed the blonde with both clawed paws and gripped him tightly. **"Let's show him…our power!!" **The spotlight shining down on Kyuubi began to flicker until it turned red and suddenly went out.

"RRRRR!!!" After all of his skin was burned off, blood began to seep from the chunin's raw red skin. The dark blood began to cover his entire body, taking the shape of the veil of red chakra that surrounded him. The blood began to sizzle and burn, sticking to him as if it were a new skin.

"What the hell…?!" Kazemaru whispered in awe, his eyes wide as their pupils shrank at the sight of Nataro's new form. "He changed…again!" It was something beastly… If only the pyromanic chunin had seen the Kyuubi for himself, he'd think his teammate resembled a mini-version of the fox demon with the only distinguishing feature being the tuft of bushy blood-covered hair on his head.

"What's wrong with him now? He looks as much a monster as Mamoru!" Otokaze exclaimed as he began to sweat. The amount of foul chakra in the air had changed and felt even stronger than it was before—and it was because the blonde teen had transformed again.

Yasha began to breathe heavily. She felt lightheaded. Her sea green eyes reflected feat. _'I want to run away… But I'm afraid…! I'm afraid that if I run, he'll kill me…!'_

"Grrrr…!" Nataro growled as the chakra that came from his body slowly rose in the air. "GWOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!" The terrifying roar that came from the Kyuubi-possessed teen sent a large sound wave that pushed back trees and rocks that were scattered throughout the area. The young teens had to channel chakra to their feet and hands just so they could remain in the tree.

Shukaku began to grin as it felt a sound wave make impact with its lower leg. The sand that surrounded Tsuki slithered around Nataro and was absorbed by the bijuu. Eventually, its claw reformed. "Well, _that's_ a neat little trick! But that won't help you!!"

"Oh, shit!! Tsuki-sensei's gonna get caught in the crossfire!" Kazemaru shouted. He looked over his shoulder at Otokaze just as Yasha removed the large scroll on her back and opened it. "Here, take Hanzo for a while!"

"Wh-what?"

"Someone's gotta go and get her!"

In a poof of smoke, Karakuri Aodeku appeared beside Yasha. The two boys watched as Yasha moved her fingers, making Aodeku jump off of the branch and land right next to the unconscious Tsuki. It scooped the woman up, causing a slightly moan of pain to escape from her mouth, before its master motioned her hand again and made Aodeku jump back onto the branch.

Kazemaru sweatdropped and stared at the blonde with half-lidded eyes. "Or…_she_ could get her."

"!!!" The Ichibi roared as it began to lower its paw with the intent of squashing Nataro. The Kyuubi-possessed teen shoved his claws into the ground and a few seconds later, a pair of large blood-red claws shot out from the ground behind Shukaku, grabbed the tanuki by its shoulders and pulled it back, causing it to fall onto its back. As the claws withdrew back into the ground, Nataro jumped onto Shukaku, landing on the Ichibi's stomach.

"Grrrrrr…!" He began to rake his claws on the sand, sending particles of it flying in the wind.

"OW!!! Get off of me, you little bastard!!" Shukaku growled. The sand that made up its body began to soften. Nataro soon began to sink in slowly, though he didn't try to struggle. Instead, the Kyuubi-possessed teen raised his head and positioned his tails around his face. A small orb of black chakra began to form—hovering like a weightless bubble. "Huh?" The Ichibi no Tanuki arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's going on?" Yasha asked as she stared at the two beasts.

"It looks like…the Ichibi's pulling him into its body," said Otokaze.

"But he's just standing there."

"No. He's doing…_something_. I just can't tell _what_ from here." The most that the dark-haired chunin could make out was Nataro's back and just that.

"He'd better do something fast…otherwise, he'll be crushed by all the sand in Shukaku's body." Kazemaru visibly flinched at those words.

Nataro stared up at the black ball of chakra for a moment before cracking open his mouth, revealing not pure white fangs but blood red ones form from his new body, and swallowed the ball. His body immediately expanded, bloating as soon as the ball of chakra hit the bottom. Of course, as a result, he sank underneath the sand and disappeared from sight.

"Where'd he go?" Kazemaru mumbled with wide eyes and beads of sweat trailing down his face. "Damn it, don't tell me he went down that fast! Not that idiot!!"

Yasha closed her eyes. "It's over… If he couldn't beat Shukaku in that state… What chance do _we_ have?"

"It can't end like this!!"

"Nnnn… What can't end like this?" Hanzo moaned as he started to come to. His eyes were barely open, but it was enough to see they were still the same as the Kaijuu's.

"Oh, _now_ you wake up?! After our sensei gets her bones broken and our teammate is swallowed by a giant sand monster, you finally wake up!!" The pyromanic chunin shouted as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"My head is killing me…" The Uchiha mumbled as he started to twitch. "Damn beast…" He suddenly noticed Shukaku, but instead of putting on a shocked expression, he said, "Things look bad, huh?"

"Heh-heh-heh…heh-heh…HAHAHAHA!!!" The Ichibi no Tanuki began to laugh loudly. "See that?! It may have taken a couple of years, but I gotcha!! No one can escape from _me_!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Kazemaru frowned while Shukaku continued to laugh. "Oh, yeah… _Very_ bad."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA— Huh?" The bijuu looked down at its stomach and held onto it with its claws. "Oh, man… I don't feel so good…" Its remaining eyes stared at the stomach for a while. A small crack suddenly appeared in it, causing Shukaku's eye to widen. The crack soon increased, making spider-like marks as Shukaku felt a second chakra within its body spike. "Oh…DAMN!!!" As soon as that word left the Ichibi's mouth, a large beam of chakra was shot out of its stomach and up towards the sky, clearing all clouds that were in its path. "ARRRRRRRRGH!!!" Shukaku's sand-like body began to break apart, turning back into sand as the demon disappeared.

Up in the trees, the chunin had their hands in front of their faces to protect their eyes from the intense light of the blast.

"Ugh…!" What's going on?!" Otokaze shouted over the noise.

"How the hell should _I_ know?!" Kazemaru shouted back.

**X-X-X**

"What the hell…?" Masaru mumbled as he looked up at the sky. Sand was floating down from the sky as though it was snow while a large beam of chakra was being shot up in the air. "Where's all that chakra coming from…?" He looked forward and suddenly noticed something on the ground below. There was a person with a log on top of their body. "Could that be…?" He ran over to the seemingly unconscious person and lifted the log off of their body. It was Sayuri, still unconscious. There was a bruise on her head and a piece of duct tape over her mouth.

**X-X-X**

"What is that…intense chakra…? Ina whispered in shock as she stood on the tree branch. "And what happened to that large monster? It was just…destroyed!" _'But who has such a large amount of chakra—and so frighteningly strong?!'_ She suddenly flinched as she heard a noise in her ear.

"_Inahime. I've found Sayuri-san."_

The Uchiha's eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly in awe. "Ah! Really?"

"_There's something wrong with her. She's still alive, still got a heartbeat, but she's not waking up. I fear…that they have done something to her."_ There was a pause for a moment. _"We should take her to see that medic you were talking about— Huh?"_

Ina raised her head as she began to feel something. "It can't be! That chakra's still there! But the monster's _gone_, isn't it?"

"_No… This is a different chakra than that sand monster's. It's just as evil, but strong."_

"But the others…! Nataro and his team are in danger!" The female Uchiha shouted as she began to jump from branch to branch, her eyes narrowed while she gritted her teeth.

"_Calm down, Inahime. For all you know, you being there won't change a thing. Whoever that chakra's coming from, their power's off the charts! I'm going to the source, alright? I trust you'll be there by the time I arrive."_

"Yes, sir." _'Nataro, you better not die before I get there!'_

**X-X-X**

Back with Team Tsuki, sand was now covering most of the forest floor. The young chunin all had difficulties shaking the sand off of their bodies and Karakuri Aodeku dusted off Tsuki.

"Nnng…!" Kazemaru used his free hand to wipe the sand out of his face. He blinked his eyes and mumbled, "What…happened?"

"I'm not sure…" Hanzo mumbled. "But it looked like that monster _exploded_."

"That can't be it," said Yasha. "A large amount of chakra came bursting out from the Shukaku's stomach. Whatever the chakra belonged to was the source of the Shukaku's defeat."

"But…can we be sure that it's really been defeated?" Otokaze asked. "You've seen it reassemble itself even after having a body part cut off. For all we know, it could put himself back together at any second."

As their vision began to clear, the Konoha and Suna chunin looked down at the ground. After a few seconds, Nataro rose out of the sand, a low growl emanating from his throat.

"He's alive!!" Kaze shouted.

Hanzo began to twitch as sweat trailed down his face. "Who's alive? All I can see is that red monster down there…!"

"That's _Nataro_!"

"Wh-what?!" The Uchiha shouted as his eyes widened. "Nataro? But, he…!"

"He's a monster now. Possessed by his bad thing like Mamoru," said Yasha as she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Ugh…!" Hanzo bowed his head slightly and began to breathe heavily, getting Kaze's attention. _'This chakra… The Kaijuu is reacting to it…!'_

Otokaze's eyes widened as he looked down at the ground. "Hey, I see Mamoru!! He looks like he's back to normal!"

His cousin's eyes widened before looking down at the ground. Mamoru was lying on the ground in the sand, unconscious and looking completely normal. A small smile appeared on her face as she gave a breath of relief. "What a relief…"

"I'll say. Now this mission is finally over," said Kaze with a nod and a satisfied smile.

The taller brunette Suna nin's smile suddenly changed to a look of confusion. "Huh? H-hey, what's your friend doing?"

"What're you talking about" The pyromanic teen looked down and saw Nataro, still in his mini-Kyuubi state and approaching Mamoru. "Nataro!! Wait!! What the _hell_ are you doing?! The fights done—you won!!"

Nataro looked down at Mamoru for a second before raising his claw above his head. He made a low growl.

"LISTEN TO ME, YOU FUCKING MORON!!! IT'S…_OVER_!!!" Kazemaru shouted, but to no avail did he get his transformed friend to stop. In all his anger, he released Hanzo, causing the raven to stumble to the side and hold onto the tree trunk. "I said _listen_ to me!!" The orange-haired teen pulled some shuriken out of his thigh holster and threw them at his possessed friend's back. The shuriken were easily knocked aside by the mini-Kyuubi's tail. "Damn it!!"

"Kaze… Don't…" Hanzo breathed out. "In this state…Nataro is…like some kind of animal…!"

"So you expect me to stand here and do _nothing_?! He's gonna kill an innocent person!!"

Nataro's claw twitched and he began to lower it, about to tear into the Suna genin when something else caught his attention. Or rather, someone—a person dressed in a black hooded cloak with the hood up, hiding their face, to be exact. Before he could react, Nataro felt the cloaked person pressed their hand against his forehead and pushed him back a tiny bit. A long piece of paper, a talisman with symbols written onto it, was now fluttering in the breeze, hanging in front of his face from his forehead. After a few moments, Nataro's body began to shake and twitch, the blood that covered his body began to slowly ooze off, seeping onto the ground. His flesh was red and raw from having the burning blood on it.

"What's going on?" Otokaze asked.

"I think… I think he's changing back to normal…" said Hanzo as he began to feel a bit better. "But…who's _that_ guy?"

"Oh…" Nataro moaned as his vision got clearer. He was still on his hands and knees as an intense burning pain began to shoot through his entire body. "Can't…move…!" He looked up at the cloaked person, who was once again standing before him. "Who…are you…?"

"Hmph…! You don't have the right to know my name, Kyuubi no Kitsune…" The cloaked man pulled the talisman off of the blonde's forehead, allowing the sunlight to reflect off of his hitai-ate. "Just know that I am your judge and executioner. And I did what I did because…I wanna make you realize just what you are myself." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ugh…!" The blonde finally collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Taichou!!" Ina shouted as she jumped out of a tree and landed in the area. She looked around, confused until Masaru appeared beside her with Sayuri slung over his shoulder. "Taichou!" The raven-haired girl noticed Nataro and ran over to him. She looked down at him with a look of shock on her face. "Is that…Nataro?" _'All his skin's been burned off! What the hell happened here?!'_ "What happened? What happened to all that chakra?"

"I saw it. It all went back inside of him," said Masaru. "But it must have been too great, seeing as how he collapsed just after he reverted back to normal."

Ina blinked. "So that was Nataro?" She stared down at him for a moment and began to smirk. "Heh! At least he's not a _total_ weakling anymore." Hanzo, Kazemaru, Otokaze, Yasha and Aodeku jumped out of the tree and landed in front of the group. "So…care to tell what happened?" The female Uchiha asked as Hanzo got to his knees and placed his hands on his injured teammate's face. His hands began to glow with bright green chakra as he closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Aodeku placed Tsuki on the ground next to Nataro.

"Let's just sat a lot of crazy shit went down…" Kazemaru muttered as he rubbed his head. "For a second there, I thought we were gonna…" He began to shake his head. "Heh-heh…! It's a good thing that guy in the cloak showed up when he did! Though I wonder why he helped us in the first place…?"

"Huh?" Ina arched an eyebrow in confusion. "What're you talking about?"

"He used a talisman on Nataro and suppressed his chakra," said Hanzo as he continued to concentrate on his teammate. The healing was working a bit since, with the aid of the Kyuubi's regenerative healing, Nataro's skin was beginning to grow back at a quick rate. "It was pretty surprising. Not anyone can make one of those."

"I see…" Masaru mumbled. _'With that cloak, he looked like he was with the guys who kidnapped Sayuri-san. But he saved Mamoru-san and Nataro. What for?'_ He snapped back to reality and looked down at Hanzo. "If you don't mind, could you take a look at Sayuri-san when you're done? She's not waking up for some reason."

"Sure," said Hanzo as he began to work on Tsuki. "Just let me do this…for a while..."

"Don't forget about Mamoru," said Yasha. "He's been seriously injured from that battle."

"I won't."

**X-X-X**

"Mmm…" Nataro's eyes slowly opened. "What happened…?" As his vision began to clear, the blonde sat up and looked around. He was no longer in the forest, but in a room. "And where the heck am I?" A clicking sound drew his attention to the door. The door swung open and Hanzo walked inside. "Hey, Hanzo! What happened? Did we get Mamoru?"

The raven-haired teen arched an eyebrow. "You mean…you don't remember?"

Confused, the blonde squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner. "Uhhh… Remember what?"

"Apparently, from what Kazemaru told me, you got your fourth tail after Tsuki-sempai was injured. You gained a lot of power and defeated the Ichibi, but you lost control… You were almost about to kill Mamoru until some guy in a cloak showed up out of nowhere." Hanzo nodded his head a bit. "Right now we're in Shinjuri, but as soon as everyone's feeling well enough to move, we're off to Sunagakure."

After a few seconds, Nataro began to stare out into space. "It…It's my fault…" He mumbled as he bowed his head, bangs falling in front of his eyes. "Where is she?"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Where's Tsuki-sensei?"

"She's in the room next door. It wouldn't do any good to see her yet, though. She's still unconscious." Upon seeing his teammate slump even more, Hanzo tried to change the subject. "So, how do you feel?"

"Fine…"

"That's good. I was worried that…after what had happened, there would be a side effect or something." Hanzo stared at the blonde. "Are you sure you don't feel any pain?"

Nataro shook his head. "No."

"Okay. I'm going to check up on Sayuri-san. If you need me, just call." The Uchiha looked at the ground for a moment. "Nataro?" The blonde looked up at his friend. "It's not your fault." He then walked out of the room and closed the door.

'_1…2…3…4…5.'_ The blonde chunin got out of bed and walked out of the room.

**X-X-X**

As the unconscious Tsuki was resting in her room, the door opened. Nataro stepped into the doorway and stared at the jonin. He walked further into the room and stood a good bit away from the woman's bed. "Tsuki-sensei… I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect. I couldn't control myself. I'm sorry…" He bowed his head and looked at a wall. "If only I were stronger…"

"This is all my fault…" A voice spoke behind him.

The black-clad blonde turned around to see Mamoru standing in the doorway. He didn't have on his armor or gourd, and his eyes seemed to have a downcast look. "Oh. Mamoru."

The brunette Suna nin looked at the ground sadly. "That woman… Your sensei. If I was able to control myself from the very beginning, then this would never have happened. I take the blame. It's my fault."

Nataro blinked and began to grind his teeth. "Don't say that!! Blame the Shukaku or the creeps who kidnapped your sister, but don't blame yourself!!" He began to clench his fists. "I know what it's like to let your anger get the best of you." Memories of being unable to help his hands as they were beaten near death by an Oni, Jin striking Kazemaru in the head with a large iron club, and feeling unable to save Sasuke or Akasha appeared in his mind. "When you're in situations like that…you can't help but lash out." The blonde relaxed and gave a long sigh. "I guess…we both need to learn how to control ourselves better."

The brunette genin blinked in confusion and looked up at the blonde chunin. "What makes you think you know what I'm going through? I'm a failure as a ninja. My teammates are already chunin, while I'm still a genin. My sister keeps insulting me about it. My father seems to think it was a mistake for me to graduate… I just wanted to show that for once, I could surpass their expectations and succeed." He clenched a fist. "But then those people showed up and said I was a demon. Then I thought that maybe I was never meant to be a shinobi, but a demon—but even then, I wanted to prove myself in their eyes. And in the end, I just wound up letting my true nature as a demon get the best of me."

"_Stop that_," the blonde spoke sternly. "You're not a demon! Look, I'm an only child…and I don't have a father…and I've been a chunin for a year and a half…but I know how it feels to want to prove yourself in the eyes of others. And I know that you wanted to save your sister! And I know what it's like to have something frightening in you that you can't control…" Nataro began to smile. "'Cuz I've got a demon in me, too."

Mamoru blinked. "That explains it…"

"But hey!! You don't need any damn demon to prove yourself to anyone!" The orange-clad blonde said as he held a fist out to the brunette. "All you've gotta do is train as hard as you can to become stronger—so strong that that demon won't dare poke its head in your life again and you can protect your friends and family with your _own_ power!"

Mamoru opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and began to think. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! I…I see…!" He bowed his head. "Thank you…"

Nataro blushed and chuckled to himself. "Heh-heh… No need to thank me! I was just doing my job!"

"I meant…thank you for telling me that. I think that, perhaps, I've had an epiphany…"

The blonde squinted his eyes in confusion. "Uh… about what?"

"That I might need an attitude adjustment. If I hope to become stronger, I need to change…" He bowed again and said, "Thank you for showing that to me," before exiting the room.

"Oh. Well…you're welcome," Nataro said as he scratched the back of his neck, eyes squinted in confusion. He stared at the open doorway before taking a deep breath. "It's not my fault… At least, not _totally_…"

"**And I suppose it's **_**my**_** fault that you can't control your anger. Admit it! You **_**liked**_** being in that state, didn't you? You liked the feeling, the **_**power**_** that your former self was too afraid to take hold of. Don't you see?"**

'_I wanna be stronger than him…'_ He thought with a clouded expression. He looked at Tsuki. _'But __**not**__ if it causes things like __**this**__! I'll find some other way to get stronger!!'_

**X-X-X**

Several days later, in Sunagakure, Tsuki, Masaru, Kagura and Hanzo stood before the Rokudaime Kazekage, his hat resting upon his cluttered up desk.

"I see…" The man leaned back and bridged his fingers together as a frown appeared on his face. "My deepest apologies for all the trouble Mamoru has caused, and I thank you for bringing the children back home."

"Actually, Kazekage-sama, if I may speak," Hanzo started, refusing to make eye contact with the Kazekage. "It wasn't _entirely_ Mamoru's fault."

"You don't have to protect him. I know what he's done. He told me before you all entered."

The raven blinked. "Huh?"

"He said he let his anger control his actions, and as a result, he hurt anyone who got in his way." The Kazekage looked at Tsuki. "He also said that he wishes to apologize for injuring you, Asahara-san."

"Oh, he doesn't have to apologize!" The purple-haired kunoichi said with a smile and a wave. "Why, he's done that all the way here! Heh-heh… Besides, I'm feeling much better now—" Hanzo poked her in the middle of her back, causing Tsuki to freeze on the spot. "Ah…!" She glared at the raven out of the corner of her eye.

"Kazekage-sama, if it won't be too much trouble, may I use one of your carrier hawks?" Masaru asked as he bowed his head slightly. "I'd like to inform our Hokage about our return."

"Of course." The Kazekage made a motion with his hand and a veiled Suna jonin stepped forward. "Junpei will show you the way. You are welcome in Sunagakure for as long as you need."

"Did you hear that, Tsuki-sensei?" Hanzo whispered to his sensei. "You should rest."

"Are you kidding? It's been quite a while since I've been to Sunagakure! I'm hitting the shaved ice shop!"

The Uchiha slumped over and sweatdropped. _'I swear, the only other person who cares less about their physical injuries is Nataro.'_

**X-X-X**

"So, you told your father that you caused a lot of trouble?" Nataro asked as he and Mamoru stood on a balcony somewhere in the Kazekage's Tower.

Mamoru nodded. "Mm-hm."

"And you told him about that _you-know-what_ in you?"

The brunette closed his eyes and sighed. "No… I've known about Shukaku's existence for quite some time—though before, I assumed it was just a dream. If I told my father that I have a demon inside of me, who knows what could happen? He might see me as a threat to my village and put me away forever…"

The blonde sweatdropped as Mamoru leaned over the railing. "Gee… Don't be so overdramatic! He's your _dad_. His blood runs through your veins! He wouldn't do something like _that_." _'But then again…didn't Gaara say something about his own father trying to kill him in the past?'_

"He may be my father, but he's the Kazekage first. The safety of Suna comes before my feelings. It's been that way ever since he got the position." Mamoru's face suddenly gained a somber look. "That's why he's more concerned about my training and less about my hobbies and things like that. For some reason, he expects great things from me."

Nataro remained silent as he stared at the contemplating brunette.

"So I've decided. On my path to become stronger, I will make it my goal to live up to my father's expectations."

"Mm!" The blonde began to smile. "That's a great idea! And I know you can do it. You've got tons of potential! Now, if only you could fix that problem with falling asleep all the time, then you'd be—!"

"Zzzz…" Mamoru snored as he began to tilt over the railing of the balcony.

"Ah!!" Nataro grabbed him by the waist and pulled the brunette away from the railing, causing Mamoru to wake up.

"Zzzz… Huh? What happened?"

You fell asleep. _Again_!" Nataro grumbled as he glared down at Mamoru.

The genin sweatdropped and looked down at the ground. "Sorry…"

"Like I was saying: you've _got to work_ on that falling asleep all the time problem!"

"I know, I know."

"Because if you did, then maybe you could focus long enough to do some hardcore training!"

Unnoticed by the two teens, Sayuri was standing behind the wall, smiling to herself.

**X-X-X**

"Ohhhhh, the _pain_…!" Tsuki cried as she leaned against a wooden post the next day. Today, the Konoha squads would be returning back to Konohagakure, but last night was a night Tsuki would not forget for some time. Mainly because she had somehow gotten drunk, thanks to the trickery of Nataro and Kazemaru, and danced the night away with a tall, tan and handsome Suna jonin at a bar. And it was good…up until he dipped her and made her injuries even worse. "Damn that dip…!" She grunted as the rest of the ninja sweatdropped.

"S-sorry, Tsuki-sensei! I thought you were better this morning—_honest_!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he held his hands out in front of him in defense.

"In my opinion, that's what you get for going out to party when you should have been resting," said Hanzo as he stared at the crying woman.

"Curse you, Hanzo!! Stop being such a goody-two-shoes and help me!!" Tsuki growled as her eyes began to glow red with anger.

The Uchiha sweatdropped and blinked in surprise. "Yes, m'am."

"So, what were we talking about?" Kazemaru asked Nataro with an arched eyebrow.

"I was telling you that Mamoru wanted to become friends." The blonde sniffed and began to rub his nose. "Because, you know…he looks up to me and wants to reach my level someday…"

Ina, who was standing nearby, snorted. "Stop lying. Who in their right minds would look up to _you_: the loudest, most annoying ninja in the world?"

Nataro's eye twitched and he turned his head to glare at the raven-haired girl. "You know, Weasel Girl, I've heard of weasels who live around here as a ninja summoning. Why don't you go find some so you can make a nice sandstorm to wreak havoc in?"

"As soon as you find a tree to climb up and fall from, you monkey."

"Monkey?! You…bitch!"

"Moron."

"Mega-Bitch!!"

"Asshole."

"Uh…_Queen_ Bitch!!"

"Is that the best you can do? Simply adding words to your first insult? How pathetic…" The female Uchiha spoke as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I…! You…! Screw you!!" The blonde flipped the Uchiha the bird, huffed, and turned his back to her.

"Nice comeback," Kagura spoke flatly with a half-lidded gaze. "The only person I know who sucks more at comebacks is Bao Zi."

At those words, Bao Zi sweatdropped. "Huh? When was _I_ a part of this conversation?"

"It's not his fault. When it comes to Ina, he's always on the bottom," said Kaze.

Nataro's face turned red. "Hey!! That's not true!! Don't say it like that!!"

Kagura arched an eyebrow. "They have some bad history together, huh?"

"Yup. She's on top every time."

"Stop that!! The way you say it…sounds…_so wrong_!!" Nataro exclaimed, turning away from the two chunin as they began to talk more.

After staring at the shinobi before him, Masaru finally spoke. "Alright, let's go! We have a long journey ahead of us."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Captain Pretty Boy," said Kazemaru.

"Give him some more respect! He may be the same age as you, but _he's_ an elite jonin," Ina told him.

The orange-haired teen arched an eyebrow. "Oh, _really…_?" He looked away from her and muttered with half-lidded eyes. "Like I care."

"Masaru-kun is right. The sooner we leave Suna, the sooner we can get back home," said Tsuki as she walked towards the group with Hanzo in tow. _'And the sooner I can see a chiropractor…!'_

"I'm gonna miss Sunagakure… The weather here makes girls wear such revealing clothing!" Kazemaru exclaimed with a perverted grin and a blush on his face.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" A female voice shouted. The group turned to see Sayuri running towards them. She stopped in front of Nataro.

"Have you come to bid us goodbye, Sayuri-san?" Kagura asked.

"Actually…" She looked at Nataro. "I forgot to thank you."

"Hm?" The blonde blinked.

"Well, because of you, Mamoru's more motivated with training than he was before," said the redheaded girl. "I'd like to thank you for that."

Nataro began to blush and scratch his head as a grin appeared on his face. "You don't have to do that! I was glad to help him out!" Before he knew it, Sayuri's face was a few inches from his.

"I _want_ to thank you. So just relax…" She grabbed his shoulders and began to stare into his eyes. What followed next was a shock to everyone, including Nataro… Sayuri had _kissed him_. On the _lips_.

After they broke apart, the blonde stared, his eyes reduced to little blue dots as his face turned cherry red. In the background, Kazemaru had a blank, shocked expression on his face with his mouth hanging open. "Wh-what just happened here?"

"What? You didn't want to kiss me? Don't you think I'm pretty?" Sayuri asked the blonde with a smirk.

"O-oh, no!! I think you're very pretty! _Really_ pretty!"

"Stop being so jittery. It was only a good luck kiss to wish you a safe journey home. Did you think I suddenly fell in love with you or something? As if!" In a whirl of wind, the redhead was gone.

"…Well. That was…interesting," said Hanzo as he arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well… Now that I think about it, Sayuri's more your type, Nataro." Kazemaru nodded. "You _do_ seem to attract the weird chicks."

"Oh, Nataro!! You're so lucky!!" Bao Zi exclaimed. "I'd do anything to have a princess kiss me! I'm so jealous!!"

"But, I…I didn't want it…" Nataro mumbled as he stared out into space. _'I was just kissed by the Kazekage's daughter… And yet, I feel as if something bad's going to happen.'_

Ina suddenly dropkicked Nataro in the back of his head, making him fall face first on the sand. "Pervert!! If you didn't want it, why'd you let her kiss you for so long?!" She growled as a vein throbbed on her forehead and her cheeks were tinged with cherry red.

Nataro sat up and spat out some sand. "What's the big idea, Weasel Girl? My romantic affairs aren't any of _your_ business!"

"I was worried that you were going to do something to Sayuri-san!"

"Uh, hello?! I wasn't trying to do _anything_!! I was still in shock from that kiss!"

"Maybe so, but I knew what you might have done if that kissing business went on any longer!"

"Bitch!!"

"Pervert!"

Masaru sweatdropped. _'Are they going to do that the entire trip home…?'_

"Don't tell me we'll have to endure _this_ until we make it home…?" Kagura asked Hanzo.

The male Uchiha sweatdropped and shook his head. "I'm afraid so, Kagura-kun. I'm afraid so…"

**X-X-X**

As the camera turned on, Nataro popped up in front of the screen holding a microphone. "Hey, hey!! We've made it, everybody!! The first arc of Naruto X Arashiden has been _completed_!!" The blonde shouted as he punched a fist up into the air. In the background, the cast clapped as they sipped their refreshment and munched on their snacks.

"I'm so glad this arc is over…" Tsuki moaned as she rubbed her back. "Now maybe I can relax for a couple of days while Blu Rose gets to work on her other stories."

"Poor Tsu-Tsu! Not even Sasu-sensei's got back problems! Heh!" Kira smirked and took a swig of sake. Must be a case of advanced aging."

"What'd you say?!" The kunoichi shouted as she threw a plate at her childhood friend's head. The black-and-white-haired man ducked and the plate hit Kazemaru in the back of his head.

"GAH!! Damn it all to hell!!" The pyromanic chunin cursed as he held the back of his head with one hand.

Ignoring the escalating chaos in the background, Nataro walked over to Mamoru. "Hey, Mamoru! This arc was pretty awesome, huh?"

"I'm not sure. Most of the time, I was on the warpath." Mamoru paused for a moment and began to smile. "Still, I enjoyed working with you very much."

The blonde gave a broad grin. "The feeling's mutual!" He began to pout and scratched his head. "It's a… It's a shame you guys won't be seen again for a long time…" He turned to Otokaze and Yasha, who were both eating a stick of dango. "And what about you guys? Were you satisfied with your small parts or were you hoping for more?"

"I don't mind," said Yasha as she paused in her eating. "I know who the main character is in this story."

Otokaze nearly choked on a dumpling. "Wh-what?! You honestly meant to say that you don't mind being a secondary character?!"

"Of course not. That's what we were made to be, right?"

"Er… W-well, weren't you hoping that you could use your puppet in combat or…_something_?!" The dark-haired chunin shouted as he waved his hands in the air and a small vein throbbed on the side of his head.

"So long as I know I'm powerful, that's good enough for me."

Otokaze stared at his teammate with half-lidded eyes. "Mamoru's not the only person in need of an attitude change…"

"Uh… Well, nice talkin' to ya!" Nataro walked away from the Suna chunin. "Now, who am I gonna talk to next?" He looked out of the corner of his eye and his jaw dropped. "GAHHHH!!! Wh…what the hell?!" The camera turned around to show Ina and Masaru sitting at a table together.

"You can take this," the raven-haired teen said as he held his stick of dango across the table to Ina. "I don't like sweets all that much."

"Oh?" The Uchiha began to blush and held a hand against her cheek. "I… I'm not sure. I've already had _three_. Any more and I'll probably gain weight."

Masaru began to look the kunoichi up and down. "You don't look bad to me. Besides, it's a party. You're supposed to indulge yourself at these things."

Ina's blush darkened and was now more visible on her pale skin. "I…I. guess you're right. Besides, I probably won't be able to attend a party like this for a while…" She reached across the table to grab the stick, but her fingers brushed against Masaru's fingers, causing her to withdraw her hand.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"I…"

Nataro suddenly popped up in front of the jonin's table. "Hey! What're _you_ guys doing, huh?" He asked with shifty eyes, though his glances were mostly directed at Masaru.

The female Uchiha began to glare at the black-clad blonde. "None of your business, you eyesore. _Leave_."

"Hm?" He looked at her and arched an eyebrow. "Why's your face all red? Are you drunk or something?"

"Grrrr…!" A small vein popped up on Ina's forehead before her Sharingan activated. "I told you to _leave_!" She growled.

Nataro frowned and began to persist. "What happened?" He glanced at Masaru. "Did _he_ do something to you?"

The raven-haired kunoichi began to shake from all her bottled up aggression. "That…does it!!" She grabbed a plate and flung it at Nataro, but he ducked and the dinnerware hit the camera instead, knocking it over.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Weasel Girl?! I'm only trying to help!!" Nataro shouted off-screen.

"_Your_ help is nothing but trouble!!"

"That's the last time I help _you_, bitch!!"

"I never _wanted_ you to help me! I don't _need_ help, you moron!!"

"Inahime, relax. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Y-yes… I'm fine."

"Eh?! How come you can tell _him_, but not _me_?!"

"Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"Come on!! Why can you tell him and not _me—_" The camera suddenly turned off, as a result of low batteries.


	59. Omake 4: Naruto Gakuenden X

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series. If she did, Gakuenden would be a spinoff series and Gakuenden X here would be the spinoff's sequel! But she doesn't… She just owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_Omake 4: Naruto Gakuenden X!_

"Alright, Blu! What's the big deal?" Nataro asked as he pointed a finger at the authoress sitting at the desk. Standing on either side of him were Kazemaru and Hanzo, who were both looking at Blu Rose. "What's this about the first chapter-length omake of Arashiden?"

"Heh-heh-heh…! Well…" Blu bridged her fingers and gave a cat-like smirk. "You guys know about Naruto Gakuenden?"

"What?" The blonde and orange-haired chunin sweatdropped, their eyes reflecting confusion.

"You mean that special that made the story from one of the Shippuden endings into a short comic book-like cartoon set in the modern world?" Hanzo asked.

"How'd _you_ know about that?!" Kazemaru exclaimed.

"I watch YouTube."

Blu Rose nodded. "Right! Well, for Naruto X, I've decided that we'll do something similar to that…"

The Uchiha blinked. "You're going to write a High School oneshot? I thought you hated writing those?"

"It doesn't matter since this is gonna be a sequel to Gakuenden—starring you guys!" The authoress began to smile, satisfied with herself. "So, what do you think?"

"Is there gonna be romance in this skit?" Nataro asked with squinted eyes.

"Uh… I don't know. We'll have to see how it all plays out… So, let's go and start the fic!"

"Wait a minute, we haven't agreed to do it!"

"You're my characters. I control what you do."

Kaze snapped his fingers. "Damn! She's got us there…"

"Alright…" Nataro muttered. "_But_! I better not wind up kissing any boys!!"

**X-X-X**

It all played like some grainy black-and-white movie. The wind howled as the young man with black hair that spiked in the back walked onto the field, dressed in a fine suit that seemed out of place. He stopped walking when he came across another young man with brighter hair, wearing a school uniform with a black jacket and headband.

"I see you've finally graduated. I'm surprised."

"Me, too. I honestly didn't think I would make it," the blonde boy said as he released the piece of paper in his hand. The document that was his high school diploma fluttered on the breeze and disappeared from sight. "I've waited a long time for this…Sasuke."

"Hmph!" The dark-haired young man smirked and stared at the blonde with interest as he took off his jacket.

"It's time we finally settle this...Sasuke!!"

**X-X-X**

_**55 years later…**_

An elderly man laid down in his bed, with fading blonde hair that was starting to gray and wearing a long-sleeved orange and black jacket with a black shirt and pants. The whisker like marks on his face easily blended in with the wrinkles while one hand occasionally twitched.

"WHERE IS HE?!?" A woman screamed shrilly just outside of his door. That was enough to get the old man to open his pale blue eyes and sit up, with a bit of difficulty. The door of his room was kicked open and a woman in her mid-thirties walked in. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, brown eyes, and wore a short-sleeved floral print dress. "I need to talk to you!!"

The old man yawned and gave a lazy smile. "Oh, Aiko-san! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Aiko pointed a finger at him, her eye twitching. "You got him in trouble again!!"

"Pardon me? Got who in trouble?"

The blonde woman looked over her shoulder and glared at whoever was standing outside of the door. "You _better_ come in here!!" She growled. A boy of 16 immediately walked into the room. He had spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and was wearing a school uniform that was dirty and had little splatters of blood. The boy had a black eye and a busted lip. "He got in a fight—_again_! And it's all your fault! It's _always_ your fault! You're the one who put this _'pick fights and get stronger'_ thing into his mind!!"

"I didn't start anything! It was the other guy who did it, Gramps! He kept talking down on me and he insulted Mom! That bastard got what was coming to him!" His mother slapped him in the back of the head. "Ow!!"

"No cursing!! It's bad enough that you're fighting like some common thug, I don't need you _speaking_ like one!"

"But it's true!! If it weren't for him making up lies, I wouldn't have been expelled!"

The old man's eyes widened. "Expelled?!"

"That was the closest school to our home! I can't trust him to go to a school on the other side of town because God knows what sort of trouble he's going to get into because of yooooooou!!" Aiko sobbed.

"What about that other school that's a couple of blocks away, Mom?" Nataro asked. "What's it called…Konoha Gakuen?"

"That's an important and expensive school!! Not only do we not have the money to send you there, you don't have the grade point average for it!! You'd get expelled in a weeeeeek!!"

"What kind of confidence is that in your son?!"

"Well, if you stopped getting yourself in trouble—!!"

"Ahem!" The old man cleared his throat, getting the mother and son's attention. "This is a problem. But don't worry, huh? I'll find some way to take care of this," he said with a smile.

Nataro's face brightened up. "Really, Gramps?! That's gr—" He was stopped when his mother slapped her hand over his mouth.

"By _'take care of this'_, you don't mean that you're going to use some _connections_ to do _something_ to the principal and get Nataro back in school, do you?" She asked flatly as she glared at the old man.

"Heh-heh. You think too badly of me, Aiko-san! I'll just get Nataro into another school. I know someone who runs a very nice place…"

**X-X-X**

_**A week later…**_

A camera turned on and began to record the image of a high school. "_This_ is Konoha Gakuen! One of the five best schools in the city, its students are tops in sports, scores, and overall fine behavior…"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Someone shouted offscreen.

"Eh…most of the time…" The camera turned around to show a 16-year old boy with short orange hair that had red-tipped bangs, dressed up in a short-sleeved black shirt with black pants and an open black jacket with a spiraling leaf symbol on the left breast. "That is Temashi Kazemaru. He's in my class."

"What…did you _say_?!" Kazemaru growled, cracking his knuckles as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"I-I-I was wondering…where you got that…hair dye from!" The poor unfortunate freshmen squeaked, looking ready to run for his life. "My friends and I were gonna cosplay and—"

"_Look_!! I am _sick and tired_ of people like you bugging me about it!! This is my _natural_ hair color!! It's REAL!!!" Kazemaru roared. The frightened freshman ran off without another word.

The person behind the camera spoke once more, "As you can tell, he has anger issues. And hair color issues… If he got any more upset, he may have wound up doing something that would get him expelled."

The orange-haired teen noticed the camera and glared at it. "Oy!! What do you think you're doing, White Eyes?"

The kid with the camera put it down. He was a 15-year old boy with slightly messy indigo hair with spiky bangs hanging in the front, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt and black pants with blue sneakers. Though his most peculiar feature were his white, pupil-less eyes. "I just got this camera as a gift from my grandparents, so I'm recording my life and sending it to them for Christmas!"

"Oh? Lucky you! All my grandparents ever gave me were clothes..."

Konjo noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to focus the camera on a pair of girls. One was pale-skinned with long black hair that reached down to the middle of her back, the other had long blue hair that reached past her shoulders and lavender eyes. Both wore short-sleeved white school shirts with red stripes along the sleeves, red ribbon bows on their collars and red skirts. "There's Uchiha Ina and Sekkei Shizuka, two more of my classmates. If the name sounds familiar, you aren't wrong: Ina really is the daughter of the head of MS Corp., Uchiha Naota."

"She's also our resident Ice Princess, and Shizuka-chan has the biggest rack in our grade!" Kazemaru added.

"Hey!! Don't say things like that! I'm sending this to my grandparents, remember? _'Big rack'_ isn't something I want them to hear!"

"Just saying…"

A girl suddenly slid into the camera's view. She had long reddish-brown hair and yellow eyes with white pupils, and wore the same school uniform as Ina and Shizuka with a purple choker around her neck and black boots. "Well, well, well~! What's this? If you were making a movie, you should've contacted a _star_ about it!" She cooed as she winked at the camera seductively.

"Hi…Rie," Konjo said with a nervous smile as Rie continued to pose for the camera.

"Ugh…! Great! Look who's here," Kazemaru groaned, facepalming. "Ladies and gentlemen, Konoha's resident schitzoid, Kurama Rie! This girl puts the _cute_ in _acute mental problems_!"

"Watch your mouth, you no-good pyromaniac!!" Rie shouted, pointing a finger at the tall boy.

The redhead removed his hand from his face to glare at the girl. "Have you pestered Hanzo for the morning? I think I see him over there!"

"Ha! I'm not gonna fall for that _this_ time!" The brunette said with a pout as a young man of 16 with long black hair tied into a low ponytail and glasses on his face quickly walked behind her.

"Rie! Don't be so rude, huh?" The camera turned to show a 15-year old boy with red eyes and short scarlet red hair and a set of hair that was combed to hang down the right side of his face to the chin. He wore a pair of oval-lensed black-framed glasses, a white shirt that was buttoned up all the way with a shirt long enough to reach his wrists underneath, a red tie, black gloves, black pants and black shoes.

"Yeah, if you're not careful, you could wind up angering him into actually punching a girl," said the taller boy standing next to the bespectacled redhead. He had short gray hair with his bangs hanging a few inches above his eyes and silver-gray eyes. He wore a dark green jacket over his school shirt and black pants, a long bag slung on his shoulder along with his schoolbag, and white and green shoes.

"Oh, please! He's not _man_ enough to beat up a woman!" Rie scoffed.

"Well, since I don't count _you_ as a woman, I _may_ change my mind," Kaze growled, balling up a fist in anger.

Konjo pointed the camera at the new kids one by one. "These are…Kurama Rie…Yoshida Kaoru…and Masamune Momotaro. Kaoru-kun is our class president and Masamune-kun is the best on our school's kendo team."

"Hey! If you're shooting a video with the student body in it, I expect that the student council will be getting a piece of the sales," Kaoru said as he adjusted the glasses.

"Oh, it's not that! This is just a tape for my grandparents. I wanna show them a day in the life of Hyuga Konjo! After school, I'm gonna show them where I work."

"Hmph! Alright… I'll let it slide…_today_."

The bell rang and the students began to go into the school. As this happened, a car pulled up outside of the school gate. A backseat door was thrown open and Nataro barreled out, wearing the Konoha boy's uniform with a long black jacket, an orange headband with a black spiral in the center, white sneakers and a pair of orange goggles around his neck on a black band. "Awwww!! You see what you guys made me do?! The bell's already rang!!"

"Sorry, Nataro-kun," said one of the men sitting in the front seats. He couldn't tell which one because aside from hairstyles, they both wore the same black suits, shades and ties. "Traffic was out of our control."

"Yeah, yeah! But if I get in trouble for this somehow, I'm gonna kick your asses afterschool!!" The blonde exclaimed as he darted off towards the building.

The two suits sighed. "So… What do we have to do now?" The suit in the driver's seat asked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Well, we've got go check up on the businesses…get something from the head of the Kaze gang…and then Boss wants us to pick up the new lingerie catalog that came out…" The person in the passenger's seat spoke as they drove off.

**X-X-X**

Several minutes later, we find Nataro standing in front of a classroom of his new classmates, alongside a woman in her 30's with purple hair set up in a spiky ponytail and large breasts, wearing a blue business suit with a match skirt.

"Alright, class! This is our new classmate, Kazaki Nataro. He just transferred here from Ame Gakuen," the teacher, Asahara Tsuki, explained.

"Ame Gakuen? I heard all sorts of thugs come from that side of town!" Rie whispered to one of the girls sitting next to her. "How'd someone from _that_ place get to a school like Konoha?"

"Rie!!" Tsuki spoke, making the yellow-eyed girl sit up straight and gulp. Tsuki made a zipper gesture across her mouth before continuing, "As I was saying…he's just transferred here, so I expect that you will do your best to make him feel welcome." She looked at Nataro, who was standing there rigidly, straight as a statue. _'Poor kid looks scared stiff…'_ "Nataro! Why don't you introduce yourself to your classmates?"

The blonde snapped out of his thoughts. "Uh… My name is Kazaki Nataro…and…" He folded his arms apart and smirked. "My ambition is to become the souban of all the gangs in Japan!!"

The people in the class stared at him in silent shock. Tsuki sweatdropped. _'Oh, boy… This is what happens when you allow kids from a bad part of town to come to a nice school…'_

'_That's it! Let them swim in my glory!'_ Nataro thought, still smirking.

Ina who was sitting up front, snorted. "Who are you kidding? You're just a dumb thug."

A vein popped up on the blonde teen's forehead and began to scan the class. "Who said that?! I'll deck you good!!" He shouted, shaking a fist at the students.

"Me. What're you gonna do about it?" The raven-haired girl asked with an arched eyebrow. Nataro stared at her, speechless, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. "What's the matter? Not man enough to hit a girl?"

"THAT'S…enough!!" Tsuki exclaimed, grabbing Nataro by the ear and pulling it hard. "You are in _my_ class now! I will _not_ tolerate you picking fights; otherwise I'll kick _your_ ass out into the principal's office!! And Ina, quit egging the boy on!!"

"Hmph!" Ina turned her head and snorted.

"Now, take your seat next to Hanzo over there!" The teacher said as she pointed at a raven-haired boy with long hair in a ponytail and glasses on his face somewhere in the middle of the class. The blonde frowned and took a seat next to him. "Now, let's move on to our English lesson, shall we? Nataro-kun, I trust that you were on the same level at your old school that we're on here because I will not be backtracking through the entire semester's work for you."

"Great… My worst subject…" Nataro muttered, squinting his eyes in irritation.

"I could help you with that."

"Eh?" The blonde looked at Hanzo as Tsuki asked Ina to stand up and answer a question.

"With English… With all our classes, really. I have all the notes for this semester, so I could let you copy them when you've got the time."

"Really?" Nataro grinned and scratched his cheek. "Gee, thanks!" _'Maybe it won't be so bad here after all. At least it's not as hard to make friends.'_

**X-X-X**

After getting through morning classes, Nataro was sitting outside in the courtyard at a table, eating a store bought bento by himself. _'I wanted to eat lunch with Hanzo, but it looks like he's gone and disappeared,'_ he thought as he scooped up some rice and shoveled it into his mouth. He was about to get another when someone slammed their hands down onto the table. Looking up, he saw that it was Kazemaru, smirking and leering at him.

"Well, if it isn't the gangster wannabe? Heh-heh…!" He scratched his head. "So, what's the big deal? You think that the best way to get respect in this place is by telling 'em you're all for the mob?" He stifled a laugh . "You don't even look that tough! Can you throw a punch, _souban_?" In the blink of an eye, the orange-haired teen raised his hand to catch Nataro's punch before it could hit him in the face. Their eyes locked, prompting a smirk from the taller boy.

"Don't you _dare_ make fun of me, Carrot Top!" The blonde spoke through gritted teeth.

A vein popped up on Kaze's forehead. "What'd you say?!"

**X-X-X**

Up on the school roof were Hanzo and Shizuka, sitting down on the pavement and leaning back against the chain link fence. The girl held out her bento box over to the bespectacled boy, blushing slightly. "H-here, Hanzo-kun! I made this for you try out…"

"Thanks," he said with a small smile as he took the box from her and opened it up. One compartment had a pair of onigiri that were made to resemble bunnies with seaweed ears, another had white rice with little heart-shaped carrots and eggplant on top, and the last had a tonkatsu (deep-fried pork) sandwich. "Looks good."

"Please, taste it! And be honest about it!" But before the raven-haired boy could pick up the chopsticks, a scream interrupted. They turned around and looked down at the courtyard to see a crowd circling around a pair of students who were exchanging blows, their blonde and orange hair highly visible. "Huh? A fight!"

"That hair could only mean one person… Who's Kazemaru picking a fight with now?" Hanzo groaned in disbelief. He turned around and settled himself on the ground once more. "Never mind them, Shizuka-chan. All fighting leads to is trouble."

The blue-haired girl looked at him before nodding and sitting down beside him. "So, which will you try first…?"

**X-X-X**

"Come on, Kaze!! Bash his head in!!"

"Teach that thug who's boss 'round here!!"

"Send him crying back to the hood!!"

"The hood? Have you been watching American television online again?"

Nataro and Kazemaru stood a few feet apart, bruises on every visible part of their body. They narrowed their eyes, dashed towards each other, threw a punch into each other's faces! After a few seconds of standing still, Kazemaru was the first to fall back, coughing. Nataro stood smirking…until he fell back and held onto his face.

**X-X-X**

"You two have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

Nataro bit his lower lip as he and Kazemaru sat before the principal. He couldn't believe that after only one day, he was sent to the principal's office. His mom was going to _kill him_! "Uh…"

"We weren't _seriously_ fighting, sir!" Kaze spoke up. "Yeah, we…were sparring! See, he said he took martial arts classes, and I said that I was the best in school, and he said that he wanted to spar with me to see for himself. So, y'see, it…it wasn't anything serious. These kids are just _starved_ for action, so they'll shout _'fight'_ for just about anything with violence in it, y'know?"

"No… I don't," the principal spoke flatly. "But if it was just a spar, I see no reason why I should have to punish you. But next time, try fighting outside of the school campus. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir," the two boys spoke, bowing their heads and immediately leaving the office.

Later, as the two of them entered the hallway, Nataro looked at Kazemaru and grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him from walking away. "Hey! What'd you do that for?"

"Hm? What?" The orange-haired boy asked with an arched eyebrow.

"You just covered for me back there. How come?"

Kaze turned around and folded his arms across his chest. "If you've gotta know…it's 'cuz I kinda like you." The blonde arched an eyebrow at this. "They say that when two men exchange blows, they can tell what each other is feeling. I like how you punch. I felt that you're just like me—you wanna be respected, right?" He looked down at the ground. "All guys join the mob 'cuz they wanna be respected…and if you wanna became a souban, you've gotta have a gang, don'tcha?"

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "What're you trying to say?"

"Look, long story short: I wanna join your gang!" The orange-haired teen said as he jabbed a thumb at his chest. "Every souban needs a gang to follow him, right? Of course, don't expect me to call you boss or nothin'. I won't be doing that until you get strong enough to be the boss! Alright?" He held out a fist. Nataro stared at him in confusion until he started to shake his fist. The blonde got what he meant and they bumped fists.

**X-X-X**

The trouble Nataro seemed to cause only increased after that day. The next day, he demanded that all the school's fighters come take him on—with losers having to join his small gang. Only a few weak guys actually dared to show up and he whupped them all. The student body grew tired of Nataro and his delinquent behavior. Some tried to complain to the school staff, but the only teacher that did anything was Hakubo-sensei, who beat him down hard enough to break his arm for a week and declared that as punishment. A week later, he went back to demanding challenges. The principal wasn't doing anything, either—maybe because he enjoyed watching the chaos that had formed in his school.

Eventually, Nataro managed to irritate the school's most prominent fighters: Masamune, who thought he was causing chaos among their school. Taijutsu Club's strongest members Kagura and Bao Zi, who felt they should take care of him. Kurama Rie, who felt he was taking up too much of Hanzo's time that he didn't spend with Shizuka. Hyuga Konjo, who brawled with him under a misunderstanding about a missing camera. And Yoshida Kaoru, the class president, head of the student council, and a skilled martial artist. They took him on and one by one, Nataro beat 'em all until there was one person left on his figurative hit list. The girl everyone feared being beat up by… The girl who deemed him unworthy of her time…Uchiha Ina!

It all started that day on the roof, where Ina sat down on a large pipe that led into the building, drinking a soda. The door that led back downstairs opened and Nataro walked out. When he stepped into view, their eyes locked for a few seconds before the raven-haired girl looked away from him.

"What do you want? I'm not gonna play _'school rumble'_ with you like everyone else has been doing, you know," she said, closing her eyes. "So get lost."

"Not a chance!" The blonde said as he folded his arms across his chest. "I heard you've got some serious skill. Why don't you stop being a coward and just fight me, so we can settle once and for all who's the strongest in this school?"

"Like I said: I don't want to play with you. But if you continue to irritate me, I have no control over my actions."

Nataro furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you just fight me, you flat-chested bitch?!"

The corner of Ina's mouth twitched. She dropped her can and she stood up and turned to look at the boy. She opened her eyes and glared at him. "What…did you say?" She cracked her knuckles. "Okay… I'll play your idiotic game. But when I'm done beating you into a bloody pulp, you _will not_ speak to me for the rest of your pathetic life!"

The blonde smirked. "And when I'm done with you, you'll go out on a date with me!"

A vein popped up on the raven-haired girl's head and she dashed towards him with a balled up fist. "Don't count on it!!" She punched at his face, but he blocked her fist with his hand. She countered with a sweep of her leg that knocked Nataro off of his feet. The blonde caught himself in time by propping himself up with one arm and kicked Ina in the stomach. Ina grabbed his leg and twisted it, making him land on his stomach. The raven-haired girl jumped on top of him, ramming her knee into his back. She then grabbed his head and slammed it down onto the pavement. "Do you give?"

"Back off!!" Nataro shouted as he reached behind him and grabbed her hair. She didn't scream, but he pulled on it hard enough to get Ina to let go of his head, letting him roll over so _he_ was on top of her. The blonde sat on her legs and gave her a hard punch to the stomach, then another. He was about to give her a third when she suddenly sat up and headbutted him before landing on top of him. "Get off of me!!" The blonde shouted as they rolled around on the ground, scratching and punching away at each other.

As the two teens fought, the door that led up to the roof opened and a man stepped out onto the rooftop to see the boy on top of the girl, their school shirts buttoned down, their hair mussed up, and their faces red and sweaty in exhaustion. And he had only three things to say: "What…the…FUUUUUUUUCK?!?"

**X-X-X**

At the end of the school day, in the principal's office, the man sat at his desk, drumming his fingers on it as he hummed angrily to himself. Sitting before them were his school's current #1 delinquent, one of the school's highest-scoring students, and their respective guardians. "I trust you know why I called you two here?"

"You told me about this on the phone," the old woman sitting next to Ina spoke as she stared at the principal. Her short gray hair had streaks of dull pink remaining in it and her pale green eyes showed irritation. She wore a long-sleeved red dress with a short-sleeved white coat. "And I don't believe a word of it. There is no way that my granddaughter could do the sort of thing you described!"

"Well, Uchiha-san, you have to admit…she _was_ on her back and breathing like she just—" A look from the old lady made the principal stop speaking. "_But_, I'm not saying that it was her fault. Especially since the _other_ culprit has been causing trouble here for quite some time." At this, Sakura looked at Nataro.

"What?! This isn't fair!! We weren't makin' out up there—we were _fighting_!!" The blonde teen shouted, only to be slapped in the back of the head by the elderly blonde man sitting next to him. "Ow…!"

"Quiet, you." The old man muttered. "With all due respect, I'm sure Nataro wasn't trying to do anything to Ina-chan. He's just very aggressive when it comes to fighting and he's sorry if he seriously injured her."

"Are you kidding?! He punches like a baby!" Ina spoke up.

"What?! If you talk like that, I ain't sorry for hurting you!!" Nataro shouted.

"Shut the _hell up_!!" The principal screamed, slamming his open palm down on the desk, gaining the teens' attention. "Okay, so you _weren't_ making out, but you were fighting…and made me miss out on my lunchtime! Your punishment will be two week's worth of detention with Tsubaki-sensei!!"

"WHAT?!?" The two teens screamed.

"Oh, be grateful it's just that and you weren't suspended!" The old lady chided as she wagged a finger at Ina. "Is that all you have to say to us, sir?"

"Yes, m'am."

"I see. I'm so sorry for my granddaughter's behavior. I promise that it won't happen again once I speak to her _father_! Come on," she said as she grabbed her granddaughter's arm and stood up with a bit of effort.

"What? Grandmother, _please_! We don't have to call my dad for this!" She whined as she was pulled out. Ina turned her head to glare at Nataro and mutter, "Next time I see you, I'll _kill you_!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The next time you see me, it'll be from across a booth in Hagakure—for our _date_!" The blonde said with a smirk.

"Screw you, moron!!" The raven screeched before her grandmother pulled her all the way out of the office.

"I can't believe that the first time I've seen Sakura in years, it's gotta be for something like _this_," the old blonde muttered, rubbing his temples. He struggled for a moment to get up from his seat and smiled at the principal. "Thank you so much for not expelling Nataro, Kira."

The black-and-white-haired 30-something year old man loosened up his tie. "Yeah, yeah… But your grandkid better straighten up his act before I have no choice but to sic Hakubo-sensei on him again to break a few more limbs."

"I try, but you know how kids are these days. They're just out of control."

"Not all of 'em. Some are just troublemakers like your brat, Naruto-san—er, _Namikaze_-san..." At those words, Nataro glared at Kira.

**X-X-X**

"Picking fights with girls… Haven't I told you that all this bad behavior makes _both _of us look bad to your mother?" Naruto chided his grandson as they walked down the school steps. "You have to learn to stop picking fights and focus on your education."

"What's the point? I suck at school! It makes more sense for me to succeed you than study for some college and never get into," the boy said with a pout.

Once they reached the bottom step, the old man looked at Nataro sadly and opened his mouth to say something when Kazemaru and Konjo ran up to him.

"Yo, Nataro!"

"We were waiting out here for you after we heard what happened with Ina. What happened?" Konjo asked.

"Heh!" Nataro folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "Oh, nothing. I just beat up Ina and secured the title of Konoha Gakuen's Strongest!! Hahaha!!"

The white-eyed boy blinked. "Uh… Have you beaten Hanzo?"

"Hahaha— Huh? What'd you say?"

"Hanzo. Uchiha Hanzo. The guy you sit next to in class?"

"I know who you're talking about! I meant what you're trying to tell me!"

"Well…he doesn't like to show off, but Hanzo's _way_ stronger than Ina," Konjo whispered.

"Yeah. Ina's fanboys and fangirls love her too much to say otherwise because Hanzo's a shy, modest bookworm. But one time…I saw him _punch through a wall_," said Kazemaru. "If he weren't so against violence, I'd wanna fight 'em!" He stared at the blonde boy in confusion. "Uh… Nataro? You okay?"

Nataro stood there with his jaw down and his eyes large and blank. "Hanzo's…the strongest…? _Hanzo_…?! HANZO?!?"

"I think that little tidbit of information fried his mind," Konjo said with a sweatdrop while Kaze arched an eyebrow.

**X-X-X**

The next day, as Nataro was being driven to school by Naruto's men, the blonde boy sank in his seat, muttering obscenities to himself. _'I can't believe I've gotta spend two weeks after school with Iron Maiden Tsubaki-sensei and that bitch Ina… This is gonna suck!'_ He thought before someone ran out in front of the car and was hit. The car skidded to a halt, the suit who was driving clutching the steering wheel tightly.

"Awww, shit!!" He groaned as he and his partner got out of the car to look at the person they knocked down.

Nataro got out as well to look at the person. It was a girl who was about his age with long red hair, wearing a hospital gown. He stared at her in concentration as one of the suits pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. After a few more seconds, her eyes suddenly opened and she sat up, looking up at the blonde boy. "Do I…know you?"

**TO (NOT) BE CONTINUED…**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Remember to review for the sake of Blu!!**


	60. Welcome Back, Asura

**A little going away gift for Naruto X readers at Christmas. XOXO, Blu Rose. ^__^**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series. If she did, Naruto Gakuenden would go on as a separate AU series, we'd know who was paired up with who, Sakura would be closer in power to her teammates, and we'd see more Part 1-esque comedy. But she doesn't, so we don't, __**so there**__._

**X-X-X**

_#60: Welcome Back, Asura-chan!_

The day seemed to be a good one in Konohagakure. The sun was shining down on the village from its place in the clear, blue sky as a few white puffy clouds floated by. The people and shinobi of the Leaf were going about their daily duties, content with their lives. They were unaware of what was occurring beneath their feet, underneath the streets of their peaceful village.

As big as Konohagakure was, it is only natural that it have a large sewer system. Not many people knew this, but it had been used for more than merely a sewage system. The legendary Sannin Orochimaru had once set up a lab beneath Konoha in those very same sewers in order to perform his inhumane experiments in secret. However, when it was found by the Sandaime Hokage, the Snake Sannin was forced to flee. Since then, the Hokage and the Elders of Konoha began to consider using the sewers for their own means, but they had yet to use them for anything…until 3 years ago.

**X-X-X**

3 years ago, after the Asura's invasion of Konoha, the girl called Asura no Akasha fell into a comatose state. Since then, she had been moved underground, into the former lab of Orochimaru, for her safety and for the safety of the villagers. Of course, the conditions had to be changed: doors that could only be opened through a secret set of hand signs were set so no one without permission from Hokage-sama himself could enter, equipment from the hospital such as heart and brainwave monitors were brought down, the area had to be sanitized for the girl's health. It once dank sewer area could almost pass off for a hospital room.

"Heart rate…normal. Brainwaves…normal... Physically speaking, she's fully healed. Her brainwaves have been acting up a bit lately, but nothing else about her condition has changed. I don't understand why she still hasn't woken up yet," said Matsu, who was wearing the standard medical ninja uniform. He was looking at the ratings from the machines beside the bed where a girl laid, unconscious with her long red hair reaching down to her waist and wearing a white hospital gown. The blue-haired medic sighed and rubbed his temples. _'Maybe…she's never going to wake up on her own. I'll have to ask Hokage-sama if we could get a genjutsu specialist or Yamanaka from the Interrogation Squad to see what's the matter with her.'_ He looked down at the red-haired girl and saw her hand twitch. "Hm?"

The red-haired girl's hand twitched once more and her eyes began to move beneath their lids. She slowly sat up, bangs falling in front of her eyes. She opened her red eyes, which looked dull and empty, then stared at Matsu in silence.

**X-X-X**

"Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama!!" Tsuki exclaimed as she gave a salute with a large smile on her face. "There were a few complications, but Team Tsuki has returned unharmed, safe and sound!"

Her chunin subordinates sweatdropped and stared at her in disbelief. "Tsuki-sensei…you realize that we're in the _hospital_, right?" Nataro asked the purple-haired woman. "And you're in bed?" Team Masaru sweatdropped at this. "That's not even _Gramps_ you're talking to!" The woman standing at Tsuki's bedside had dark brown hair with a small bun on her head and brown eyes, wearing a short dark green dress with black heeled sandals.

"Uh… Right, right! Those painkillers must be getting to my head…" Tsuki mumbled as she rubbed her head. "Damn that Kira…! How dare he just tackle me like that, then run off and leave me there on the ground?!"

"I'm…sure that Kira-san had a reason…" Said Hanzo. "He looked pretty pretty scared for some reason."

"Yeah! 'Cuz he knew what would've happened if Tsuki-sensei got his hands on him!" Nataro pointed out.

"Um… Well, since both your squads have turned in your reports days ago, I guess I'll go turn them in to Hokage-sama," the brown-haired woman said with a bow. She turned to leave, but it seemed as if she remembered something and immediately turned around to face Nataro. "Oh, I almost! Uh, Kazaki Nataro?" The blonde looked away from his sensei and stared at the woman in confusion. "Hokage-sama wanted to see you as soon as you returned from your mission." She then quickly left the room.

Nataro gulped and pulled on the collar of his jacket. "Ohhhh, boy…! I've got a bad feeling about this…! I'm gonna die…!"

Ina arched an eyebrow. "What'd you do now, moron?"

"N-none of your business!!" The blonde shouted.

"Is it honestly _that_ bad, Nataro-kun?" Bao Zi asked.

"If Hokage-sama is asking for him, it has to be bad," said Kagura. "This is the same guy who who painted graffiti all over Konoha, remember?"

Ina arched an eyebrow. "Uh-huh." She turned to Masaru. "Now that the mission is over, Masaru-taichou—"

"You don't _have_ to call me _'-taichou'_ anymore. The mission's over now," said Masaru.

"Um… Masaru…-kun? Does that sound alright to you?" The raven-haired girl asked as she stared down at the ground with a slight blush on her cheeks. Masaru stared at the girl in confusion before nodding. "Okay. Masaru-kun, now that the mission is over, do you think that…maybe…we could train together?" Unnoticed by Ina and Masaru, Nataro and Kazemaru's jaws dropped in surprise. Bao Zi's eyes were large and blank. Kagura and Tsuki just stared in interest while Hanzo stared at his cousin in awe.

"Huh? Is that it? I thought it was something more serious with the way you were acting," the blue-eyed raven said with an arched eyebrow. "If a spar's all you want, sure. I'd be happy to oblige."

Ina looked up at Masaru, her eyes brightening immediately. "Really?! I mean…that's good, since…it's very hard to find strong people to train with. And you…you're very strong! I feel as though if I train with _you_, I'll learn more."

"Alright. When would you like to begin?"

"As quickly as possible…if you could."

Masaru looked down at the ground in thought. "Well… I'm not doing anything this afternoon. We could meet at Training Field 12."

"That's good. I have things I need to take care of." She began to back away from him, going towards the door while keeping her eyes on him. "I'll see you at noon, okay?" She then turned around and walked out, closing the door behind her. The moment she left, Kazemaru, Hanzo, Bao Zi and Kagura stared at Masaru in shock and awe while Nataro glared at him.

"Um… I have to go now." The blue-eyed raven looked at Tsuki, pretending not to notice the way the other boys were looking at him. "I hope you get well soon, Tsuki-san." With a courteous bow of the head, he left the room.

"Did that…just happen?" Hanzo asked no one in particular. "Was Ina…nice to a _guy_? I thought the only man she would act like that in front of was her father."

"Did you hear what she said?" Kazemaru asked as a perverted grin appeared on his face and a wicked glint appeared in his eyes. "_'Do you think that maybe…we could train together?'_" He imitated Ina as he placed his hands on his chest, feigning a blush. "You know what she _really_ wanted to say, right?"

The raven-haired boy arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know! I'm saying Fan Girl has the hots for Captain Pretty Boy…! That training thing is just an excuse for her to go on a _date_ with him!"

"WHAAAAAAT?!?" Nataro screamed, bringing all eyes on him. He was standing in a corner, slumped over, his head bowed with his bangs hiding his eyes, and an aura of sadness and anger swirling around him. "You've…got to be kidding me…! As if Ina would fall for _any_ guy, let alone that _pretty boy_! And I'm sure he doesn't know how much of a _bitch_ she can be!"

"Sounds like _someone's_ in denial," Kaze spoke flatly as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head. "C'mon, what're you sulking for? You were kissed by the Kazekage's daughter just a few days ago _and_—if she ever comes back—you've still got your beloved Pinkie! What's the loss of one girl on your _'List of Weird Girls I Like'_?"

"GRRRRR!!!" The blonde spun around and glared at his teammate with such intensity that the orange-haired chunin immediately silenced himself. "First of all: I _didn't_ like being kissed by her!!"

"Suuuure you didn't…" Kazemaru said with a skeptical look.

"Secondly, I never said I liked Ina! What we have is _not_ a friendship, not a relationship, but a bond of deep, intense, burning _hatred_!! And I know what she's like _deeeeep_ down inside!"

"Intense burning hatred? How is calling her a bitch intense and burning?"

"In fact, let 'em go on their training date! See if I care! I'll laugh my ass off when Ina manages to chase him away… Hmph!" The black-clad chunin snorted and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Oooooh!! This is _good_!! Heh-heh-heh!" Kaze began to smirk and rub his chin. "I bet Nataro's gonna do somethin' drastic to try and separate Ina and Masaru."

"Oh, please!! Nataro wouldn't do something like that!" Tsuki glared at the pyromanic boy in disappointment. "Really, Kazemaru!"

"But he _did_ look jealous when Masaru-sempai offered to train Inahime-chan," said Bao Zi as he scratched the back of his head. A look of disappointment appeared in his eyes and he began to sigh. "I don't blame him. Masaru-sempai is very attractive with that skin, those looks, that _smile_—!"

"We get it, we get it! He's a catch," said Kagura. "We oughtn't be mixing ourselves up in their problems, Bao Zi. Remember? We're supposed to find Jakki as soon as we were done?"

"Of course! I almost forgot about that!"

The sable-haired boy nodded to the remainder of Team 14. "It was…interesting being around you. You're not all morons like Kazemaru."

"What was that, you midget?!" The orange-haired boy growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"If we ever go on another mission together, I'll look forward to it!" The yellow-clad teen said with a sparkling grin.

"Uh…yeah… I gotta go, too. I have…_things_ to take care of," Kaze spoke with shifty eyes after Kagura and Bao Zi left. He approached the open window. "I hope you get better soon, Sensei!" The teen exclaimed before jumping out of the window.

"Make sure to get plenty of rest," said Hanzo as he walked out of the room, leaving Tsuki alone.

The purple-haired woman frowned. "Rest? How can I rest when I'm in so much _pain_…?" She fell back onto her bed for comfort, but only felt a sharp stinging pain along her spine and ribs. She grit her teeth as she endured the pain, muttering, "This…_stinks_…!"

**X-X-X**

A while later, after letting his anger out on random trees, posts and fences in the forms of kicks and punches, Nataro arrived at the Hokage's tower. As he walked inside of the large building, he didn't notice the shinobi who were leaving for missions, the clients from foreign countries—

"Excuse me? Excuse me! You aren't supposed to go upstairs without checking in first!!"

—And he definitely didn't notice the angry secretary who appeared to be swamped with paperwork.

'_Damn Ina… Asking guys out right there in front of my face… Not that I care,'_ the blonde thought. His feet guided the way through the building on memory while his mind was somewhere else. _'I don't even know why I'm obsessing over this. If Captain Pretty Boy's so great, he should be able to tame a shrew like Ina…'_ He began to envision a chibi-Masaru holding a whip and commanding a chibi-Ina, who had weasel ears and a tail. Nataro silently laughed to himself as chibi-Ina balanced a large red ball on her nose. The laughter increased in volume as he began to think about the little weasel girl balancing on the red ball. With his mind focused on the increasingly hilarious thought, he didn't notice how close he was getting to the door of Naruto's room. As chibi-Ina began to falter, waving her arms about in a hilarious manner, she fell. "OW!!!" And Nataro hit a door face first. "Damn it!! Where'd that door come from?!"

The blonde began to curse and pound on the door in anger, baring his teeth. When he was done, and leaned against the door, panting, before he opened it and walked inside with a cheerful expression on his face and a hand shoved in his pants pockets. "Yo, Gramps! You, uh, wanted to see me?" He said, saluting with his free hand.

Naruto, who was sitting in his bed wearing a yukata, stared at the boy.

Nataro blinked. "What?"

The elderly blonde gestured for the younger to come closer, which he did. He then pointed down. "Could you grab something for me down there? I dropped a scroll and it rolled under my bed."

Nataro narrowed his eyes. "Is _that_ why you called me? You've got an assistant for these sort of things, y'know!"

"I dropped it just now! And I haven't been feeling well enough to get out of bed, so…"

The orange-clad boy flinched and got on his knees, muttering, "Alright…" As soon as he got on the floor and looked under the bed, he was struck in the head with a pillow. "OW!!!" He looked up in time to be struck in the face with a pillow. "OOF!!! Knock it off, Gramps!!"

"Quiet!! Did you think I wouldn't find out?! That's hard to believe considering we have some sort of link!" Naruto growled as he glared at the boy before hitting him with the pillow once more. "I thought we came to an understand about this years ago! When _you_ tap into the Kyuubi's chakra, _I_ get hurt! This time, it was so bad I _still_ don't have the strength to get out of bed!!" He gave the younger blonde several whacks with a pillow, saying, "What! Do you! Have to! Say for! Yourself?!" with each blow.

"I didn't _mean_ to do it!! But it was an emergency!!" Nataro shouted as he got on his knees. "If I hadn't used it, we'd have all been killed by that giant tanuki!"

Naruto fell back onto the pillows behind him. "Right… I read about that Tsuki's report… Are you sure that it was the Shukaku?"

"Uh, I _think_ I would be able to tell if it wasn't the real one. Besides, it thought I was you and it talked about Gaara…-san? Gaara-sama? How…am I supposed to refer to him?" The young blonde asked, squinting his eyes in confusion. "Anyway, I'm sorry I hurt you and I hope I didn't cause you any trouble so please don't be upset!" He got to his feet and folded his arms across his chest. "Anyway, let's get down to business! What's up with Asura-chan?"

The Rokudaime Hokage arched an eyebrow. "What? Are you _still_ on that?! That wasn't a real document—"

"I know that!! But I still wanna know how she is! What's she doing?! Does she, uh…ask about me?" He asked as he sheepishly scuffed his foot on the floor.

"You…really _like_ her, don't you?"

Nataro flinched and a light red blush appeared on his cheeks. "D-don't be ridiculous…! I just wanna know if she's okay! C'mon… Please, Gramps— I mean, _Hokage-sama_?"

Naruto stared at the boy for a moment before he sighed in defeat. "If you must know…Asura-chan _may_ be coming back soon." Nataro's face brightened up. "Maybe! There are still a few problems—nothing to worry about, but it will take some time. But when the problem is fixed and I receive word, I'll be sure to tell you when she comes back, hm?"

"Okay!" The young blonde exclaimed enthusiastically before turning his back on the old man. "I've got things to do! I gotta…I gotta scrounge up my money! I gotta plan a welcome back party for her! Let's see: I'll need to rent out a restaurant, get decorations, find people to invite…"

"What's the point in planning a welcome back party for someone when you don't even know _when_ they'll be coming back?"

"Ssshh!! I need all my focus for thinking not logic! Later, Gramps!" The orange-clad teen said while in a thinking pose as he walked out of the room.

Naruto sighed and leaned back into his pillow, closing his eyes. "Now to get some sleep before someone comes barging in with more paperwork…" Just then, a female ANBU wearing a cat mask appeared, kneeling by his bedside in a poof of smoke. "I spoke too soon," he spoke in a flat tone before opening his eyes. "What is it?"

"Information regarding the Asura girl, sir," the brunette ANBU spoke, not looking up.

The elderly blonde pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Continue."

"She is awake now. However, there seems to be a problem with her mentally speaking."

"What do they mean _'mentally'_? If she's awake, she should be normal, shouldn't she?" _'Unless this a repeat of what happened to Nataro and she thinks she's someone else…'_

"She isn't responding, sir. In the words of Matsu-san, _'she's awake, but she isn't even acknowledging our existence'_. To that end, they request the assistance of a skilled member of the interrogation squad to see about the cause."

Naruto looked down. "Hm… Very well then. Inform Towa of the situation."

"Yes, sir." The ANBU disappeared the same way she appeared, leaving Naruto alone once more.

The Rokudaime dropped down onto his pillow and stared at the wall. _'If I was feeling better…I could go see this for myself… I just hope it's nothing serious. Otherwise, Nataro would get depressed.'_

**X-X-X**

A short while later, on a street somewhere in Konoha, a young man was crouching beneath the shade of a large tree with his hands on his knees. His slightly messy indigo hair had a few short, spiky tufts sticking out in the front but was short enough to reach his shoulders in the back. He wore a loose long-sleeved midnight blue shirt with a red flame symbol in a yellow oval on the back, pale blue cuffs and near the bottom, black ankle-length pants and black sandals. A Konoha hitai-ate was tied around his head on a dark blue headband. The young man turned his white Hyuga eyes up to the sky before he sighed.

"Where could she be?" The Hyuga sighed and leaned against the tree. "She should've been here by now."

"Konjo!" The sound of a female voice snapped the boy out of his thoughts and he looked aside.

"Hey, Shizuka."

A young woman of 15 was walking towards him. She had long blue hair that reached down to her back with bangs that framed her heart-shaped face and lavender colored eyes. She wore a large, loose pale shirt with long sleeves that had reddish pink cuffs and reddish pink stripes running down the sleeves and the front of the shirt, a purple shirt that was barely visible underneath, red pants, and blue short-heeled sandals, her hitai-ate hanging around her neck on a piece of blue cloth.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!" Konjo chided the blue-haired girl. "If they run out of copies of _Shinobi Showdown: Broken Bonds_, I won't forgive you. I mean it!"

Upon reaching her teammate, Sekkei Shizuka bowed her head. "I'm sorry!" She stood up, slumping slightly. "I was filling in for a nurse who was out sick, and as I was leaving, there was this patient who wouldn't take his medication unless _I_ gave it to him. I have no idea why it had to be _me_…"

"I think I know the reason," the indigo-haired chunin looked down at the teenage medic's chest, which showed a bust that couldn't be hidden even underneath that baggy shirt. "Actually, I can think of _two_…"

"Huh?" Shizuka looked down at her chest for a second, then she gasped and became upset. "K-k-konjo!! How dare you allude to such things?! He's an 82-year old man and is paralyzed from the waist down!! He couldn't have had any sexual attraction to _me_!!"

"Disgusting as this sounds, just because you can't see it physically doesn't mean the man isn't having a hard on."

"Konjo!!"

"You can't be _that_ oblivious to your feminine assets, can you?" Konjo mumbled as he looked at the blue-haired medic with half-lidded eyes.

"Yes, she can," a voice from above spoke. The two chunin looked up and saw Ina standing on a tree branch, looking down at them. The female Uchiha jumped down and landed in between her friends. She looked at Konjo, causing the Hyuga to sweat. "Don't worry. I agree with you."

"Phew!" Konjo wiped the sweat from his face before he started to grin. So, _Ina-sempai_, how was your mission?"

"Very weird and kinda exciting." Ina fell back so that she was leaning against the tree and folded her arms across her chest. "Our mission objective was to rescue the Kazekage's daughter from a gang of kidnappers." She sighed as her shoulders relaxed. "We got her back, but the ones who kidnapper her got away."

"Well, at least you accompanied your mission! That's good enough…right?"

"Not for me. I prefer to strike criminals down quickly before they could pop up again. For all I know, they're probably kidnapping some other political figure's child." The raven-haired girl frowned. "It pisses me off…"

Both Konjo and Shizuka remained silent for a short while before the blue-haired girl broke the ice. "Who were your teammates? Anyone we know?"

"I met Hanzo and his team during the mission, but my team was nothing special," Ina said with her eyes closed. "An overly energetic loser and a quiet shrimp. But…" Her eyes opened as a cherry red blush appeared on her cheeks. "But the guy they chose as captain… He was nice…smart, too. A good leader. And…he's very strong. Plus, he's more mature than any other guy his age. I'd like to go on a mission with Masaru-kun again."

"And _who_ is Masaru-kun?" Konjo asked with an arched eyebrow. "And how come you put a _'-kun'_ at the end of his name? You never do that with _me_!"

"Ina, are you okay? You don't…look like you usually do," Shizuka spoke as she observed the Uchiha's behavior. "You look…happy. Who exactly _is_ this Masaru?"

"Um… W-well…" The raven-haired girl's blush darkened, becoming even more visible. At the moment, she was wishing for some sort of distraction. She got her wish when someone appeared in a puff of smoke before them. Too bad it was the last person she wanted to see at the moment. "Great… It's _you_," Ina muttered after the smoke cleared, revealing Nataro.

The black-clad blonde frowned and began to glare at the Uchiha. "Oh, great… What're _you_ doing here? Don't you have a date with _'Masaru-kun'_?" He spoke, his words uncharacteristically dripping with venom.

"Date?!" Konjo and Shizuka exclaimed as their eyes became wide and blank. They turned to stare at their teammate, whose blush was still apparent on her cheeks.

"It's not a date, you moron! It's just training…" The Uchiha girl growled. "And since when were my affairs any of your business?"

Nataro sucked his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "Tch! I don't care about you. I'm just worried that you're gonna kill that poor guy."

"I'm sure that Masaru-kun can hold his own against me." She began to smirk and narrowed her eyes as well. "Unlike you."

"Uh-oh…" Shizuka mumbled as she hid her mouth behind her hand in order to cover a gasp. "I-Ina…! Nataro…! Don't...!"

"Oh, boy…" Konjo sweatdropped, his eyes now little white dots.

The blonde chunin narrowed his eyes even more as a vein popped up on his forehead and began to throb quickly. He clenched his fist as his eye began to twitch and then…he just looked away from Ina. "Bah!! I don't have time for you right now."

Team Haseo blinked for a moment before they realized it. Instead of taking Ina's insults seriously and attempting to fight her, Nataro just…blew her off. Konjo and Shizuka's mouths hung open, shocked into speechlessness while Ina stared at him in disbelief.

"What…what did you just say?! You don't have time for me?!" Despite not showing it, Ina was as shocked as Konjo and Shizuka—not to mention pissed off since _she_ usually blew _him_ off.

Instead of responding to her, Nataro looked at Shizuka and Konjo. "Anyway… I'm throwing a welcome back party for my friend Asura-chan, and I was hoping you guys could come. It won't look pretty lively if it's just me there, you know."

"Asura-chan? You mean she's coming back?" The blue-haired kunoichi scratched her cheek with her index finger. "It's been years since I last saw her. I wonder why she just left like that, or _where_ she went."

"That makes two of us…" The blonde mumbled as he looked at the ground.

Shizuka stared to smile and nod. "Of course, I'll come! It's the least I could do for Asura-chan."

"And _who_ exactly is Asura?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Heh." Nataro smirked and folded his arms across his chest. "Don't tell me you can't remember! The girl I was with at the Kyuubi Festival three years ago?"

"Oh. The weird-looking girl. Now I remember." Ina raised her head slightly. "Did she move away because she hated her date with you so much?"

The black-clad chunin flinched and glared at the raven-haired girl. "For _your_ information, Weasel Girl, she had problems!"

"Probably mental ones if she went out with you…"

"Watch what you say about her!!"

"What sort of problems did she have?" Shizuka asked, holding her hand to her chest. "Did she have health troubles? That would explain why she stayed at the hospital for so long."

Nataro broke off his glaring contest with Ina to stare at the ground. "I think…she was having some family problems…"

"Oh…"

"Um…" Konjo broke the uncomfortable silence. "Are you sure it's okay if _I_ come? I mean, I've never even met her before. It would be pretty weird if I welcomed back someone I never met…"

Nataro's expression brightened and a wide smile appeared on his face. "Oh, I'm sure she won't mind! Asura-chan would like you!"

Konjo began to smile and nod his head. "Okay! So, when's this party being started?"

"It's, uh, well…I…don't…know." Team Haseo sweatdropped and stared at the blonde teen. "I don't know when she'll be coming back to town, but I know it's soon! My source wouldn't lie to me!"

"You honestly expect us to show up to a party when we don't even know _when_ it's being thrown… You're an idiot," Ina spoke flatly.

"Excuse me? I don't remember inviting _you_! Why don't you just go spend some time with _Masaru-kun_ if you don't wanna come, huh?!" The blonde muttered with his hands on his hips.

The teenage jonin stared at the blonde with half-lidded eyes for a moment. "Ohhh… I get it! You're jealous of Masaru-kun, aren't you?"

Nataro began to grit his teeth as a vein popped up on his forehead. "WHAT?! What'd you say, bitch?! Why the hell would I be jealous of _that guy_?!"

"Because he's _ten times_ the ninja you'll ever be _and_ he's strong!" She spoke with a smirk as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh, yeah?! Where was _he_ when a giant sand tanuki was running around the forest?! He could be a Kage and I wouldn't care—I'd _still_ beat 'em up!!"

"Then _why_ are you throwing a hissy fit over him sparring with me?!"

"Because you…! You…!" Nataro glared at Ina for a long time before he began to glare at the ground from the corner of his eye. "Aw, forget this!!" He shouted, stomping his foot and causing some dust to rise. "I'm out of here!" With a snort, Nataro disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What was up with him?" Konjo asked with an arched eyebrow.

Shizuka glanced at Ina, who merely snorted and said, "Hell if I know."

**X-X-X**

"Ehhhh! I can't believe I only get to spend so little time with you for lunch!" A teenage girl with dark brown hair that was set up into a large bun at the back of her neck, wearing a shoulderless blue and yellow blouse with a yellow blue-trimmed skirt and blue heeled sandals. "I saw so little of you as it was before… I can't bear it now!" Her arm was wrapped around the arm of a 16-year old boy with red hair that was short except for the hair on the side of his face that was combed down to reach his chin. He wore a long-sleeved dark gray shirt, a short-sleeved waist-length dark blue jacket that was buttoned up starting above his stomach, had several pockets, red trim, and a collar high enough to hide his neck with dark gray pants, black gloves, a black Konoha hitai-ate tied around his forehead and a pair of black-framed glasses with rectangular lenses.

"I know what you mean, my dear. The days don't seem as eventful when I'm not with you," the redhead spoke with what appeared to be bishonen-style sparkles sparkling around him.

"Eeeeee!!" The bun-haired girl squealed before she clung onto his arm even tighter, blushing and grinning.

'_At least, the days when I'm not when Ruki-chan,'_ the redhead thought with a smile.

She pointed at a nearby building. "Hey, why don't we eat at Hagakure? I feel like ramen, but I'm worried that I'll probably gain weight from it."

"Nonsense! No amount of weight could take away from your beauty." _'Of course, if you eat too much, I'd casually break up with you. Besides, it's not like that blonde idiot's there to tick me off.'_

"Kaoru-kun, why can't more guys be like you?" The brunette asked as they entered the shop.

"Pretty please? Won't you have a heart and do this for me?" A familiar voice spoke that made Yoshida Kaoru stop in his tracks.

'_No…_ _Don't tell me he's already come back…!'_ The redhead set his spectacled eyes on the blonde teen standing at the service counter wearing the awful orange and black outfit that would stand out anywhere. _'He __**has**__…!'_

"Look, Nataro, I have nothing against you or that girl you used to come in here with, but you can't expect me to just rent out the shop for a party _'whenever'_! I need a date!" The owner said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't _have_ a date yet! I don't know when she'll be coming back yet!" Nataro exclaimed, putting his hands together in a pleading manner. "Please, you've got to understand!!"

"No dice. Come back when you've got a date set."

"Hmmm…!" The blonde hummed angrily. He turned to leave, only to wind up facing Kaoru and his date. "Oh… It's _you_, you playboy…and your flavor of the week."

"Tch!" Kaoru held onto his chin and smirked. "Is that any way to speak to one of your peers? What's this about a party?"

"None of your business!" The orange-clad boy made to go around the spectacled chunin, but Kaoru poked him in the forehead with two fingers. "Hey!!"

"Not so fast," the redhead spoke, fixing his glasses with his free hand. "Usually, I wouldn't care about what _you're_ up to, but I'm interested why you're trying to make an impression by renting out a restaurant."

Nataro snorted and glared at Kaoru. "If you have to know, I'm having a welcome back party for Asura-chan!"

"_Who_?"

"A girl you don't know and will _never_ know beyond a name!!" The blonde shouted before he tried to walk past the redhead, only to be grabbed by the back of his jacket and held back.

"Not so fast. Is this girl a relative of yours or a friend?"

"She's a friend! And how's _that_ important?!"

"Just asking. Don't be snippy." Kaoru released the orange-clad boy and gestured for him to leave. "You can go now." Nataro glared at the redhead with a frown before he walked out of the shop. _'Interesting…'_ Kaoru thought with an arched eyebrow while the girl on his arm stared at him in confusion.

**X-X-X**

"I'm home!" Hanzo called out as he closed the shoji door behind him. "Grandfather!" He walked over to the kitchen door and looked inside. Sasuke was sitting down at the table where there was a tea kettle, two cps and two plates.

"You came home later than I thought," his grandfather spoke, not even looking in his direction. He took up the kettle, poured some tea into his cup, and took a sip before setting it down. "Were there any problems?"

"Just one big one," said Hanzo as he leaned against the door frame.

The old man gestured for him to come closer, still not looking at his grandson. "Come, sit." The younger Uchiha walked over to the table and sat down at the side opposite of him. "Tell me about it."

"Our objective was to find the son of the Kazekage, a kid named Mamoru. He's the same boy Nataro fought in the Chunin Exams three years ago."

"Hm-hm."

"He and his teammates were trying to rescue his sister, Sayuri-san, who was kidnapped by three shinobi. We found Mamoru, but he had _transformed_." At this, Sasuke arched an eyebrow in confusion. Hanzo motioned for his grandfather to come closer, and they both leaned in a bit before the young Uchiha began to whisper, "It turns out that Mamoru has the Ichibi no Tanuki inside of him."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he sat back. "What did you say?"

The raven-haired teen looked down at the table. "Big shock, huh? He even transformed into a life-size version of the Ichibi, but Nataro was able to beat him. I…" A sad look appeared in his eyes, quickly noticed by his grandfather. "I was knocked out for most of the fight… I wish I could've helped."

"And _how_ did you get knocked out?"

"I…I got struck in the head and I passed out."

"Hmph!" Sasuke picked up his cup. "I honestly thought I trained you better…"

"Sorry…" Hanzo quickly rolled away from the table before something fell on top of the cushion he previously sat on.

"Rats!! Grandpa, you tipped him off!!" The young boy of 11 cried as he got on his knees. He had short raven-colored hair that had a few spikes in the back and dark green eyes that were narrowed in anger. He wore a short-sleeved dark blue shirt with a short red jacket that had the Uchiha symbol on the back and black pants.

"I did no such thing," said Sasuke before sipping his tea.

"Yes, you _did_!"

"It's your own fault for not being stealthier. You should have come in and done it while he was speaking."

Hanzo got on his knees and stared at his grandfather in shock. "Are you _supporting_ thing behavior?! Does Grandma know about this…?" He then turned to the boy. "And why aren't you at the Academy, Kotaro?"

"Because I don't have to. I have a free day. Actually, I have three free days until the repairs to the school are finished," Kotaro explained.

"Repairs to what?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow as Kotaro smirked.

"Apparently, all the toilets at the Ninja Academy were blown up with homemade bombs—including the one in the teacher's lounge." The Uchiha patriarch looked at his younger grandson. "Guess who did it?"

The raven-haired teen glared at his little brother. "_Kotaro_…!"

"Heh-heh-heh…! I know what you're thinking. _'Why did you go and blow up the Academy's toilets, Kotaro?'_ And I have a good answer," the Uchiha boy spoke as he nodded his head.

"And that would be…?"

After a few moments of silence, Kotaro scratched the back of his head saying, "I was bored."

Hanzo smacked himself in the forehead. "I give up! There's no way to fix your behavior, is there?"

"I'll start behaving if you can convince Grandpa and Grandma to move me up a year at the Academy!" Kotaro exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

"No," Sasuke spoke flatly, making his grandson slump over in defeat. "You'll wait with people your own age like every other Academy student."

A small vein throbbed on the Uchiha boy's forehead. "That's not fait!! There was a kid who got moved up to the final year and I'm _way_ more talented than him!"

A thumping noise was then heard from upstairs. Sasuke groaned and a small vein popped up above his eyebrow while Hanzo and Yuki stared up at the ceiling.

"What was that?" Hanzo asked with an arched eyebrow, still staring up at the ceiling.

"Kira's babysitting," the elderly Uchiha grumbled. "Which means someone has to babysit _him_ and make sure he doesn't kill those poor children…"

**X-X-X**

"And so, the evil monster was defeated!! The Hidden Harbor Village was safe once again, thanks to…IGUANADON!!!" Kira exclaimed, holding up the figures of a bipedal lizard and a large jellyfish plushie. "The end."

"YAY!!!" The trio of three-year olds cheered, clapping for the mad genius.

"That was fun, Uncle Kira!" Said the girl with short black hair that was put into a small pigtail on the side of her head as her green eyes sparkled. She was wearing a sleeveless lime-green jumper-dress with a small Uchiha fan on the front with yellow shorts, holding a teddy bear in her arms.

"Do _'Iguanadon vs. the Swamp Thing'_ next!!" Shouted a boy with black hair that spiked up in the back and bangs that hung beside his cheeks and black eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt that had a large Uchiha fan on the back with a pair of white shorts.

"No way!! Do _'Iguanadon vs. the Killer Moth'_!" Shouted another young boy, this one with short, spiky hair and dark blue eyes wearing a red hoodie shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back and gray shorts.

"The Killer Moth? He's nothing but an oversized bug!" Blue Shirt snorted.

"Yeah, w-well… The Swamp Thing's nothing but a big fat pile of muck an' leaves!!" Red Shirt countered.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"IS NOT!!!"

"IS TOO!!!"

The argument was broken up by the sound of a whistle. Kira spat the silver whistle out and made a familiar motion with his hands used in sports. "Time out!" The two boys sat down at faced their babysitter. "How about…we have a three-way battle free-for-all?! Iguanadon vs. the Swamp Thing vs. the Killer Moth! You two can help, since…" The mad genius waved the dolls in the air. "Y'know, I only got two arms."

"YAY!!!" The two boys shouted, jumping to their feet.

The girl sniffled, holding her teddy tightly. "What can _I_ do?"

Kira began to grin as he tossed the jellyfish plushie aside. "You, my pretty little Saku-chan, can cheer Iguanadon on to give him the motivation to win!"

"Okay!" Saku exclaimed as she threw her hands up into the air. "Go, Iguanadon, go!!"

"Alright, Murakumo…" The ex-ANBU tossed an action figure that looked like a large pile of seaweed with claws and feet to the blue-wearing boy. "And Tsumugari!" He tossed the moth-like toy to the red-wearing boy. Murakumo caught his, but Tsumugari failed to catch his and it landed on the floor. Murakumo stuck his tongue out at the red-clad boy, who began to glare at him. "Now…LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!"

**X-X-X**

More thumping and shouting could be heard from upstairs. Sasuke gave another groan as Kotaro continued to stare at the ceiling and Hanzo sweatdropped.

"I don't know how much longer I can take it…" The elderly Uchiha muttered.

"They're only playing, Grandfather," said Hanzo as he leaned back, positioning his hands behind him on the floor. "It's not as though they're climbing onto the roof and trying to fly…again."

"I suppose."

"Yeah, that would suck."

Kotaro sat up straight upon noticing the person sitting next to his grandfather. Hanzo merely arched an eyebrow and wasn't surprised to see Nataro next to Sasuke with his arms folded across his chest.

"Nataro…" The old man began, turning his head to look at the blonde chunin. "What are you doing in my home without knocking again? And why didn't you take off your shoes?"

"If you're looking for Kira-san, he's upstairs with the triplets," said Hanzo.

Nataro closed his eyes and began to stroke his chin in a thinking manner. "He is, huh?" He opened his eyes halfway. "I don't really care about Kira right now. Actually, I came to invite you to a special event, Hanzo."

"Say what?" The raven-haired teen blinked as his teammate held out a piece of paper. "What's that?"

"An invitation! Duh!!" The black-clad blonde spoke with a smirk. "You are cordially invited to the Welcome Back party of Asura-chan! I trust you'll RSVP early on."

"Do you even _know_ what you're saying?" Kotaro asked the older boy with a smirk and an arched eyebrow.

Hanzo stared at the invite and blinked. "Nataro…did you know that there's no address for the party on here?"

"Well, uh…that's because I don't know when she's coming back! _But_ Gramps assured me that it's soon!"

'_So __**that's**__ why Hokage-sama wanted to meet him earlier.' _The long-haired Uchiha smiled. "It's just like you to do something like this—planning a party without all the details… Guess that shows how much you care about Asura-chan."

"Yeah, well…!" The blonde blushed and looked down at the table, twiddling his fingers. "I want everything to be _perfect_!" He exclaimed with a grin. "So, are you coming or what?"

"As soon as you set a _date_…" Hanzo looked at his grandfather. "It _is_ okay, isn't it?"

"You're a big boy. You can make these decisions on your own." As soon as Kotaro opened his mouth, Sasuke said, "No, you can't go."

The raven-haired boy frowned. "How'd you know I was gonna say that?"

"Because you'll do anything to get out of the house. Which you won't because you're under house arrest."

Nataro looked at Kotaro in confusion as a large red question mark floated over his head. "Uh… House arrest?"

"He blew up the toilets at the Academy," said Hanzo as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of his head.

The blonde's eyes widened. "Whoa!! You actually did it?! I thought you were _kidding_!!"

"You _knew_ about this?" Sasuke asked with a glint of killer intent in his eyes. "Were you the one who put him up to it?"

Nataro began to sweat as a tinge of blue appeared on his face. As the old Uchiha narrowed his eyes, he began to laugh nervously. "Heh-heh-heh… O-of course, I didn't put her up to it! Kotaro's an evil genius all on his own!"

"_Nataro_…!"

"Later!!" The black-clad blonde suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Damn that idiot!!" Sasuke growled. "How the hell did _he_ become a chunin?"

Hanzo looked down at Kotaro. "Did Nataro tell you to blow up the toilers, Kotaro?"

His brother snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Of course not! What I did was _genius_. Nataro couldn't come up with something like that!"

'_I'm starting to think Nataro was right to call him an evil genius…'_

**X-X-X**

A few days later found Naruto walking through the underground sewage ways, accompanied by a pair of ANBU.

"Are you sure that you're feeling well enough to do this, Hokage-sama?" The shorter ANBU wearing the dog mask asked.

"I'm fine! Quit acting like I'm some frail old man already. I've heard it from too many other people in the last few days," said the Rokudaime. After a while, they came to a large steel door with several tags and notes with things like _'Dangerous' _and _'Stay out'_ written on them in kanji. Naruto held out his hand and began to form hand signs. He placed a hand on the door and the tags moved as if blown by a wind. He grabbed the handle and pushed it open. Inside the room were Matsu and two other medical ninja who were inspecting Akasha, who was sitting on the metallic gurney with a dazed look in her eyes as they gave her shots, tested her reflexes, pressed a depressor down on her tongue—a normal check over. The two ANBU who had been standing by the doorway immediately bowed their heads in respect. "How are things going down here?"

"Better. She was walking around for a while, and it seemed that she acknowledges our presence. She's just not speaking," said the cat-masked ANBU on the left. "She doesn't seem to resist when they perform daily checkups on her, sir."

"I see…" Naruto approached the medical team. "How does she look?"

"Physically speaking, she's alright, sir. According to Towa-san, she was purposely blocking us out. She was even putting mental locks on her own memories, either purposely or subconsciously, putting her in a zombie-like state for days. But when Towa-san managed to break the locks, all she did was ignore us afterwards," said Matsu.

"She's still hasn't returned to normal then… Do you think she would react if I spoke to her?"

The blue-haired medic bowed his head in thought for a moment. "I don't see the harm. Maybe she'd react better to you, sir."

The medics stepped aside to allow the elderly blonde to walk in front of the patient, his bodyguards standing beside him. He smiled at the red-haired girl, but she just stared at him blankly. In fact, he was sure she was staring at his chest. "Hello, Asura-chan. I'm sorry if I haven't been to see you since you woke up, but I couldn't get out of bed for a while. I'm here now, though, and I want to help you through this. We all do. But that won't happen if you don't let us." He placed a hand on her head and made her look up at him. "You understand me, don't you?"

Akasha stared at him blankly for a moment…then she got a shocked expression on her face and her pupils shrank. She pushed Naruto away from her and jumped back off of the table, making it fall over as she did. The moment she pressed her back against the wall, the ANBU were already a foot away. The redhead held a hand out, as if trying to keep them at bay. "Stay back!! I'm warning you!! I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me!!"

"Relax, Asura-chan! We're not going to hurt you!" said Naruto.

"Huh?" The redhead made eye contact with the Hokage. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! Don't hurt me!!" She cried, dropping to the floor and hiding her face behind her arms. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it! Just please don't…don't kill me again!!" She dared to look through her arms for a moment to see red and white robes. She slowly looked up at Naruto, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't kill me…!"

"What makes you think I would do that?" The elderly blonde spoke as he bent over, resting a hand on her head. The red-haired girl flinched upon contact and seemed to stiffen up as Naruto went on, "All I want to do is make sure you get better. I won't try to hurt her."

Akasha stared at him for a while with wide eyes. "I…want to…die…"

"Huh? What's brought about this sort of thinking?"

"I want to die…" She repeated with a blank expression on her face, though the tears were still flowing.

"Don't say things like that! How do you think Nataro would feel if he heard you say something like that?" At the name _'Nataro'_ the Asura girl's pupils shrank and her breath seemed to seize up.

**X-X-X**

"YOU MEAN IT?!?" Nataro exclaimed a day later. "Tonight?! She's coming back _tonight_?! Honestly?!"

"Yes, honestly. So you can go ahead and set your insane little party idea into motion," Naruto told the boy with a smile as he leaned back in his chair.

"It's _not_ insane!! It's _perfect_! Dare I say it, _genius_!!" The blonde chunin exclaimed as he pounded a fist into his open palm.

The Hokage sweatdropped as he stared at the boy with half-lidded eyes. "You're starting to sound like Kira… Anyway, I think it's best to tell you that you shouldn't try and push Akasha-chan too hard tonight."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's been a while since she's been in Konoha and she's sure to feel a bit…out of place. I'm just telling you this so you don't have to worry." Naruto made a shooing gesture. "Now go on! You need to get ready, don't you?"

Nataro's eyes became large and blank. "AHHHH!!! You're right!! I need to rent out the place!! I need to invite people!! I need to get her a gift!!"

Once again, Naruto sweatdropped, muttering, "Didn't you take care of that like a week ago…?" He mumbled as the teen ran out of his office. "That boy…" He closed his eyes. "I just hope that things go right tonight—for both of them."

**X-X-X**

That evening, Nataro stepped outside of Hagakure where a lot of talking was going on. "Hey, quiet down in there! How is this supposed to be a surprise if you guys keep talking?!"

"Shut up, Ramen Breath!! You're louder than any of us here!!" Kazemaru yelled from inside.

"Yeah!!" Several people agreed.

"Awwww, shut up!!" Nataro huffed and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. He was wearing a short-sleeved dark blue shirt with a flame symbol on the front and back and black pants. The blonde chunin leaned against the wall and sighed. "When are those guys gonna get here already?" He mumbled as he stared at the ground.

"Relax, kid. We're here," a voice spoke, gaining the chunin's attention. Nataro turned his head to see two people approach. One was an ANBU member wearing a cat mask, and another was Akasha.

"About time!! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?!" The blonde shouted as a small vein throbbed on his forehead. His eyes landed on the young woman and his features softened. "So then…you must be…" Her waist-length red hair looked slightly neater than it had been before and her dark red eyes stared at the ground. She wore a short-sleeved white dress with a knee-length red and white skirt, red heeled sandals, and a white choker with a heart-shaped ornament on the left. "Asura-chan…" Nataro stared at her for some time before a smile spread out on his face. "Hey, remember me? Nataro! Heh-heh… Do I…look different to you, too?"

Akasha raised her head and looked up at him, but didn't say a thing. She only stared at him.

"Uh…well, let's go an' eat! Huh?" He held his hand out to the redhead, but she stepped back. He arched an eyebrow. "Asura-chan?" She jumped off of the ground and landed on top of a nearby rooftop before she began to jump away on the roofs.

"Asura-chan!! Come back!!" Nataro shouted as he jumped onto the roofs and began to chase after her with the ANBU following behind him.

'_Is this why Hokage-sama said I should accompany her? Did he think something like __**this**__ would happen?'_ He thought.

"Asura-chan, what are you doing?!" Nataro screamed at the girl's back.

Akasha jumped off of the roof of an apartment complex and landed on the fire escape of a tall building. She climbed up the fire escape and onto the roof. The Asura girl ran over to the other side of the roof and was about to jump off of the ledge when a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. It turned out to be the ANBU. "Let me go or else!" She demanded with an upset look in her eyes.

"Stupid girl! Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

The Asura managed to free herself from the ANBU's grip and stumbled towards the edge. "I've changed my mind!! I thought I could handle it…but I don't want to see him!!"

"Why not?!" Nataro called out as he landed on the roof. "What don't you wanna see me?" Akasha just stared at the ground in silence. He narrowed his eyes. "Tell me!!"

The red-haired girl bowed her head, bangs hiding her eyes. "You…should hate me."

The blonde's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"You should hate me." She looked out of the corner of her eye. "I know a lot of people hate me. I hate me, too…"

"What the heck are you talking about? Hate yourself…?"

"I've devoured…so many people. Shinobi…civilian… Man, woman, child… Young or old… When I'm in my true form…I don't care. All I want is to kill and eat, because that's what I am." The redhead began to hug herself and clench her teeth. "I don't want to do that again…! Not anymore…!" She started to cry. "For the last three years…I was asleep…to protect myself from the truth… To make sure I didn't have to face whatever horrible things I had done…! But then I woke up…and Naruto-san told me how much you missed me…and I thought maybe…things would better…! But seeing you again, I've come to realize…" She bowed her head, allowing her bangs to hide her eyes once more. "For your safety, I can't be around you anymore."

Nataro stared at her in silence before he looked down at the ground with a somber expression. "So you know…how much I've missed you…?" He began to walk towards her. "What I promised myself…? How hard I've trained…?" Before she knew it, he was right in front of her. "The reason why I've pushed myself all these years…was so I would become stronger…so that when you came back, I'd be able to protect you and every other person I love! So…you wouldn't have a reason to go and leave me again…!" He wrapped his arms around her. "I've missed you too much to hate you… I…I've _really_ missed you… I could _never_ hate you…and if you left again, I don't know if I could bear it…!"

"Nataro-san…!" Akasha's eyes began to water. "I can't—!"

"Sure you can!" He exclaimed, leaning back so he could look at her face. "If you've ever got a problem, I'll take care of it! I promise!" Nataro blinked as tears began to stream down her face once more and she started to sob. "D-don't cry, Asura-chan! Please…? I hate seeing you cry…" The redhead said nothing as she let go of herself and wrapped her arms around the blonde. Nataro blushed, suddenly realizing what he had done in the heat of the moment and began to hug her back. "I don't want to hear you say things like that again…"

"Hm-hm…"

The ANBU cleared his throat, gaining the two teens' attention. "Seeing as how the problem is solved, it's time to inform you of your A-ranked assignment, Kazaki Nataro."

Nataro released Akasha and arched an eyebrow. "A-ranked assignment? I never heard anything about this!"

"Well… As of tonight, you are in charge of looking over Asura no Akasha."

"…Huh?"

"In other words, you're her guardian now. She must live with you in a normal environment as part of an experiment. If it's a success, the Village Council will deem her fit to become an official citizen of Konoha."

Nataro's eyes became the size of plates as his pupils shrank. "Uh…repeat that for me, please? Did you say that Asura-chan has to live with me now? That I have to take care of her?"

"Basically," the ANBU said with a shrug. "Hokage-sama has informed your landlord of the circumstances and she is willing to let it slide with you two. You should be happy. Hokage-sama was the one who suggested that you should take care of Akasha-chan. The The Council was against it, saying it would be unwise to let a mere chunin look after her, but…" He began to scratch the back of his head. "From what I saw, I think you're the perfect choice."

"Asura-chan…is coming to live with me…!" The blonde repeated with wide eyes and a blush on his cheeks. "Come to _live_…with _me_."

"Is that alright with you, Nataro-san?" Akasha asked as she looked up at him.

"Heh-heh…!" Nataro looked down at the red-haired girl and smiled…before falling back, unconscious with his eyes large and blank.

"Nataro-san!!"

"Don't worry. I think he's just in shock over rooming with girl."

**X-X-X**

"Are you sure you're okay, Nataro-san?" Akasha asked as she and Nataro walked back to Hagakure.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it," said Nataro as he rubbed the back of his head. _'Although this pain in the back of my head's __**killing**__ me.'_ He stopped in front of the door and held it open. "Ladies first." Akasha blinked in confusion before stepping in. "Alright, NOW!!!"

"Huh?" A shower of confetti suddenly began to float down from the ceiling and onto the Asura's head. The sounds of something popping filled the air. Streamers then began to float down from the sky.

"WELCOME BACK, ASURA-CHAN!!!" The people inside shouted. Hanging above their heads was a banner that said _'WELCOME BACK, ASURA!'_ in bold red letters.

"A party…" She whispered. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Nataro holding a bouquet of honeysuckles. "Oh!"

"Welcome home, Asura-chan," the blonde said with a grin. "Um…I-I got these for you. I didn't know what to get you, so I got you some flowers."

The redhead slowly took the bouquet from his hands. "Nataro-san…!" Her eyes began to water again.

"Hey, hey! Don't start crying here, Pinky!" Kazemaru shouted. He then blinked in confusion as he observed the redhead. "Wait… When'd you dye your hair red?"

"So, you're Asura-chan!" A 15-year old girl exclaimed as she pushed Kaze out of the way. She had long reddish-brown hair and yellow eyes with white pupils. She wore a shoulderless knee-length purple dress that had a slit in the front and back, revealing black short-shorts, a fishnet undershirt, and dark purple boot-like heeled sandals, her hitai-ate sewn into the torso of her dress. "So, what's it like having Nataro for a boyfriend?"

"WHAT?!" Nataro shouted as his entire face became dark red. A cherry-red blush appeared on Akasha's cheeks as she stared at the brunette. "What the hell are you talking about, Rie?!"

"Well, why else would you go through all this and give her _those_ flowers as a gift?" Rie asked as she pointed at the bouquet. "Honeysuckles represent bonds…" She drew a heart in the air with her two index fingers. "Of _love_~!"

"Love?! I didn't know _that_!! That lady at the flower shop just told me it was a good choice for this occasion!!"

"If you told her it was for a girl, she probably assumed…" Hanzo trailed off as a sweat drop ran down his head.

"I-I-I-I…!" The blonde stuttered, his mouth open in disbelief.

Kurama Rie shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. You have some work ahead of you, Asura-chan…"

"Uh, Rie? Maybe you should stop adding gas to the flame," said the 16 year old boy with the short gray hair and silver-gray eyes wearing a long-sleeved dark green shirt with black pants.

Nataro glared at the purple-clad brunette before he noticed someone standing next to Akasha. "AH!!! What're _you_ doing here?!" He screamed as he pointed a finger at Kaoru. The spectacled redhead was holding Akasha's free hand and making small talk. "You weren't invited!!"

"You expect me to miss a party like this? Besides…" Kaoru flashed a standard bishonen smile. "I wanted to meet this Asura-chan I kept hearing about."

"How'd you find out about this?!"

"I pulled it out of Masamune." At this, Nataro glared at the gray-haired boy. Masamune chuckled nervously before he dragged Rie back.

"Shoo, shoo! Get away from her, you damn playboy!!" He shouted as he pushed Kaoru away from Akasha.

"Don't push me, you idiot!!"

"She's not one of your flavors of the week!!"

"Enough of the teenage melodrama! When can we eat?!" Kira complained from his spot in a booth.

"More uninvited guests!! What the heck are _you_ doing here?!" The blonde teen shouted, pointing a finger at his sensei.

The mad genius shrugged. "You didn't invite me, so I decided to save you the trouble and invited myself."

"Now hold on there!! It doesn't work that way!!" Nataro shouted, marching over to Kira.

Akasha continued to stare down at the bouquet of flowers before she started to smile.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Iguanadon is a parody of Godzilla.**

**Murakumo means "Gathering Clouds". Tsumugari's definition is unknown to the authoress. Both names are used in alternate names for the legendary Kusanagi sword (Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi-"Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven"; Tsumugari no tachi.)**

**Saku means "bloom" or "blossom". Derived from Sakura's name.**

**Honeysuckles represent "bonds of affection."**

**For those who are cannot remember, Orochimaru's underground lab is shown in the flashbacks during the Destruction of Konoha arc while Sandaime's fighting Orochimaru.**

**X-X-X**

Blu Rose pops up in front of the camera holding a glass of eggnog. In the background, people were cheering and talking. "Oh the weather outside is frightful~! But the fire is _so_ delightful~! When there's simply no place to gooooo~! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snoooow~!"

Hanzo walked onscreen next to the authoress as she took a drink of her eggnog. "As you can see, Blu Rose is a bit inebriated. She got into the Christmas spirit when she found the eggnog."

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth~! My two front teeth! My two front teeeeeeth~!" Blu slurred.

"Although I have to wonder how she got drunk from a few cups of eggnog." Watching from a corner of the room, Kira and Nataro high-fived each other before the mad genius slipped a tin of whiskey into his coat. "Oh, well… We _were_ supposed to be doing a Christmas ending omake, but she's gotten so drunk off of eggnog, so she wasn't able to do that… But I'm sure that if she was lucid, she'd want to tell her readers—"

"The snow is falling and all is well, it's Christmas time in _hell_~!" Blu sang, swinging her cup in the air.

Hanzo sweatdropped. "—Merry Christmas…"


	61. Ravenous Wrath

**Blu: (Playing _Generation of Chaos_ while writing on her computer) Come on!! Why can't you just go the right way properly?! You'd be a cooler war game if you played like Soul Nomad and stopped getting in each other's way, damn it!! (Notices something out of the corner of her eye) Eh? What's this? There...there's an Internet connection down here?!? (O.o)**

**Naruto: (Pops up from out of nowhere) YES!!! Now you can update while you're down here!!**

**Blu: (-.-) Well...there goes my excuse for being lazy. Now I'll _have_ to work on SiNful Rose II. Oh well. On with the fic!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters, just her material. If she did own Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't need a damn hawk, Naruto wouldn't have had a heart attack, and there would have been more comedy. But she doesn't, so none of this is true._

**X-X-X**

_#61: Ravenous Wrath_

Mugi no Kuni, the Land of Wheat, nicknamed Fuzen no Kuni (Land of Sin) by those that knew of the horrors that took place within. It was a small country that once had rich plains of wheat, but now it was a wasteland of dead vegetation and barren of almost any life. Within it was a former shinobi village where only people who've lost their humanity have become monsters. Its name is a fitting one: Onigakure, the Village hidden amongst Demons. A large Pagoda-like building stood in the center of the village, now home to an awful group…

**X-X-X**

Inside the pagoda, on the very top floor, was a woman standing in front of a bed. She appeared to be in her thirties with long gray hair and gray pupil-less eyes. She wore a shoulderless gray robe that reached her ankles, a black undershirt with sleeves reaching her wrists, and a pair of formal black strapped sandals. In the middle of her head was a red diamond-shaped mark.

"How are you feeling today, Akash?" Asura no Bhumi asked as she looked down at the young man who was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had long blood-red hair that reached a few inches past his shoulders with some of his hair hiding his right eye. At the moment, all he was wearing was a dark blue yukata.

"How do you _think_ I'm feeling, you idiot?!" Akash hissed, his blood red eye glaring up at her in anger. He then began to twitch and soon fell over to his side. "I'm…in pain…!"

"Now you see what happens when you mess with your body?" The silver-haired woman spoke as the red-haired Asura grasped the fancy pillow underneath his head.

"Rrrr…! Who knew that it would be so _painful_…?" Akash glared up at the woman. "What're _you_ still doing here? Get out of here!!"

"I didn't come all the way up here and climbed all those stairs for nothing," said Bhumi as she moved a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "They're getting hungry."

"Who's _they_?" Akash asked with an arched eyebrow, gritting his teeth.

"The other Asura and the Oni are getting sick of eating only two or three people a week at best. I'm afraid that they're going to do something…_drastic_. Like going into another country to ravage a village."

"Hmph! Like those idiots are smart enough to do anything on their own," Akash grumbled. He rolled over to his side, his back now facing Bhumi.

"But—"

"Go and bother someone else!"

The silver-haired woman stared at his back for a while before turning to leave the room. "Alright…" _'I have the feeling that something bad is going to happen.'_

**X-X-X**

On the second floor of the Pagoda, a short young woman was crouching in front of a statue with half its face crumbling off. "Starving…! I'm starving…!" Apsaras whined as she looked up, her green eyes large and pupils shrinking as she held onto her growling stomach.

"You are _not_ starving," Rudra spoke flatly. He was sitting down with his back leaning against the stone slab that once held a statue as well. "You ate somethin' a little while ago."

The blonde Asura looked out of the corner of her eye at a small child's mutilated corpse with a pout. "Are you kidding? That was hardly filling! And most of the Oni ate the meaty parts when I wasn't looking!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Just for spite, I oughta eat _them_!"

"You shouldn't say that…" The white-haired Asura said with a smirk. "Next thing you know, those Oni are revolting and trying to eat us. After all, they outnumber us easily. The only thing stopping them is that _we_ are strong than _them_." He started to show off his jagged, saw-like teeth. "Of course, if they get hungry enough, they may throw common sense to the wind and eat just about anything—including each other."

"Hm…" The blonde glanced over to a spot in the corner where a group of Oni huddled over the dead child's brother's corpse, the wet sounds of them ripping into his flesh and devouring his body piece by piece reaching her ears. She looked back at Rudra with a skeptical look. "What would make you think they would go against their superiors?"

"Hunger is a universal state. People will do _anything_ do quench their hunger. It's a fact."

Apsaras frowned and looked back over to the Oni to see they were now gone, leaving behind only an arm and a few pieces of meat. Rudra could hardly stifle his laughter upon seeing her eye twitch. _'What if that idiot's right? We're getting less people near the country's border… We'll eventually have to resort to eating each other just to survive!'_ She slumped over as her stomach began to chew itself again. "Ohhhh…!"

"Heh-heh-heh…! What an idiot!" Rudra chuckled to himself as he looked at the sulking Asura.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the more lively of Konohagakure, at the Aigyo Buki apartment complex, we take a look at how new roommates Nataro and Akasha are doing.

Nataro, who had been sleeping on the couch after giving his bed to Akasha, was just opening his eyes when he felt something heavy on top of him. As his vision became clearer, he saw…red. "What…" He mumbled to himself before getting up into a sitting position. He then saw Akasha lying down on top of him with her head on his chest. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Nataro and Akasha were sitting on the couch. "I was lonely in bed, all by myself. I thought I'd be more comfortable if I came to sleep with you," said the redhead as she stared at the blonde. She was dressed in a loose baggy T-shirt and a pair of Nataro's favorite boxers—the blue ones with the naruto fishcake designs on them.

Nataro's face turned dark red as bad thoughts entered his head. "P…please don't say that!"

"You're right. I shouldn't have done it." Akasha looked down at the floor. "I did wrong."

"No, no! Nothing's wrong!" The blonde exclaimed, waving his hands in front of him frantically. "It's fine if you wanna sleep with me, but…" He paused again as the dirty thoughts entered his mind once more, and he couldn't help but blush again.

"Nataro-san?"

He suddenly snapped back to his train of thought. "People will start to…say things if they find out that we slept together. So…" he started to scratch the back of his head. "How about I sleep in the room with you? Not in the bed, but on the floor."

She pouted and nodded her head. "Okay…"

Nataro stared at the red-haired girl for a while. "Hey, don't look so depressed! Today's my day off, and I'll spend the entire day with you, Asura-chan!" He started to smile. "Let's see… I guess we could do some shopping. We _definitely_ have to go and buy you some clothes. You've only got a few outfits… And we could eat lunch out! Some new restaurants came out while you were gone. We could try one of 'em. Or we could go visit my mom during her break. And you can have whatever you want, Asura-chan!"

"Akasha."

"And— Huh?" The blonde blinked in confusion and stared at his new roommate. "What did you say?"

"You keep calling me _'Asura'_. My name is Akasha. Asura no Akasha," Akasha spoke as she stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the taller boy.

"Oh. Right…" _'I forgot… She's one of the Asura,'_ he thought as he remembered to Asura of Onigakure.

There was silence in the room for quite some time until Nataro stood up and stretched. "Alright! What do you want for breakfast, Asura— I mean, Akasha-chan?"

Akasha tilted her head up slightly. "Oh? You can cook, Nataro-san?"

"Well… Not _cook_ exactly. At best, I could make toast and scrambled eggs. Heh-heh-heh…" Nataro scratched the back of his neck and gave the red-haired girl a smile. "Is that alright with you?"

She nodded. "I don't mind."

"Excellent!! You wait here while I cook us up some grub!" he exclaimed as he marched off towards the kitchen area. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Akasha give a small smile.

**X-X-X**

"So, who was that guy you were with yesterday?"

Ina looked up from her magazine to see Haruhi standing over her. "What are you talking about now?"

Haruhi leaned forward as he started to smirk. "You were with some guy yesterday. I know because I just _happened_ to see you with him coming back from a training field. Then you went to a restaurant before you came back here to change for Akasha's party. So… Is he your boyfriend?"

The raven-haired girl's eyes widened and her cheeks suddenly turned red. "Wh-what?! How dare you make such an assumption?! I've only known him for a week at most!"

"Hmph!" The redhead stood up and folded his arms behind his back. "No need to lie, Ina-chan. Your expression says it all."

"It doesn't say _anything_, you loser!" Ina stood up, rolled up her magazine and began to use it to whack her older brother in the head. "Idiot! Jerk! Who are _you_ to spy on _me_?!"

After a few seconds, Haruhi grabbed the magazine and pulled it out of his sister's grasp. He stared at it for quite some time until he arched an eyebrow. "Oh-ho! What's this? This is one of those girlie magazines…" He looked up at his sister and smirked. "I thought you hated these! What're you doing reading something like this?"

"That…that's none of your business!!" She growled as a small vein appeared on her forehead. "Now give it back!"

"Wait a minute! You haven't even answered my question yet!" Her big brother shouted as he kept the magazine away from Ina. "Now, is that guy you were with yesterday your boyfriend?"

"What did you say?" A deep voice spoke behind them. Ina and Haruhi turned around to see their father, Uchiha Naota, approach them. He was wearing his ANBU uniform, showing that he had just gotten home. Usually, he'd be too tired to respond with anything more than a grunt, but the word _'boyfriend'_ seemed to have waked him up.

"Welcome home, Dad," said Ina as she bowed her head slightly to her father.

"Morning, Dad!" Haruhi grinned. "Do you know that Ina has a boyfriend?"

"_Haruhi_!"

"What? You never said if it was true or not."

Naota's eyes narrowed and his hand began to twitch. "Is this true, Inahime?"

'_Oh, dear God, he's using the full name…!'_ Ina thought as she slumped over, a tinge of blue appearing on her cheeks.

"Go on, Ina, tell him! Tell him how you two spent the afternoon training together and how afterwards, he treated you to lunch," said Haruhi as he gave a playful grin.

Ina's jaw dropped for a moment as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of her head. "You…You bastard!! You've been spying on me!!"

"I prefer to think of it as protecting my beloved little sister."

"Sugarcoat it all you want, it's _still_ spying!!"

A small vein throbbed on Naota's forehead. "Quiet!!" His children immediately stopped arguing and began to look at the ground. "Do you or do you not have a boyfriend, Ina?"

Ina's cheeks became tinged with pink. "No. He's just an acquaintance from my last mission…"

"He can't be _just an acquaintance_ if you guys were sparring together," said Haruhi. "_And_ eating together. Plus, every time we ask you about him, your face gets red…" The Uchiha heir snapped his fingers as a grin appeared on his face. "Ah! He's not your boyfriend… You've got a _crush_ on him!"

Ina's entire face was now as red as a tomato. "No, I don't! Now, shut up!!"

"You _do_ have a crush on him!"

"He is _not_ my crush, so knock it off! My life is none of your business!!"

"As your big brother, I have a right to pry in your love life and check out the guys you're interested in!" The dark-haired boy said with a nod as he held his hand over his chest in a mock salute. "Besides…I thought you had a crush on Hanzo's little friend in the orange and black…? Or do you think you can't compete with Akasha-chan now that she's rooming with him?" Haruhi quickly sidestepped a punch to the face from Ina.

"I _said_ stay out of my business, you prick!!" The red-faced Uchiha girl shouted as a small vein throbbed on her forehead. "You just…piss me off!! I need to go somewhere—_anywhere_ to get away from you!!" And with that, the raven-haired girl stomped away, leaving her father and brother in the courtyard.

"Sheesh! What was _her _problem?" Haruhi mumbled and scratched the back of his head while his father growled. The Uchiha heir turned to him and blinked. "Dad…?"

"Haruhi…" In less than a second, the Uchiha head was standing in front of his son with his eyes burning with anger. "What do you know about him…?" The redhead began to sweat as his face turned a sickening shade of blue. "Well?"

"His…his name is Masaru! He became a jonin a year ago! Number of A-rank missions: 3, B-rank: 6, C-rank: 11, D-rank: 18!!" Haruhi shouted as his father continued to glare.

"Did you get a picture?" In less than a second, Haruhi was holding up a small copy of Masaru's ID photo.

"I wanted something to bribe Ina with. I don't know _why_, but that guy looks familiar…" He gave a smile. "He's got the looks to pass off for an Uchiha!" His father snatched the picture out of his hand. "Hey!"

Naota began to glare at the photo as though he were trying to burn a hole into Masaru's face. Haruhi could swear he could feel the hatred radiating from his father. The young ANBU had the good mind to take a step back. _'So this is what it's like to watch a father be overprotective of their daughter… I'm glad I'm watching this from the sideline for once!'_ He sweatdropped as Naota muttered something to himself and stalked into the house. _'I feel sorry for that poor guy… He doesn't know what Ina's gotten him into!'_

**X-X-X**

"Achoo!!" Masaru sniffled as he felt his forehead. He was standing outside outside of the Hokage's Tower, wearing his usual mission wear. "Hm? What's this? I can't be catching a cold…" The blue-eyed raven shrugged it off and went inside of the building.

**X-X-X**

"Stupid Haruhi… Who does he think he is, butting into _my_ business? It's not like I pay attention to _him_ and his stupid little girlfriends! Bastard…" Ina muttered as she walked down the streets of one of Konoha's shopping avenues. "Just for spite, I should do something to get back at him—something to _really_ embarrass him…!"

"Hey, Akasha-chan!! This way, this way!!" A familiar voice shouted above all the others.

Ina stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes widened for a moment before a small vein began to throb on her forehead. _'Oh, great…! Just what I need right now!'_ She turned around to see Nataro, wearing an orange shirt with a red swirl in the center and black pants jogging in place not too far away, with several bags from different clothing stores in his arms.

"Come on, Akasha-chan!! There's another one here!"

"Nataro-san…isn't this enough?" The red-haired girl asked as she walked over to him, wearing the same outfit she had last night.

"Eh? Don't you know?"

"What? What do you mean?"

Nataro shrugged. "I just assumed that all girls have a special skill when it comes to shopping."

Akasha blinked and looked down. "I've never shopped before… People just _gave_ me clothes."

"Well, let's see…" He stared down at the bags. "I…guess we could wait and see if this is enough. If not, then you could always go out with Mom and buy yourself some more clothes."

'_He's with that Akasha girl…'_ Ina thought with half-lidded eyes as she stared at the two. _'They look like they're happy.'_ She suddenly flinched after she made eye contact with Akasha. "Uh-oh. Don't tell me she saw me."

"Hm? Ah, it's Princess Ina!!" The red-haired girl exclaimed, pointing a finger in the Uchiha's direction.

'_Damn!'_

Nataro looked in the direction that Akasha was pointing in and frowned. "Oh, great…! Just when I was having a good time, in comes the weasel to ruin my mood," he muttered as his new roommate ran off towards Ina.

'_Crap! If I run away, it'll look like I'm purposely avoiding them… Then Haruhi will __**really**__ think I have a crush on that idiot!'_ The raven-haired girl gave a force smile and waved at the redhead. "Hey…"

Akasha stopped in front of Ina and curtsied to the taller girl. "Good morning, Princess Ina

Ina sweatdropped and stared down at the redhead with half-lidded eyes. "You know…you don't have to call me _'Princess'—_"

"AKASHA-CHAN!!! Don't bow to the likes of Weasel Girl!!" Nataro shouted as a large vein throbbed on his forehead. It took all his will power to not drop the bags as he ran over to the two girls.

"Princess Ina, you're a girl, aren't you?"

The Uchiha girl did a double take as she stared at the Asura in shock. "What did you say?"

"Let it be known, Akasha-chan, that though she has the body of a girl, she doesn't have the _mind_ of one," the blonde chunin spoke in a knowledgeable tone.

Ina arched an eyebrow as she looked at the shopping bags. "So, what you're saying is _you_ think more like a _girl_ than a _guy_."

"Yeah… WAIT!!! That's not how I meant to say it!! I meant that I think more like a girl than _you_ do!"

"Meaning you're more feminine than I am."

"Damn it, quit twisting my words!!"

The Uchiha folded her arms across her chest, closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm not twisting _anything_, you moron. I'm only repeating what you said in a clearer context."

Ignoring the way that Nataro's eye was starting to twitch, Akasha grabbed Ina's hand. "Please, Princess! I'd be honored if you could show me how to shop like a normal girl!"

Ina sweatdropped. "Ex…cuse me?"

"Nataro-san said that all girls have shopping skills. Since you're a princess, you have to have all sorts of shopping skills, don't you?"

Nataro sweatdropped before he leaned in to whisper into Akasha's ear, "That's not what I said. I _assumed_ that all girls had shopping skills."

The young jonin arched an eyebrow. "I'm no shopaholic… But, if you want my advice, then you should ditch whatever Nataro said you _should_ buy." She began to smirk. "Never take fashion advice from a ninja who wears _orange_. That much should be clear."

"Oh…?" Akasha got a sad look in her eyes as she pouted. "But the clothes he chose for me looked so nice…"

The fashion comment did it. The blonde dropped the bags and in less than a second, his face was a few inches away from Ina's. Hold up!! How dare you criticize my fashion sense?! And I'll have you know that orange is my color!!"

"It's also a big sign that says _'Kill me,'_ dumbass! I'm surprised you haven't been killed yet. You'd have to be _colorblind_ to miss you!"

"I'm not sure about colorblindness, but I could make you _blind_! Just stay still and let me poke your eyes out, Weasel Bitch!!"

"Idiot blonde!"

"Bitch!!"

"Idiot!!"

"I'm surprised that Masaru guy went out on a date with the likes of you!"

Ina's eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed, focusing on the blonde boy. "What do _you_ know, you fool?! You're sleeping in the same room with _her_!" She shouted, nodding in Akasha's direction. "For all I know, you could've tried to feel her up or something!! That sounds like something a pervert like you would do!"

Nataro's face turned red. "Puh…PERVERT?! I would _never_ treat Akasha-chan like that!!"

"So you say, but what happens in public and what happens when you're alone are two _completely_ different things, you…TRAITOR!!!" The Uchiha screamed. She suddenly noticed that a bunch of people were now gathering around them, staring at their argument. Out of aggression, she activated her Sharingan. "What're _you_ all looking at?! Get out of here!!" The crowd began to disperse, fearing the Uchiha Princess's wrath. Ina began to pant heavily, her face red from either embarrassment or anger.

Nataro arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Traitor? What the hell are you talking about _this_ time?"

Ina remained silent and glared at the blonde, her cheeks still red before she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"I can't understand that Weasel Girl…" He muttered, placing his hands behind his head.

"Nataro…" Akasha began as she stared at the blonde. "That wasn't very nice."

"Huh?"

"You insulted a princess! You must _never_ do that! It isn't good manners!" The redhead chided her roommate.

"Akasha-chan, she's not a real princess. Her name is just _Inahime_."

"Uh…what?"

"It's all in the writing, okay?"

"Okay… But you still weren't very nice to Ina-hime," the Asura said with a pout as she played with the fringe of her dress. "You insulted her…and she looked hurt."

"Bah!!" Nataro threw his arms up into the air. "We always fight like that! I call her _'bitch'_, she calls me _'moron'_… That's natural for us!" His arms suddenly fell to his sides and he looked down at the ground in thought. _'Although… She __**did**__ look a little weird before she left. And why'd she call me a traitor?'_

"Nataro! The clothes are getting all dirty!"

"Eh? Oh, no!!" The blonde shouted as he bent down to pick up the clothing that had fallen out of their bags and were now resting on the ground. "This stuff's expensive!!"

**X-X-X**

In a shop somewhere in Konoha that dealt with magic and the supernatural, Hanzo stood in front of the counter and began to tap on it impatiently. After a few seconds of silence, he looked over the counter and saw a fat white nekomata wearing a light blue yukata napping behind the counter, its two tails swishing about as it slept.

"Hey. Are you awake?"

The nekomata opened its large yellow eyes and looked up at the Uchiha. "I am now." The two-tailed feline uncurled itself from its position and sat up to look at Hanzo, its two furry tails slowly swaying about. "What do you want now, Hanzo-kun?"

"Where's Aunt Shitomi? I have something I want to ask her."

"Shitomi-san is with a customer. You'll have to wait for a bit." The chubby nekomata managed to jump onto the counter and looked up at the Uchiha, its slitted pupils narrowing. "Did you bring anything to eat?"

Hanzo glared down at the two-tailed cat. "Is food all you think of?"

It began to sniff the air. "I smell…chocolate!"

The raven-haired teen's glare smoldered and he sighed. "You're impossible. You know that, right?" His left arm slipped inside of his jacket and when it came back out, there was a small bag with red and white stripes tied up with a red ribbon in his hand. The nekomata began to stare at the bag and stood up on its hind legs, taking a stance much like a begging dog, but it looked more like Maneki Neko statue. "You're only getting a small piece, you know." He untied the bag, reached inside, and pulled out a small piece of dark chocolate. "Here." He dropped the chocolate onto the counter and the nekomata gladly began to nibble on it, getting candy all over its clothes and fur.

"Mmm…! So good…!" It opened its eyes and saw Hanzo walk around the counter and through the entrance that led to the back of the shop, but didn't do a thing. It was perfectly content with its treat.

**X-X-X**

"So, Kaname-san… You have refused to follow my instructions from before," said Shitomi as she put down the pipe and breathed out wisps of smoke. She was sitting at a small table with a client she had been seeing for almost a month—a woman who was being haunted by the spirit of her stepdaughter, who had been killed by a mugger several months ago on her way home. But Shitomi guessed that it was something else. The woman admitted to not liking her stepdaughter because she was often pulling her new husband away from her and his new stepson and the girl would often insult her…but it was more likely that the woman had killed the girl herself and made it appear as though she was killed by a mugger, leading the girl to become a revenge-bent doki in death. Otherwise, why would the girl's ghost continue to follow her mother around in death?

Kaname, despite being in her mid-forties, was a very pretty woman. She nervously began to twist a stray lock of her dark brown hair and bit her bottom lip. Her eyes kept glancing over to the corner of the room, where the girl's doki stood. Incredibly pale white skin, dark hair that hung in front of her face, wearing nothing but a white dress, the doki looked at Kaname causing her to flinch even though the ghost's eyes couldn't be seen. "I…I just couldn't do what you told me. I was afraid she wouldn't listen…!" She spoke nervously, twiddling her fingers. "But can't I just…tell her now?"

"She _would_ have listened earlier on, but now her anger has had time to grow. Asking for her forgiveness now, after keeping it a secret for nearly a month, may only anger her further!"

"But…but what will I do?!" Kaname cried, tears forming in her eyes. "She just keeps getting clearer and clearer every time I try to ignore her! She's been causing accidents around the house…I almost fell down the stairs because of her!" She clasped her hands together and bowed her head to the Yagami woman. "Please, Yagami-san! Tell me you can get rid of her!"

Shitomi picked up the pipe and took a deep breath before blowing out some smoke. "I can do nothing about this. An angry spirit will not rest until it has its revenge. The only option you have now…is to confess."

The brunette woman blinked. "Confess? For _what_?"

"Don't lie to me, Kaname-san. Doki only follow those who've killed them…" The Yagami made eye contact with her client. "You're the one who killed your stepdaughter."

"I…I…!"

"If you confess, you'll go to prison. If you _don't_ confess, your stepdaughter's spirit will continue to grow more and more restless, until she finally kills you." Shitomi propped her arm up on the table and placed her chin the palm of her hand. "It's your choice." Her client looked horrified as the colored drained from her face. The witch held out her hand and smiled. "That will be 1500 ryo. Have a nice day…while you can."

"_You_…!" Kaname opened her mouth to say something insulting, but flinched as she saw a figure fade into existence besides Shitomi. A man with long, black hair that hung in front of his face, clad in dark clothing. The brunette woman gulped and stared in shock. She opened the purse that was hanging around her shoulder and pulled out a wad of bills from within, slamming it down onto the table before standing up and stalking out of the room with the girl's doki disappearing.

The Yagami woman reached across the table and pulled the money towards her. "It doesn't exactly matter what she does, though," she spoke as she began to count the wad of money. "Either way, she's as good as dead." When she was done, Kyoji appeared beside her in a burst of harmless fire and took the money from her. "Don't you agree, Hanzo-kun?"

Hanzo walked into his room with his hands shoved into his pants pockets as Kyoji walked past him. "I suppose so. But at least if she's in prison, she'll have a long time to think about the error of her ways."

"People like her hardly ever learn…" Shitomi looked up at her nephew and smiled. "But, enough about business. What is it that you wish to talk about?" She bridged her hands together and pouted. "Is Sasuke-san being mean to you again?"

"Not exactly. I just came to ask you about something," the raven-haired young man spoke as he approached the table and sat down on the cushion Kaname was on a short while ago. "What do you know about…seals used to suppress demons? Powerful demons, like the bijuu."

The Yagami woman arched an eyebrow as the spirit beside her faded from as the spirit beside her faded from existence. "Seals for bijuu suppression? Did something happen, Hanzo-kun?"

He stared down at the table for a while before he began to speak, "Nataro lost control of the Kyuubi. He was completely destructive…until this guy in a black cloak suddenly appeared and used a talisman on him, and then Nataro went back to normal."

"A seal that suppresses a bijuu's control on its host…" Shitomi mumbled, tapping her fingers on the table. "Something like that would take great power. The Yagami clan has knowledge of a seal like that—it suppresses and weakens powerful demons. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to make one—hardly any of us do. Only those of the old generation would know." She closed her eyes. "Whoever made it would have to be a master at seals and know enough about the bijuu to make it work. She opened her eyes and arched an eyebrow. "Why would _you_ want to know about such a seal, Hanzo-kun?"

"Huh?" The raven snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at his aunt. "Well…I was hoping that maybe…_I_ could make a seal or two like that. For if in case Nataro and I get out of control again." An image of Mamoru appeared in his mind. "We met another person who had a bijuu inside of him…and we both began to lose control over ourselves because we weren't used to its chakra. Nataro transformed into a mini-Kyuubi…and who knows what I could've turned into if I wasn't knocked out. There were nine bijuu originally…Nataro and Mamoru were only two. If we encounter any more like us, then we have to be prepared."

The Yagami woman sighed. "Well, I don't know of any seals to suppress a bijuu once it's taken over."

"I see…" Hanzo sighed before getting to his feet and bowing his head slightly. "Well, thanks anyway, Aunt Shitomi." He exited the room.

"Another bijuu. Hmmm…" Shitomi picked up her pie and waved it around in the air, causing bits of ash to fall on the table and wisps of smoke to waft about in the air in front of her face. "I predict that there shall be much trouble in the future, Hanzo-kun… For you…and for Nataro-kun."

**X-X-X**

In the village of Onigakure, in a deserted section of town, a large group of Oni wearing black and white masks Oni masks stood before a large bald, dark-skinned man that towered over them all. He was over 6 feet tall with muscles apparent all over his body. He wore a pair of black pants with black steel armguards, a black mask covering the bottom half of his face, and black, toeless boots. The man had several stitches and scars all over his visible body parts and a symbol in the shape of a nine-point star on his chest. This man was Asura no Ajit.

"Alright…! I've had enough of this!!" The dark-skinned Asura shouted as he stood before the Oni soldiers. "Akash is a fool if he thinks we can survive on the few people who've been passing near out country! You guys are smart enough to know that we can't get full on mere travelers!! "The Oni nodded, grunting in agreement. Ajit continued, "I say that we go and find our own food! Akash and the rest of these idiots can starve but _Ajit_ will not! We're going out of the country to find some food!! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

"RRRAAAAHHHH!!!" The Oni soldiers shouted, pumping their fists up in the air.

Standing on top of the roof of a high building, a figure was looking down at them, shadowed out by the sun as he narrowed his blue eyes. "This doesn't look good…" He disappeared in the blink of an eye, just as Ajit looked up at the building.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Bhumi sat at a small table with her head down and light snores escaping her lips. A few seconds passed before the door of her room opened and someone walked in.

"Bhumi-san," the person spoke. The silver-haired Asura remained asleep. "Bhumi-san!"

"Zzzzz… Huh? What?" Bhumi raised her head and looked towards the doorway. She saw a 16-year old young man with short red hair that was slicked back and spiked with two long thin bangs hanging in front of his face. He wore a sleeveless waist-length dark blue vest, a long-sleeved light blue shirt, dark blue pants, long black fingerless armguards, black sandals and a white and brown Oni mask tied to the back of his head. On his back was a large steel club that had several bumps on it. "Ah, Jintaro… What is it you have to report?"

Jintaro got to his knees and said, "Ajit's hunger has finally gotten to him. He's decided to go out of the village to find some people to eat, and he's taking an awful lot of Oni with him."

"Huh. I always thought Rudra would be the first to crack. But Ajit is even worse. He'll probably go through villages, towns and cities, completely wrecking them and just about eating everyone that populates them." The silver-haired Asura then brushed aside a stray strand of hair that was hanging in front of her face. "And then, the country he decides to invade will send shinobi to solve the problem. Then they will trace Ajit back to us…which is the opposite of what Akash would want." She looked at Jintaro with half-lidded eyes. "You know what has to be done, right? I'm not all that pumped about fighting, so you can go on ahead and deal with Ajit and his men. I'll step in if any problems should arise."

The redhead smirked. "Yeah… And I can't _wait_! This will be my first battle in a long time." He bowed his head. "I will show you my power, Bhumi-san! You won't even have to step in!"

"Huh." Bhumi stood up and began to crack her neck. "Really? Well then, let's go…" The tall woman mumbled as she moved out the door. Agni immediately stood up and walked out after her, sliding the doors shut behind him.

**X-X-X**

"Good afternoon. Can I please see Konjo?" Ina asked as she stood in front of the entrance of a large Hyuga Branch compound. The Hyuga woman who had answered the gate stared at the Uchiha girl warily. An aura of anger was revolving around her and a small vein was throbbing on her head. "It's an…urgent matter."

"Konjo-kun is currently training with Neji-sama. I'm afraid he's unavailable," said the Hyuga woman. "Come back later—"

"I need to see him _now_!" The raven-haired girl spoke in a dark tone as her Sharingan eyes suddenly activated. The Hyuga arched her eyebrows, completely unaffected by her evil eye. _'Damn stoic Hyuga!'_ "May I _please_ see Konjo? He's being called for a mission."

"You could have said that from the beginning," the woman spoke, stepping aside.

"Look, lady, I've been coming here for the last 3 years. When am I going to be able to come inside of this place without having to go through 21 Questions?!" Ina suddenly realized what she had said and covered her mouth with her hand. She scuffled her foot in the dirt. "Um… It's that time of the month!" She lied as she quickly walked inside, leaving behind a sweatdropping Hyuga.

**X-X-X**

In the compound courtyard, Neji and Konjo were facing each other, standing in the Jyuken stance. The younger Hyuga was panting and had sweat running down his face, while his grandfather's only sight of fatigue was the few beads of sweat that were trailing down his face. On the veranda, a few of the younger Hyuga had sat down to watch the training session.

Konjo darted forward and began to thrust his palms towards Neji. The silver-haired Hyuga merely swatted the teen's blows aside and countered with his own strikes. A few seconds into the assault, Neji attempted to sweep the younger Hyuga off of his feet, but Konjo blocked the attack with a sweep of his own and thrusted his palm forward to strike Neji in the face. His grandfather, however, quickly knocked Konjo's arm up and struck the younger Hyuga in the chest, making him fall back and land on his butt.

"You were distracted," said Neji as he deactivated his Byakugan.

"I know…" Konjo mumbled as his Byakugan deactivated.

"And why is that? You should never be distracted in combat."

"I know… But I saw Ina."

"So? It's just the Uchiha girl."

"Did you not see the look on her face?" The indigo-haired teen shuddered as a tint of blue appeared on his face, eyes hidden by his bangs. "It was like looking at the eyes of a demon! Even from here, the pressure…!" His grandfather arched an eyebrow in confusion as his cousins turned around to look at the approaching Uchiha, whom Konjo appeared to be unaware of. "When she has that look, even the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune seems like a sweet little kitten!"

"Konjo, you're starting to dig a grave for yourself. I suggest you stop taking _now_," Neji told his grandson as the vein on Ina's forehead doubled in size.

"Huh?"

"She's right behind you."

Konjo's eyes suddenly widened and he looked over his shoulder to see a glowering Ina, her onyx eyes glaring down at him. "Hi, Ina… You look…good today…!" He squeaked as beads of sweat ran down his face.

"It's that scary girl again!" One of the young Hyuga on the veranda exclaimed.

"Is she gonna eat him?"

Ina's eyebrow twitched and she turned her head to glare at the children. They all immediately became quiet under the intensity of her glare. She then looked at Neji and bowed her head. "Good afternoon, Hyuga-sama. I need Konjo for something, so I'm afraid that I'll be taking him…"

"And _what_ exactly are you taking him for?"

"Just some training, sir."

Konjo's eyes immediately widened. "Ohhhh, no, you aren't!" The indigo-haired teen shouted, immediately jumping to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at Ina. "I know what you're up to… When you get that look in your eye, you want to do something to me. Well, I'm not falling for that again!"

The Uchiha arched an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? We're just gonna train."

"You can't fool me!! I've endured this treatment a dozen times! No way am I going with you—mmph!!"

"Stop being paranoid, Konjo," Neji spoke with his hand covering his grandson's mouth. "She only wants to train with you, not _kill_ you."

The young Hyuga looked up at his grandfather, his left eye twitching. "How do _you_ know that? You don't know Ina like _I_ do!" He whispered as he looked at the Hyuga Branch's head with a scared expression.

The elder just stared at him. Silence overtook the courtyard for some time, until Neji said, "Konjo…go."

"Okay…" Konjo moaned in defeat as he trudged over to Ina, slumping over with his bangs hanging over his eyes while an aura of depression surrounded his body. "Come on… Let's get this over with."

"Poor Konjo. He has to go and train with that scary girl…"

"I feel so bad for him…"

"Is she gonna kill him?"

Ina looked in the direction of the Hyuga children and gave them a glare again. The kids were immediately silenced and scurried into the room behind them, out of the Uchiha girl's sight. She then turned her sights on the upset Konjo and grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the courtyard.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let her take him…" Neji spoke to himself. "No, this is a good experience for him."

"Neji-jiisama is talking to himself again"

My big brother was right. He _is_ going…senile…"

The Hyuga elder looked in the direction of the door that was cracked open slightly. A pale white eye disappeared from the crack and the door closed immediately.

**X-X-X**

Later at an empty training field, Ina and Konjo stood facing each other. The Uchiha cracked her knuckles while the Hyuga stared in confusion, his eyes reduced to white dot and a few red question marks floating over his head. "Um… I _still_ don't get why we're doing this. Is something wrong…?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"Stop lying. You usually don't look like _that_ and ask me to train for no specific reason."

Ina narrowed her eyes and her arms fell to her sides. "The only reason I have for asking you to train with me is that I have no one else to train with at the moment. Plus, your Jyuken style _may_ give me a workout."

The indigo-haired teen gave a sigh and shook his head slowly. "Ina… Don't make me say it."

The raven-haired girl's eye twitched as her hand hovered above her shuriken holster. "What?"

Konjo gave another sigh. He stood up straight and spoke, "My eyes can see _everything_. And they can see you're obviously pissed off about something." As Ina flung a flurry of shuriken at him, the young Hyuga dropped to the ground to avoid being hit. "Ina!! You can't hide it!!" He shouted as he jumped back to his feet.

The Uchiha girl was already forming hand signs. _'Katon!'_ She took a deep breath and blew out a stream of fire. _'Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ Her teammate merely took a stance and began to spin around, channeling chakra from his body to create a dome-like barrier of chakra around him. As soon as the flame hit the spinning dome, the fire engulfed it for a short while until Konjo stopped spinning and the dome faded away. The Hyuga took a step back and shook his head, attempting to regain his focus.

Konjo took another step back, slipping into the traditional Jyuken stance as Ina dashed towards him. When Ina was close enough, she had balled up a fist and attempted to punch him in the face, but he swatted her hand aside and grabbed onto her wrist. The Uchiha attempted to chop him in the neck with her free hand, but he just as quickly saw that and grabbed its wrist as well. Both shinobi struggled—Ina to free herself from Konjo's grasp and Konjo to keep a grip on Ina. "Let me take a guess: family problems?"

"Will you _shut up_?" Ina growled as she brought her knee up to strike the distracted Hyuga in his stomach. She quickly jumped back to avoid being swept off of her feet, her hand reaching into her back pouch while in mid-jump. Just as she landed, she threw a kunai at her teammate's head. He easily tilted his head to the side to avoid the kunai, but as soon as it impaled itself into the tree behind the indigo-haired chunin, the kunai exploded. The force of the blast caused Konjo to stumble forward. He just barely managed to dodge the oncoming onslaught of kunai and shuriken, gaining a few scratches on his skin and some minor cuts in his clothing.

"Not family? Then maybe you met Nataro this morning?" The chunin spoke, sidestepping a flurry of shuriken.

The newbie jonin slumped over, her face red from anger as beads of sweat trailed down her face. "Damn it, Konjo I said _'shut up_'!! I don't want to talk about any of this!!"

"So you _did_ meet Nataro."

"This morning! So what?!"

Konjo slipped out of his fighting stance and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "So what? You usually don't let what Nataro says get to you. Did he say something to insult you on a personal level?"

Ina gave a sarcastic smirk and narrowed her eyes. "What? Are you some sort of _ninja psychiatrist _now? Your _almighty Byakugan_ can look into the heart and mind of a human being?"

He slumped over and sweatdropped. "Actually, I've hung around with girls so long that I know how they think…and it scares me."

Ina narrowed her eyes. "You make me sick…!" She fell back and landed on her bottom, taking several deep breaths. "It's like everyone I meet today is trying to piss me off…!"

"Come on, Ina! I only want to help you!" The Hyuga pouted and placed his hands behind his head. "Aren't girls supposed to _like_ talking about their feelings and emotions and whatnot?"

Ina's eye twitched as she began to glare at her teammate. "_What_? Where the _hell_ did you get a mixed-up theory like that?"

Konjo knocked himself in the head. "Of course! My bad." _'My bad for thinking you were like __**normal**__ girls…'_ "But I can honestly say that talking will make you feel better. Trust me—I've seen it on TV."

A large sweatdrop ran down the back of her head. "Okay, what's wrong with you? No _normal_ guy wants to talk about emotions and feelings and all that crap."

"I've already told that I've been around you and Shizuka for so long, I'm starting to understand women more than a guy my age _should_. And also because Shizuka isn't here, so the job of helping you out rests with _me_," the the indigo-haired teen said with a nod. _'Also, so long as you're upset, you'll want to beat __**me**__ up to get rid of your anger.'_ He added mentally. "Now let's talk." He walked over to the Uchiha and sat down next to her. "What's your problem?"

The raven-haired jonin's eye twitched again. "I don't _have_ a problem." She looked away from her teammate and began to glare at a nearby tree. "All I have is a brother who spies on me, a father who suspects me of having a crush on one of my superiors, an idiot who constantly _pisses me off_, and a girl who's _too damn nice_ and probably doesn't know what she's doing!!" Ina shouted as she slammed her fist down onto the ground.

"What girl?"

"Huh?"

"You said there's a girl who's too nice and doesn't know what she's doing," Konjo repeated with an arched eyebrow. "Who's the girl?"

"Hmph!" The raven-haired girl snorted as she looked away from her teammate. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The Hyuga blinked. "What?! Wait a minute, just a while ago, you were—!" He stopped speaking as Ina stood up and began to walk away. "HEY!!! What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like? I'm leaving."

"But you didn't tell me why—"

Ina stopped walking and looked over her shoulder. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I feel a little better now that I've worked out a bit." She continued walking away, saying, "See you tomorrow."

Konjo simply sat there with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. After Ina disappeared from his sight, a crow flew high above his head, soaring through the sky, he snapped out of it and slumped over. "I… What happened? Did she really say that? Or was I just imagining things?" He suddenly sat up straight and began to frown. The indigo-haired Hyuga fell back and sighed as he hit the ground. "I just can't understand that girl…" He mumbled under his breath as he closed his eyes.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere near the borders of Hi no Kuni, a village was burning. A thick blanket of smoke rose from the small fires that were scattered all about the village and its crop fields. The corpses of several villagers with most of their skin and flesh ripped from their bones, body parts strewn all over, and the scent of blood and ash mingled. Marching away from the burning village was a large group of black-clad Oni soldiers, wearing red and black masks. Walking ahead of the group was Ajit, with splattered blood visible on his clothes and torso.

"Heh-heh… That was _great_! I haven't had such a big meal in _years_!" The dark-skinned man spoke as he wiped off a bit of blood that was on his forehead. "I hope we can encounter some ninja, though… They taste the best!"

Unnoticed by the Oni and their Asura leader, a crack in the earth was growing ever closer towards them. The Oni jumped out of the way of the crack, but Ajit merely turned around and stood in his spot. The crack made its way towards the brawny Asura and stopped at its feet. Ajit looked down at the crack for a moment, and then he looked up.

"So, _you two_ are the only ones who decided to come after me?"

Standing a few feet away from Ajit, at the origin at the crack, was Jintaro with Bhumi standing beside him. The red-haired teen had his kanabo drawn and on the ground, a smirk apparent on his face.

"Ajit…" Bhumi started, staring at the dark-skinned Asura with her usual apathetic, half-lidded eyes. "What you're doing is going against Akash's orders. You're coming back with us…be it peacefully…"

Jintaro lifted his kanabo and rested it against his shoulder, being careful of the spikes. "Or…" He started to smirk. "Be it _forcefully_!!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Maneke Neko are lucky Japanese cat statues that grant good luck to its owners. What type of fortune the statue grants depends on its color.**

**A doki is an angry spirit that haunts people after its death. It looks like the average Japanese ghost with long black hair, white clothing, pale skin, and has no legs visible, but is always clenching and unclenching its hands. Average Japanese doki don't look like Tayuya's doki.**

**Akasha was confused about Ina's name because "-hime" is an honorific suffix meaning princess, though it's simply written Inahime sans the hyphen.**

**X-X-X**

_Ending Omake: Crush_

If there was anything her grandmother taught her about love, it was that it was that it was confusing, random and wonderful—a whole bunch of things, really. Sometimes, you could control who loved and other times, you couldn't help but love someone. To Ina, it sounded dumb and disgusting. Of course, then, she was 5 years old and the only boy she could stand was her Daddy. If she had a choice, she'd marry her Daddy, because no dumb boy could reach his power and courage in her eyes.

And then, at 7 years, she had the bad luck to meet _the idiot_. Not _an_ idiot, but _the_ idiot—the biggest one in the history of idiots, in her opinion. Bigger than all the idiots who envied her for her skills. With that spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes, big smile and hyperactive behavior, he was an eyesore and a pain in the ass…but…

'_He said he…kinda liked me…'_ Ina thought as she sat on the floor of her grandparents' home, cheeks tinged red and her thoughts far away from her homework. _'Now that I think about it, he __**is**__ kinda cute…'_ A small smile seemed to force itself onto her face without her knowing.

"Hey! What're you smiling for?" 12-year old Haruhi asked with a frown as he balanced a kunai on his finger.

The raven-haired girl frowned. "Shut up! It's none of your business!"

Years passed and she was comfortable with her relationship with Nataro. Okay, so it wasn't much of a relationship with all the insults and fighting and anger that seemed to get worse over the years. In her opinion, he has it coming when he gets all thickheaded and stupid. Either way, she was comfortable with it being like that, because she couldn't imagine her acting like Shizuka or any of the girls who swooned over a cute boy…and over _Nataro_, no less. He wasn't much of a looker, but something about him just kept drawing her back to him…and something about her just kept making them lash out against each other.

More years passed. She became a chunin before him, she rubbed it in his face. She became a jonin before him, she rubbed it in his face. She even met a guy that drew her attention just like Nataro did. But then, the worse happened…when _she_ came. Asura or Akasha or whatever her name was, that girl was just too cute and too nice for Ina's taste. The way she clung to Nataro and acted so friendly…and how she had the nerve to move in with him! Either she didn't know what sort of person he was or she was up to something.

"Hello! I am Akasha," the red-haired girl said as she bowed respectfully to the Uchiha girl.

Ina arched an eyebrow from her spot in a booth with Shizuka. "I know who you are, silly! It's me, Shizuka! Remember?" The blue-haired girl said with a smile.

"Oh, right! Sorry… Who's your friend?"

"This is Uchiha Inahime. She was in Nataro's class, too."

Akasha's eyes suddenly grew large and sparkly. "Ohhhh, a princess!! I can't believe Nataro-san knows royalty!" The Asura curtsied. "Please forgive me for my rudeness, princess."

"Hey!!" Nataro came over, though all his focus was on Ina. The two exchanged glares before he spoke, "What're _you_ doing here?"

The raven-haired girl leaned back in her seat and smirked. "I just wanted to see if you ruined this party. Doing a pretty good job so far."

"Hmph! Come on, Asura-chan! You don't have to resort to speaking with people like her!" The blonde said with a frown as he took Akasha's hand and began to lead her towards Kazemaru and Hanzo.

"Hee-hee! They look like a couple, huh?" Shizuka asked with her hands on her knees.

"Hmph!" Ina folded her arms across her chest and looked out of the pair out of the corner of her eye. "Whatever…" **"NO WAY IN HELL!!!"** Inner Ina roared as flames burned in her eyes. **"I will **_**not**_** be ignored for some dumb chick! The prize isn't much, but I **_**will**_** win!!"** The sound of fingers snapping drew her back to reality.

"Ina…? You got a _really_ scary look in your eyes for a second there…" Shizuka spoke with her eyes reduced to dots as she sweatdropped.

"It's nothing…" The Uchiha looked at Nataro and Akasha once more before looking away. "Nothing at all…"


	62. The Leaf's Ambush

**Naruto: Oh my gosh! Blu's alive!!**

**Kakashi: We all thought you were dead…or that you wound up breaking **_**another**_** laptop.**

**Blu: Well, I wish I **_**were**_** dead. College is still draining…the life force out of me…. And I've got Summer classes on account of failing one class…and my idiot math teacher not putting down my passing grade. I've been so busy…I forgot that I finished this chapter months ago.**

**Naruto: Gee, that sucks.**

**Blu: Not as much as what's been happening in the manga lately. Say, do you know where Sakura is?**

**Naruto: (Sulks in a corner) Don't remind me…!**

**Blu: Well, there's nothing else to say but "ON WITH THE FIC"!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#62: The Leaf's Ambush_

Ajit stood far away from Bhumi and Jintaro. The brawny Asura smirked behind his mask. "Tch! Forcefully, huh? There's no way I'll go back to starving to death!"

Bhumi sighed and began to shake her head slowly. "You don't know what you're doing, Ajit."

"Of course I know what I'm doing! I'm getting me and my men the meal we deserve!!" At this, the Oni behind him grunted in agreement.

"What you're doing is merely attracting unwanted attention. Do you honestly think that if you keep attacking villages like this, people won't notice?" The gray-haired woman asked. "And when people notice, Konoha will be informed. Then they will come after you, leading to trouble that I'm sure Akash would prefer to avoid."

Ajit narrowed his eyes. "Konoha, eh…? Let 'em come! I've been dying to eat some shinobi chakra."

"Give it up, Bhumi-san. The only thing on this guy's mind is his _stomach_!" Said Jintaro as he began to glare at the large Asura. "If we wanna take him back, we need to _knock some sense into him_!!"

The brawny man arched an eyebrow and snorted. "As if the two of you could take _me_ down!"

"Not the two of us…" The redhead jabbed a thumb to his chest. "Just me!"

"You… You? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ajit threw his head back and laughed loudly. "_You_?! Don't make me laugh!!"

A vein started to throb on Jintaro's forehead and he clenched the hilt of his kanabo tightly. "Why you…!"

Bhumi looked at her subordinate with an arched eyebrow. "Jintaro. Before you start, I should say—"

"Bastard!! I'm gonna kill you!!" Jintaro dashed towards the muscular Asura with his kanabo raised.

"Oh well…"

"Heh…" Ajit smirked. "I'd like to see you try!"

Midway to his target, Agni jumped up into the air, performing a somersault as he did. When he broke free of the somersault, he was above Ajit's head. The red-haired Asura began to descend quickly, his large iron club in front of him. _'You're mine, bastard!!'_ He didn't seem to notice that Ajit's smirk widened.

A few seconds later, droplets of blood flew up in the air. From the distance, hiding in the foliage of the trees, a black-cloaked ANBU remained silent before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

**X-X-X**

The next day in Konohagakure…

Nataro was snoring loudly as he hugged his pillow close to his body. He was sleeping on a futon in his room in the hopes of making Akasha feel a bit more comfortable in her new home. At the moment, the blonde was sleeping peacefully…until he felt a soft sensation at the back of his neck that made him giggle. The sensation went down his neck and towards his back. He gave another giggle and a cherry red blush appeared on his cheeks. A moan of pleasure escaped his lips as the sensation went even further down his back and went toward his bu—

"ACK!!!" Nataro immediately shot out of the futon, accidently hitting his head against the door. "Ow…" He fell to his knees and clutched his head in pain. _'This can only mean one thing…!'_ The blonde thought as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

"Huh? Nataro-san? Is something wrong?" Akasha's voice came from behind him.

"Of _course_ something's wrong!! I think I cracked my skull!!"

"**Oh, stop being such a crybaby. Your head is much too thick to be damaged by a mere door,"** said the Kyuubi.

'_I was hoping you had fallen asleep for the rest of eternity, you damn fur ball!!'_

"Oh, no… D-do you need some help?"

Nataro turned around and sat down on the floor. "Nah, I'm o…o…KAY?!?" His eyes became the size of plates and his jaw hung open as he pointed at the red-haired girl. Like he had guessed, she was lying down on his futon, but something was wrong. She was wearing a short, pink nightie that was _transparent_, so it gave Nataro a chance to see Akasha's underwear. Needless to say, there was a trail of blood streaming down the blonde's nose before he used his usual response. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Nataro and Akasha were once again sitting on the couch in the living room. The blonde had a piece of slightly bloody paper sticking up of his nostril and he was holding his pillow over his crotch while looking away from Akasha, who was still wearing her transparent lingerie.

"I'm starting to think that you're some sort of pervert…" The blonde said as his eyebrow began to twitch. "First you sleep with me… Then you start wearing sexy nighties… Next thing you know, you'll probably be waiting for me on my bed with nothing on but some chocolate, whip cream, strawberries and a smile!! Guh!!" He started to hold the pillow down on his crotch, much to the Asura's confusion.

"P-pervert? I wasn't trying to be perverted!" Akasha exclaimed as she placed her hands together. "You were rolling around in your futon and growling in your sleep, and you were sweating, too. So I thought that if I slept with you, you would feel better."

"I appreciate the thought, Akasha-chan, but by wearing that…_thing_, you've only made it worse!" Nataro suddenly snapped his head in the redhead's direction, his eyes closed for his own safety. "By the way, where the heck did you _get_ _it_?!"

She began to blush and poke her two index fingers together. "Um… I put it in the pile when you weren't looking."

The blonde frowned. "That's sneaky, Akasha-chan."

"But-but you said I could have whatever I wanted!"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean something straight from a ladies' underwear catalog!!"

Akasha pouted and looked at the floor. "Do…do you think it looks bad…?" She whimpered.

At the tone in her voice, Nataro couldn't help but open his eyes and waved his arms in front of him in a frantic manner. "O-of course not!! You look _really_ good!! It's like that thing was made for you—" He suddenly stopped speaking as his eyes landed on Akasha's nightwear again. He stood up from the couch, straight and rigid as a board, and made his way towards the bathroom, leaving a confused Akasha alone. If she had gone up to the bathroom door and listened in, she would have heard the sound of running water. The door soon opened again and Nataro walked out soaking wet. His wet bangs hung in front of his face, hiding his eyes a bit. The piece of paper that had been in his nose was now gone and he _still_ held the soggy pillow over his crotch, just in case.

Akasha looked the boy up and down. "What did you do in there, Nataro-san?"

"Oh, nothing… Just cooling off." The chunin began to shake his head, sending droplets of water flying all over. After he stopped, he looked at his redheaded roommate calmly. "Look, Akasha-chan. Do me a favor and…_don't_ wear that thing around me again. Actually, _never_ wear it _period_!" She nodded in response. "Good. I'm…gonna go and…change now. We'll out for breakfast today."

"Huh? Out…?"

Nataro stopped in the doorway of his room and looked at Akasha from over his shoulder. "Yeah. Nothing I make is as good as what you can find at a restaurant. You can bet that!"

As he disappeared into the room, he didn't notice that the Asura lowered her head. "Oh… Okay."

Nataro closed the door and sighed as he removed his wet shirt and tossed it onto the floor. "Man, something is wrong with her! If anyone finds out about what she does, they're gonna think I'm some pervert!" His memory drifted back to the red-haired girl's sleepwear and he began to blush. "But…she didn't look so bad in that. And I got to see her—" He slapped himself in the face, snapping out of his perverted fantasies. The blonde started to rub his bruise and waterfall tears began to stream down his cheeks in a comic manner. "This has to stop…!" Nataro stopped moving all of a sudden when he started to smell something suspicious. "What is that? Smoke?" He opened the door and looked outside…and his jaw dropped from what he saw. "EHHHHH?!?"

Akasha was standing in the kitchen area in front of the toaster. Black smoke was rising up from the appliance, but the redhead only stared at it as though it were completely normal.

"Akasha-chan!! What're you doing?!" The blonde teen shouted as he dashed into the kitchen.

"I'm making you toast," the redhead said with a small smile.

"Huh? But I…told you: we're eating breakfast _out_ today."

"I know that. I'm making it as my thanks to you." Just then, two slices of bread popped up from the toaster, looking crisp and black. "It's done! The Asura blinked as she stared at the slices of toast in confusion. "Is this how it's supposed to look? The ones you made yesterday came out brown, but these are black…"

"Maybe because you put the toaster on _'High'_," the blonde pointed out said switch on the toaster.

"I wanted to finish it quickly." Akasha grabbed a slice of toast and held it out to her roommate. "Here! Take a bite!"

Nataro sweatdropped and stared at the bread with wide eyes. "Um… No offense, but I don't think that's exactly edible."

"Oh?" The redhead held the toast in front of her face and took a bite out of it. As soon as she swallowed she started to pout. "It tastes burnt…" She took another bite. "And stale…" Then another bite. "And hard."

Nataro sweatdropped. "So stop eating it!"

Akasha hung her head in shame and began to sulk. "Oh…! All I wanted was to repay you…"

"Eh? For what?"

"For letting me live with you, considering what I am…" The Asura looked down at the floor as a sad look appeared in her eyes. "If it was anyone else, they would have been against it…"

"Nonsense!! I could care less about that!" Nataro exclaimed with a blush on his cheeks and a grin on his face. "You don't have to do anything to pay me back. I'm happy to help you. I'm happy just having you here!"

Akasha started to blush as well. "Really…?"

The sound of someone taping on glass caused the two roommates to turn their heads towards the window. Outside was an ABU ninja wearing an eagle mask, hanging upside down in front of the window. Nataro raised the pane up. "Kazaki Nataro, Hokage-sama is calling for you."

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "Huh? What for?"

"You and your team are needed for a mission." The ANBU didn't flinch as he saw the aura of anger radiating from the young chunin.

Akasha, on the other hand, was well aware and began to stare at her roommate. "Na…Nataro-san? Are you alright?"

A vein began to throb on the blonde's forehead before he started to scream, "WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!?"

**X-X-X**

"WHAT THE HELL, OLD MAN?!?" Nataro screamed at the Rokudaime Hokage later at the Hokage's Tower, pointing a finger at the old man. He would have pounced onto his desk and get up to his face if it weren't for Hanzo and Kazemaru holding him back. "I thought you said I'd get a few days off with Akasha-chan, and here you are sending me on a mission?! If I get my hands on you, I'm gonna…!" The blonde clawed the air in an attempt to get close to Naruto and wring his neck.

"Easy, Nataro!! Does the word _'Hokage'_ mean nothing to you?!" Hanzo shouted as he tightened his grip on the blonde's left arm.

"Yeah, stupid!" Kazemaru grunted as he pulled on Nataro's right arm. "He could have you demoted before you can say _'genin'_!"

"I don't care!! I'll become a genin again if I can punch him in the face!!" Nataro shouted as a large vein began to throb on his forehead and he snorted out steam from his nose.

"Be careful of what you say, moron!"

After a few more minutes of staring at the screaming teen, Naruto sighed. "Are you _done_ yet?"

"NO!!"

The elderly blonde sighed and ignored the way the younger was glaring daggers at him. "As much as I hated to pull you away from your day off—"

"Liar!! You enjoyed it!"

"—there's an urgent matter that needs to be taken care of."

Nataro stopped struggling and blinked. His friends released his arms. "Urgent? How so?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.

"As of yesterday, it has been confirmed that a group resembling a small army has attacked three small villages as of today. One of our shinobi who have been keeping watch says that it was the Oni, being led by one that appeared to be an Asura."

The chunin's eyes widened.

"Oni…" Hanzo whispered, looking down at the floor.

'_Not those freaks again!'_ Kazemaru thought as he bit down his lower lip, remembering the Asura.

Nataro balled his hands into fists and began to grind his teeth. "So they've finally shown themselves," he spoke as his eyes narrowed. His hands started to shake from increasing anger. "Is it for Akasha-chan? They're coming back to try and take her _again_, aren't they?!"

"Whether or not they're after Akasha, they're causing havoc in the countryside," Naruto said as he placed his hands on his desk.

"And what do you want _us_ to do about it?!" Kazemaru shouted. "The three of us can't take on an _army_ of those guys!!"

"You're all going to be part of a platoon."

The orange-haired and blonde chunin blinked at the same time. "Platoon?"

"Yes… Judging by the size, we'll need more than just two or three teams of four. Two dozen or _more_ shinobi will be needed. And you three have been chosen to be part of the mission." Naruto bridged his fingers together. "But you three still need a fourth member as a squad leader, since Tsuki is still in the hospital. Luckily, someone volunteered for the position."

Hanzo's eyes widened slightly. "For real? No one usually wants to deal with us these days, on account of Kazemaru and Nataro." The blonde and flame-haired chunin both glared at their teammate.

"Tch! What's that? Are you implying that _you_ don't cause trouble, Fan Boy?" Kaze asked the Uchiha, arching his eyebrow.

"Compared to you two, no, I don't."

"Wait a minute!! That doesn't sound right!!" Nataro shouted, pointing a finger at Hanzo.

"It sounds right to me."

"Yeah, well, your information's all mixed up, Fan Boy. _Nataro's_ the one who causes problems, not me."

"EH?!? Like hell I do!!"

Naruto cleared his throat, gaining the three chunin's attention. "You've met him once before. I guess you three interested him after your first meeting." He looked at the door. "You can come in now!"

The door opened and Team Tsuki turned around to face their new leader. Masaru entered the room and shut the door behind him. "Hello."

Hanzo's eyes widened. Kazemaru's mouth opened a bit as he attempted to form words. Nataro was just plain stunned with his blank eyes the size of plates and his jaw hanging down. "Masaru-sempai?" Hanzo asked.

"No way!! Our substitute leader's gonna be _Captain Pretty Boy_?!" Kaze shouted, finally able to find the words.

"Ah…! Ah…!" Nataro wasn't able to think of anything to say yet.

"Masaru is willing to remain your squad leader until Tsuki is fully recovered," said Naruto.

The blue-eyed raven bowed his head for a second. "I'd be happy to serve as your captain for as long as it takes."

"HOOOOOOOOLD ON!!! NO WAY IN HELL!!!" Nataro screamed. He spun on his heel to look at the Rokudaime and pointed a finger at the old man. "Give us a leader who's over 20 or something!! I demand it!!"

"A _chunin_ can't demand things of the Hokage, you know," Masaru said with half-lidded eyes.

The blonde looked over his shoulder to glare at the raven. "Who the hell asked you?"

"You should be grateful, Nataro. Masaru is quite skilled for his age. Plus, the fact that he actually wants to be on the same team as you helps."

The blonde chunin's eyes narrowed and he folded his arms across his chest. "If he wants to be on a team so badly, why doesn't he just stick with his own team?"

Masaru's eyes widened for a moment, but he regained his composure. "I'm not trying to break up any special team bonds. I only want to help." He smiled and held his hand out to Nataro. "So, what do you say? Friends?"

Nataro looked down at the hand. "What do I say?" He balled a hand up into a fist. "I say…" He gave a wide smile. "Sure!"

"Say _what_?" Hanzo asked in shock.

"What the hell? I thought he'd explode," Kaze mumbled when his eyes became blank and his jaw dropped in shock as Nataro shook the azure-eyed raven's hand.

After a few seconds, the two teen stared at each other, faces still bearing smiles…until Nataro's grip tightened and Masaru winced slightly. "Um, it's a little tight."

The black-clad blonde arched an eyebrow with a smile on his face. "Eh? Tight? That's not tight. _This_ is tight." He then started to squeeze Masaru's hand even harder. However, instead of wincing in pain, the jonin merely squeezed back. The two teens glared at each other with such intensity that the sparks appeared to be flying between them.

"What are they doing…?" Hanzo mumbled as he and Kazemaru stared at the contest.

"I believe it's a test of strength," said the fire-manipulating chunin with an arched eyebrow.

"Ahem!" Naruto cleared his throat, getting the boys' attention. Masaru released Nataro's hand, not even looking when the blonde rubbed his aching hand. "Whether you like it or not, Masaru is your temporary squad leader."

The black-clad blonde, still trying to ease the pain in his hand, said, "Then…can I just not go?"

"No."

"Awwww…!"

Kaze sucked his teeth and gave his teammate a look. "You shouldn't be acting like such a crybaby! Weren't you the one who said _'I'll beat the crap out of any Asura who tries to take away my Asura-chan again?'_

"I never said _that_!!" Nataro shouted.

"But you were _thinking_ it, right?"

"Besides, I didn't think _he'd_ be with us when it happened!!"

"You should be used to things like this by now…" Hanzo sighed.

"No need to fret, Nataro-kun. Like I said, I'll be a good leader to you."

The blonde glared at Masaru. "It's _Nataro_, to you, buddy…"

**X-X-X**

A short while later in downtown Konoha…

"What?! You're being sent on _another_ mission?!" Kazaki Aiko shouted as she gripped the handle of the brook she was holding. Not much had changed about the 35-year old woman. Her blonde hair was still shoulder-length and her anger-filled eyes were still cinnamon brown. At the moment, she wore a white head scarf on her head and an apron over her buttoned up yellow blouse and blue skirt. "But you just came back two days ago!!"

"I know, I know. But, according to Gramps, I only got a _day_ off with Akasha-chan yesterday because he said it was supposed to _only_ be a day," Nataro told his mother as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I got so excited about seeing Akasha-chan that I guess I forgot."

Aiko sweatdropped and stared at him with half-lidded eyes. _'Typical Nataro…'_

"Are you sure you don't mind checking up on Akasha-chan while I'm gone?"

"Of course!" The blonde woman smiled. "She should be all alone after coming back home after three years! I'll make sure she takes care of herself."

Nataro looked over his mother's shoulder through the open door. He managed to see Akasha, wearing a head scarf and an apron over her outfit. "Thank you, Mom."

"This is what mothers are for, right? When are you supposed to be going?"

"Are you going somewhere, Nataro-san?" Akasha asked as she appeared in the doorway, holding a dirty rag in her hand.

The blonde chunin nodded. "Yeah… Sorry if it ruins our plans, but this mission is important."

"That's okay… Do your best!"

The blonde began to blush and gave her a thumbs-up. "I give nothing less!" And in the blink of an eye, he disappeared, and a blur of black, orange and yellow could be seen jumping from roof to roof.

Aiko clasped her hands together and began to grin widely. "Awww! How _adorable_! Young love!"

The Asura blinked in confusion as she stared at the squealing woman. "Huh? What are you talking about, Aiko-san?"

"Nothing, nothing. How's about we get back inside and finish cleaning up, huh? And afterwards, I'll make something for us to eat!" Aiko grabbed Akasha's wrist and pulled her inside of the small home.

"Thank you. And…Aiko-san?"

"Hm?"

"Could you teach me how to cook food?"

"Huh? Uh, sure. I don't see why not."

**X-X-X**

In a large forest clearing somewhere in Hi no Kuni, a large group of over two dozen Konoha shinobi hid in the foliage of the trees, in wait of the oncoming army of Oni.

"Man, this is taking too long! When are they going to get here?" Rie whined. She was sitting on a tree branch with her back against the trunk and one of her legs dangling off of the branch. "I wanna get this over with as soon as possible and go back home!"

"Just a few days ago, you complained about being bored. Now that you have a mission to keep you occupied, you're complaining about _that_," said Kaoru as he sat on the branch of a nearby tree.

"I guess nothing can please her," said Masamune, who was wearing a Konoha flak jacket over a long-sleeved green shirt, black handguards, black pants and a pair of long and short swords on his back.

The purple-clad kunoichi frowned and looked down at the gray-haired boy who was sitting on the branch beneath her. "No one asked _you_, _Momo_!"

"I was just saying! You're not the only complaining. Nataro's upset that he's missing his date with that Asura girl," the gray-haired boy said.

"IT WASN'T A DATE!!!" Nataro's voice came from the background. "AND HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THAT, ANYWAY?! …DON'T TELL ME TO KEEP QUIET!!! YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!! …YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN—"

Rie looked down at Masamune and wagged her finger at him. "That's what you get, _Momo_."

The gray-haired chunin sweatdropped. "How'd he hear me from all the way over there? It's like he has mother's intuition…"

On another tree that was close by, Hyuga Ninigi sweatdropped. "No matter how old they get, they still treat each other the same way."

"I wouldn't say that," said Senmusha Hakubo as he pulled on his elbow-length black gloves. He was wearing the standard Konoha jonin uniform with long black boots, his hitai-ate tied around his waist on a red piece of cloth. "They've gotten so used to the way their teammates act, that it's hard to act differently around them. That's true friendship, huh?"

"Only for two-thirds of them. Rie's been a bit nicer since the festival three years ago." The Hyuga said with an arched eyebrow. "I wish I knew what did it so I could change Kaoru and Masamune's personalities a bit."

"Man, this place feel so _cramped_!" Kazemaru complained as he placed his hands behind his head and rested against the trunk of a tree. "Couldn't those guys have gone through another place? One with more open space? Like a plain?"

"I don't care _where_ they come from. So long as we beat them down as quickly as possible, we could be fighting in a _volcano_!!" Nataro exclaimed as he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Glad to see that you're so enthusiastic," Masaru, who was standing on the branch beneath the two chunin, told the blonde with an arched eyebrow.

"The power of love plus Nataro's level of stupidity and hardheadedness is a powerful thing," said Kaze with a nod, getting him a glare from the blonde chunin.

"Let's go over the battle plan one last time, so pay attention. The enemy will be coming in from the North. According to our sources, our enemies are mostly Oni led by one Asura. First, we'll take out the foot soldiers. Then, all the Konoha ninja will band together to kill the Asura. If you encounter the Asura while alone, retreat and find some partners who can help you hold off it off. Is that clear?"

"Do we know which one Asura is in the lead?" Hanzo asked from his spot near Masaru.

"It doesn't matter _who_ we're fighting against! I'll send 'em back to Onigakure crying to whoever the hell made them!"

The blue-eyed raven looked up at his subordinate with half-lidded eyes. "How old are you again, Nataro-kun?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "What the heck is _that_ supposed to mean?! And for the last damn time, quit calling me _'Nataro-kun'_!! We don't know each other that well and we never will!"

"It's called _'manners'_. Though it appears that you weren't taught them as a child."

"I've got manners. I just use them on cowards like you!"

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Nataro was suddenly hanging upside down in front of Masaru's face, allowing him to stand upside down on the tree branch. "Don't act all clueless!! You were there when that guy attacked me after I beat the Shukaku, but instead of helping out like a _good_ captain should, you just stood there and hid, you bastard!!"

The white-clad jonin arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me? All I remember is that you got your skin burnt off and fainted from a combination of blood loss and exhaustion. You know, just because you don't like me, that doesn't mean you have to make up stupid excuse to make me look bad."

"What?! Ohhhh, no!! You can't fool me!! You remember that I—!" He was immediately pushed aside, face first into a tree trunk, by Hanzo.

"Man, you walked right into that one, Nataro," Kazemaru mumbled as he arched an eyebrow.

In less than a second, while still clinging onto the tree branch, Nataro walked over to Hanzo and locked eyes with him. "…Why did you push me into a tree, Hanzo?" He asked flatly with half-lidded eyes.

"Because you were looking like an idiot and saying the wrong thing things in the wrong place," the raven replied. "Take a look around. We're around a large group of Konoha shinobi of which only _we_ three—four if you count Masaru who knows how to _keep_ his mouth shut—know the truth. How do you think it would be if more people knew?"

"But…but… He was gonna let me die!"

"Honestly… I doubt he'd have let that person kill you. "

"Well… He thinks I'm weak!"

"When'd he say that?"

"He's _thinking it_!" Nataro hissed, making Hanzo and Kazemaru sweatdrop.

"Seriously? Well, we know how jealous he is _now_," the orange-haired teen said with half-lidded eyes.

"Are you weak?" The Uchiha asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Hell no!"

"_I_ think you're weak!" Kazemaru called up from the above branch.

"Who _cares_ what you think, moron?!"

Hanzo sighed before he held onto Nataro's face and made his upside down teammate look at him. "_Listen_ to me. Do not let what happened on _another_ mission of _private concern_ cause problems on _this_ one. Deal with your jealous when we get home, okay?"

"I'm not jealous!"

"Still deal with it when we're home."

"But he—"

"_When we get home_!" The Uchiha spoke darkly as his grip on the blonde's face tightened.

Nataro began to stand rigidly and stood at attention. "Sir, yes, sir!!" He then started to relax and pout. _'For a second…I thought I saw…'_ He stared at Hanzo got a while before he saw a teenage Sakura about to punch him. He flinched. "Genetics is a scary thing…"

"Hm?" Hanzo turned his attention back to his friend. "You say something?"

"N-n-nothing!" The blonde stuttered, making the raven arch an eyebrow in confusion.

**X-X-X**

The army of Oni continued to travel through the grasslands of Hi no Kuni. The Oni foot soldiers with their cloaks and masks stained with blood remained strong and wide awake despite not sleeping for two days straight.

"Damn it!! I thought we'd come across a village by now!" Ajit began to curse under his breath as he started to scratch his head. "Damn…! I'm starting to get hungry!" He continued to growl under his breath as he and the Oni kept marching towards the forest in the distance.

**X-X-X**

"Konjo. Go and check again," Uchiha Haseo told the indigo-haired teen after landing on the branch he was standing on.

"Right." Konjo nodded as he formed a hand sign. _'Byakugan!'_ Veins surrounded his eyes as the pupils of his milky white eyes became more apparent. "I think… Yes! I see them! Coming in from the north!"

"Did you heard that?! They're approaching!!" Ina shouted.

"Everyone, get into position! Prepare for the ambush!"

"Did you heard that? They're getting close," said Hanzo as the forces below hid behind trees and blended in by becoming invisible.

"Let's go into hiding," said Masaru. He looked up at Nataro. "And Nataro-kun," before the blonde could open his mouth to shout, he caught Hanzo's glare and shut his mouth, "Tsuki-san told me to tell you…_'No showboating'_."

"Wow… Even when she's off duty, she _still_ knows that you're gonna do something something," Kazemaru told his blonde teammate with an arched eyebrow.

"Who cares about showboating?" Nataro's eyes narrowed as he held up a clenched fist. "All I care about is taking down that Asura…!"

**X-X-X**

A plate landed on a floor in Konohagakure, shattering upon impact. Akasha stared into space with her eyes wide and pupils dilated. She held her soapy hands out over the sink, suds plopping down towards the water.

"Akasha-chan! What happened? Why'd you just drop it like that?" Aiko asked the red-haired girl as she bent down to pick up the largest piece. She held the piece up to her face and sighed sadly. "This is part of a set that Kotoyo gave me for my birthday… Or at least…it _used_ to be." She looked up at Akasha, who still hadn't moved. "Akasha-chan…? Are you okay?" The blonde woman stood up and placed a hand on the Asura's shoulder.

Akasha's hands fell to her sides and she blinked. "Huh? What…was I doing?"

Aiko blinked in confusion. "You don't know…? You just froze up and started staring at the wall before you dropped one of my plates."

The redhead looked down at the mess. "Oh… Oh! I'm so sorry! I guess I just got lost thought for a moment…" She took the broken fragment of the plate from Aiko's hands. "Allow me, Aiko-san." She bent down and started to pick up the rest of the pieces.

"Did you get enough sleep last night, Akasha-chan?"

"Uh-huh. I slept very well with Nataro-san."

Not knowing that she _literally_ meant what she said, Aiko smiled. "Really? What a surprise. Hanzo always says that Nataro's very…_noisy_ in his sleep."

"Ow!" Akasha immediately dropped the last plate fragment, causing it to shatter into even smaller pieces. She held up her hand to her face and saw a trail of blood on the palm of her hand, welling up from a cut.

"Oh, my goodness, you're bleeding!" Aiko gasped as she turned her back on the Asura and began to frantically search for a cloth. She opened the drawer and pulled out a washcloth. "Okay, hold out your hand, Aka…sha?" When she turned around, the red-haired girl was gone…but a trail of blood was leading from out of the kitchen.

**X-X-X**

Inside of the bathroom, Akasha stared at her reflection in the mirror. She held her bleeding hand out over the sink. She began to take deep breaths as beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She closed her eyes and slowly, black chakra began to form around her, radiating from her body. Fangs grew from her teeth as the wound on her hand slowly began to heal, closing up and leaving a thin, barely visible scar. Her eyes, which were now entirely black, stared down at the scar for a while, or rather, at the blood that was still on her hand. She brought it up to her mouth and opened it, as if she were planning to lick the blood off when she just put her hand down and began to wash the blood off of her hand.

**X-X-X**

"_There. No one will be able to notice," said Naruto as he finished latching on the choker with the heart-shaped broach on it._

"_Do I have to wear this? It feels weird," Akasha spoke dejectedly as she felt the choker on her neck._

"_Well, this is just a precaution. Though I'm not sure if it'll work on an Asura. I've never tried it before," the elderly Rokudaime said. "Either way, I'm sure you won't truly need it so long as you take your medication."_

"_Medication?"_

"_These," the cat-masked ANBU spoke up. He handed the red-haired girl a small container of pills. "Whenever you feel an urge to do **you-know-what**, take one of those and you'll be okay. At least, that's what the medics said."_

"_At the moment, Akasha-chan, that's the only way you'll be able to live among people until we learn of a way to stop your urges," said Naruto. "So until we do, you have to take those pills. Keep them close to you wherever you go, no matter what."_

**X-X-X**

Flinching from the slight pain she felt in the back of her neck, she reached into her blouse and pulled out a container. She opened it, and took out a small black pill. She opened her mouth wide enough for all her fangs to be seen in the mirror, and placed the pill on her tongue. As Aiko began to bang on the door from outside, Akasha swallowed the pill. After a few seconds, she dropped to her knees. Pain began to well up within her, mostly coming from the base of her neck. When the pain stopped, the redhead forced herself to stand up and walk towards the door. She opened it, facing Aiko with her normal eyes as she was in mid-knock.

"Huh? Akasha-chan, what are you doing?! You're injured!!"

"No, I'm not. I'm all better. See?" She held up her hand and pointed at the scar on her palm.

Aiko blinked and stared at the girl's hand with her eyes reduced to little brown dots. "Huh? H-how did it heal so quickly?"

Akasha feigned an innocent look. "I just took my medication."

"Your…medication?"

"The ones the people at the hospital gave me."

The blonde woman blinked. "Ah… I see. Nataro told me about those quick-healing shinobi medicines once or twice."

"Mm-hm. I…will clean up the mess I made coming up here just as soon as I finish up the kitchen." She walked past her roommate's mother, not making eye contact as she disappeared down the stairs.

Aiko turned around and stared at the girl's back. "I'm…confused…. What just happened here?"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, the Oni and their leader were getting close to the forest where the Konoha shinobi were hiding out. The Leaf ninja were silent, with some of the younger ones holding their breath in fear and earnest. Nataro began to clench his teeth as his grip on the kunai handle tightened.

In the clearing, Ajit suddenly stopped moving. "There better be a town or something after we get out of this forest." He took a step forward and when his foot landed on the ground, there was a huge explosion that seemed to start off a chain reaction across the field, engulfing the Asura and his Oni soldiers. The Konoha shinobi remained quiet as thick black smoke covered most of the plains. Some of the older shinobi tensed up, as if expecting their enemies to come charging out from the smoke. From within the smoke, the sounds of ripping and bones popping could be heard. When it cleared up, an entire army of transformed Oni was revealed, hunching over in their new, larger, far more muscular state. Ajit stood before them, his eyes closed. Without waiting for their master's signal, the Oni dashed forward with speed unbefitting things so large. Within moments, the forest had become a battlefield.

"Ah!!" Rie gasped as she jumped out of the way of an Oni's punch. Its fist slammed into the ground and formed a small crater. "It's bad enough they can survive an explosion, but they can snap you like a twig?!" She shouted as another Oni came up from behind her, its fist raised to strike her in the back while the other aimed to strike her from the front. The purple-clad kunoichi stood there until the two Oni punched her, but their fists went through her and they wound up punching each other instead—one punching the other in the chest hard enough to make a hole in his chest.

"Ha! Guess they're just a bunch of dumb muscle heads," said Rie from her spot up high above a tree branch, unaware of the Oni that had jumped up behind her. Its head was slashed off and a swift motion, splattering her back with blood, and it landed on the ground, dead.

Masamune landed beside his teammate, blood dripping down the blade of his sword. "You have to be more aware, Rie."

"I knew it was there!! I didn't need you coming to rescue me, _Momo_!"

On the forest floor, a few battles were taking place as well. As five Oni jumped down from the branches above with the intent of striking him down with their, Kaoru smirked, the lenses of his glasses shining with light. He held up a hand that began to buzz with chakra and jumped up into the air, moving his hands swiftly in a cutting motion across the muscular Oni's throats, arms, chests and legs. When he landed on the ground, the Oni landed around him, all seemingly dead.

'_It's a shame they didn't make them more resilient…'_ The redhead thought as he fiddled with his glasses. His eyes widened a bit as he suddenly felt uneasy. The reason was an Oni that was still alive, albeit bleeding from the throat and chest. It rose up, towering over the spectacled shinobi, and tried to hammer him down into the ground with a punch, but Kaoru jumped out of the way in time to dodge the blow. Seconds later, a large Rasengan struck it from the side, completely enveloping it within.

"Oodama Rasengan!!" Nataro shouted before the brawny Oni was launched off into the distance, busting through trees until it hit the ground far away, dead. "Yes!"

"Watch what you're doing!! If I hadn't had the sense to move, you'd have hit _me_, too!" Kaoru complained.

The blonde looked at the redhead with a frown. "You're still alive, aintcha?"

"That's not the point!! You—!" Before he could say anymore, Nataro disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Tch…!" _'Idiot…'_

Meanwhile, the real Nataro landed on a tree branch near Hanzo, who was slicing an Oni's torso from the neck down. The branch cracked under their combined weight and fell, the Oni fall down with it while Hanzo landed on Nataro's branch.

'_Hanzo doesn't need help.'_ Nataro jumped off of the branch and landed on the ground below. He jumped out of the way in time to avoid getting in the way of an Oni that had stumbled back after being kicked back by Kazemaru. The orange-haired chunin smirked and cracked his knuckles.

"That takes care of that!" Before he knew what was happening, he was slammed to the side by a large fist and went flying into a tree, something cracking upon impact. He grabbed his shoulder and rolled it before grabbing his arm in pain. "Shit! I think I dislocated somethin'!"

"Look out below!!" A loud voice shouted from above. The brawny Oni looked up just in time to get a face full of a Kage Bunshin's foot. The real blonde approached the Oni from behind, stabbing it in the back as the bunshin jumped off. Nataro swiftly moved around to the front of the Oni and slit it across the throat as the clone cut its neck from behind.

"Wow… Look he's getting in touch with his inner serial killer," said Kazemaru as he got to his feet, rolling his shoulder back into place. Nataro said nothing as his clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and he jumped back into the trees. "Or maybe you've gotten in touch with your inner emo…" The fire-manipulating teen then noticed a pair of Oni running towards him. "You guys…" His hands suddenly caught on fire as he turned to face them. "You guys are starting to piss me off!!"

Near the clearing, Konjo finished off an Oni with a palm thrust to the chest. "These guys are going down pretty easily… There's almost none left."

"Yeah. That should be good, right?" Shizuka asked as she began to heal a gash in her stomach. "The ones that attacked three years ago ate people and ripped their limbs off… These Oni aren't even using jutsu."

"Something's wrong." He turned around, Byakugan still active as he stared out towards the out towards the clearing. "That big guy's still standing?! It doesn't even look like he's been injured!! But…that's impossible!! His chakra hasn't even changed!!"

The blue-haired medic's eyes widened. "You're joking! But they all took the brunt of the explosion!! He should be severely injured at the least!!"

Konjo's eyes widened. "Well, he's all good…!"

Outside in the forest clearing, Ajit began to pull out the kunai and shuriken impaled in his body. "Honestly… _This_ is what they call an assassination attempt? A couple of measly explosions?!" He snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "These weaklings are underestimating me!! Well, they're gonna pay for it!! Ohhhhh, yeah…!" He smirked behind his mask as he cracked his neck. "It's time…to get serious!!" Ajit reached into his pockets and pulled out a pair of thick, medium-sized scrolls. "Now the fun can begin! Time to break out the _big_ _guns_!!" he unrolled the scrolls across the ground, ignoring the Oni that had flown over his head and landed behind him in a crumpled up blood mess. Written on the scrolls in kanji, beneath each of the multiple seals on the paper, were the words _'Big Guns'_ in messy handwriting. Taking some blood from his wounds and rubbing it on his thumbs, the brawny Asura wiped his blood thumbs across the scrolls and the symbols on the scrolls began to glow. "Alright, come on out, fellas!!" In a puff of smoke, dozens more large, brawny Oni appeared, each one with dry blood splattered on a part of them. "You guys know what to do…!"

**X-X-X**

"Hi, everybody!!" Blu Rose exclaimed as she waved her microphone in the air. "Guess what? I'm alive!"

"Yay…" The audience spoke unenthusiastically as a few clapped lifelessly.

Blu sweatdropped. "Geez, what's wrong with you guys?"

"Could it be the fact that you just left them sitting here for several months even though you finished the main part of the chapter?" Asked Kaoru, who was sitting on a couch on stage in-between Rie and Masamune.

"So?"

"They didn't have _food or water_."

Once again, the authoress sweatdropped. "Geez! It's not like you guys are Sims… You could've gotten up to get some food without me telling you to!!" She turned to Team Ninigi with a smile. "Anyway, let's get down to business. We're here to catch up with the members of Team Ninigi…"

"Yoshida Kaoru," Kaoru spoke flatly with his arms folded across his chest.

"Masamune Momotaro," Masamune smiled at the camera.

"Kurama Rie!" Rie blew a kiss at the camera. "Hello, all you people out there in TV land!"

"Rie, this is a fanfiction. We're on the computer, not television," the red-haired teen pointed at. "The camera's only there for ambience." At those words, the purple-clad brunette deflated.

"Well, let's get on to the meat of this interview. Why don't you three tell us exactly what you were doing over the timeskip to enlighten our readers at home?" Blu asked, pointing her mic at the Konoha ninja.

"Hmph." Kaoru smirked and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Over the years, I became interested in the medical arts. It wasn't so much the healing or helping others that interested me, but the ability to control and see into a person's body, to see what makes them tick, to attack them from the inside out… Biological warfare is so interesting, don't you think?"

Blu sweatdropped. "Seriously? That's why you became a medic? You're as bad as Orochimaru…"

"I am not! I just prefer to use my medical training to help kill my enemies rather than healing my comrades. That doesn't make me a bad person."

"It just makes you disturbing… No wonder you were looked over for a jonin position." Ignoring the look Kaoru gave her, Blu turned to Masamune. "And what about you, Masamune?"

The gray-haired boy held his chin and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Oh, I haven't been up to much… I've become a chunin. I get more money now, so I get to buy more swords~!" He spoke with a dreamy expression on his face. "I have long swords, short swords, dual swords, tri-swords…"

"What the hell's a tri-sword?"

"Don't listen to him. He's just rambling…" Kaoru mumbled as he looked at his rambling teammate from the corner of his eye. "He'll get back on topic eventually."

"I got to witness a new style of sword fighting ever since that chunin exam in Kumogakure! I now make it my goal to master all matter of sword styles!"

"Is he still rambling?"

Kaoru placed his hand on Masamune's mouth to shut him up. "Now he's not."

"Alright, next is Rie…" Blu looked the genjutsu user. "Hmmm… I'm not sure what I can talk to you about without spoiling anything for the future."

Rie arched an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"Nothing!" The authoress spoke quickly. "So, aside from being a chunin, what have you been doing these last three years?"

"Well, I can _certainly_ say I'm not little girl anymore," Rie said with a smirk as she crossed her legs. "With my genjutsu skill, I'm amazed that I haven't been asked to join the Interrogation Corps!"

"Aside from your genjutsu skills, what about your…personality problem? Y'know: where you were supposed to remake yourself into a nicer person so Hanzo would like you?"

The purple-clad kunoichi frowned and turned away from the authoress, her arms folded across her chest. "I don't think that's any of _your_ business."

"So it's not going well, is it?"

"Shut up!"

"Well, folks, that's all the time we have for today. Till next time (which is hopefully soon) I'm Blu Rose telling you to please review for my sake!!" At that moment, the camera cut out.


	63. Invincible! An Asura's Wrath!

**Blu: After many months, Naruto X has returned!!**

**Kakashi: Months? It couldn't have been **_**that**_** long since you last posted a chapter.**

**Blu: Of course it has! I update in February!**

**Kakashi: And now it's March. One month. I think you need to get more sleep. Your grip on time is slipping, Blu.**

**Blu: (-.-) Don't you have a former student-gone-mental to calm down?**

**Kakashi: Yeah, but that's not for a couple of days.**

**Blu: Well, hell… (Looks at the readers) Just go read your fic and remember to review!! REMEMBER IT!!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#63: Invincible?! An Asura's Wrath!_

In the depths of Onigakure, Apsaras was sprawled on the ground, holding something underneath her hands with a smirk. "Heh-heh-heh…!"

"What're you _doing_?" The blonde Asura looked up to see Jala standing over her.

"I've finally found something to eat!" Apsaras slowly pulled her hands apart and held up a rat by its tail.

The blue-haired Asura stepped back, her face contorted in disgust. "Gross!! You're going to eat that _vermin_?!"

"And _what_ exactly am I supposed to eat? I ate a crow and that didn't fill me," the yellow-clad girl said with a frown. "I'm hungry… I'll eat anything in this state…even…" Her eyes drifted over to Jala, only to see a hardened piece of hair in front of her face. "You honestly think I would reduce myself to eating someone like you? No matter how much I hate you, I don't think I'd be able to stomach you…" This made Jala give the blonde a nasty look as she sighed. "I'm kinda starting to wish I went with that bonehead Ajit. At least he had a good idea…"

**X-X-X**

Konjo's eyes widened as he saw the dozens of big, muscled Oni appear in a puff of smoke. "Oh, no! THERE ARE MORE OF THEM!!!" He shouted as loudly as he could.

"Ready…?" Ajit pointed at the forest. "BURN IT DOWN TO THE GROUND!!!" The Oni standing before their leader took deep breaths, expanding their chests, before breathing out large balls of fire at the forest, setting it aflame. From within, the cries of several Konoha ninja and Oni could be heard coming from within as the shinobi fled the burning forest, some seemingly burning alive. "BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Just listen to 'em _scream_!!"

"So that's it… He hid his main forces while he let the cannon fodder free," Haseo said with a cough.

'_Which one's the leader…?'_ Nataro thought as her stood amongst the other Konoha shinobi, his eyes scouring the gang of Oni for an outstanding Asura. Just then, something large fell from the sky and landed in front of the Konoha ninja, causing the ground to shake. Ajit reached out and grabbed an unfortunate kunoichi by the head, causing the Oni charge forward with roars of hunger. A few Oni took deep breaths and breathed large fireballs, but some Konoha ninja reacted quick and used some Suiton jutsu to fight back the flames while their comrades charged forward.

"Let the carnage BEGIN!!!" Ajit roared, ignoring how the kunoichi squirming in his grasp tried to stab him with her kunai. The Asura didn't even look at her as his grip on her head tightened, not flinching as she screamed in pain until he crushed her head, sending blood and bits of flesh onto the ground. Ajit threw the woman's corpse at a group of Konoha shinobi that were charging at him. Unseen by the Asura, a pair of Konoha shinobi up in the air threw chain links at him, wrapping them around his arms. A charge of electricity ran down the chain links and into Ajit's body. "BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Think a lil' _tickle's_ gonna stop me?!" Ajit shouted as he grabbed the chains and slammed them down onto the ground, their electrified chain link shocking a few unfortunate shinobi and Oni long enough for them to be done away. Then Ajit began to pull the two ninja closer until they suddenly released their chains.

"What the hell?!"

"I thought that would at least stun him…!"

"Outta the way!! Coming through!!" Nataro shouted as he tried to get towards Ajit. He darted through battles, occasionally pushing aside a ninja by mistake or jumping on an Oni's back for a better look at the dark-skinned Asura's position. Unfortunately, before he could get close to Ajit, he found himself being grabbed by the sleeve of his jacket and held back. "What the—?!" He looked back and saw that it was Masaru holding onto his sleeve. "Lemme go!! Can't you see he's right there?!"

The teenage jonin looked at Ajit, whose foot was on the body of a man whose spine appeared to have been snapped into an odd position, while he was easily fighting off their other comrades. "Are you insane?! Don't tell me you're arrogant enough to think that you can _beat_ that thing?!"

"Arrogance has nothing to do with this!! I'm gonna get rid of the Asura—starting with _that one_!!"

"By yourself?"

"If I got to, then yes!!" The blonde chunin shouted as he pulled his arm away from Masaru.

As the two teens argued, Kazemaru was fighting one of the Oni alongside Konjo. The Oni took a deep breath and breathed a steady stream of fire. The Hyuga jumped out of the way to avoid being burned while Kaze just stood there and took it. The orange-haired chunin dashed forward through the flames as the Oni continued, reaching into his kunai pouch to pull out a kunai. "EAT _THIS_!!!" The pyromanic chunin shouted as he shoved the kunai into the Oni's mouth, the blade sticking out of the back of its head. The mutant stopped breathing fire and Kaze slid his slightly bloody hand out from its mouth, leaving the kunai inside as it toppled over.

Konjo turned on his heel and slammed his fist into an approaching Oni's chest before beginning a barrage of strikes. "Hyaku Retsu Sho (100 Violent Palms)!!" He shouted, ending with a final poke to the chest that seemed to make the Oni convulse and throw up before it fell over, the Hyuga ending it with a stomp on the neck followed by the audible sound of bones cracking.

Meanwhile, an Oni was thrashing about, knocking shinobi aside as it tried to pull Rie off of its back. The purple-clad kunoichi cringed. "I swear that if it weren't a matter of life or death…!" She placed her hands on the muscular Oni's head and closed her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, the Oni stopped thrashing, then it simply just stopped moving altogether. Rie jumped off of the creature before its head was sliced in half and it fell into a crumpled heap. "I _never_ want to do that…_again_!" Rie spoke, her skin practically crawling from her unknown experience. When an Oni appeared behind her, it raised its fist and slammed it down on top of her, forming a large red splotch on the ground. "Peek-a-boo…" The Oni turned its head to get a kunai jammed into each eye socket by the _real_ Rie. That did not stop it, though, as it reached out blindly and grabbed her arm, pulling on it hard.

Masamune landed beside the Oni's arm, cutting it off with a swipe of one of his blades. The creature groaned in pain before another quick movement was made by the gray-haired chunin and its neck spurted out blood. A third stroke and the Oni's head fell off of its shoulder, a gushing fountain of red spurting out from the stump of a neck. As the Oni fell back, Masamune grabbed Rie's arm and stared at it. "Are you okay, Rie?"

The genjutsu specialist pulled her arm away from her teammate and huffed. "Of course I'm okay! I can take of myself, you know!!"

"But, uh, your arm—!" At that moment, another large Oni fell right next to them with Kaoru on top of it, his glowing hand touching its mask-like face before the aura faded away and he stood up. A third Oni was blown away, pushed back by what appeared to blast of wind.

"You two need to remember where we are exactly," said Ninigi as he landed next to his students.

"Yes, sensei!" The brunette and gray-haired chunin said with a nod before going off to take care of another Oni.

"Hmmm…" Kaoru bent over and grabbed the Oni's mask-like face, gripping the edges where the grimy porcelain ended and blood-crusted flesh began. "I wonder…"

"Kaoru," the Hyuga jonin spoke flatly, making the red-haired medic stand up straight and fix his glasses.

"Whoops. I feel like I'm as bad as Masamune and Rie," the young man said with a smirk before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

**X-X-X**

"Can you believe this…? They aren't even able to do a goddamn _thing_ to that blockhead Ajit."

"Patience…"

Up in a tree on the beaten path were Bhumi and Jintaro, who were watching the battle between the Leaf Ninja and their _'comrade'_ from a distance. The latter of the two had long, bloody scars running down the side of his face while one swollen eye was partially closed.

"I can't stand it! I'd rather go out there and kill him myself…!" The red-haired Asura hissed, clutching a nearby branch so tightly that it snapped in half.

The gray-clad woman looked down at her protégé with her usual somber look. "Would you like a reminder of what happened the last time you tried to confront him…?"

**X-X-X**

"_Ajit…" Bhumi started, staring at the dark-skinned Asura with her usual apathetic, half-lidded eyes. "What you're doing is going against Akash's orders. You're coming back with us…be it peacefully…"_

_Jintaro lifted his kanabo and rested it against his shoulder, being careful of the spikes. "Or…" He started to smirk. "Be it **forcefully**!!"_

_Ajit stood far away from Bhumi and Jintaro. The brawny Asura smirked behind his mask. "Tch! Forcefully, huh? There's no way I'll go back to starving to death!"_

_Bhumi sighed and began to shake her head slowly. "You don't know what you're doing, Ajit."_

"_Of course I know what I'm doing! I'm getting me and my men the meal we deserve!!" At this, the Oni behind him grunted in agreement._

"_What you're doing is merely attracting unwanted attention. Do you honestly think that if you keep attacking villages like this, people won't notice?" The gray-haired woman asked. "And when people notice, Konoha will be informed. Then they will come after you, leading to trouble that I'm sure Akash would prefer to avoid."_

_Ajit narrowed his eyes. "Konoha, eh…? Let 'em come! I've been dying to eat some shinobi chakra."_

"_Give it up, Bhumi-san. The only thing on this guy's mind is his **stomach**!" Said Jintaro as he began to glare at the large Asura. "If we wanna take him back, we need to **knock some sense into him**!!"_

_The brawny man arched an eyebrow and snorted. "As if the two of you could take **me** down!"_

"_Not the two of us…" The redhead jabbed a thumb to his chest. "Just me!"_

"_You… You? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ajit threw his head back and laughed loudly. "**You**?! Don't make me laugh!!"_

_A vein started to throb on Jintaro's forehead and he clenched the hilt of his kanabo tightly. "Why you…!"_

_Bhumi looked at her subordinate with an arched eyebrow. "Jintaro. Before you start, I should say—"_

"_Bastard!! I'm gonna kill you!!" Jintaro dashed towards the muscular Asura with his kanabo raised._

"_Oh well…"_

"_Heh…" Ajit smirked. "I'd like to see you try!"_

_Midway to his target, Jintaro jumped up into the air, performing a somersault as he did. When he broke free of the somersault, he was above Ajit's head. The redhead began to descend quickly, his large iron club in front of him. **'You're mine, bastard!!' **He didn't seem to notice that Ajit's smirk widened._

_A few seconds later, droplets of blood flew up in the air. Jintaro's kanabo had made impact with Ajit's face, the spikes drawing blood that dripped down onto the ground. The red-haired boy smirked until Ajit grabbed his spiked club, ignoring the way the spikes dug into his hands and drew more blood, and slammed Jintaro down onto the ground, the shorter Asura's grip on the kanabo loosened, and Ajit was able to pull it out of his hands. _

_The dark-skinned giant was now holding it in his hand, his mask ruffling up as he smirked. He raised the club up into the air, above Jintaro's head, and struck downward…_

_More blood spilled onto the ground, followed by Jintaro's painful scream._

**X-X-X**

"You should've waited and listen for me to say _'Ajit has incredible endurance',_" said Bhumi after she finished recounting the event.

Jintaro lightly touched the scars on his face and growled, narrowing his eyes. "If I could get _one shot at him_… He'd lose his head! Why let those idiot Leafs have all the fun!"

"It's better to let Konoha deal with him first. Whether or not they kill him doesn't matter, so long as they can bide some time."

"Hmph! Fine… They better give a good show!"

**X-X-X**

Back on the battlefield…

"For the last time, I'm not letting you go by yourself!!"

"You wanna come with me?! Fine!! Just stop holdin' me back and come on!!" Nataro shouted as he continued to try pulling himself free of Masaru's grasp but to no avail. He was actually surprised since he didn't seem to have _that_ much muscle on him.

"That's not the point!!" Masaru shouted, his cheeks red with frustration and a vein throbbing on his forehead. "You're not going to fight him any…" He trailed off as he noticed a second Nataro in the distance drawing nearer to Ajit. "Way? When did you…?" He looked back at the Nataro he was holding, who smirked before disappearing in a puff of smoke. "That…! UGH!!!"

"Heh-heh-heh…!" Ajit tossed a dismembered arm over his shoulder. Said arm belonged to a shinobi who was on his knees, holding onto the bloody shoulder that it was once connected to. Around him were his fallen comrades—of which a lucky few were still barely alive. "I'm gonna enjoy eating every single one of you once this is all over…!"

"Damn it…! Is there no way of beating this monster…?" The injured shinobi panted seconds before a blur of black and orange came barreling in and kicked Ajit in the face. "Huh? What the…? Nataro-kun?"

The blonde chunin jumped aside a few feet away from the Asura and formed a familiar hand sign before landing. In a puff of smoke, a Kage Bunshin appeared beside him. He grabbed the clone and spun on his heel before throwing it at Ajit. It formed a hand sign and in a poof of smoke, the Nataro clone had transformed into a large Fuma shuriken that was now spinning towards Ajit. The dark-skinned giant didn't move out of the way. He simply held his hand out and caught the clone shuriken with ease, ignoring how the blade drew blood.

"You honestly think that something like _that_ could kill me?" The Fuma Shuriken suddenly exploded, causing smoke to surround Ajit in the midst of a fiery explosion.

Nataro smirked. "Uh-huh." Before the smoke cleared, Ajit charged out unscathed and tackled the black-clad blonde, sending him flying a few feet away before he landed on his feet, skidding to a halt. "What the hell?!"

"If a minefield couldn't kill me, I doubt a lousy _shuriken_ could, twerp!" Ajit grunted as he jabbed a thumb to his chest. "_Nothing_ you lousy Leaf ninja throw at me could possibly hurt me!! I'm the invincible Asura no Ajit!!"

"You're just being full of yourself. When I'm through with ya, you won't feel so invincible!!" The blonde shouted as he began to form a hand sign, only to have a barrage of incoming fireballs interrupt him. They came from behind Ajit, but whichever ones didn't hit the Asura came flying in Nataro's direction. The young chunin had to duck and move to avoid being hit by one. "Huh? Where'd those come from?" He asked as Masaru appeared beside him with a frown on his face. He noticed the raven-haired teen and blinked. "Ah, decided to come with, huh?"

"This has nothing to do with _coming with_! I'm trying to save you from killing yourself, you show-off!"

"Who's showin' off?! I'm just trying to kill this son of a bitch!!"

Masaru held a hand to his face and groaned. "Hokage-sama has made it clear to all jonin that the Asura is to be brought back to Konoha in one piece, dead or alive." He ignored the wide-eyed look of shock on Nataro's face as he continued, "And from what I've heard, your techniques are big and destructive. If _you_ killed him, there may not be anything left of him for observation…"

"Huh?" Nataro blinked, confused. "Observation…? For what?"

**X-X-X**

Back in Konohagakure at the home of Kazaki Aiko, Akasha was upstairs on her knees, cleaning up the blood that had been on the floor.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Akasha looked over her shoulder and saw Aiko standing on the stairway, giving her a worried expression. "That was a nasty cut. You were bleeding so much… I can't believe that it managed to heal so quickly just by taking some medicine. It just doesn't seem possible."

"Oh. Nataro-san heals quickly, too, whenever _he_ gets hurt. Maybe we're the same," the red-haired girl spoke as she stared down at her hands.

The blonde woman pursed her lips for a moment. "Even _that_ seems impossible… Let me see that hand again."

"It's fine!" Akasha exclaimed as she held her scarred hand up to her chest. "There's nothing wrong with it, Aiko-san! It isn't bleeding anymore, so it's fine, right?"

"Okay, okay!" _'She sure feels strongly about this…'_ Aiko sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Alright, I won't bother you about it anymore, if it upsets you so much. Now…" She started to smile and clapped her hands together. "I've got some food ready, so let's go and eat."

"Okay." The redhead got up from her spot and walked past her roommate's mother. _'How much longer is this going to go on…?'_

**X-X-X**

"Well, whatever the hell Gramps would want with an Asura, I don't know. But I _do_ know that _I'm_ gonna be the one bringing him down!" Nataro exclaimed as he held up a clenched fist.

"You and what army? Wait," Masaru held up a hand to stop the blonde from speaking. "Don't answer that. Look, you have to understand that if this mission is to be a success, we have to work _together_."

"I don't _have_ to work together with you! I could take that Asura on my own!!" The blonde turned to look at said Asura, only to see that his back was turned to them and sounded like he was eating one of the corpses.

'_I wish…they'd stop talking…and just give up already…!'_ Ajit grunted as he shoved an arm into his mouth and slowly swallowed it with all the ease of a snake.

Nataro narrowed his eyes and growled under his breath as the Asura continued devouring a leg. He formed a hand sign and a Kage Bunshin appeared beside him in a puff of smoke. He held out his hand and the clone began to form a Rasengan in the palm of his hand. "Don't you dare…!" The Nataros growled, baring their teeth as the Rasengan became bigger. "DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!!!" They both shouted as they ran towards the muscular Asura, large Rasengan in hand. Ajit didn't even turn to acknowledge the teen, failing to notice the oncoming attack until it was too late. "OODAMA RASENGAN!!!" The blonde and his clone slammed the Oodama Rasengan into Ajit's back, its size increasing to the point where the dark-skinned man was completely engulfed in the massive sphere of spinning chakra. It practically drilled into the earth as a bright light flashed through the area.

"O-oh…wow…!" Masaru mumbled with wide eyes. "That was…impressive…!"

Once the light faded, Nataro was shown to be standing over Ajit's body in a crater, panting heavily. But suddenly, the Asura's eyes snapped open and his hand shot out, grabbing Nataro by the head. Ajit's mask had been ripped to shreds, and as he sat up, it fell down, revealing a mouth full of rows of sharp, blood-stained teeth. "That was good! Lots of chakra in that attack. Maybe you'll make a good snack after all!"

"MMPH!!!"

"Try not to struggle, kid. Wouldn't want to break your neck before _I_ do it…"

Nataro formed a hand sign and a dozen Kage Bunshin appeared behind him in a line. They grabbed onto him by the waist and began trying to pull him out from Ajit's grip.

"Just look and see what he's gotten himself into…" Masaru muttered, reaching into his rear kunai pouch for something. With a swift throw of the hand, a bomb note was sent flying and stuck onto Ajit's back.

"C'MON, PULL!!!" One of Nataro's clones shouted as the bomb note began to burn away, causing an explosion that not only sent Ajit flying away, but released his grip from Nataro's head. The blonde's clones all managed to land safely and caught the original as he landed before disappearing, just as the smoke cleared. "Phew! That was a close one…" A clone mumbled before Masaru appeared beside Nataro, looking upset.

"See what happens when you try to do things all by yourself?" The raven said.

"You couldn't have gotten me free some _other_ way than with an explosion?!" The blonde ninja shouted.

"You're still alive, aren't you?"

"But if I didn't—!!"

"Sssshhh! Look." Masaru pointed over at Ajit's body, which was a few feet away. The Asura got up, his head and arm twisted in odd positions. With his useable hand, Ajit grabbed his hand and slowly twisted his head back into its normal position with a few disturbing cracking sounds, then did the same with his arm. "I can't believe he managed to survive all of that… But then again, these things are supposed to be mutants, aren't they? A cracked neck must be nothing."

Ajit cracked his neck a few more times before turning around to face the two ninja. "You idiot Leafs need to stop thinking that such small-scale things will kill me!! Why don't you try and do something big like Blondie?"

Nataro got into a fighting stance and shook a fist at the muscular man. "You want more, huh? Well, be careful what you ask for, muscle head!!"

"Nataro, calm down! Remember what we're facing here."

Ajit grinned, showing all of his sharp teeth for a slightly scary sight. "Your little friend is right. You're looking at the Invincible Ajit!!" He shouted. "I'm practically immortal!! No other Asura is as tough as me!!""

"Oh yeah?!" The blonde began to form several hand signs and took a deep breath. Cupping his fingers around his mouth, he began to blow a long stream of fire that engulfed Ajit in a fireball. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!'_ When the flames faded away, Ajit's body was nowhere to be seen. "Ha!! Immortal my ass!!"

"Do you honestly think that a simple Katon jutsu could do what multiple explosives couldn't?" Masaru asked.

Nataro grinned and held up a fist. "Just goes to show how awesome I am!"

"Ugh…!" Masaru looked down at the ground and noticed that the ground and saw that a crack had appeared beneath them. "MOVE!!!" He shouted, jumping up into the air.

"What?" Nataro looked down at the ground and jumped up into the air as well, only to get grabbed by a large hand. "Guh!!"

"Too SLOW!!!" Ajit grunted as he burst out of the ground, slightly singed with his other fist balled up to strike Nataro. Just then, a shuriken went flying past Nataro's head and into Ajit's eye. He threw the blonde chunin aside before grabbing the shuriken and pulling it out with a slight tug. "_Fuck_… Now I can't see!"

The black-clad blonde landed on his back, but jumped onto his feet and drew a kunai just as Masaru landed beside with a few more shuriken in hand. "So much for invincible!"

"From what I can tell, it's not so much that he's invincible. He just can't feel pain. Therefore, nothing really hinders him from continuing fighting. Couple that along with his body's endurance and he's just about unstoppable."

"Great. I'm gonna have to put in some over time then!" Nataro formed a familiar hand sign and two dozen clones appeared around them, all wielding kunai.

Masaru's eyes widened. "Hold on!! What are you expecting to do?! I doubt that a massive attack is going to do him any harm!"

"It will if I can _stab_ enough holes in 'em to make 'em die of blood loss!!"

"Honestly?! _That's_ your plan?!" The young jonin shouted as Nataro and his clones ran towards the Asura, who appeared to be trying to pull out his injured eyeball. The small gang of blondes jumped onto Ajit, almost completely covering him in clones. Ajit jumped up high into the air and body slammed into the ground, squashing a couple of clones along with the original Nataro before doing the same with the clones on his back. "I knew it…!" He ran towards Ajit, who now had his foot pressing down Nataro's torso while the blonde continued to stab him in the leg with a kunai. The raven's body began to generate electricity until the tackled into the Asura, sending the volts of electricity coursing through his body.

"You want some, too, shorty—? Hey." Ajit tried to move his arm, but found that he couldn't. "What the—?! Why can't I move?!"

"Just as I thought. Even though he couldn't feel it _externally_, he still got paralyzed by my attack," Masaru spoke as he grabbed Nataro and dragged him out from underneath the muscular mutant's foot. "Are you okay, Nataro-kun?"

"Are you kidding? Do I _look_ okay?!" The blonde groaned as he got to his feet, holding onto his ribs as they slowly healed.

"That's what you get for just charging in like that. If we wanna beat this guy, we have to work together."

A vein throbbed on Ajit's forehead as the two Konoha shinobi moved further away. "Grrrr…! Get back here you little…!" The seal on his chest began to glow as dark chakra swirled around his body, becoming thicker and thicker until he was completely engulfed in it like a cocoon. The cocoon of dark chakra suddenly exploded, and a large red creature about seven feet tall was in its place. Its body was dark brown with red fur curling up on its back, with long paws that resembled bear paws with bloody red claws and rested on ground like a gorilla's arms. Its face closely resembled a bear with eyes that were entirely black with red pupils and red fangs.

"Wh-what the hell?! He just transformed!!" Nataro exclaimed with wide eyes as he and Masaru stepped back in shock.

"I didn't know that Asura could transform…" The young jonin whispered.

"I'M GONNA RIP YOU TO SHREDS!!!" The transformed Ajit screamed before jumping up into the air and threatening to body slam the two young ninja. They jumped out of the way in time to avoid the Asura, who made a deep imprint in the earth. Ajit got to his feet and looked at the blonde ninja. "YOU FIRST!!!" He darted towards Nataro with speed unbefitting of his current size and raised a claw to strike.

"WHOA!!!" Nataro backflipped in time to avoid getting his head smacked off and formed a hand sign. Several bunshin appeared in front of him in puffs of smoke. "Charge!!" The bunshin charged forward, punching and kicking the Asura in the face, in the chest, in the stomach and even in-between the legs before Ajit sliced them to pieces with a few swipes of his claws. "It's not over yet!" The black-clad blonde shouted as he formed a hand sign and another Kage Bunshin appeared beside him that turned into a large Fuma shuriken. "Eat THIS!!!" He grabbed onto the bunshin Fuma shuriken before turning on his heel and throwing it at the Asura.

"Not good enough!!" The Asura growled as he easily slapped aside the shuriken aside, causing some blood to gush out. It didn't seem to faze the beastly Ajit, though the cut was fairly large. He charged towards the Konoha ninja, only to get struck in the back with several electrically charged kunai. He didn't seem to notice it, though, much to Masaru's chagrin. Nataro jumped to the side and avoided a slash to the torso.

"Too slow!" The black-clad blonde exclaimed, jumping back a couple of feet. He turned around and began to shake his butt at the Asura. "Nyah-nyah! Can't touch me!" He turned around and jabbed a thumb at his chest as he kept jumping back. "What's the point of transforming if you can't even lay a finger on one guy?"

"Idiot!! What do you think you're doing egging him on?!" Masaru shouted as a vein throbbed on Ajit's forehead. The Asura lunged forward and punched Nataro in the head hard enough to send him rolling back a couple of feet. "No!!"

"Ugh!!" Nataro managed to get to his feet in mid-roll as he skidded back, causing dust to rise. He touched his newly formed black eye and winced, but merely smirked. "Is that all you've got, you muscle-headed idiot? C'mon! I know you can do better!" Ajit jumped towards him once more, but the blonde was smart enough to duck underneath his arm before he could punch and ran around behind him, slapping something onto his back in the process. He just barely dodged a swipe of Ajit's claw as he turned around, getting away with some thin claw marks across his back before he ran back over to Masaru.

"_What_ are you _doing_?"

"Trust me, _captain_. Just go along with it, okay?" The chunin asked as Ajit came charging towards them, giving an inhuman roar. They both jumped off to separate sides as Ajit skidded to a halt and went after the black-clad blonde. "Come on, slowpoke!! Are you even _trying_ to catch me?!" Nataro taunted as he stuck out his tongue.

"AAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHHH!!!"

Masaru arched an eyebrow as he noticed something on Ajit's back as he continued to chase Nataro around. "Is that a…?"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, miles away from the battlefield between the Leaf and the Asura, a cloaked figure was sitting on a large rock and staring intently into a crystal ball. The ball showed the image of Nataro running away from the enraged Ajit. "Ugh…! What is up with that fox…? Why doesn't it just use its power to obliterate that idiot? I know it _can_…" The cloaked man laid down on the rock and held the crystal ball out in front of him, sighing in frustration. "Come on…! Stop playing around and unleash your true power!"

**X-X-X**

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" Kazemaru chanted as he held onto his dislocated arm. "It just keeps getting worse…!"

"Hold on…" Hanzo mumbled as he rested his hand on the orange-haired chunin's shoulder. A soft green aura surrounded his hand that began to mend the dislocated arm, the sounds of battle still going on around them.

"Would you hurry it up? We might get attacked while we're just sitting here like this— BEHIND YOU!!!"

The raven kept his back turned on the oncoming Oni until Kazemaru's arm was fully healed. Still on one knee, he turned on his heel and punched the Oni in the stomach hard enough to send it flying back into another.

Kaze flexed his healed arm. "Oh, yeah. In all the chaos, I forgot you could do that," he said as Hanzo got to his feet.

"Where's Nataro and Masaru-taichou?"

"I'm not sure about Captain Pretty Boy, but I saw Nataro rushing towards that Asura earlier in the fight," the orange-haired chunin continued, punching forward with his healed arm.

"WHAT?! That's dangerous!! He honestly went off by himself?!" The raven shouted seconds before Nataro came rolling towards them and stopped on his back. His black eye was completely swollen shut by now and blood ran down the corner of his mouth and the side of his head. "Na-nataro!!"

"Nngh…!" The blonde chunin sat up and held his bleeding head. "That the best you've got…?" He spoke woozily.

Kaze arched an eyebrow. "Uh… Who's he talking to?" He asked as Nataro got on his feet, shaking the cobwebs out of his head. His eyes widened as Ajit came into sight, drool trailing out of the corners of its mouth. "WHAT THE HELL IS _THAT_?!?"

"Asura."

"Seriously?! He's gotten more hideous than he was before!!"

"Yup."

Hanzo grabbed Nataro by the back of his collar and threw him aside to avoid being charged over by Ajit. Kaze smirked and spread his legs apart as he got into a fighting stance.

"Hold on there, ugly! My arm's all fixed an' I'm ready to rumble! Ya mess with Nataro, ya mess with us!!" His Houka no Seirei activated, flames radiating around his body.

"You're in my way, MAGGOT!!!" The Asura roared as he raised his claw and thrust it forward. Kaze just barely caught it with both of his hands, straining to keep Ajit back as he dug his feet into the ground. Ajit's claws were close to his face, almost touching his forehead.

"Little…help…here…!" Hanzo darted over to the two of them, jumped up, and with an electrically charged fist sent Ajit flying away with a super-powered punch. "Thanks." The orange-haired chunin said as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. He then spun on his heel and pointed a finger at Nataro. "What the _hell_ did you do now, idiot?!"

Nataro got to his feet and frowned. "It's part of my plan, _idiot_!!"

"If your plan's to get the crap kicked outta ya, don't involve us!!"

Masaru landed in front of Team Tsuki. "What exactly _is_ your plan?"

The blonde frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "I guess you oughta know…"

**X-X-X**

An explanation later…

"Will that really work?" Masaru asked.

"It's gotta work! I read it in a book!" Nataro persisted.

"Read it in a book or saw it on television?" Hanzo asked with half-lidded eyes.

"On televi— What do you take me for: some kind of idiot?!" The blonde shouted in irritation.

"Honestly, yeah!" Kaze answered for everyone.

"Well, he _is_ something of a juggernaut. He can't feel pain. This plan _could_ work if everyone does their part. And if a certain someone remembers what I told them…"

"You shut up!!" The blonde chunin pointed off to the distance, where he could just barely make out Ajit charging towards them, making dust rise. "Alright! Here he comes. Let's get 'em!"

The four teens dashed towards Ajit, away from the rest of their comrades. Kazemaru, who was in the lead, activated his Houka no Seirei and jumped up into the air, his flames growing larger and larger until it resembled a fireball. He fell towards Ajit, pulling back his fist.

"Insei Bureiku (Meteor Crash)!!" The orange-haired pyromaniac shouted as he punched at Ajit just as the Asura raised a paw to stop his attack. The force pushed him back a bit, but it wasn't enough to faze the Asura and he merely used his free claw to stab Kaze in the stomach. Ajit gave a wicked grin as he threw the boy aside, leaving Masaru enough time to open a scroll and summon a pair of Fuma shuriken.

The white-clad jonin threw the shuriken at Ajit, aiming both at his head. The shuriken flew past his head, one cutting through his cheek, the other cutting through his neck causing blood the spurt out violently. Then he drew several small shuriken from his thigh holster and threw them at the Asura. While most missed and a few managed to hit him in the body, one hit its mark in Ajit's remaining working eye.

"HELL!!!" The Asura cursed, pulling the shuriken out. _'Can't see a damn thing now!!'_

"Heh-heh-heh…!" Nataro smirked as he and three clones began to form a pair of Rasengans. "Ready or not…here I come!!" He exclaimed as he and a clone took off towards Ajit, each with a Rasengan in hand. The transformed Asura was blindly thrashing about, waving his arms in an attempt to get his claws on the Konoha ninja. The blonde and his bunshin ducked beneath a claw just in time, nicking off a few strands of hair, and thrust their respective orbs of swirling chakra into the Asura's knees! "RASENGAN!!!"

"There you are!! Like lambs to the slaughter!!" Ajit shouted as he raised his claw in the air, only to fall onto his back. "What the hell is it _now_?!"

"Oh, it's nothing. We just broke your legs."

"That…that's nonsense!! I'm invincible!! Your puny little attacks couldn't harm me!!"

"That's what _you_ think! Because of your so-called _'invincibility'_, you couldn't tell when your body reached its limits after chasing me around so much! You also couldn't feel my Rasengan breaking your bones!" The black-clad blonde said with a smirk as he folded his arms across his chest. "So, really, this is all your fault for just taking my attacks and not thinking about how your body would react!! You were brought down by _my_ ingenious plan!"

Masaru sweatdropped and stared at the blonde with half-lidded eyes. "Wait a second… That was _my_ plan!" he closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm glad you were listening, though. I thought you were a stereotypical dumb blonde."

"Technically, he is!" Kazemaru shouted over from his spot with Hanzo, who was healing his stomach wound. "He's just a sly one!"

Nataro walked around the Asura, who was still lying flat on his back. "So, are you gonna sit there and be quiet while I kill you…?"

"Heh-heh-heh… BWAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ajit laughed with bloodshot eyes. "So what if you broke my legs?! BIG DEAL!!! Ajit is _invincible_!! You can _never_ kill me!! BWAHAHAHA!!!"

The blonde frowned. "Okay. You've had your chance." In a puff of smoke, a kage bunshin appeared on either side of him. He held out his hand and the clones began to work on another Rasengan. It was smaller than the Oodama, but still bigger than an ordinary Rasengan, its color a mixture of yellow and orange. "Prepare yourself, you muscle-headed lowlife! And be honored for being the first victim of this technique I've been working on!!" He narrowed his eyes. "I'll show you and the rest of your kind to leave Akasha-chan alone!!" The bunshin removed their hands and disappeared as Nataro held the Rasengan out in front of him. "EAT THIS!!!" He slammed it into Ajit's face and what appeared to be a small dome of fire erupted from the Rasengan with the force of a small bomb. The skin on Nataro's hand began to burn away, along with his jacket and the ends of the cloth of his hitai-ate. _'Shit, shit, shit!!'_

The ground beneath Nataro and Ajit cracked and they both fell down into a cleanly made hole, deep into the earth…

**X-X-X**

Beneath the earth's surface…

"Well, well, well. If it ain't _'the invincible Ajit'_! Heh-heh-heh!"

"What the…? Who said that? I can't move…!" Ajit growled. He had now returned to normal, but his face and body were…well…badly burned. Intensely so. No ordinary human being should have survived having their skin melt at such a degree, with parts of their bone structure seen as clear as day.

"I'm not surprised. You've gone and worn your body out. The ability to not feel pain is valuable in battle, but…" Bhumi placed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear before continuing, "If you don't know your body's limits, it can lead to big trouble. Very big, in your case."

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?!"

Jintaro snickered behind his hands, completely forgetting about the pain in his head. "Just be grateful you don't have eyes anymore. I don't think you'd be able to handle looking at yourself after what that guy did to you! You look like an action figure that was left out in the sun too long, hahhaha!!" The red-haired protégé smirked and looked over at the burnt Nataro, who was lying face down in the dirt, unconscious. "Speaking of that guy… I've still got a _bone_ or two to pick with him over how he beat me to within an inch of death!" He grabbed the hilt of his kanabo. "And what good luck! He's all tuckered out from fighting this lunkhead!"

"_No_," Bhumi yawned, taking hold of Ajit's legs. "We just came for Ajit. Let the boy be—as thanks for cleaning up our mess with Ajit for us." She began to drag the taller Asura down the tunnel with ease. "Now, let's go."

"Grrr…! Just you wait…!" Jintaro hissed before he went after his master, the tunnel caving in behind him to look like it was never disturbed. Now it looked as if it were merely a deep hole created by Nataro's jutsu.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, once the remaining Oni were disposed of and the remaining troops were healed enough to be able to move (if somewhat slowly), the Konoha ninja proceeded towards their village with a smaller army, but still victorious.

"I hope you're happy. We went through all that trouble for trying to catch an Asura specimen for study, and you just had to finish it up with a big, flashy, destructive jutsu, you…idiot!" Masaru complained as he walked beside a stretcher that two uniformed Konoha ninja were carrying. "It wasn't enough just to beat him! You had to turn him to _ash_!! No, not even the _ash_ survived!"

"Aw, shut up!!" Nataro cried from his position on the stretcher. He had several bandages wrapped around his head, his burnt arm was all bandaged up, and his hitai-ate had been removed. "I'd like to see _you_ try to beat him without pulling out the big guns!"

"We didn't _need_ the big guns after you immobilized him! There was no point in doing that!!"

"I _still_ don't get why you're obsessing over this bringing in the Asura in one piece nonsense…" The blonde muttered with squinted eyes.

"Because Hokage-sama ordered it."

"Why?"

"How should _I_ know?! Maybe it has something to do with that Asura girl!"

Nataro blinked. "Y…you know about Akasha-chan…?" He rolled onto his back and looked up at the sky. "Huh… What _is_ Gramps trying to do…?"

Masaru pouted and looked out of the corner of his eye before giving a sigh. "Listen… I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you in anyway. Your methods are a bit…unconventional…but you're a good ninja. I thought you were just another dumb blonde."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" The blonde shouted, snapping his head in Masaru's direction and accidentally resting on his injured arm. "AAAAHHHHH!!! Ow, ow, ow!! Pain, _pain_!!" He cried as tears welled up comically in his eyes. "You jerk!! You say that after _I_ did most of the work taking that Asura down?!"

"I-I-I don't think of you like that anymore!! And…wait a second!! The only reason why you did most of the work was because you charged in recklessly and none of my jutsu would have been able to do as much damage as your Rasengan thing!"

The black-clad teen forgot his anger and gave a fox-like grin. "Hee-hee! Yup! My jutsu can take down anyone!"

Masaru sweatdropped. "…So, are we on good terms now?"

Nataro squinted his eyes in a fox-like manner and pouted. "Hmmm… Nope." Once Masaru's jaw dropped in shock, he added, "Just 'cuz you like me, that doesn't mean _I_ have to like _you_. I still think you're unfit for the job of captain _and_…that you're bossy and keep telling me to do things."

Masaru's eyes closed and became shaped like broad straight lines. _'Unbelievable!'_ "W-wait a minute! I'm your captain! You're _supposed_ to do as I say!!"

"See? You're doing it again!!"

Masaru slapped himself in the forehead and growled softly to himself. "He's trying to get me to hit the ceiling…! Keep your calm, Masaru…!"

"Masaru-kun!" The blue-eyed raven looked to his left and saw Ina walking next to him.

"Oh, Inahime!" He didn't notice the way Nataro rolled his head over to look at them or how his eye twitched.

"I heard about how you took on that Asura. I wish I'd been there to help," the Uchiha girl said with a blush on her cheeks.

"Hey!! That was _me_, y'know!" Nataro growled, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Hmph." Ina reached over the blonde and punched his bandaged arm.

"OWWWWWW!!! Bitch!! What'd you do that for?!"

"Shut up! Because of you, we lost the Asura!"

"It's not _my_ fault!"

"It was _your_ jutsu!" Ina punched him in the arm again.

"OWWWWW!!! Will you stop doing that?!"

Masaru closed his eyes and sighed. _'Is this justice or something else…?'_

**X-X-X**

"I…am…_disappointed _in you, Kyuubi…!" The cloaked figure growled as he gripped the crystal ball tightly in his gloved hands. "How can I complete my goal if you don't unleash your _true_ power?! Ugh…!" He put the ball back into his cloak, mumbling, "I suppose I'll have to find ways of forcing it out of you…"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Insei Bureiku is made up of the words "Meteor" (Insei) and "Crash" (Bureiku). It was inspired by the Fist techniques in the Disgaea RPG series.**

**Toumegane no Jutsu (Telescope Technique) allows the user to observe others from a far distance by looking into a crystal ball. (Not sure _how_ it works, exactly.) It's used in the series by the Sandaime Hokage, the Great Toad Sage of Myobokuzan, and Sanbi filler arc character Guren.**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Hey! I can't believe I finished! Whoo-hoo!!**

**Hanzo: Is it just me, or is this chapter shorter than the last?**

**Blu: I'm not sure, and I don't care! I finished this fight and I'm proud of that! Now I can move on to the next arc!**

**Kazemaru: What? The Sanbi?**

**Blu: Not yet, at least. No… The next chapter is about…well, what number comes after "1"?**

**Kaze: Do you _seriously_ not know that? And you're a _college_ student…?**

**Blu: (-.-) I am not serious. I'm just asking you to say it.**

**Kaze: …2. **

**Blu: Exactly. Our next bijuu up for observation is…the Nibi no Nekomata!! So stay tuned!! And remember to review and tell me what you think!!**


	64. Omake 5: Naruto Gakuenden X2

**Blu: It has returned! The fans wanted it, well now they've got it!! The second part of Naruto Gakuenden X!!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto X or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#64:Omake 5: Naruto Gakuenden X-2_

Blu Rose was sitting in an overstuffed chair, stroking a cat plushie, in front of Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru. "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you all here today…"

With fox-like eyes, Nataro shrugged and mumbled an "I dunno," while Hanzo and Kaze stared at her with half-lidded eyes.

"The masses are clamoring for more of Naruto Gakuenden X! Therefore, it's our duty to give the people what they want!!" The authoress shouted as she raised her stuffed cat in the air.

Hanzo arched an eyebrow and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Last time I checked, only _two_ readers wished that Gakuenden X would continue."

"I never said they _spoke_ of it."

"Whatever happened to that short being _'not continued'_?" Kaze asked, using air quotations.

"I probably should've put a _'maybe'_ at the end…" The authoress mumbled as she rubbed her face with her cat plushie. "Well, I've been thinking about it and I've decided that the Gakuenden series will serve as our omake series for the rest of Arashiden! We'll still show in-ninjaverse omakes at the end of chapters, but these are different since it's in the high school universe. So it's just fighting, teen angst and romance."

"In other words, the exact same thing in a modern setting," the orange-haired chunin said with a nod.

"So, are you guys ready?"

Nataro's dumb expression disappeared and he pointed at Blu. "Is there any guy on guy kissing here?"

"No."

"Then I'm in!! Let's get this show on the road!!"

**X-X-X**

Tsubaki sighed as she turned a page in her small novel. It may have been _their_ punishment, but _she_ was the one who suffered from it. By _'they'_, she meant Uchiha Ina—originally one of the school's least troublesome students and one of her favorites—and Konoha Gakuen's newest threat, Kazaki Nataro. In fact, the only reason why Ina was there in the first place was because of Kazaki.

'_I still can't believe they let a piece of trash like that into Konoha... He must be from an influential family,'_ the blonde woman thought as she remembered seeing the boy's grandfather on the day of their punishment. _'He didn't look like anyone of importance, though...'_

'_This is such a waste of my time…!'_ Ina thought as she looked out of the corner of her eye at Nataro, who was hunched over his desk, scribbling some doodles in his notebook while tapping his foot impatiently. It was odd, since in class, he was usually laid back, his feet up on the desk at times despite their teacher's warnings. But for the last couple of days, he'd been impatient—not just in detention, but in classes, too.

"Alright, that's it for today. Now get out of here," said Tsubaki as she closed her book. Nataro was already out the door by the time she said _'today'_.

**X-X-X**

Outside the gates of Konoha Gakuen, the Suits sat in their car, waiting for Nataro to come out.

"So, be honest... The school nurse or the English teacher?" The Suit in the driver's seat asked.

"Who's the school nurse again?" The Suit in the passenger's seat asked.

"The lady with the blonde hair and glasses. What's her name…? Yamanaka Ino-something."

"Oh, yeah… I'd do her."

"Do who?"

"The nurse!"

Just then, the car door opened and Nataro came in, muttering, "Hospital, step on it."

"Afternoon, Nataro-kun."

"What did I just say? Quit flappin' your gums and get going! Chop-chop!!" The blonde boy snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.

"Okay, okay, I understand! You don't have to yell!" The driver exclaimed as he pulled away from the sidewalk.

"You can't blame the kid. Today's when _you know who_ is getting out of the hospital." At this, the two Suits snickered while Nataro blushed in the backseat, muttering curses.

**X-X-X**

_**1 Week Ago…**_

_Nataro blushed as the girl continued to stare at him from her bed. She was dressed in a different hospital gown after they had taken her to the Konoha general hospital._

"_What's your name?" The blonde asked after a long and awkward period of silence._

"_Um… Asura no Akasha, I think," the girl said as she played around with a lock of her dark red hair._

_Nataro arched an eyebrow. "Asura no Akasha…? Weird name." 'I can see why she wouldn't be sure with a name like that…'_ _"Where are you from?"_

_Akasha blinked. "You don't know?"_

"_The hell should I know?! I mean, uh… How would __**I**__ know where __**you're**__ from?" The redhead shrugged. "I mean, with a name like that, I think you'd be a foreigner, but you look Japanese to me."_

"_Japanese?"_

"_You know. Japan. Asia. Land of the Rising Sun— Wait a minute!! You honestly don't know what Japan is?!" The blonde boy shouted in shock, his eyes large and blank. The redhead shook her head. "I bet you're gonna tell me you don't remember where you were before your accident, either."He really didn't see the point in saying that it was __**their**__ fault that she was in the hospital—especially since she was fine now._

_Akasha opened her mouth to answer before sinking back into her pillow. "No…" She mumbled with a depressed look. She looked up at Nataro. "Who are you?"_

"_Me? Uh… Nataro."_

_The girl leaned forward and tilted her head slightly, making Nataro blush again and fidget in his seat. "Ohhh… Nataro. Why did you help me?"_

_The blonde boy arched an eyebrow. "Ehhh? What're you talking about? Helping a girl in distress is the gentlemanly thing to do!" 'That, and we couldn't risk any witnesses blabbing to the police.'_

"_Oh." Akasha looked down at her hands. "I don't think anyone's ever done that for me…"_

"_Don't think or don't know?" Nataro asked flatly with half-lidded eyes, but he was off put when Akasha smiled at him._

"_Thank you."_

**X-X-X**

_**Present Day—Hours Later…**_

Naruto arched an eyebrow at the sight of his grandson kneeling before him with a young redheaded girl wearing a simple gray sweatshirt and pants. "Nataro… Who is this? And why are you here when you should be at home?"

"This…is Akasha-chan."

The elderly blonde put down his tea cup. "Ahhh… So _this_ is the Akasha-chan I've been hearing about, hm? What's she doing here?"

"The thing is, Gramps… She…doesn't have anywhere to go," Nataro said, scratching the back of his head. "She just realized that after being released from the hospital. They said things like _'she's not in our records'_ and _'we'll contact the authorities to learn more'_ or something like that, so I…may have told her that she could stay with you."

"Are you serious?" Naruto mumbled. His grandson nodded his head while Akasha looked around the room in interest. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Haven't you thought that maybe someone's looking for her right now?"

"If she wanted to go home, she'd remember, wouldn't she?" The young blonde asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"There's a thing called _'amnesia,'_ boy. You might want to look it up," his grandfather mutters as a drop of sweat runs down the back of his head. "Ugh… Fine… I suppose she can stay. At least then, if she remembers who ran her over—I mean, she is, we'll be able to take care of things," Naruto said with a smile. "So, Akasha-chan? How do you like my grandson?"

Akasha stopped looking around and placed her hands together. "I think he is very nice."

"Nice, huh…? Would you like to marry him at some point in the future?"

"Huh?! SAY _WHAT_?!?" Nataro screamed with a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Wh-wh-where do you get off talking about that, Gramps?! Shouldn't _I_ decide who I marry?!"

"Sometimes, children have no idea what sort of person they should marry. That's where matchmaking comes in," the old man said with a fox-like expression on his face.

"I know what sort of person I wanna marry!!"

"Oh, really? Exactly who is that?"

Nataro was silent for a moment before he bowed his head and muttered, "Well, uh, I don't know…"

"Uh-huh. This is why there are matchmakers. To ensure that poor old men like me don't have to wait for hesitant children like you to give us grandchildren."

As the two blondes argued, Akasha blinked, a question mark over her head. "What does that mean, _'marry'_…?"

The Suits standing outside the door sweatdropped, despite remaining in their stoic positions. _'It's like Azuki-sama all over again…!'_

**X-X-X**

Days passed. Nataro's punishment in detention came to an end, and the school actually quieted down—seeing as how Nataro forgot that he still had to beat Hanzo.

"Yo, Nataro!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he plopped down next to the blonde at lunchtime while he was scarfing down a cup of instant ramen. "What's up? I heard there's this guy on the other side of town who wants to fight you. Wanna drop in on his hangout and taken 'em out in one fell swoop afterschool?" The orange-haired teen said with a smirk, holding up a fist.

"Can't." Nataro spoke between slurps.

"Eh?" Kaze arched an eyebrow and frowned. "Why the hell not?! What's the point of being shibui (badass) if you act so…_shabai_ (uncool)?!"

The blonde gulped down some more noodles. "Look: not picking a fight doesn't make me a loser. I've just got important things to do."

"What about being _souban_?!"

"Eh…" Nataro narrowed his eyes in thought before nodding. "Alright. We'll go after school."

"Sweeeeet! I'll go inform up the troops!"

"The troops? Who's that?"

"Right now?" Kaze began to name people off of his fingers. "You…me…Konjo…and Hanzo. If we can convince him to come along."

Nataro sweatdropped. "That's not a troop… That's not even a _gang_!"

"Yeah, well…sadly, while there are lots of tough guys and tough girls that go here, there are few students at this school who want to dedicate themselves to your cause. Buncha pussies…" The orange-haired teen held up a fist. "But screw them! Who needs 'em?! The four of us alone are enough to take on anybody!!"

Unseen by the two teens, Hanzo stood up on the rooftop looking down on them, gripping the chain link fence with both hands.

**X-X-X**

When the school bell rang, everyone rushed out. As students got together to chat or left the school grounds, Nataro and Konjo stood by the sidewalk, waiting for both their ride and Kazemaru and Hanzo.

"Do you really think that Kaze can convince Hanzo to come with us?" The white-eyed boy asked. "He's such a pacifist… I couldn't see him picking fights like you and Kaze do."

"Then how come everybody keeps saying how strong he is? If he doesn't pick fights, how can they tell…?"

"Honestly?" Konjo scratched his head in thought as he looked up at the sky. "Well, I remember there was an incident back then. Before then, Hanzo was always picked on. The school bullies would keep teasing him about his father and mother. Then, one day…these guys were pushing him around, right, and I guess he finally snapped, see? And then he just started beating them up in front of the school, right? Near death! He'd have been expelled if his family didn't plead _'self-defense'_ and the other students hadn't said they saw who started the fight. Since then, the only people who seem to want to get close to Hanzo are Shizuka-chan and those fan girls who popped up ever since he hit puberty."

Once he cleared up with the Hyuga boy had speedily said, Nataro blinked. "Wow. That's… A tame guy like Hanzo? Beating people to death? What were they making fun of?"

"GANGWAY!!!" The two teens looked up to see Kazemaru running towards them. It turned out that he was running from Hanzo, who wasn't wearing his glasses and looked upset.

"KAZEMARU!!!" The raven-haired boy shouted as Kaze skidded to a halt at the sidewalk. "Give it back!!"

The orange-haired delinquent took a moment to breathe before he spoke, "What?"

"You _know_ what. Give it back _now_!"

"What's going on?" Nataro asked Kazemaru.

"He took my glasses!!" Hanzo shouted, pointing a finger at the redhead. At that, Nataro and Konjo turned to look at Kaze.

"What? I had to get him over here somehow!" The Suits rolled up in their car, and Kaze immediately opened the back door and jumped inside shouting, "Come an' get it, nerd!!" After a few seconds, the orange-haired teen got out, his cheeks red and blood dribbling from one nostril. "…There's a chick in there."

"What…?" Nataro asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Nataro-san!" Akasha shouted as she stepped out of the car, wearing a short maid costume with stockings and a bonnet. Needless to say, she caught the eye of everyone nearby.

"Uh…uh… HUH?!?" The blonde delinquent screamed, his face red and eyes large and blank. Konjo was covering his eyes with one hand, Hanzo was looking off to the side, and Kazemaru was just staring at her with wide eyes and a perverted smile as they all blushed. "A…Akasha-chan…! How did you…? _Why_ are you…?"

"I wanted to come see you at your school," the red-haired girl said, poking her index fingers together. "I hope you don't mind."

"I wouldn't mind if you weren't wearing that _getup_! Get in the car! Now, now, now!" Nataro spoke quickly as he ushered Akasha into the car, followed by Konjo and Kazemaru.

"Oi! You coming in or what?" Kaze asked Hanzo, who was still blushing with his arms folded across his chest in an intimidating manner. The pyromanic boy pulled Hanzo's glasses out of his pants pocket and held it out. The raven reached out to grab the glasses, but Kaze grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside, making everyone inside complain about lack of space as Kaze just shouted, "Drive, fools, drive!!"

The car took off from the sidewalk, speeding off into traffic while the students watch them drive away.

"Oh, no! That troublemaker Kazaki just stole Hanzo-kun!!" Rie cried, stomping her foot in irritation while the rest of Hanzo's fan girls began to cry over their apparently _kidnapped_ idol.

Ina and Shizuka, who were standing nearby, sweatdropped. "Hanzo-kun…?" The blue-haired girl mumbled.

The raven-haired girl arched an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. _'Who the hell was that chick in the maid costume?'_

**X-X-X**

"S-so… Where'd you get that outfit…?" Nataro asked Akasha with a stutter, red in the face and sweating. That may have been because, with the lack of space in the backseat, she somehow wound up sitting on his lip with her back to the window and her leg on top of Konjo's. The indigo-haired boy looked down for a moment to see a pair of plain pink panties and immediately turned his head away, holding his head up to his nose.

"Naruto-san said I had to work if I wanted to stay in his home," the red-haired girl answered with her hands on her lap.

"Work? What work?"

"Cleaning, gardening, cooking…" She counted off of her fingers.

The blonde arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Eh? You cook?"

"Mm-hm! I make that instant ramen and frozen dinner trays that Naruto-san likes so much!"

Nataro's eye twitched. _'He's just being lazy and making Akasha do all the chores…!'_ He thought, biting his lower lip. "Don't tell me… _Gramps_ gave you that outfit."

Akasha began to adjust the chest area of her dress, which made Kaze lean forward to get a good look. "He said this is my work uniform, and that I'm supposed to take it off at 3:30 in the afternoon," she said as the redhead started to drool.

'_So he makes her take it off before I come visit… Sneaky old bastard…!'_ "What dirty thoughts were running through his mind when he came up with this idea…?" The blonde growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Hey!" Hanzo shouted, calling attention to him. "So why exactly did you drag us all in here?"

"Huh? Oh, that's right!" Nataro turned to look at Kazemaru, who was wiping blood off on the sleeve of his jacket. "Hey, Kaze. Where'd you say those guys were?"

"They're over at the mall," the orange-haired teen muffled through his sleeve.

"Yo, guys! Think you could head over to the mall? We're meeting some people over there," the blonde told the Suits up in front.

"I don't think so, Nataro-kun. We gotta go meet the boss at a meeting."

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "Meeting…? For what?"

The Suits froze up for a moment before the driver spoke, "Well…uh… It's for his _business_. And he's meeting up with a fellow head of another _business_ outside of town…"

"That's right! It's not something you kids'll be interested in. It's just old man stuff," said the Suit in the passenger's seat with a nervous laugh.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in another part of town, at a fancy hotel…

"It really is nice to see you again, Gaara," Naruto said with a broad grin as he sat down at a table with two men—one in his 40's with short dusty brown hair and black eyes, the other in his early 70's with short white hair and pale green eyes wearing square-lensed glasses. "I haven't seen you in so long, I thought you were dead!"

"That's not a nice thing to say to a friend after so many years…" Gaara mumbled.

"Yeah, well, what do you expect when you never call or write?"

"What about you?"

"What _about_ me?! You're the one not listed in the phonebook!"

"Neither are you."

"Sure I am! Under Namikaze! _Na-mi-ka-ze_!"

"You never told me about that."

"Because you don't _call_ me, you old—!!"

The younger man cleared his throat to get the old men's attention. "Uzumaki-san. We have important business to discuss."

"Mm?" Naruto looked over at the man and blinked. "Ah! Of course! Sorry about that, uh…"

"Katashi. Sabakuno Katashi."

"Sabakuno…?" The elderly blonde looked at Gaara while pointing at Katashi. "Is this your son?" The other old man nodded. "Katashi-chan? I still remember when he would play with my little Azuki and Nori…" He gave a fond sigh. "Those were the days…"

"Katashi has taken over my position as the boss of our gang."

"Really…?" Naruto looked at Katashi. "So, what is it that you wanted?"

"We've been having some problems with another gang. They don't appear to be associated with anyone from our side of town. When we looked further into it, we found that they came from _here_. So perhaps you know of these…_Oni_…"

The elderly blonde blinked. "Oni…?"

**X-X-X**

At Senju Mall, Nataro, Konjo, Kazemaru, Hanzo and Akasha stood by the curb as the cat peeled away from them.

"Heh! Alright, Kaze! Where'd you say these guys were?" Nataro said as he tightened his headband and straightened up his jacket.

"They're somewhere in the back of the mall."

"Wait a second! I still haven't been told what the heck's going on!" Hanzo exclaimed.

"Huh? Oh, right." Nataro turned to look at the raven-haired boy. "We're going to take on some no good punks who think they can mess with me!" He said with a grin.

"You dragged me here to pick a fight?! Ohhhh, no! I'm _not_ going to take part in this!"

"Aw, come on! I heard you can fight, so why not?"

"Could it be because…I'm not a fight maniac like you are?" Hanzo said as he turned to leave.

"Don't knock it 'till you try it! Besides, _real_ men fight every challenge they come across head on!" Nataro said as he held up a fist. "That's what my grandfather taught me."

"Well, lucky for me I'm still a boy," the Uchiha muttered as he began to walk away, only to have the blonde grab him by the back of his shirt and drag him into the mall. "Let me GO, you jerk!!"

"Nataro-san is very aggressive, isn't he?" Akasha asked, holding a hand to her face. Kazemaru and Konjo turned to look at her with confused expressions. "Is something wrong?"

"Uhhh…!" Konjo was still struck speechless at seeing the redhead in that maid uniform.

"I'm a little confused here, Akasha-chan. What school do you go to?" Kazemaru asked with his hands shoved in his pants pockets.

"School…? I don't go to school. I just work for Naruto-san. I have ever since Nataro helped me when I had that accident in the street."

"Nataro…_saved you_?!" The orange-haired boy snickered. "I didn't know a requirement for souban was to be so _chivalrous_…!"

"Naruto-san said I could become Nataro-san's fiancée after he graduates."

"S-seriously?!" Konjo exclaimed with wide eyes. "You're his fiancée?!"

"She said _after_ he graduates, White Eyes. Although that's _still_ a shocker. I don't see what Nataro's got what I don't to be attracting a girlfriend so early!!" Kaze growled as they walked into the mall. "Some people get all the luck…!"

**X-X-X**

The Senju Mall was a large, expansive mall with up to five floors of shops, stores and boutiques and an interesting statue in the back of the mall: a large stone sculpture of a tree that was apparently based on the oldest tree in the city. Sitting at the base of the stone tree were a gang of typical young delinquents dressed in dark blue school uniforms with rain-like symbols on the breast, a few of them carrying weapons. The apparent leader of the gang was a dark-haired teen with his hair slicked back squatting on the ground, wearing a surgical mask over his mouth and an Oni's mask on the back of his head and a chain wrapped around his waist.

"Hey, boss… When's that guy gonna get here? I'm tired of waiting," asked one of the street punks.

"Heh. It'll be a surprise if that idiot didn't come…" The leader said as he straightened up his surgical mask. "After all, he says he's gonna become the souban. Heh-heh-heh…!" He got to his feet as he noticed Nataro coming towards them, dragging Hanzo along with Kazemaru, Konjo and Akasha not too far behind. "Well, well, well! If it isn't Kazaki Nataro, _future souban of Japan_! Hahaha!"

Nataro stopped walking and blinked. "Hm? Who're you?"

"Don't remember me? The name's Takaro." Takaro pulled down his mask to show a scar running from the corner of his mouth across his cheek. "You gave me _this_ back when you used to go to _our_ school, _Kazaki_!!"

The blonde blinked and squinted his eyes a bit. "Ohhh… I don't know who the _hell_ you are!!" Takaro and his gang almost fell over in shock as Nataro continued, "But I _do_ remember that uniform from my old school." He folded his arms across his chest and smirked while Hanzo shifted uncomfortably. "So, what do you want?"

"Hmph!" The dark-haired delinquent pulled his mask back up and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I heard you went and transferred over to that swanky Konoha High and started acting like the bancho at that preppy school. As if! Everybody knows that high-class schools like that can't produce good bancho, so we've come to put a stop to it!"

"Who are you to say who can be a bancho and who can't?"

Takaro pulled his chain free from his waist and began to swing it around. "Ame Gakuen's souban!"

Nataro stifled a laugh. "Ame Gakuen souban… Hysterical! I could've sworn that's what _I_ called myself over there… And the only way you could _truly_ have that title is if you fight me for it! So that's what you want, isn't it?"

"Not quite. My bosses said I had to take you out."

"Eh? Boss? I thought you were the head honcho over at Ame?" The blonde said with a shrug.

"Of course. But I'm up for recommendation."

"Eh?"

Takaro stopped swinging his chain and turned his head to show off the Oni mask on the back of his head. "I'm working for the yakuza now, Kazaki! This mask is proof of it! If I do real nicely, my bosses'll reward me. And once I graduate from Ame, I'll become a fulltime member of the Onigumi (Ogre Gang)! See what you've missed out on, Kazaki?! If you stayed at Ame, _you_ could've been lucky enough to have this chance!"

"I've already got security with a gang, poser."

Hanzo stared at Nataro with wide eyes. "Say what?! Are you saying you're part of the mob?!"

Nataro froze, realizing what he just said. "Uh… No, I'm not! I mean… What the hell do you care?! You didn't even want to be a part of this, so ask no questions!!" He turned to Takaro and pointed a finger at the masked bancho. "Make no mistake: just because I'm at a different school now, that doesn't mean I've lost my edge!" Takaro threw his chain at the blonde and it wrapped around his arm.

The other Ame punks immediately ran towards him and Hanzo with what appeared to be killing intent. With one arm chained up, the blonde raised his leg and kicked away an approaching delinquent in the gut. Then he used his free arm to punch another punk in the face and gave another a headbutt that should've cracked his skull. Just as he performed a roundhouse kick that knocked aside a trio of punks, Takaro pulled on his chain and made the blonde delinquent drop to the floor, then dragged him towards him.

"C'mere, Kazaki!!" The dark-haired souban shouted as he made to kick Nataro in the stomach, but the blonde used his free arm to grab his foot and spun on his back to sweep Takaro off his feet. Then he jumped back to his feet and pulled the chain off of his arm. He raised his arm to block a kick to the chest from Takaro, who rolled back to avoid getting stomped on the chest.

"Why is this happening to me?!" Hanzo shouted as he punched a punk in the face hard enough to send him flying back into the tree statue. "I don't even _like_ fighting!!" He screamed as he elbowed a guy in the head and made him fall down, _then _he picked him up by the legs and began to spin him around, knocking out several of the punks. "Is my luck _so bad_?!"

"Wh-whoa!! Hanzo's on fire!" Konjo exclaimed in awe, pausing in holding a guy's arm behind his back.

"And _that_ is why people think Hanzo's the best in school," Kaze said with a grin as the raven performed a roundhouse kick to knock them all out. "He's a fuckin' beast!!"

"HA!!!" Nataro kneed Takaro in the stomach, following up with a one-two punch, then a punch that sent him flying back in a swirling spiral before he hit the tree statue. "Forget it. You're washed up! From now on, you answer to _me_!!"

"Aaahh!!" The Konoha boys turned around to see Akasha being held by another Ame gang member.

"Akasha-chan!!" Nataro narrowed his eyes and growled under his breath, he took a step forward.

"Uh-uh! One more step and I'm gonna slit her throat!" The Ame punk growled, using his free hand to hold his pocket knife up to Akasha's throat. Nataro made to move, but Akasha froze as the knife pressed against her neck, drawing blood. Her pupils shrank and her bangs covered her eyes as she began to shake. "Of course, it'd be a shame if I hurt such a pretty little thing—OUCH!!!" He shouted as the redhead stomped his foot. Then she grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder, making him drop the knife with a clatter. "Gah!! Fu…UGH!!!" The Ame punk grunted when Akasha punched him in the stomach hard enough to make him cough up blood. She continued to do it over and over again.

"Wow… I didn't think she was so…violent…" Hanzo said with wide eyes.

"Coming from _you_, that's shocking," Kazemaru spoke flatly with half-lidded eyes.

Konjo turned to Nataro. "Um… Shouldn't you be stopping her right now?"

"Uh… R-right!" The blonde stepped forward. "Hey, Akasha! …HEY!!! AKASHA-CHAN!!!"

Akasha suddenly stopped striking the Ame kid and ran over to Nataro, immediately hugging him. "Nataro-san!! I was so afraid!!"

"Wh-what?! But you just—! He—! I—! Ugh, I'm so confused…!"

Hanzo cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Um… No offense, but shouldn't we be going now before mall security comes and finds us here?!"

The teenagers froze in realization before they all ran out, leaving the unconscious students behind. But as they ran past, they didn't seem to notice that three strangers were staring at them from a nearby shop.

"Bancho, eh…? What school did they say that blonde guy go to again?"

"Konoha Gakuen."

"Well, whaddaya know? That's our major rival! I never heard of a Konoha bancho, though."

"Because there _isn't_ one."

"Or rather, there hasn't been one in over 50 years," a sleepy-eyed boy with short, dark brown hair and yellow eyes yawned. He wore a white, short, long-sleeved buttoned-up school jacket with a green hourglass symbol on the breast, white pants and black dress shoes with a pair of glasses that had large circular lenses. "That guy must've just started going to Konoha. The other guy was going on about how he used to go to Ame Gakuen…" The boy walked over to the semi-conscious Takaro, followed by a boy with short, spiky black hair and yellow eyes with a red headband, wearing a similar uniform like the brunette boy, except his was open and showed a red undershirt, and a girl with long blonde hair set up into pigtails and pale green eyes, wearing a short-sleeved school shirt with a green ribbon on her chest, a short green school skirt, and a gothic Lolita doll backpack.

"Mamoru… Don't tell me that you're thinking about…" The blonde girl began.

Mamoru bent down and lightly tapped Takaro on the forehead. "Excuse me. Do you know who that guy who beat you up was?"

"Ugh…! Who wants to know…?" The Ame bancho groaned, opening his eyes slightly.

"Just Sabakuno Mamoru from Suna Gakuen."

Takaro's eyes widened a bit. "Sa…Sabakuno…?! Don't tell me _you're_…?!"

"Now, now… Just tell me who that blonde guy is…and you won't get hurt. Okay?"

**X-X-X**

"Phew…! I'm home!!" Hanzo called out as he closed the door behind him. Hours ago, he had separated from Nataro, Akasha, Konjo and Kazemaru—for the sake of his life and reputation—and headed home by himself. _'If I stuck around Nataro for another minute, who knows what sort of trouble I'd get into…!'_

"HANZO!!!" A trio of blurs suddenly ran into him, pushing the teenager against the door. It turned out to be three dark-haired triplets—two boys with black eyes and white eyes and a girl with green eyes wearing black and red elementary school uniforms with the Konoha symbol on it.

"We've been waiting for you!" The dark-haired girl, Saku, said with a pout.

"How could you keep us waiting?!" One of the boys, Murakumo, shouted.

"Kotaro isn't any fun…!" The other boy, Tsumugari, pouted.

"I heard that!!" A 13-year old boy who was walking down the stairs shouted. He wore a white school shirt that was partially unbuttoned, black pants, and had dark hair that was slightly spiky in the back and green eyes. "I didn't even _want_ to play with you brats. I've got homework to do!" Kotaro looked at Hanzo with an arched eyebrow. "What happened to you? You look like you got roughed up. And where are your glasses?"

"My glasses…? Ah!!" Hanzo felt the sides of his face and gasped. "My glasses!" _'That's right… Kazemaru took them from me and with all the chaos, I forgot to take them back!'_ He pushed his younger relatives away as he ran up the stairs, quickly speaking, "Uh, I've got homework to do! Tell Grandma I was late because I was having lunch with some friends, so I won't be eating anything, okay, thanks!!"

"Uhhhh… Okay…"

'_If Grandma found out about what happened today, who knows how she'll react?'_Hanzo thought as he walked past an open door.

"Hanzo," a voice called out from the room. Hanzo stopped walking and gulped.

"Yes, Grandfather?"

"What took you…so long…in getting home?"

"I was spending time with my friends from schools."

"Friends…? You don't have…friends…"

The raven bit his lower lip and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. "I-it's some new guy at school. We've gotten close in the past month…"

"Oh… I see… Come here… What're you…waiting for…?" Warily, the teenager turned around and poked his head into the room to see an elderly man in his 70's with steel gray hair that spiked up slightly in the back and dressed in a black yukata, lying down in a king-sized bed, watching a channel about stocks on a flat screen TV with a pair of tubes in his nose connected to an oxygen tank.

"Good evening, Grandfather. How are you feeling?"

"Miserable…as usual…" Hanzo's grandfather held his hand up to his mouth and coughed. "Hand me my pills…would you…?"

"Um…" The boy looked down at the table next to his grandfather's bed, which had multiple bottles of pills. "Which one…?"

"Never mind… I'll…get your grandmother…to do it… Go on now," the old man muttered, shooing the boy away and letting him walk quickly out of the room. Seconds later, Sakura walked in carrying a tray of food. "There you are. I need my…medication."

"Where are your manners? After I spent my time making you dinner, you should be more gracious, Sasuke," Sakura said with a frown as she sat on the edge of his bed and placed the tray on his lap. She turned to stroke his head and kissed him on the cheek. "How are you feeling, dear?" She took the remote out of his hand and turned off the flat screen. "You really shouldn't be watching that. Every time a stock drops, you practically have a stroke."

"Hn…"

**X-X-X**

The next day at Konoha Gakuen, in Nataro's homeroom…

"Hey, Kazaki! Who was that girl you were with yesterday after school?" Kaoru asked the blonde boy with one hand on his desk and the other on his hip, while the other boy was leaning back in his seat with his feet up on the desk.

"Huh? Who?"

"Who? I'm talking about that girl in the maid costume!"

At this point, several other male classmates joined the conversation at the words _'maid costume'_.

"Ohhh, yeah! Who was that girl?"

"I went and took a picture of her on my cellphone! Too bad there wasn't a decent breeze…"

"Was she some cosplayer?"

"She came in the same car you usually come in. She a relative? Sister? Cousin?"

"Is she your…no, she couldn't _possibly_ be your _girlfriend_!!" Kaoru exclaimed with wide eyes.

Nataro fell out of his seat. "Wh-what?! Don't be ridiculous!!" He shouted with red cheeks and wide blank eyes. "She's not my girlfriend!!"

"Reeeeally…?" Kaoru smirked and adjusted his glasses. "I should've known. Why would such a _cute girl_ wanna go steady with a thug like you…when she could go for a guy like me?" He didn't notice Nataro glaring at him in the background. "Maybe I'll go talk to her the next time she comes around here…?" He raised a hand in time to catch a book that almost struck him in the head. The redhead turned to glare at Nataro.

"If you lay even a _finger_ on her, I'll rip your throat out, ya damn playboy!!"

"Ohhhh, I'm shaking. Look, if she's not your girlfriend, there's no reason why she isn't fair game."

"Listen, you…!!"

"She's not his girlfriend, just his fiancée," said Konjo. He blinked and came to realize that everyone in the room was now staring at him with wide eyes—including Nataro. "What? Didn't want anyone to find out?"

"Th-that's not—! Who _told_ you that?!" The blonde screamed, pointing a finger at the Hyuga boy.

"Akasha-chan said it herself yesterday. She said that your grandfather said that she could marry you once you graduated high school."

'_Damn you, Gramps!! Stop putting ideas in her head!!'_

Kaoru regained his composure and frowned. "Fiancée…? Well, that explains it. A girl as cute as her couldn't be _your_ girlfriend of her own free will."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!" Nataro shouted, whirling around to face the redhead.

The class president place the book down on the desk, saying, "Oh, nothing… Just that you have all the elegance of a common thug—which is what you basically _are_."

"Want me to give you another beatdown, Glasses?!" The young brawler shouted as he shook a fist at the redhead.

Just then, the door opened and Tsuki walked in. "Alright, everyone, take your seats. It's time for class." Once everyone took their seats, she continued, "Now then, as you know, tomorrow is your English test. So we're going to go over the lesson _one last time_. Then you're on your own."

"Aw, man…! I forgot about that dumb test…!" Nataro mumbled. He looked at Hanzo, and whispered, "Hey, Hanzo! Wanna get together and study at lunch?" The raven-haired boy looked at him from the corner of his eye before snorting and looking down at his desk. "Yeesh. I think the temperature just dropped 90 degrees…What's with the cold shoulder?"

"After what you did to me yesterday, you _dare_ to ask? Do you _know_ how hard it was getting home without my glasses? I had to put in my contacts today and those hurt like _hell_!" Hanzo hissed as he gave the blonde an angry glare that actually managed to chill him to the bone for some reason. "I don't care about your obsession with fighting and gangs and souban and…whatever! Just leave me _out of it_!"

"But—!"

"Nataro! You haven't gone in a while. Answer this problem," Tsuki spoke.

The blonde gulped as he got up from his seat. _'This won't end well…!'_

"Read sentence #3 in your textbook."

"Um… _'The rain in Spain stays mainly on the…' A) Plane, B) Pane, C) Plain, D) Pein…'_" Nataro spoke awkwardly in English. He looked down at Hanzo with a pleading look that screamed _'HELP ME!!!'_, but the raven didn't even glance at him. "Uh…the answer is…D?"

A few of the students stifled their laughter as Tsuki shook her head in disappointment. "Honestly. Do you even _study_ those notes you've been taking down? You're completely off!" She looked at Hanzo. "Why don't _you_ tell us the answer, Hanzo?"

"'_The rain in Spain stays mainly on the __C) Plain__,'_" the raven spoke eloquently in English.

"Ah...! He makes English sound as romantic as French…!" Rie thought as she and Hanzo's other admirers swooned.

Nataro sat down and glared at Hanzo, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

**X-X-X**

Afterschool…

"Damn that Hanzo…! Getting pissed off like that for nothing…" Nataro muttered as he walked out of the school gates and onto the curb. "Although…those pacifist types really _do_ hate getting into fights, huh…?" _'Just my luck that I got 'em mad at me the day before an English test…!'_ He slumped over and sighed in defeat.

"Excuse me."

"Huh?" The blonde looked up, still slumping, at the person who was standing beside him. It turned out to be Mamoru, with the boy and girl from yesterday standing behind him. "Who're you?"

"My name Sabakuno Mamoru. And you're Kazaki Nataro, right?"

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "That's right. Who're you and how do you know that?" He looked the brunette up and down as he stood up straight. _'What school's uniform is __**that**__…?'_

"I just told you: I'm Mamoru. I've heard that you're the bancho at Konoha Academy. If it wouldn't be any trouble, could we maybe fight?"

"Huh? Me? Fight _you_? You look like you're gonna fall asleep at any moment! I'd take you down in an instant!" Nataro laughed.

Mamoru held a hand over his mouth and yawned. "Don't underestimate me. I've taken down older guys than you without problem…"

"That so?" The blonde smirked and got into a fighting stance. "You're on! I'll take you on any time!"

"Alright…" In the blink of an eye, Mamoru grabbed Nataro by the collar of his jacket and threw him back into the school courtyard. The blonde landed on his feet and skidded to a halt. "Let's begin."

"Bastard!! What was that about?!"

"You said _'any time'_. So why don't we start now?" Mamoru ran towards him and pulled back a fist, but as he punched, Nataro grabbed his fist and pulled him forward to deliver an uppercut, but the white-clad teen drove his knee into the black-clad boy's stomach and followed up with a headbutt that was countered with another headbutt.

"You gonna keep that sleep-eyed look for the entire fight?" Nataro said while their foreheads were still pressed against each other.

"What're you talking about? I always look like this," Mamoru said with a yaw before delivering a right hook upside the blonde's head. Nataro spun on his heel and delivered a spin kick that almost made Mamoru fell down. On the second spin, he punched the sleepy-eyed brunette in the ribs, which was countered by a punch to the ribs, which was countered with a kick to the gut.

As this went on, the students crowded around them in a circle, in awe at how quickly the fists were flying.

"A…amazing…!"

"Are they even human?"

"Go, Nataro, go!!"

"Show that guy who's boss!!"

"Hey…isn't that a Suna Gakuen uniform?"

Kaze, who was on the sidelines, arched an eyebrow and looked the boy up and down. "A Suna kid…? What're Suna Gakuen students doing on our side of town?"

"If you wanna know, Carrot Top…" The orange-haired kid glared in the direction of Mamoru's blonde and brunette friend. "Mamoru-kun saw your friend fight at the mall yesterday and now he's interested in fighting him himself. Mamoru-kun is _always_ interested in fighting strong guys."

"Who you callin' Carrot Top, blondie?! Your pal doesn't know what's gonna hit 'em!!" Kazemaru shouted, shaking a fist at the other two Suna students. "Nataro's the strongest guy in this school!!" _'As far as __**you**__ know.'_ "Ol' Sleepy Eyes doesn't stand a chance!!"

"Heh. Shows what _you_ know," the headband-wearing boy said with a smirk. "Mamoru's not as lame as he looks, either. He's tough."

"Oh, yeah? I _highly_ doubt that!"

"Either way, this is gonna be _great_!" Konjo exclaimed as he recorded the fight on his camcorder. "I'm gonna put this on MeTube! It'll get tons of hits!!"

**X-X-X**

"Yuh-huh… Sure, I'll pick them up... No, I don't mind looking after them... It's alright. Okay, later." Kira shoved his cellphone into his pants pocket with one hand while he shoved his free arm through the sleeve of his jacket. _'At last, the school day is over… Tomorrow marks the last day of the school week. I can't wait until the next holiday.'_ He stretched his arms as he walked out of his office, only to have Tsubaki step in front of him. "Excuse me, Tsubaki-sensei."

"Kira-sensei, there's a problem in the courtyard!" The blonde woman adjusted her glasses. "That delinquent Kazaki Nataro has gone and started _another_ fight!"

"_Again_? I thought he stopped after that incident with Ina…" Kira muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "Tell me, Tsubaki-sensei, what the time is on that clock over there…?"

"Huh?" Tsubaki turned to look at the clock on the wall, "It's 3:15, but I don't see what that has to do with—" When she turned, Kira was no longer there. "Huh?" She looked behind her and saw that Kira was walking away from her. "Kira-sensei!!"

"It's 3:15, which means it's officially afterschool. And when the school day is done, I'm off the clock and those kids are outta my hands—including Kazaki Nataro," the black-and-white-haired principal said with a nonchalant way of his hand. "If you'd like to go and stop them yourself, be my guest. But you won't be able to threaten them with detention after 3!"

"Ugh…!" The blonde woman bit her lower lip and frowned as the man disappeared from her sight.

**X-X-X**

"Man, who long is this gonna go on…?"

"I know. I've got homework to do!"

"I can't believe this! I'm gonna be late for work!"

"Wanna go get some ramen?"

"Okay!"

"Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 came out today! If I don't go, all the copies'll run out!"

Konjo frowned as the crowd around Nataro and Mamoru slowly dispersed as they continued fighting. "When are they gonna finish…? If I'm not home soon, my parents are going to be upset with me!"

"Hmph! I don't even know why I stuck around to watch this…" Ina spoke with her arms folded across her chest, eyes still on the fight.

"Huh?" The Hyuga boy looked to his side and jumped at the sight of Ina. "I-Ina!! Why are you here? I thought you hated Nataro after what happened…"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I hate that idiot," the raven-haired girl said as she looked off at the side. "I'm more interested in the kid from Suna. He looks like a hypochondriac with how he yawns all the time."

"Hanzo-kun~! Why bother staying here? Why don't you and I go out together somewhere?" Rie asked Hanzo with a playful wink while pulled on one arm and Shizuka held onto his other one tightly. "Just ditch that fatty and we can leave!"

'_F-f-fatty…?!'_ Shizuka thought, her mouth agape in shock.

"No thanks," Hanzo answered quickly.

"But who _cares_ what that idiot thug gets himself into? Especially after the way he kidnapped you yesterday?"

"If you want to leave, Rie, you can go. I'm not going with you."

The brunette girl frowned and stomped her foot in irritation before stalking away from the fight.

Nataro and Mamoru were now circling each other, bruises and scratches on their bodies and blood dribbling out of the corner of their mouths—and in the case of Mamoru, glasses long since broken and discarded on the ground. "I gotta say…you're no ordinary guy. Who are you, really?"

Despite all his injuries, Mamoru yawned once again. "Sabakuno Mamoru."

"Just your name doesn't tell me who you are."

Mamoru stopped walking. "Very well then: I'm Sabakuno Mamoru, bancho of Suna Gakuen. Happy now?"

Nataro smirked. "Very."

"_He's_ Suna Gakuen's toughest guy?!" Kazemaru screamed with wide, blank eyes. "But he…doesn't _look_ like…!"

"Looks have _nothing_ to do with how you fight, Kaze! What matters is how much spirit you've got in your punch!" Nataro exclaimed as he held up a fist and smirked. "And this guy's got _spirit_!" He cracked his knuckles and his neck. "But it's getting late and I've got things to do. So whaddaya say we both stop foolin' around and see who stands last?"

"Hm… Good idea. I'm supposed to meet my father and grandfather for dinner." The brunette bowed his head and slumped over slightly. After a few seconds, he seemed to fall asleep standing up, much to the confusion of everyone.

"Ugh…!" The Suna boy wearing the headband muttered. He bent over, picked up a rock, and threw it at Mamoru's head.

Mamoru's hand shot up and grabbed the stone, clutching it tightly enough for it to crumple into dust. Needless to say, that widened the eyes of the few remaining Konoha students. "Who dares…" The brunette boy raised his head and opened his eyes, which lost their sleepy-eyed look for a sharp-eyed soul piercing stare. "To wake me up?" He growled, his eyes seemingly black with gold pupils.

"Unreal…!" Nataro mumbled before he started to grin. "Alright!! Lemme show you the technique my Gramps passed down to me!" He pulled back his fist and stayed in that position for a long time before finally charging towards Mamoru. "HERE IT COMES!!!"

**X-X-X**

When he came to, it was to the hum of a car motor and to the pair of large red eyes.

"Nataro-san! You're awake!" Akasha exclaimed as she began to hug the blonde teen tightly.

"H-hey, cut that out." Nataro looked around and noticed that he was in the back of a car. "What the…?"

"Sorry about coming late, Nataro-kun," said one of the Suits driving up in front. He couldn't really tell and he didn't want to exert the effort in seeing which one. "The Boss had us doing something of utmost importance. But, uh, that was some fight you had with Mamoru-kun. His friends were dragging him away after you both fell from exhaustion."

"Yeah… For a sleepy-eyed lazy-lookin' weirdo, he sure can take a punch and give it back…" The blonde boy muttered as he touched his sore cheek. He blinked in confusion. "Wait a sec… How'd you know his name?"

"Oh, that's the name of the Kazekage's son."

Nataro arched an eyebrow. "The who…?"

"Geez, for someone who wants to become a yakuza head, you know so little about the biz…" One of the Suits spoke. "Out of all the gangs in the city, five hold the most power and are led by the five most fearsome people in the city. They're given nicknames based on historical leaders of five kingdoms or something like that. Two of them are the Hokage—which is the Boss—and the Kazekage. The Kazekage was on our side of town for business with your grandfather and his son probably came along for the ride."

"So then…that guy is also…"

"Yup. A child of the mob. Just like you." The Suit in the driver's seat chuckled. "The Boss said that you two might get along well. I guess you kinda did, huh?"

"Uh…yeah…" Nataro looked down at Akasha, who was still hugging him, and blushed. "Hey, Akasha-chan! Could you stop hugging me?" _'At least she's not wearing a maid's uniform…'_ He thought as he took in her white blouse and red plaid miniskirt.

"Nuh-uh! I want to make sure you're safe!"

"What're talking about? I'm right here, alive and breathing, aren't I?"

"Well…" The redhead looked up at him with a pout. "I guess… I don't know why you have to fight. It's so bad…"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"Please tell me you won't go around picking fights, Nataro-san! Please, oh, please!"

"Alright, alright! Sheesh…" The blonde pouted and began to look out the window. _'Although I'll still accept a challenge like that Mamoru kid did…'_

**X-X-X**

"So, how's it going? Have we found her?"

"Mm-hm. She's shacking up with a yakuza head over on Hi turf."

"Uzumaki Naruto, huh…? My…I wonder how this is all going to turn out before we get my precious _monster_ back… Hmhmhm."

**TO BE CONTINUED!!! (Seriously. We mean it this time.)**

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**If I haven't explained this term yet, bancho are the strongest person in a school or gang, considered as punks, and often times cut school.**

**Shibui is a slang used to describe "cool" or "badass" things or people. It literally means "a bitter taste in one's mouth".**

**Shabai is a Buddhist term representing the material world. To young Yankiis (Japanese term for punks, not the Americans) it means regular people who are uncool and lame—the complete opposite of Shibui.**

**Cosplay is…well, a shortened term for "costume play". Cosplayers dress as characters from a fandom and attend conventions and festivals and whatnot related to them. Cosplayers are often—if not always—seen as otaku who go beyond merely collecting series paraphernalia.**

**One of the answers that Nataro answered in English class was _Pein_, one of the spellings that readers used for the name of the character Pain back when there was confusion around the correct English spelling of his name.**

**Sabakuno is a…not-so creative way of making a last name for Gaara and his family out of their nickname "Sabaku no" (Of the desert).**

**Katashi means "firmness".**

**Takaro means "Hawk son"**

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Hey, I've updated this fic two times in a row! Guess that means I must finish another chapter or two for a different story before moving on to the next arc in Naruto X.**

**Naruto: Great! We can get our own little Spring Break!**

**Kakashi: Though with the way Blu writes, it may feel more like Summer.**

**Blu: Be grateful I killed you off, Scarecrow. I could've put you in a worst situation than simply being ash somewhere in Konoha.**

**Kakashi: (Too busy reading an unfinished copy of Icha-Icha Academy) Hee-hee!**

**Blu: Ugh! I don't know why I bother… Anyway, I hope you guys are kind enough to review and tell me what you think! I can't go on without your love, 'cuz you guys are the wind beneath my wings, you lovely people, you!!**

**Naruto: Hoping that flattery will net you more reviews?**

**Blu: …Yes. Just review for the sake of Blu, please?**


	65. Feelings of Discontent

**Blu: The following chapter is short for numerous reasons…but mainly because Blu wanted the arc intro to not include this and it didn't fit in with the last chapter, so… Yeah. Anyway, just enjoy it and have a happy Easter break!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or anything related to the series. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#65: Feelings of Discontent_

"My baby!! My poor baby!! Who did this to yooooouuu?!" Aiko cried as she hugged Nataro, who was sitting in bed wearing the standard male patient outfit of off-white shirt and pants, tightly.

The other patients in the room sniggered as the blonde ninja's mother coddled over him, much to his irritation. Nataro glared at the guys he could see out of the corner of his eye before attempting to push his mother away with his good arm. "MOM!!! Quit it, would ya?! Not in front of the guys!!"

"Ah!! Y-your arm!!"

The blonde patient raised his still bandaged-up arm to examine it. "What, this? It's nothing serious! Honest!"

"You burned off all the skin on your arm." The mother and son looked to the doorway to find Hikari standing there with an arched eyebrow. "That's very serious! Did you know that whatever it was you did almost caused third degree burns and affected the tendons and joints in your arm?"

Nataro's eyes became squinted into fox-like slits. "Uh…"

The pink-haired woman sighed. "I'll take that as a _'no'_. Honestly, if you're going to use self-destructive jutsu, at least know what it's going to do to you!"

"Right!! Don't do it again!!" Aiko shouted as she pinched her son on the shoulder. "Otherwise, you're going to need therapy and surgery! Do you want that to happen?!"

"Ow! Mom!! Not _that_ arm!"

"I swear, I'm not sure which one of us will die first: you because of your dumb ninja stunts or me from a heart attack because of them!"

Hikari gave a nervous smile as Nataro frowned, muttering, "Don't you have a _job_ to get to, Ma?"

The blonde woman's eyes widened and she gasped in realization. "Oh, you're right! I need to go to work! Be good, sweetie—and don't you _dare_ try to sneak out of the hospital," she said as she leaned in and kissed Nataro on the cheek, making him flinch. She quickly walked out of the room, past Hikari, who was now approaching Nataro's bed.

"Well, I hope you've learned your lesson. Never use experimental jutsu out in the battlefield," the medical ninja spoke as she observed the young chunin.

"That's not what Kira-sensei said. He said that it's good if I use my jutsu on a victim—especially if it caused them pain no matter _what_ outcome I wanted! Heh-heh-heh…!"

Hikari sweatdropped and frowned. "Don't tell me you're becoming a little sadist. Hm. Maybe these burns are all karma, then."

"S-sadist?! I'm no sadist!!" Nataro shouted, waving his arms in the air and stopping to flinch every couple of seconds. _'Although it __**does**__ feel kinda good to know I burned that Asura bastard into nothing but ash…!'_

"Uh-huh… By the way, where's Akasha-chan? I was sure she'd be one of the first people to come visit you."

The blonde slouched a bit and looked down at his sheets. _'You and me both.'_ "Mom said that she went to do something…"

**X-X-X**

At a riverbank Konohagakure sat Akasha, who had her knees up close to her face with her arms around them. A small box-shaped object wrapped up in a piece of cloth was at her side. The red-haired girl continued to look down at the river apathetically, eyes blank.

**X-X-X**

"_Ah, Hanzo-kun! You've come back from your mission!" Aiko spoke as she stood at the doorway with the raven-haired boy. "So, where's Nataro? Akasha-chan's been missing him awfully much," she said with a smile, unaware of the red-haired girl listening in from the next room over._

_Hanzo rubbed the back of his head. "Nataro won't be coming to pick up Akasha-chan. He's in the hospital."_

"_The hospital?! What **now**…?"_

"_He did some dumb things and tried to take down an Asura by himself. He did kill it, but…uh…" Hanzo trailed off when he noticed that Aiko just looked confused and realized she knew nothing about Oni or Asura. "Anyway, he's hurt badly and he might be there for a while. I was wondering if you could help me get some things from his apartment."_

"_S-sure! Okay! Let me just get Akasha-chan…" The blonde woman said as she turned around and walked into the kitchen. Akasha was leaning against the wall, clutching the handle of the broom she was using. "Akasha-chan, we have to get to the hospital. Nataro's been in an accident!"_

"_He… Please go ahead, Aiko-san. I have something I'd like to do before going to see Nataro-san."_

"_Huh? But I thought you'd want to…"_

"_Please."_

"_Hmmm…" The blonde woman folded her arms across her chest with a frown. "Alright. Just remember to lock up before you leave."_

_Once Aiko left the kitchen, Akasha began to lean against the wall once more, her head bowed as an apathetic stare appeared in her eyes._

"Hey."

**X-X-X**

Akasha blinked as her sense of reality returned. She looked up and saw Kira standing behind her, looking down at her with half-lidded eyes. "Kira-san."

"What're ya doing down _here_? I was so _sure_ you'd be up at the hospital with your precious _Nataro-san_," he imitated as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "You're a long way from there, Red."

"I…" The red-haired girl looked down at the river again. "I'm not sure if I want to see him…"

"Hm? What's this? Don't like your Nataro-san anymore?" The black-and-white-haired man said with a childish pout. "I suppose it's only natural for _you_ to dump _him_. It'd be weird the other way around…"

The Asura didn't pay any attention to him and spoke up, "I don't want to see what's happened to him."

"Huh? I don't quite get you."

"Nataro-san fought an Asura… That's what Hanzo-san said. No matter who it was…I'm sure they weren't merciful. If it was Jala, she could have bent his spine, and he could be paralyzed for life. If it was Apsaras, who could be in serious pain for weeks. If it was Rudra or Ajit…he could be missing a limb and be on life support. I…don't want to see him like that."

Kira scratched the back of his head and arched an eyebrow. "Is _that_ all? You're as bad as his mother." He grabbed the red-haired girl by the collar of her blouse and made her stand up, then he turned her around to face him. "Allow me to explain something to you about your precious Nataro-san. He has what many call _'the cockroach complex'_."

Akasha blinked in confusion. "Cockroach…complex?"

"Yes. Since you're a tad bit _slow_, I guess I'll have to explain. Cockroaches are known for their ability to survive. They can live for a month without real food, go without air for over an hour and recover from being underwater for a half hour. Some people think that if humanity destroys itself through constant war and violence, that the cockroach shall live, and rise, and take over the world!! Kukukukuku…!" The mad genius chuckled darkly. He blinked "What was I saying?"

"You were saying that Nataro-san had a…cockroach complex," Akasha pronounced.

"Right! He's like a cockroach. Nothing can kill him. Believe me, I know. I've tried. But him—and others _like_ him—are pests who will keep on rising no matter what torture you put 'em through. And believe me, I've tried. We both know that the kid's gonna heal himself eventually and go back to doing what cockroaches like him do—pestering people."

"That…doesn't make me feel better."

The mad genius rolled his eyes and sighed as he rubbed his right arm. "Look…ninja get hurt. That's part of our way of life. You should just be happy that he's alive and not in a coma or something." He turned his back on the redhead and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, whether or not you want to go, _I'm_ going to visit him. If only to poke fun at him for his failed attempt at a jutsu."

Akasha tilted her head slightly before bending over to pick up her package. "Okay."

"Great! Let's get going. I feel the need for a checkup coming on…" The black-and-white-haired man said as he rubbed his tattooed arm with irritation.

**X-X-X**

"Ouch…!" Masamune moaned from his seat as he moved around his arm in its sling. "This is such a pain…!"

"You shouldn't complain about it. You could've gotten worse injuries, but you only got a hairline fracture," Kaoru said with a frown as he adjusted his glasses.

"You still need some time for it to heal on its own, though," said Hanzo from his seat at the next bedside, where Kazemaru was lying down with an upset expression. "Otherwise, the injury may be permanent."

"P-permanent?!" The gray-haired boy shouted. "I may never be able to hold a sword again!!"

"Aren't you ambidextrous?" Kaoru asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I meant a second sword!"

"Oh, brother. It's not permanent—although it _would_ take longer to heal," the red-haired chunin said with an annoyed expression.

"Huh? So Hanzo…was joking? I never thought he could do that."

A vein popped up on the Uchiha's forehead for a moment. "Hey! What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"Heh! It means he thinks you have no sense of humor," Kazemaru teased with a cat-like smirk.

"I do, _too_ have a sense of humor!"

"If you say things like _'it's permanent'_ as a joke, that's a pretty cruel sense of humor," the orange-haired chunin mumbled, looking away from the glaring raven.

"I am not cruel!! I, uh…uh… Sorry," he mumbled, bowing his head in forgiveness.

Kaze blinked. "That's it? No defending your argument?"

"Aw, and I was hoping to watch him writhe a bit more…" Kaoru said with a pout.

Hanzo gave the red-head a half-lidded glare. "You…! Never mind. I have other things to do right now," he said as he got up from his seat.

"In other words: sneaking out to avoid getting pulled into surgery or something like that, right?"

"Read it how you will. All I know is that I am leaving," the gray-clad boy spoke mechanically as he left the room.

"I guess I'll be going, too," said Kaoru as he got up and pulled on his gloves. "It's almost lunch and I have a date lined up."

Kazemaru's eyebrow twitched as he glared at the spectacled chunin. "A date? As soon as you arrive back to the village?"

"What can I say? I have an uncanny sense of time," the redhead said with a charming smile before closing the door behind him.

"I…_hate him_…" The pyromanic chunin growled under his breath.

**X-X-X**

"As I'm sure you got in the mission report, Hokage-sama, we were able to defeat the Asura, but on account of the…overzealousness of a chunin who will remain nameless, its body was reduced to ashes," said Masaru as he stood in front of Naruto's desk with his hands behind his back. "We _did_ manage to bring back an Oni's corpse, if that is to your liking, sir."

"Ah. That's unfortunate. Our medical squad was going to do some research on the Asura," said Naruto as he paused in his work.

"If I may ask, sir…what exactly did you want to research the Asura for, sir?" The raven-haired boy asked. "Is it because of the Asura girl…?"

The elderly Hokage sighed and bridged his fingers together. "That isn't for you to know, Masaru-kun. It's best that you go along your business now."

"Okay, sir…" The white-clad boy spoke as he bowed his head in respect and left the office.

Naruto sighed again and began to rub his knuckles as he drifted into thought.

**X-X-X**

"_As you know, Akasha-chan has a unique condition," Sakura told Naruto as she sat at his desk, holding a folder with papers. "In order to function properly amongst people without attacking them, we have to issue her medication. Unknown to her, however, the medicine is simply chakra pills."_

_Naruto blinked. "Chakra pills?"_

"_Oni and Asura all survive on chakra. That's the primary reason why they attack living beings. They do it to feed on their chakra. When she first showed up, Akasha-chan was stuck in the middle of some transformation. That's what she said. It affected her mental patterns, so that proves that the urge to feed on chakra has to do with the Asura's state of mind." Sakura fingered a paper in the folder. "If only…we could get our hands on another Asura to make sure. Not only would it help us to counter their attack, but it could be of great help for Akasha-chan."_

"_I see… In that case, maybe I should make it known that any Asura encountered while on missions should attempt to bring them back to the village if they have enough men."_

"_I said **if only**. I don't expect anyone to be able to bring back an Asura's body. Besides, we can just observe whatever happens to Akasha-chan—without Nataro finding out. He might have a misunderstanding about it. That boy seems to have gotten awfully defensive of her since she came back." The head medic folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "He'll probably think we're going to do something bad to her."_

"_It's only right if he does. He really is worried about that girl's wellbeing…."_

**X-X-X**

"Her wellbeing…" The Rokudaime mumbled as he returned to his paperwork. "Although I wonder how Nataro would react to hearing about this?" He closed his eyes and thought about what he would do in the same situation…then he opened his eyes and groaned, "He'd complain, say he should've been told and demand to go on any mission that had a chance of encountering any Asura…" _'We're so alike, it's almost scary.'_

**X-X-X**

Back at the hospital, Nataro was lying down in bed, staring up at the ceiling with a bored, half-lidded expression and his mouth forming a straight line. He felt his injured arm itch and instinctively touched it. "Tch!" He pulled his hand away for a moment before he started rubbing his injured arm. "Man, what a pain!"

The door opened and Sakura stepped into the room. "Good afternoon, boys. I'll just be checking up on you to see how you're doing," she said as she walked up to a man's bedside while Nataro rubbed his aching arm. When he was done, he held his bandaged hand up and tried to move his fingers despite the pain. All he felt was a slight tingle and the occasional painful jerk.

"You really oughtn't be trying that," said Sakura as she grabbed his hand, making the blonde teen freeze up at the sight of her. She arched an eyebrow and stared at the boy in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…I thought you were gonna spit me out about the proper use of jutsu and taking better care of my body," Nataro mumbled, blushing for some reason.

"I'm not going to yell at you," the old woman said as she began to undo his arm's bandages.

"Seriously?"

"You most likely know this already, but your arm's joints and tendons were injured. When we let you out, you'll have to go on sick leave. I'll give you a prescription for the medication that I want you to take during that time and remember to come in so someone can help your skin with the healing and restoring process. Do you understand?"

"Yes, m'am." Sakura finished unwrapping the bandages and allowed Nataro to see his injured arm for the first time in days. He could still see the reddened flesh, but the medics—alongside the Kyuubi's regenerative abilities—helped to regrow the flesh that once hid the bone of his knuckles.

The door opened and Akasha came into the room, followed by Kira. "Nataro-san!" The red-haired girl exclaimed cheerfully while the mad genius rubbed his arm.

"Akasha-chan!" The blonde exclaimed as he waved his injured arm by mistake, but then wound up flinching in pain because of it.

"Huh?" Akasha stared at him for a while, or rather at his burnt arm. She started to feel something at the sight of the arm. She licked her lips as she felt something gnawing at her stomach. Something familiar… _'Hungry_…_!'_ She thought as she bit her lower lip and bent over a bit, holding the box to her stomach before she turned around and ran out the room, pushing Kira aside as she did.

"What's _her_ problem?" The mad genius asked with an arched eyebrow. "I thought she was used to the scent of a hospital by now."

"Akasha-chan…?" Nataro made to get out of the bed, but Sakura just held him back.

"Uh-uh! You're supposed to stay in bed."

"I'm fine enough to walk—!"

"Stay."

"But I—"

"_Stay_…in bed," Sakura spoke sternly as she began to rewrap his bandages while Nataro fidgeted. When she was done, she stood up. "I'll go see what's wrong with Akasha-chan. Just make sure he behaves."

"Got it, Sakura-san! I'll make sure our little delinquent patient is strapped to the bed so he won't be of harm to anyone," said Kira with a creepy glint in his eyes as the head medic walked past him, shaking her head.

"Try it and _you'll_ need a doctor!!" Nataro grumbled, narrowing his eyes.

**X-X-X**

'_Need a place to hide, need a place to hide!'_ Akasha repeated in her mind as she ran down the hallway, not paying mind to the people she pushed aside or made fall over. She came to a halt in front of a bathroom and ducked inside, hitting a nurse who was about to come out with the door.

"Ow! Watch it!" The woman complained before she left the bathroom, while Akasha ran into a bathroom stall and settled on a toilet lid.

"Ah…ah…" The red-haired girl pressed her arms against the walls of the stall and leaned forward, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach. She reached into her blouse and pulled out her bottle of chakra pills. With one hand, she held onto her stomach as the other popped open the bottle and poured some of the contents into her mouth. She waited a while for the gnawing sensation to stop before she could lean back and sigh in relief. _'I'm not sure…if I could see him like that…for my own good…'_ The Asura thought as she leaned forward to press her forehead against the cool stall door when she heard something drop. Looking down, she noticed the clothed box she had bought for Nataro. She bent over to pick it up and stared at it.

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Akasha stepped out of the bathroom with her eyes downcast, staring down at the clothed box.

"Akasha-chan." The red-haired girl looked up to see Sakura approaching her. "There you are. I was a little worried when you ran off like that. Feeling better now?"

"Mm." Akasha nodded.

"Good. Nataro's been looking forward to seeing you. I think he missed you while he was gone," the old woman said with a small smile.

"Nn." The Asura girl shook her head.

"Something wrong?"

"Can't see him," the red-haired girl said, shaking her head while still looking at the ground. "Not like that…" She held her package out in front of her. "Please give this to him…and tell him I'll see him at home."

"What's this about? If you're worried about Nataro, he's alright. A little banged up, but it's nothing _too_ serious."

"That's not—" Before she could say anymore, Akasha found the box being shoved back into her hands.

"Besides, what's the point of getting him a present if you won't give it to him yourself?" Sakura patted the girl on the shoulder before walking off.

**X-X-X**

"I don't get it… How come Akasha-chan ran off like that…?" Nataro asked with a pout while Kira sat by his bed, poking his bandaged arm every couple of seconds. "Will you cut that out?!" The teen shouted, pulling his arm away and flinching slightly because of it.

"Maybe she's not used to seeing you beaten up to half an inch of your life."

"That didn't happen!!"

The black-and-white-haired man stared at the injured boy for a while, mentally marking off the number of injuries on him. "I call 'em like I see 'em. But, if you want me to tell you what I _really_ think…" He smirked. "I think you've lost her love with all your ugly injuries."

"…HUH?!?"

"Oh, well. At least you've got the Uchiha girl! You still have her, don't you? She still punches you, right? If they don't punch you, there is no love in it."

"First of all: the _hell_ kind of logic is _that_?! Second of all: that's not true!!"

"Denial isn't going to get you anywhere, so just break down and start crying like a little emo boy so we can both get on with our lives," Kira said, poking his student in the arm once more.

"Ow! Screw you!!" The door to the hospital room opened once more and Akasha walked in with an apathetic look on her face. "Akasha-chan! What'd you run off like that for before?" The blonde asked as she walked up to his bed and placed her package on legs. "What's this…?"

"For you…" The red-haired girl mumbled, not really looking him in the eye.

"Really?" Nataro looked at Kira and stuck his tongue out at the man, who rolled his eyes in response, before he grinned and opened the package. Inside was what appeared to be a rice cake made to resemble his face with droplets green for his mouth and eyes and a spiral on his forehead. "What's this?"

"Can't you tell? She made your face out of rice! Food-based effigies are often signs of affection you know," Kira said with a grin.

"Really?" His student spoke absentmindedly.

"No! Of course not! How the heck should _I_ know that when no one's ever given me my head made from an assortment of sushi?!"

"You're just jealous."

"And _you're_ already in a hospital. Give me a reason to make you stay here a little longer, kiddo."

The blonde chunin took the rice cake out of the box and took a bite of it. A few seconds passed and his pupils shrank. He fell back onto the bed, frothing at the mouth and convulsing like he was having a seizure.

"N-n-nataro-san?!" Akasha shrieked, her eyes reduced to small white dots.

"I take that back. She can do a better at making you stay here longer than _me_," Kira said with a laugh. After a few seconds, he looked down at the still convulsing blonde before sweatdropping. "No, wait. This is actually _bad_! Someone call a doctor!!"

**X-X-X**

A stomach pump later, Nataro was lying down in bed with a trail of drool coming from the corner of his mouth and a dazed look in his eye while Akasha sat by his bedside and Kira and a medical ninja stood at the end of his bed.

"So…what exactly made him start flopping around like a scared goat?"

"From the looks of the situation, it was that rice cake he had eaten. Apparently, the contents were combined with inedible ingredients. Traces of thing like baking soda, vinegar, wasabi sauce and umibozu (pickled sea cucumber) juice," said the medic.

"I-I'm so sorry, Nataro-san! I just wanted to make you a welcome back gift!" The Asura girl exclaimed.

"Didn't…need that…" Nataro spoke slowly.

"Of course. No one needs a gift that has the potential to kill you with a single bite," his master said as the medic left the room.

"Not…_that_… Didn't need…_gift_…"

"Why you…talk like…that?"

Nataro glared at Kira. "Shut…up…" After a few seconds, he sat up and smiled at the red-haired girl. "I didn't a gift… I'd just appreciate it if you came to visit."

"Awww… All this love and affection is giving me a rash…" Kira muttered as he rubbed the sleeve of his tattooed arm. "Time for a checkup! Later, kid!" He walked around Akasha and poked his student in the arm a few more times before walking out of the room.

"Geez… Jerk…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in Onigakure, Bhumi and Jintaro stopped dragging Ajit's burnt out and broken body when they entered the first floor of the pagoda.

"Hell…! Who knew this bonehead was so heavy…?!" The red-haired boy growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"He _is_ mostly muscle…" Bhumi spoke as she bent over and cracked her back. "Too bad not all of it burned off when that kid beat him."

"Yeah… Too bad."

"Stop talking like I'm dead!!" Ajit shouted.

"You may as well be. You're missing your eyes, your legs are broken and you've nearly been burnt to a crisp. Not to mention you went against Akash's orders," the gray-haired Asura said as she grabbed onto the injured Asura's legs once more and began to drag him towards the stairs.

"Also, since you can't see them, you can't tell that the Oni are looking at you like a vulture looks at a corpse," Jintaro said with a toothy smirk as they passed several Oni, who were grunting and looking in Ajit's direction.

**X-X-X**

"Akash…" Bhumi called out when they arrived in front of the Asura leader's room a few moments later. She slid open the door and didn't flinch at the sight of Akash sitting on the edge of his bed with his bangs hanging over his eyes and long, black, hand-like appendages coming out from his back as he breathed heavily. The corpse of what appeared to be an average Oni rested on the floor, black blood soaked up by the wooden floor and a cracked mask stuck in the wall. "I take it you're feeling awful again, huh?"

The red-haired Asura simply breathed out chakra and nodded his head in response.

"Well, I already told you: you shouldn't mess with your body chemistry. God knows how _he_ did it in the first place…"

"Grrrr…!" Akash growled, baring his teeth as the hand-like appendages scratched the ceiling.

"Well, if it'll satisfy you, we've brought back Ajit," the gray-haired woman said as she dragged Ajit into the room. She kicked the dead Oni aside and set the battered Asura in front of the younger one. "Do with him as you wish." She walked out of the room and slid the door shut behind her.

"What…? Can't we even see what he's gonna do to 'em, Bhumi-san?" Jintaro asked with a frown.

"Wait for it…"

Inside the room, Akash stared down at Ajit's body with eyes that were entirely black save for the purple pupils. Drool began to trail from the corner of his mouth before his arm-like appendages reached towards the larger Asura.

Outside, Bhumi and Jintaro stood against the wall. Seconds passed before they heard the sound of something tearing into flesh, bones crunching, and something fluid splattering against a surface. Then something went flying through the paper of the sliding door and hit the wall, landing on the floor like a rock. It appeared to be Ajit's burnt head. Out of curiosity, Jintaro looked into the room to see the damage. Ajit's body parts had been pulled apart from his torso and were in the midst of being eaten by Akash.

"Alas, poor Ajit. I hardly liked you," Bhumi said with a slight smile as she picked up the dead Asura's head. She turned to her protégé. "Well, seeing as how Ajit's dead and gone, now's your chance."

"Huh?"

"You wanted to become one of us, didn't you?"

Jintaro nodded his head.

"Good. We've just recently been freed of a spot…"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Wrath (or Anger—whichever one you like more) is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It manifests in a person who spurns love and chooses fury over it. Wrath is associated with the color red and the bear. The punishment for Wrath in Hell is dismemberment.**

**X-X-X**

_Omake: Things have changed_

She remembers a time when it was so much easier to control him. Sure, he was still rambunctious and energetic and liked causing chaos occasionally, put it was so easy when he was young and never knew about shinobi.

Back then, whenever he did something bad or misbehaved, she would lock him in his room and wait until he broke down enough to say he was sorry.

It may not sound like much to most people—after all, most kids would _kill_ to only be punished by being locked in their rooms compared to the stricter punishments—but she knew her son well enough to know that he hated it. He hated being locked up in a room, all by himself…all alone. At times, when she listened through his door, she could hear him pounding on the door like a child throwing a tantrum before he reduced to crying, as if that alone were torture, and it pained her to think that maybe she was too harsh.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?"

"Yes, Mommy…!"

Then he met the Hokage, who told him about the nice part of being a ninja, and something changed. When she locked him inside of his room as punishment for disfiguring the mountainside faces of the Hokage, she expected him to cry and pound on the door as usual. Minutes passed and still no answer. She peeked into his room and saw that he was no longer there, but the window was open. Thinking the worse, she looked out of the window and saw a few people standing around her boy lying on the ground below, clutching his leg and crying.

"What made you do such a stupid thing?! You could've done worse than broke your leg! What if you hit your head?! You could've died!!" She cried when they came home from the hospital and she carried him up the stairs against his will.

"I wanted to see if I could land on my feet like a ninja does…" He whimpered as he tried to move his injured leg.

"Like a nin— That's ridiculous!!"

"That's okay! I'll get better at it!" The boy said with a grin.

"It is _not_ okay! You need to stop doing dangerous things like this! …I don't wanna lose you, baby."

That alone got him to pout and look down at his knees in shame. "You won't lose me, Mama."

Unfortunately, the shame faded away as soon as his leg got better—and at such a fast rate, too—and he was back to his usual antics alongside _'training'_ that consisted of sit-ups, pushups, running around the house, climbing trees, hanging _from_ said trees, and occasionally defacing something of importance in town. And as the years rolled by, before she knew it, he was among the ranks of the shinobi at the tender age of 12. Her baby. Running off into the world to take on missions that may have had a death rate high enough to ensure he'd never live to go through puberty.

Some missions he would tell her about. The lame boring ones where nothing happened…the odd boring ones where something interesting happened…the exciting ones where he got to fight someone—even if it was just an ordinary thief or thug. But there were some missions he wouldn't talk about. Whenever he'd ask her how it went, he'd freeze for a moment, purse his mouth in thought and say that it was just another lame mission. Even after he was carried back home, comatose for days until he woke up, he didn't tell her what happened. He just said it was all a blur and he couldn't remember what had happened. He did the same thing after the horror that was the Kyuubi festival, when she learned that he was lying in a hospital bed with severe injuries and possibly minutes away from death. In fact, he didn't say anything at all.

She hated it. Had they really come to the point in their relationship where he kept her out of his life?

"I'm almost done, Mom," he said as he came out of his room holding a cardboard box and placed it onto the floor next to others. He was already 15, taller, a tad more muscular, and in his mother's opinion, more handsome. He was also a chunin, which meant more dangerous missions and increased chances of getting in an accident. He walked back into his room—soon to be his old room once he had finished moving his stuff out.

"You don't have to move out, sweetie. It's not as if you're a burden or anything…" She said as she watched him walk back into his room.

"What better time to start the road to manhood than to move out?"

"At _15_?!"

"I know guys younger than me who live by themselves. It'll be alright, mom."

All she could do was frown as she walked up to the door and closed it, locking it. She heard the handle jiggle. Heard her son's aggravated groan. Now she was waiting for him to speak up and say he was sorry and wouldn't leave.

But then the front door opened and he walked back into the house, carrying his last box. "You forgot about the window," he spoke flatly as he stared at his mother with half-lidded eyes. "What gives?! It's not like I'm moving to another country! Just to another part of town! I'll still come visit…"

She only pouted and looked out of the corner of her eye like the child _he_ used to be. As if they needed a bigger gap in their relationship than him moving to another side of town…

**X-X-X**

"Earth to Mom? Hello?"

"Huh?" Aiko snapped out of her daze.

"You kinda went out of it there," Nataro said with an arched eyebrow as he stopped waving his bandaged arm in front of her face. "You alright?"

"I…" She stared at the only visible injuries on his face and arm, and inwardly shuddered to think of the ones that were hidden under his clothes. "I'm fine," she said with a smile as she held onto his injured hand carefully. _'No…_ _I'm not fine… How can I be fine when you keep doing this to yourself…?'_

**X-X-X**

**Blu: I'm alive, but barely. As the school year comes to the end, things are getting hectic—as usual. Of course, it's not as hectic as they've been getting in the manga lately. Naruto swearing that he and Sasuke will die together, Kabuto popping up with a snake seemingly coming out of his butt and revives most of the Akatsuki with Edo Tensei, Sasuke's gone nuts—oh wait, that's normal—and Sasuke doesn't even question why there are countless Sharingan behind him in vats like some mad man's laboratory!! But I forgot all about that when I saw the ramen scene in 489. I prefer that over the beginning part that somehow turned Karin haters into Karin fans… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter and remember to review for the sake of Blu!**


	66. Runaway Ghost

**Blu: Wow… A short chapter. It's been a while since I last did one of these. I hope I can do more in the future.**

**Kakashi: I just think the fans wish you'd put up more chapters.**

**Blu: I hope that's all they want. Anyhoo, I recently put up a poll, as you can see on my author's page, about which pairing shown in Naruto X the readers prefer. Granted, only six people people actually voted, but I'm surprised that Naruto and Hinata, and Naruto and Sakura were up there (I hope they liked how the pairing was portrayed and weren't just lovers of the pairing altogether…), along with Kazemaru and Yasha. They're like my crack pairing. That and Kazemaru and Rie. Not surprisingly, the six voters said that Nataro and Ina was their favorite, though there were only three votes for them, so they got that spot barely…**

**Sakura: Blu? The story?**

**Blu: What? Oh, right! Anyway, time to roll the fic!! Enjoy the chapter, remember to review and vote on Blu Rose's page poll!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own the Naruto series or any of its characters. If she did, one would wonder if the Naruto series would be as disappointing as it is now, or worse… But all she owns is this story and her OCs, so the world will never know…_

**X-X-X**

_# 66: Runaway Ghost_

The starry night sky was lit with flames from below, as fires burst to life. Their otherworldly blue flames seemed to howl like a beast that consumed most of the buildings it passed. Its source was a figure that was barely visible in the flames, with eyes that glowed yellow and green and a growl that resembled a furious beast. With another roar, an entire block was consumed in its sorrowful flames.

**X-X-X**

Several days earlier in a town in a small country between the two countries of Rai no Kuni and Hi no Kuni…

"Thank you~! Please come again, nyaa~!" A light female voice came from outside of a shop of an outdoor restaurant, where the tables and seats were set up outside underneath the shade of the trees. Said person was actually a dark-skinned 15-year old girl with purple-tinted black hair set up into two ringlet pigtails with red ribbons, homochromatic eyes—one blue and the other yellow, wearing a short black and red Chinese-style dress with an umbrella skirt with white frill, knee-high white stockings, high red geta and a cat bell in her hair. The girl was waving goodbye to a pair of customers who were leaving the restaurant area.

"Koneko! Could you come here for a moment, dear?"

"Coming, Granny!" The girl shouted before walking into the shop, up to the counter where a little old woman stood with her hair set up into a short ponytail. "Yes?"

"I need you to go into town and get something for me from Sekihara-san. Be a dear…?"

"Not a problem, Granny!" Koneko said with a smile. "I'll be back in no time!" She turned to run out the door, but wound up bumping into someone by mistake. "Nya! Uh…" She looked up and found herself looking up at a tall pale-skinned teenager with long black hair, his eyes hidden by long black bangs, wearing a long-sleeved light gray shirt with black pants and the white one-strapped Kumogakure flak jacket. "Uh… It's you! Seian-san, right?"

"Mm." Seian nodded in response.

"I'm going into town for a little while, so…if you want something, talk to Granny! Bye-bye!" The girl with the bi-colored eyes circled around the ninja and exited the restaurant.

The Kumo ninja turned around to look at the old woman and bowed his head. "Good day, Hisa-san."

"Seian-kun. You're looking well."

"How…is she…?"

"She's fine, as usual. You know, you don't have to come to look after her _all_ the time," Hisa said with an arched eyebrow.

"I thought…that _someone_ should at least be here for her…if…" The dark-haired teen trailed off and began a new sentence, "And even if she doesn't, just knowing that she is okay is good enough for me. That's all I need."

The old woman gave the teenager a skeptical half-lidded gaze. "Mm-hm." _'Typical teenagers with their __**'complicated'**__ feelings.'_ She blinked as the Kumo shinobi turned to leave. "Not staying around? And here I thought you wanted to speak with Koneko."

"Just knowing that she's okay is good enough for me," Seian repeated as he walked out the restaurant.

**X-X-X**

A short while later in town, Koneko was walking back with a package in hand, humming to herself. She didn't notice the foot stuck out in front of her and tripped over it, smashing the package underneath her weight when she fell. "Oof! Ugh…!" She got up gasped when she held out the smashed package in front of her. She shook it and heard the sound of bits and pieces of what sounded like glass inside. "Ouch…! I hope Granny won't be too mad about this…!"

"Heh-heh! If it isn't the Nibi no Nekomata! It's been a while!" The girl with the bi-colored eyes looked up and saw a hooded figure with a large, oddly-shaped package on his back wrapped in bandages standing right next to her.

'_Huh? Nibi no Nekomata…? What's this guy talking about?'_ Koneko thought as she looked at the man warily. She got to her feet and shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what you're talking about." She turned around and began to walk away, unaware that the person who had reached behind his back and grabbed hold of the hilt of the object on his back Underneath his hood, he gave a smirk before slashing the girl in the back, the bandages burning away to reveal a large broadsword with a flame-like design.

The people in the street shrieked and screamed with surprise and fear, and began to run away from the sword-wielding man. Koneko managed landed on the ground nimbly somehow, but doubled over from the slight pain of the burnt wound in her back. She looked over her shoulder and at the sight of the approaching man, she began to run.

"Heh-heh-heh! You're gonna run? Alright! Let's go!" Hitsuke exclaimed as he ran after her, his hood falling back in the process for his mad smile to be seen to the world.

Up on a rooftop, Ichinisan and Tetsuotome watched their teammate chase his target. "Idiot… Doesn't he realize that actions like this will attract more attention than necessary?" The dark-skinned man asked, tight-lipped and agitated. "I don't see the point in all this senseless action when all he has to do is mark her."

"Hey, it's _his_ target. Let him ruin it all by himself so _we_ don't have to take the blame," said Tetsuotome.

"Damn it!! Hold still!!" Hitsuke shouted as he swung his sword downward and sent a blast of flame towards the girl. It just barely missed her, but it scorched her left arm and the pain made her trip once more. "Heh… Now will you be still and let me cut you a couple of times…?" The Kiri nukenin spoke softly, licking his lips as he approached the waitress.

"Puh…please! I'll give you everything I've got on me right now! Just…don't kill me!!" Koneko cried, covering her face with her arms.

"**She is so pathetic… I **_**knew**_** she couldn't live without me."**

"Huh? Who…?" The girl's pupils dilated as she felt something rising up from within her. _'This feeling…! It feels like I'm…!'_ She suddenly exploded in a burst of blue flames! "ON FIRE!!!" The flames burned and moved haphazardly, scorching the ground and burning the building nearby. The fire seemed to move on its own, spreading to the other buildings nearby, and the people inside them ran out—a few crying in fear as they tried to stop the burning blue flames.

"There it is. In all its glory…" Said Ichinisan as the flames began to take the form of a cat that was the size of a human being with odd yellow and green pupilless eyes. "The Nibi no Nekomata: one of the former bijuu of Kumogakure."

"It's funny. I thought it would be bigger," Tetsuotome commented.

"It's only on its first tail. Once it hits the second, it'll be a handful."

"_You_…!" The transformed Koneko growled, pressing her body against the ground like a predator. She disappeared and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared and reappeared above the scarlet-haired man with a flaming claw raised. With one swipe, she attempted to take his head off, but it was blocked by his broadsword. She still managed to make a crack in the blade and pushed him back a few feet. She then took a deep breath and breathed out a stream of blue flames at the nukenin.

"So _that's_ why he was chosen for this target. If it weren't for that dumb sword of his, he'd be in trouble," said the pale-skinned girl with a smile.

"Grrr…!" Hitsuke tried to brush the flames out, but found that he couldn't. "Huh? What's this? Why doesn't this fire go out?"

"If you listened, you'd know!!" Tetsuotome shouted down at their partner.

"Like the Ichibi has control over sand, the Nibi has control over its ghastly flames," Ichinisan spoke mostly to himself. "It's the only one that can cancel them. But knowing Hitsuke, that won't bother him much."

The scarlet-haired man smirked as he slung his sword over his shoulder. "Impressive trick. It's almost a shame that this fight has to end."

"LEAVE ME!!!" The possessed Koneko screamed, causing the ground the shake as sonic vibrations broke windows and mirrors. The flames that formed her body rose and became wilder as the bunch of flames that were once buildings began to crackle. She took a deep breath as what appeared to be a ball of blue flame began to form in front of her face and screamed loudly enough to fire a large stream of fire that engulfed the entire street.

**X-X-X**

Days later in Konoha, Nataro and Akasha were sitting at a booth in the Hagakure with Tsuki and Kazemaru. The Asura girl was slurping up the ramen in a Hagakure Special that she was sharing with her roommate while Tsuki and Kazemaru, who weren't eating, stared at them in wonder. After a while, the purple-haired jonin broke the ice.

"So, Akasha-chan, I wasn't able to see you when you first came back. How do you like living with Nataro?" Tsuki asked with a smile.

The redhead bit off a trail of ramen to stop herself before raising her head and smiling. "I like it very much! Nataro-san is so good to me."

"_Really_? Exactly _how_ good is he?" The purple-haired woman said with a smile.

"He let me sleep in his bed." Kazemaru gave a perverted giggle at this while Tsuki stared at Nataro with an arched eyebrow.

"It's _not_ what you think!!" The blonde teen shouted, spitting out ramen and broth from his mouth. Kazemaru glared at him with half-lidded eyes on account of getting some ramen on his face.

"What do you _think_ I _thought_ it was?"

"Uhhh… You know…" Nataro began to blush as he formed a hole with his thumb and index finger and poked his other index finger through the hole repeatedly. His sensei flinched while Kazemaru smirked and Akasha absentmindedly began to imitate his actions, unseen by the blonde.

"You—!"

"I didn't do _anything_ like that!!" The blonde persisted, his eyes large and white as Kaze wiped his face clean. "Why the heck does everyone think I'm gonna try and do something?!"

"Because you're a boy and she's a girl and you're living together," Tsuki stated as if it were a simple thing.

"Actually, it's more because you're a _pervert_, she's naïve enough to probably do just about anything, and you're living together in an apartment, doing god knows what behind closed doors," Kazemaru said with a grin.

"That sounds more like something _you_ would do, Mr. Peeps-in-on-hot springs," Nataro grumbled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Hey! I'll have you know I haven't done that sort of thing in months!"

"Really?" The blonde teen asked, leaning across the table to look Kaze in the eye.

"Really!" The pyromanic chunin growled.

"Be honest!"

"I am!"

"Sensei!! Tell Kazemaru to be honest!!" Nataro complained while Akasha continued to finger-hole action that Nataro had done.

The jonin sweatdropped. "Do I look like your mother?"

"Uh…yes? Come on! He'll listen to _you_!"

Tsuki sighed and shook her head before turning to Kazemaru with a stern face. "Kazemaru. Have you been looking at girls in the hot springs?"

"…Yes," the orange-haired teen answered, bowing his head. "I can't help it! I'm weak and not every guy is as lucky as Nataro to have a girl stay with them!"

"Tsk-tsk. For shame," Nataro said, shaking his head with a frown.

"Wait a sec!! You changed to conversation from you to me!!" Kaze growled, standing up from his seat and balling up a fist.

"So, when do you think Hanzo'll get here? I'm tired of waiting for him," The blonde teen asked his teacher, ignoring his teammate.

"Hey!!"

"You have to understand that Hanzo is a medic. He's probably at the hospital doing something important."

"Like changing bedpans?" Kazemaru asked no one in particular in a flat tone. "Cuz that's the only thing I think he'd stick around for aside from necking with Shizuka. It's okay if it's on the battlefield with the adrenaline rush and whatnot, but when it's at home, Hanzo gets nervous at the thought of doing surgery on someone and wusses out!"

Tsuki gave her former student a half-lidded stare before she cleared her throat. "'Scuse me, Kaze. I've got something to do."

"By something, do you mean a mission?" Nataro asked as he looked the woman up and down. "You're wearing the same thing you usually wear when you go on missions. Where you going?"

"I'm not telling."

"Why not?"

"Because I know you're antsy and dying to go on a mission. Why don't you just try staying calm and enjoying your break before you go about injuring yourself again?"

"Hrrrmmm…" Nataro hummed, his eyes squinted into slits as he held up his bandaged arm.

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to, sensei? This is Nataro! Getting himself in painful situations is what he does best!" Kaze exclaimed with a grin as he shifted his body for the purple-haired woman to pass out.

"Keep it up and you're gonna find yourself in a painful situation!" The blonde teen grumbled, glaring at his teammate half-heartedly as he pointed a bandaged finger at him.

"Oooh, what're you gonna do? Touch me with your mummified hand?"

"Real mature!!"

"You're one to talk!!"

Tsuki sweatdropped and shook her head. "I feel sorry for you, Akasha-chan, for living with the likes of him. But you really could do worse."

**X-X-X**

A while later, Nataro and Akasha were walking down the street, the former with his hands behind his head and a bored expression on his face. He yawned before looking at his companion, who was looking down at the ground. "So, what do you wanna do, Akasha-chan?"

"I dunno," the red-haired girl mumbled. "What do you usually do when you're not on a mission, Nataro-san?"

"Train...or watch TV." The blonde rubbed his chin in thought. "Wanna go bug Gramps until he kicks us out?"

"Why?"

"Uh… 'Cuz it's fun? Uh…but, we could just walk around town and hang out."

"Okay."

The blonde gave a nod and smiled before someone slapped him in the side of his head. "Ack!! The fuh—?!"

"Uh-uh-uh! No cursing in front of your lady! That's ungentlemanly!"

Nataro looked up and glared at Kira from the corner of his eye. "Ungentlemanly? Is that even a word?"

"Doesn't have to be!" The black-and-white-haired man said with a grin as he rubbed his tattooed arm. "You shouldn't say a word like _'fuck'_ in front of your girlfriend."

"What did you just say?!"

"Hey, she's not _my_ girlfriend. I can curse in front of her."

"Not that! _That_! What makes you think Akasha-chan is my girlfriend?!" The blonde shouted, his cheeks red.

"I always assumed that when a boy and girl live together, they're dating. Are you saying she's just some ass for you to tap on the side of missions?" Kira asked with an arched eyebrow. "Now that's not nice…"

"That's only in your demented mind!!"

"Seriously? You've never even made it to second base?"

"What second base? There wasn't even a _first_!!"

The former ANBU captain sweatdropped. "Really? ...What kind of weirdo agrees to live with a girl if they haven't even reached first base? People'll say things, you know!"

The chunin narrowed his eyes as he grabbed Akasha's hand and walked past his master. "Probably because _you_ spread some rumors. C'mon, Akasha-chan!"

"Wait, wait! You don't wanna hang out together?" Kira asked, walking after the pair. "Maybe get something done?"

"Like what?" Nataro asked, looking back at the man with a frown.

"I kinda told the kids that you and I would put on a show for them," the black-and-white-haired man said with a grin, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, it's not like _you're_ doing anything, what with your injury and everything."

"What makes you think I'll help you after what happened the _last_ time I participated in one of your _shows_?"

**X-X-X**

_**2 Years Ago…**_

Kira and 14-year old Nataro stood in front the babies Murakumo, Tsumugari, and Saku, who were sitting babbling some sort of baby nonsense with the most sensible being _'kiwa'_.

"What does entertaining a bunch of babies have to do with training…?" The blonde teen asked his master with an arched eyebrow.

"You're still a genin, aren't you? Taking care of kids is what ninja of your rank are supposed to do?" His master asked.

"Depends. Are you gonna pay me for this afterwards?" Nataro asked flatly, holding his hand out.

"I'm your master. My wisdom and guidance should be enough to pay you for a lifetime of favors."

"Wisdom my a—!" The teen was silenced when his sensei smacked him with the back of his hand hard enough to make him fall to the floor. "Whoa… I think the room is spinning…"

"Don't curse in front of the kids! They'll blame _me_ for that if they start spouting that off!" Kira growled as a small vein throbbed on his forehead. The triplets began to clap and coo happily. "Well, what do you know? Only a year old and they're laughing at violence! You can just _tell_ they're going to be cruel ninja when they're older…"

"Ugh…!" Nataro got back to his feet and rubbed his bruised cheek. He glared at his master and frowned. "What'd you do _that_ for?!"

"I'm protecting their innocence and purity until they're old enough to take it! So…four or five more years at least. Then you can start swearing like a pirate. Now shut up and take the pain like a man!" Kira shouted, backhanding his student once again and getting more applause from the babies.

"What the hell, man?!"

"I _said_ don't curse!!" The mad genius growled as he punched the boy in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Oof! Bastard!!" Nataro stomped on his teacher's foot, and then elbowed him in the face. "Take _that_!"

"Why _you_…!" Kira's eyes glinted as he got a dark look on his face and his cursed hand twitched. Said hand reached out and gripped his student on the face. "I'll kill you!!" He forced the boy backwards and slammed him onto the floor. After a few seconds, he stayed in that position and blinked. "Uh-oh… Did I really kill him?"

The triplets seemed to lean forward in suspense until Nataro's hand began to twitch. They then began to coo with enjoyment while Kira grinned like an idiot, his hand still on Nataro's face. The blonde's twitching hand balled up into a fist and then he punched his master in the face, making him let go.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" The genin screamed as he launched himself onto his teacher and a fight began that was enough to entertain the triplets into screaming happily. After a few minutes, the door opened and Sasuke walked into the room with an irritated expression on his face. The master and student stopped fighting and looked up at the retired shinobi, feigning innocent expressions.

"What…are you…doing…?" Sasuke spoke slowly as he clenched the head of his cane, closing his eyes.

"Uh…" The pair didn't have time to respond since as soon as the old man opened his eyes, they took one look into his Sharingan and fell under a genjutsu, their eyes large white and blank.

"Hmph! Idiots…" The Uchiha patriarch grumbled before looking at the applauding triplets.

**X-X-X**

"I still remember that day… I literally ate crow in that illusion!!" Nataro shuddered as a tinge of blue appeared on his cheeks.

Kira sucked his teeth in disdain. "Don't be such a baby…! I've endured far worse than a Sharingan illusion over the years. I've gotten to the point where I can pretty much block out those illusions."

"_I_ haven't!! So unless you're gonna teach it to me before we do your crappy show, forget it!!"

The master and student pair got into a glaring contest. Akasha looked back and forth between them before she looked at Nataro. "Nataro-san, why don't you do it?"

"Huh?!" The blonde looked at the red-haired girl in shock. "B-but, Akasha-chan, it's lame and stupid, and he could just use Hanasotsu for his punching bag!"

"Please, Nataro-san! If the kids want to see you perform, shouldn't you give them what they want?"

"What they want is to see me get beaten black and blue…!"

The red-haired girl put her hands together and pouted. "Pretty please…? For me?"

Nataro blushed and looked out of the corner of his eye, frowning. "Uh…well, if you're gonna keep pestering me about it, I'll do your little play."

Kira looked at Akasha and smirked. "Sayyyy… I could use _you_ to persuade _him_ more often! Good one, Red!" He pulled a couple of photos out from his jacket. "Well, I guess I can get rid of _these_…" He dropped the photos, one of which landed at Akasha's feet. The Asura girl bent over and picked it up.

"Huh? …When did you take a picture of me, Kira-san?"

"Huh?" Nataro looked over her shoulder and stared at the picture. After a while, his eyes became little white dots and he snatched the photo out of her hand and pointed it at his master. "Wh-what…WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's blackmail."

"But this never happened!" He picked up the other photos and looked through them. "Or this! Or this! None of this!!"

"You'd be amazed at what you can pull off with a camera, a couple of Kage Bunshin and a rumor. Until the day he got a girlfriend, people assumed that my master had a crush on Uchiha Naota," Kira recalled fondly with a sigh. "God, I miss my youth." He looked down and saw Nataro was ripping up the photos and stomping them to the ground. "You know those are just copies, right?" The blonde froze, cheeks tinged blue in fear while Kira grinned. "I'm no idiot! I've found a way to keep you indebted to me…until the two of you two hit second base!"

Nataro slumped over and groaned. _'Note to self:…retrieve blackmail photos and leave pictures of my ass in their place…'_

**X-X-X**

In a forest in Hi no Kuni, Asura no Rudra sat on a large rock, licking the blood off his fingers from his last meal. A small caravan of supplies going to a village somewhere or another. The driver of the caravan, being an ordinary man, didn't prove to be a satisfying meal for him.

"What a waste of my time..." the blue-clad Asura muttered as he tossed the deceased's hat aside. "I'm almost begging for ninja from _somewhere_ to pop up and try to kill me right about now. At least _they'd_ be a proper meal." He sighed as he got up from the rock and folded his hands behind his head. He sniffed the air and began to lick his lips. "Wait a second… What's that? It's a particularly unusual and pleasing chakra…" He walked in the direction of the sensation before he spotted a pair of teenagers sitting underneath a tree. He recognized a hitai-ate around the boy's waist and smirked. _'Well I'll be damned. Even the forsaken get their prayers answered.'_

"Nyaa…" Koneko slowly blinked her eyes open and found herself staring up at Seian's face. "Ssseian-san…? What're you doing here?" She looked around at the forest. "Where are we, anyway…?"

'_It doesn't look like she remembers what happened…'_ Seian thought. "There was a big fire back in the village. It spread everywhere. I found you unconscious in the streets while it was happening, and got you out of there. As for where we are, I wasn't really paying attention…but from the look of our surroundings, we're south of the border. Perhaps in Hi no Kuni."

"Really…? What about Granny?" Seian tensed up. "Where is she…Seian-san?" After a moment of silence, Koneko closed her eyes and choked back a sob. "It's not fair…! When I couldn't remember anything, it was Granny who found me and took me in... Now I'm alone again!"

"Ta… Koneko-san."

"What's with all the sad looks?" The two teenagers looked up to see Rudra walk out of the bushes with a devilish smirk. "You won't have to be alone if you're inside of me. Hmhmhm!"

"H-huh? What do you mean?! I'm not that kind of girl!"

"I don't think he means what you're thinking about," the Kumo ninja said as he stepped in front of Koneko, who got up and stayed behind him. "His intentions don't deal with our wellbeing."

"Very good. Actually, all _I_ intend is for you to be a decent meal. Ready?" He held up a hand and electricity surged around his body. The Asura ran towards the two teenagers and pulled back a fist. Seian moved his head out of the way in time to dodge the blow and bent back to avoid being backhanded. He balanced on one hand and struck Rudra in the ribs, only to have the Asura disappear in a puff of smoke. The black-clad Kumo nin flipped over to the side in time to avoid being hit by a barrage of orange chakra in the form of small needles. A few hit him in the arm and caused a tingling sensation. He jumped back over to Koneko and held onto his injured arm.

'_My arm… It's been paralyzed.'_ Seian grabbed Koneko with his functioning arm and jumped back to avoid a snake-like whip of electric chakra.

"Normally, I don't like putting my chakra into my prey. It soils the taste. But if it'll get you to stop moving, I'll just have to take a while longer to enjoy your sweet taste!" Rudra licked his lips.

Koneko's cheeks turned blue. "Gross…! What kind of weirdo _is_ this guy…?!"

"Weird? I resent that comment! It's simply survival of the fittest, my dear…!" The Asura took a step forward gave a sharp-toothed grin. "You're just one of the many small fish that are here to serve as a meal for superior beings like myself!"

A cloaked figure with a familiar sword on his back appeared in between the teenagers and the mutant. "Heh! Finally found you, Nibi!"

Seian clenched his teeth and tensed up while Koneko stared at the newcomer in confusion. "Who's that…?" The girl with the bi-colored eyes asked.

"Hey, back off. These guys are mine for the feasting. Unless…you wanna take their place?" Rudra spoke as he rubbed his chin in thought, smirking.

"Excuse me? Are you trying to say you wanna eat me?"

"That's the picture." In the blink of an eye, Hitsuke swung his massive sword and sliced through Rudra's shoulder. "Guh!!"

"I already got enough problems on my hands with the Nekomata. I don't need some psycho cannibal to get in my way!"

"Heh…!" Rudra spat out some blood and licked his lips. "What's this? I taste _fire_ chakra! It tastes funny, though… I _like it_! Lemme have another taste…"

"You want more? Come an' get it!"

'_Now would be a good time to leave…!'_ Seian thought as his grip on Koneko tightened and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"They're getting away!! Stop them!!" Hitsuke shouted at Ichinisan and Tetsuotome, but neither one moved from their spot up on a tree branch.

"You were the one who told us not to get in the way. If this fails, it will be because of your directions, _'leader'_," the dark-skinned man spoke as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Of course, if _we're_ in danger, we'd have to save our butts," the girl said with a grin.

Hitsuke raised his blade to block a punch from Rudra. Surprisingly, he managed to send a surge of electricity through the blade. "You two are bastards!!"

"We're simply following your orders~!"

"Wait'll the boss hears that it's _you guys_' fault that the Nibi got away!! He'll go apeshit on us!!"

Tetsuotome gulped and held a hand over her mouth as she began to hear bones crunching, flesh splattering and people screaming in her mind. "Uh…!"

"Good point. We'll keep an eye on the Nibi no Nekomata," Ichinisan spoke before he and Tetsuotome disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hitsuke pushed the Asura back and groaned in irritation. "Great… This thing's giving me more trouble than I expected…!" Rudra held an arm up into the air and electricity began to crackle around him. "If you're too stupid to run away…!" The blade of his zanbato suddenly burst into flames. "I'll slice you in half!!"

**X-X-X**

Nearby was a foursome of average Konoha shinobi, who had been assigned to a scouting mission, travelling through the trees.

"Okay. I think we're 20 kilometers away from our former location. Mugen, scout the area."

The dark-haired Hyuga formed a hand sign and veins appeared around his eyes as his vision became enhanced. His extreme sight took in the natural sights of the forest until he flinched.

"What did you see?" One of the team members asked. Just then, Seian and Koneko landed in front of the Leaf ninja, surprising them a bit."A Kumo ninja…?"

Just then, Ichinisan and Tetsuotome appeared, their hoods up and hiding their faces.

'_Konoha… Just our luck.'_ Ichinisan thought as his muscles tensed up. "We can't afford to have Konoha stick their noses into business again."

Tetsuotome got a wicked smile under her hood. "Say no more…"

**X-X-X**

Several days later in Konoha…

"Heh-heh…!" Nataro stared at his arm as he pulled off the old bandages. When he was done, he flexed his fully healed arm and grinned. "Yes! No more sick leave! I'm fully healed and ready for action!" Akasha stood by the doorway unnoticed with a depressed expression as Nataro continued to observe himself in the mirror. "Now to go down to the office and get a mission!"

'_Kira-san was right… Nataro-san goes looking for trouble and doesn't seem to care if he gets hurt… I guess I'll just have to hope that he doesn't meet any Asura again…'_ The red-haired girl thought as he zipped up his jacket and tightened his hitai-ate.

"Alright! I'm ready to go! Later, Akasha-chan!" The blonde said as he jogged past the Asura girl, in too good a mood to notice how she looked.

**X-X-X**

Down in the Hokage's office, Naruto was signing some papers when the door suddenly opened and Nataro walked in.

"Yo, Gramps! Here I am, ready for another day's mission!" The blonde teen said with a broad smile.

The Rokudaime blinked. "Nataro? Last I heard, you were on sick leave."

"Heh-heh! Can't keep a good man down! So, what've you got for me? I'm ready for anything!"

"There aren't any missions for you to take at the moment."

"Huh? Come on, Gramps! There has to be _something_!"

Naruto sighed and shook his head before returning to his work. "Well, there _was_ a team I dismissed a short while ago that was short one man. I suppose you could join them if you hurried up and met them at the gate." By the time he looked back up, he saw that Nataro was gone. "Impatient as always, I see…"

**X-X-X**

A short while later, Nataro appeared in front of the gate. "Yo!! Your fourth member is here—" His jaw dropped as one of the team members turned around and narrowed her eyes.

"_You_? Hokage-sama doesn't think we're _that_ desperate for a fourth member, does he?" Ina asked no one in particularly.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!" The blonde screamed with large, blank eyes.

"What are you yelling for?"

"I'm looking at it!!"

"Don't mind him, Inahime. All idiots do dumb things," Kaoru said with a smirk.

"YOU'RE HERE, TOO?!?" Nataro screamed again, making the redhead flinch.

"Stop yelling!!" The Uchiha girl shouted. "God, you're annoying!"

"You're not the only one who's disappointed by his teammates… If I had a choice of teammates, you wouldn't even be in the top _hundred_!" Kaoru stated as he folded his arms across his chest and looked away from the loud blonde.

Konjo, who was standing over on the sidelines, sweatdropped and gave a nervous smile. "Well, things are getting off to a good start…" _'So long as we can get through this without those three killing each other, it should be a good mission…I hope…'_ He thought as Nataro, Ina and Kaoru got into a three-way glaring contest.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**Nibi no Nekomata means "Two-tailed Monster Cat". Its nickname in the Naruto series is Ikiryu, or "living ghost", like how the Ichibi's nickname is "Shukaku".**

**Koneko means "Kitten".**

**Hisa means "Long-lasting" or "Enduring" or "Surviving".**

**X-X-X**

_Ending Omake: Fun Time with Uncle Kira_

Akasha sat behind Murakumo, Tsumugari and Saku on the floor. The triplets were looking at the poorly made puppet theater where sounds of loud whispers were heard, while the redhead scratched her head.

"Um… When is it going to start?" Akasha asked no one in particular.

"We dunno. When they stop speaking, I guess," said Murakumo as he rocked from side to side. Just then, a pair of hand puppets that resembled Kira and Nataro—the former with a black body and the last with an orange body— with button eyes popped up. "Yay, it's starting!"

"Hi there, kiddies! It's time for some fun with Uncle Kira!" The Kira puppet spoke as it moved its hands.

"Hey! What about me?!" Puppet Nataro complained, but whether that was part of the script was to be seen.

"What about you?" Puppet Kira spoke flatly and somewhat irritated about his intro being interrupted.

"Don't I get an introduction? You said I'd get an introduction!"

"You also said you didn't want any physical violence to happen to you." Puppet Kira seemed to pick up a real-life hammer from out of nowhere and struck Puppet Nataro on the head.

"OW!!!" The orange puppet ducked down under the stage for the real Nataro to rub his hand with his bandaged hand.

"And this is my apprentice/punching bag, Nataro!"

"You jerk!! You lying jerk!! You said we wouldn't be doing actual violence!!"

"I said we'd be doing slapstick. If you can't deal with _'slap'_ aspect, then _'stick'_ to your day job." The Kira puppet said as it looked down at the real Nataro.

Puppet Nataro came back up, arms crossed. "Slapstick, huh? Well, I can bring the _'slap'_ part!!" It went back down again and came back up as Nataro's bare hand. Said hand gripped Kira's and began to slap it. "How's! This! For! A slap?!"

"I do the slapping around here!!" Behind the theater, the sound of Kira slapping Nataro was heard.

"OW!!!"

"I also do the pinching, the pulling and the punching!!"

"Ow! Ow!! OW!!!"

"Have you learned your lesson?" Puppet Kira said, nodding its head.

"SCREW YOU!!!" Nataro shouted as the puppet theater toppled over and the two of them began to fight on the floor.

"Yay!! Fight, fight, fight…!" The Uchiha triplets cheered while Akasha sweatdropped.

The door was suddenly opened and Sasuke stood in the doorway, biting the inside of his cheek with a small vein throbbing on his forehead. "What…the hell…are you _doing_?" He spoke with an edge in his voice. The master and student stopped fighting and the kids stopped cheering. "You two _again_? If I've told you once, I've told a dozen times…knock off this idiocy!" He growled as his Sharingan activated.

"It's not _my_ fault! Kira-sensei—" The blonde began before he made eye contact with the Uchiha patriarch and fell under a genjutsu along with his master.

"Show's over…" The triplets mumbled sadly.

Sasuke looked at the kids an arched an eyebrow. "Next time get your kicks off of television like normal kids…" He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

After a few seconds, Kira cracked an eye open and rolled Nataro off of him. "Okay! Now that the grouchy grandpa's gone, why don't we draw on Nataro's face? I've got markers!"

"Yay!!" The triplets exclaimed as they jumped up and ran over to the unconscious blonde.

Akasha sweatdropped. "Um… Exactly how does this count as entertainment…?"


	67. Blaze Blues

**Blu: (Beaming after reading chapter 492) Wow…! That was… Wow!**

**Nataro: What? That chapter?**

**Kaze: Nothing much happened… How can you be so impressed? Wait, don't tell me—you loved that Sexy no Jutsu scene, too?! (Starts to blush)**

**Blu: No!! Well, okay, that **_**was**_** funny…but seeing Naruto rap was kinda funny. Especially after he calls Bee a tool. Ha!**

**Kaze: Yeah, that **_**was**_** funny to see that poser get dissed.**

**???: Ahem!**

**Kaze: (Looks over his shoulder to see Killer Bee) …Well, crap.**

**Killer Bee: What'd you say about me, you little beeyotch?**

**Kaze: Uh… You don't scare me, you **_**wanksta gangsta**_**!! You may have the power to destroy me, but your lines suck!! Go watch more BET, you poser!!**

**(The following was too violent to be shown onscreen, and so all that was seen was Nataro wincing with every scream and blow and Blu musing to herself, back turned on the violence.)**

**Blu: Now that I think about it…what person will I make the Hachibi's host in this story? If he says some rhymes, he'll have to not be a rapper… Of course, maybe then, he'll probably be better and more creative.**

**Bee: Huh?!**

**Nataro: (Sweatdrops) I think you just angered him.**

**Blu: Let him try and lay a finger on me. He'll go from wanksta gangsta to preppy white boy.**

**Hanzo: Wow… There are so many stereotypes in this author's note, it may offend someone.**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose owns NOTHING! Not this series, not its characters, not its story. She only owns her OCs and this fan fiction._

**X-X-X**

_#67: Blaze Blues_

_The power of fire._

_Constructive, destructive._

_With its bright light,_

_And often slights of ire._

_The all-consuming fire._

Burn, burn it all to the ground. She wanted to see it all burnt to ashes. She didn't know why, but it aroused her to see the unnatural blue flames rise and consume things of all matter.

_It doesn't exist_

_In a natural form,_

_It exists by consuming,_

_Others' forms_

_Transforming from one_

_To another form._

It moved, it twisted, it shook. It possessed their bodies and clung to them like angry ghosts longing for vengeance, until it overtook them, became one with them before fluttering away and leaving nothing but ashes.

_Fuels our passion_

_Leaves everything ash_

_Duels the darkness_

_Leaves marks that last._

More people to join her in her despair…

_Fire, constructively destructive_

_Destructively constructive_

_Fire, living death_

_Dying life._

After all, she felt she was already dead.

**X-X-X**

"How unfair is this…? Is this some kind of punishment for being too gung-ho to get back to doing missions so early after recovering? Or is this Gramps' idea of a prank? To put me on a team with Weasel Girl and that cruddy playboy Kaoru…! He has a sick and twisted sense of humor, that old git…!"

Kaoru sweatdropped as he looked back at Naruto with half-lidded eyes. "The idea of an inner monologue is to keep it _inside_ of your head, Nataro."

"Yeah, well… Maybe I don't wanna!"

"Why couldn't you have just stayed behind…?" Ina drawled with her eyes closed in irritation. "Then we'd all be happy." _'Or at least __**I**__ would.'_ "You don't get points for being stubborn and sticking with a mission you didn't want. Do you even know what we're doing?"

"…I'm sorry, what'd you say? I was blocking you out," the blonde teen said with squinted eyes.

The raven-haired girl gave a low growl. Konjo chuckled nervously before clearing his throat and looking at Nataro. "We've been hired to see into reoccurring incidents of fires around the country. The fires are unnatural in origin, though. They just seem to sprout up in one location and start consuming everything in the town. The survivors seem to think that it's the work of a ninja. We've been hired to put a stop to it, so they can rebuild without fear of it happening again."

"Uh…huh. Another arsonist case. _Boring_…"

"If you think that, why not go home?" Ina asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's better than being stuck back in the village with nothing to do," the blonde stated with squinted eyes as he placed his hands behind his head. "I could do with beating down your average criminal!"

"Just be careful not to get the skin _burnt_ off of you again, idiot," the raven-haired girl spoke flatly, ignoring the glare she was getting from Nataro.

**X-X-X**

"Nya…" Koneko slowly opened her eyes and sat up, wincing as she did. "What… What happened…?" Looking around, the waitress saw that she was in the middle of a dirt road, the area she was lying down in scorched black. "Where am I? How did I get _here_?" Koneko bit her lower lip and began to cry. "Ohhh…! Why is it that I keep blacking out like this? Am I going insane?!"

"**Quit complaining and shut up."**

The dark-haired girl blinked and looked around. "What was that? Who's there?" She held onto her head, shaking it slowly. "Maybe I really _am_ going crazy… First I keep blacking out… Now I'm hearing voices for people who aren't there… Next thing you know, I'm gonna wind up waking up next to a corpse with blood on my hands…!" She rambled on, tears welling up in her eyes.

"**I **_**told**_** you to shut up. If you want to know who I am, just close your eyes."**

"H-huh…?"

"**Just do it!"**

Koneko winced at the harsh voice and closed her eyes.

"**Now open them…"** The girl slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring at a large cat made of blue flames with mismatching yellow and green eyes, its two tails swishing about as a spotlight shone down on it from some unknown source. **"Now that you're finally here in front of me, maybe you'll listen when I tell you to **_**shut up**_** and stop crying! Whenever you cry, it gets moist in here, and when you complain, I get a **_**headache**_**!" **The large cat hissed in irritation.

"M-m-m-MONSTER!!!" Koneko cried as she fell back, landing on her butt as she scrambled away from the demonic-looking feline. "Stay back! Stay back! P-please don't hurt me!!"

"**Trust me… If we weren't stuck together in a most unsettling manner, I would burn your pathetic body to the point where so much as a **_**speck**_** of your ashes could never be found…! But sadly, you and I are one in the same. I am you and you are me. Bound together by meddlers of a most supernatural nature…"**

"Uh… What?" The dark-haired girl squeaked, looking between her fingers to look at the two-tailed demon cat.

"**You're me. I'm you. And it's **_**because**_** of me that you exist now to complain **_**about**_** your pathetic existence, you wretched child. I think I actually prefer that wretch Yugito over you…"**

"H-hey… Just because you're a large malevolent being, that doesn't mean you can insult me like this!"

"**Oh, come now. It's just as I've said—we're one in the same. What **_**I**_** think, **_**you**_** think. I know **_**everything**_** about you…"** The giant flaming cat purred as it pressed its body against the floor, opening its mouth slightly to reveal its pointed canines. **"Your hopes, your dreams, your nightmares…your **_**true**_** thoughts that you're **_**far**_** too nice to let enter your mind. I even know what you've forced yourself to forget, wretched child…"**

"Wh-what…are you…?" The girl spoke as she shifted uncomfortably under the cat's stare.

"**I am the **_**true**_** self. The one who should be in control of this body! I have no true name, so you humans have called me **_**Nibi no Nekomata**_** from the moment I was seen."**

"Nibi no Nekomata…?"

"**Yes. I am a demon. A bijuu to be more precise."**

"Ah… I see." Koneko's eyes then rolled into the back of her head and she fainted.

The Nibi groaned. **"I **_**really**_** do miss Yugito right now…"**

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere in the recesses of Onigakure, as a collection of masked Oni fought each other over the carcass of a dead crow outside in the streets, within the large pagoda, Bhumi was putting stitches into Rudra as she finished sowing his arm on.

"Finally done. You should learn to keep your limbs on, Rudra," the gray-clad Asura drawled as she wiped the blood off her hands with a dirty cloth. She tossed the cloth into a corner. "Do I dare ask what you were doing for _you_ to get your arm cut off?"

Rudra flexed his arm with a sharp-toothed frown. "I was just trying to get something to eat! Two ninja—don't know what village they were from, but one of 'em had hitai-ate and the other _burst into flames_! I get the feeling that they would've been _delicious_…!" He spoke as he began to salivate at the mere thought. "It was so…_unnatural_… I got shivers from that girl…! I've been trying to find her, but I kept meeting that guy until he decided to cut my freaking arm off! The bastard!!"

"You really shouldn't try to cause trouble with any ninja, Rudra. Remember what happened because of Ajit?"

The white-haired Asura snorted before he gave a smirk. "Oh, please! The only reason that imbecile died was because he couldn't feel his body being destroyed right before his eyes! And by some little kid… He deserved to get burnt to ashes!"

"Yes… He did," Bhumi spoke as she looked out of the corner of her eye. "But you're no different from Ajit."

"Am too. I actually have a _brain_. And unlike _you_, I don't plan on starving to death. I _swear_ that I am going to eat a _real_ meal before I decide to eat one of _you_ bastards!" Rudra complained as he walked right past her and left the room.

"Hmph… How foolish… They all think they're invincible and that everything was put on this earth for them to eat. Hm... If they aren't careful, _they'll_ be the ones to get eaten…" The gray-haired woman turned around and walked towards a person lying down on a bed. "Now I can turn my attention back on you… How does it feel, Jintaro?"

"Ughhh…"

"That was a dumb question. Of course you're still in pain. This isn't exactly a process that anyone can survive. To tell the truth, I didn't think you would survive. In fact, I'm not sure if you'll live through the night." Bhumi scratched her cheek. "Now, what should you be called…? Damn this naming problem… I need to go consult the master's notes for a bit…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in Nataro's apartment in Konoha, Akasha was lying down on the chair, reading one of the scrolls that her roommate had lying about the place. She wasn't reading out of interest, since they were all about ninjutsu. She was merely…bored. And she didn't have the willpower to go out and spend time among the village crowd. So the red-haired girl just decided to lie there. Reading. At least until she fell asleep.

Just as she was starting to doze off, a knock came from the door. Akasha got up and walked towards the door, opened it, and blinked in surprise at who she saw. "Naruto-san…?"

Naruto smiled at the Asura girl. "Good day, Akasha-chan. May I come in?"

"O-of course…" She spoke and immediately opened the door for the Rokudaime to enter.

"Hmmm…" The elderly blonde looked around the room for a moment before sweatdropping. "I'm impressed. I expected this place to look worse." _'How come my place wasn't this clean when I was young?'_

"I needed something to do, so I cleaned up," Akasha spoke, rocking back and forth on her feet. "But that was so long ago… I don't have anything to do now."

"Really." _'That boy better be grateful. I think I know how messy this place used to be…'_ Naruto turned to the redhead. "So, how're you doing? Do you like living among the people?"

"I…do not know," she spoke stiffly, scratching her arm. "How can I put this…? What am I supposed to do?"

"Pardon me?"

"The point of me moving in with Nataro-san was so I could learn to live like a normal person, wasn't it? But he's hardly ever here. He's always running off to go on missions…and the only people I know are his friends, and they're all ninja who I sometimes can't find…"

"Akasha-chan…are you…bored?" When the red-haired girl nodded frantically, Naruto sweatdropped. "I see… I guess it does get boring when the people you know often have duties to attend to…" He rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before he started to smile. "I have an idea. Do you want to come with me?"

"Huh?" Akasha blinked and stared at the old man in confusion. "O-okay…"

**X-X-X**

A while later, the two stood in front of a small house in town. Akasha stared at the place for a while until she saw that Naruto was walking into the house and followed him inside.

"Um… Whose house is this, Naruto-san?" She said as she stopped to look at a picture of a smiling couple.

"It's mine. Well, it will be when I retire from my position. So from time to time, I have people come by to see things over." The Rokudaime gestured for the red-haired girl to follow him, which she did. They went out into the back and he pointed at something nearby: a set of pots with plants growing out of them. "I was wondering if you could take care of these plants for me? It'd give you something to do…"

A question mark hovered over the girl's head for a moment before she spoke up, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Just water them and feed them. They're crossbred from cactuses, so you just have to lift the pot and if it's light, you need to water it. Simple, right?"

"Well…"

"I'll even pay you. Not much, of course. But like I said, it'll give you something to do when Nataro isn't here in the village."

"Um…" Akasha scratched her head. "Just water it…and get paid for it…? I _guess_ I could do that…" _'What a weird job, though.'_ She bowed her head. "Thank you very much, Naruto-san! So…when do I start?"

**X-X-X**

After Akasha walked away, waving goodbye, Naruto stood there smiling and laughing to himself. He looked over his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" He spoke flatly.

Kira was sitting down on the roof of the home with a bored expression on his face, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "What? I can't be bored, too?" He jumped off of the roof and landed next to the Hokage. "It's not fun when the kid leaves the village and I _can't_! And there's only so much entertainment I can draw from people who can't heal in a short amount of time." He noticed the glare Naruto was giving him and quickly added in an emotionless tone, "Not that I was doing anything to him. He just…fell a lot. On sharp implements." He glared back at the elderly blonde. "Don't judge the master's teaching methods!!"

"I can judge his sanity. And my opinion's teetering on the edge of _'sadist'_."

"_Just_ teetering?" The black-and-white-haired man scratched the back of his head, eyes reduced to little dots and mouth open. "I'm not on the ball if I'm not called _'a complete and utter sadist'_. I blame being a teacher! If you hurt them too much, the people cry _'CHILD ABUSE!!!'_ I say _'ENDURANCE TRAINING, JACKASSES!!!'_ And when I try to show them, they run away screaming… Is _that_ sadistic enough for you?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't want to waste my time encouraging this behavior. I have to get back to work before Asago-chan finds out it's just a clone…" He turned his back to the mad genius and began to walk away when Kira became a chibi version of himself and sweatdropped.

"W-w-wait a minute, old man!!" Kira ran in front of the Rokudaime and began to walk backwards in front of him. "Uh, actually, you _could_ increase the area that I can roam around in if you wanna see an improvement in my behavior. I won't leave Hi no Kuni, I'll just go to the local red light district in another town and ease my sorrows in ways that would get me arrested here…"

"And what makes you think I can trust you to do that? Do you know how every time you got into trouble, how many people came complaining to _me_ about it? How many Daimyos I had on my ass?"

"Wait…I can remember this…three! No, four! I mean…!" Kira smiled broadly. "If I can't go to another town, then at least lighten up my sentence by a couple of years! I deserve it for putting up with training that kid for three years, just like you told me to! And it wasn't easy to help him become the semi-lean fighting machine he is today. You know?"

Naruto shook his head. "_Kira_… You _do_ realize that the only way I can allow you some more freedom…is if you _clean up your act_!"

"Awww…! Do I have to? I bet you don't force Nara men to stop being lazy, or Inuzuka to stop acting to feral, or Aburame to actually show some damn emotion once in a while!!"

"Because _they_ aren't being seen as _'a threat to villagers and shinobi alike,'_ if I recall what one of the council members said."

"Really?! Aw, I'm touched…! Next step is to become a _country-wide_ threat! And then…THE WORLD!!! Kukuku…!" Kira exclaimed as he shook a fist up to the air, his eyes shining in a creepy manner.

"Kira!" Naruto snapped, making the former ANBU captain stop in his tracks. "Just…stop it. Let's talk about this when you aren't so…immature." He walked around Kira and left him behind.

"Ugh…!" The mad genius groaned, biting the inside of his cheek and holding onto his head with one hand. "Still need to work on the maturity thing… I guess I'm still a bit hesitant." _'Crap…'_

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the countryside of the Fire Country, the team of Nataro, Ina, Konjo and Kaoru had been travelling down the road when they stopped.

"Konjo, scan the area." The Hyuga nodded and activated his Byakugan before Ina continued, "We're still a long way away from the town that was assumed to be the arsonist's next target. But if any suspicious characters are nearby, we'll apprehend them—just in case," the Uchiha girl said.

"How can you be sure that the arsonist is a _'suspicious character'_? What if he looks like a normal person?" Nataro suggested with his arms folded across his chest. "You know what they say: it's always the quiet ones."

Ina gave the blonde a look. "The point is that we're looking for suspicious individuals. Anyone who looks like they could be a potential threat. We don't have any information on the _cause_ of these fires, so we aren't sure what the culprit looks like. We must assume all manner of suspects."

"Yeah, sure…"

Konjo jumped. "Guys… I think I've found something."

Everyone turned to look at the Hyuga. "Oh! Well that was fast! I guess it wasn't just wishful thinking to believe this mission would be over in no time," said Kaoru as he fixed up his glasses.

"It's not a suspect. There's someone a few miles down who looks as if they've been injured. And I'm sure that they had some pretty big wounds… I saw a hitai-ate on him, but I couldn't tell what village form his position."

"Well…_that_ certainly sounds suspicious," Kaoru said with an arched eyebrow.

Nataro gave the flirtatious redhead a look. "Are you serious? You honestly expect an injured ninja to be our culprit? It could be one of our guys! Or someone from another country who got lost here!"

"It's not exactly an outside possibility, you know. Why, he could have purposely injured himself to make it _look_ like he's an innocent victim and use that as his cover to cause fires. Do you see?" The medic waited for the black-clad blonde to respond, but all he got was a confused expression and a kitsune-eyed stare. "Actually, never mind. I should have known you wouldn't be able to get it."

A vein popped up on the blonde's forehead. "I get it, ya prick!! I'm just thinking about…things!" _'I wonder if it's that Hitsuke guy running around setting things on fire? I know the last guy was an imposter… Maybe this is him?'_

**X-X-X**

Only a few seconds later found the Konoha team standing in front of a dark-haired man who was lying facedown on the ground with several injuries and trail of dry blood coming from the grass and ending on the dirt road.

"Wow. This guy looks like he's been put through the ringer," Nataro commented. "Is he dead?"

Kaoru got on his knee and checked the man's pulse. "He's alive. It looks as though he's lost a lot of blood." He turned the person over, revealing it to be Seian. "Wow. Scratches _and_ burn marks. Whoever this person is, he has some bad luck," the spectacled redhead continued as his hands began to glow with bright green chakra and he began to heal Seian.

"Hm?" Ina stared at the hitai-ate tied around the dark-haired teen's waist. "He's from Kumo."

"Really?" Konjo scratched his head. "Why would a Kumo ninja come all the way to Hi no Kuni?"

"Wouldn't it be interesting if our problem is because of someone from Rai no Kuni?" Kaoru suggested when he was done with healing the Kumo ninja and reached into his back pouch for a pair of small pills. He opened Seian's mouth and dropped them both inside before closing his mouth and forcing him to swallow. The Kumo ninja suddenly flinched and began to cough. "Take it easy. You're still injured."

"What the…? Wh-where is she…?" Seian coughed and touched a wound on his chest. "Ugh…!"

"You're a Kumogakure shinobi. What are you doing here in Hi no Kuni?" Ina asked, her arms folded across her chest. "It wouldn't be to look for a criminal, would it?"

'_Criminal…? It was only a matter of time before they called in some ninja to investigate…' _Koneko's face entered the Kumo ninja's mind. _'If I told them about what happened, I doubt they would believe me. And if they did…what's to stop them from trying to kill her…?'_

"Hey, come on! We can't help you out if you don't speak up!" Nataro spoke up.

Seian looked up at the blonde Leaf ninja and coughed. "You…" _'This is that guy, who…'_

"Hm? Come on, spit it out! Did a guy with a big sword and a thing for setting fires attack you?"

At this, Ina looked at Nataro in confusion. _'The guy who helped kidnap the Kazekage's daughter? What does that have to do with anything?'_

"How did you know…?"

"Let's just say that he's supposed to be a known pyromaniac… So, why're you here? Political affairs…?"

Seian sat up, wincing in pain. "He and two others in black cloaks chased us out of the Lightning Country for some reason."

Nataro's eyes widened. "Black cloaks…?" He looked at Ina. "You don't think…?"

"No. Couldn't be. I mean, it's the same person, but…it doesn't make sense, unless…" The Uchiha looked down at the Kumo nin. "Were you and your team protecting someone of importance? Say a relative of the Raikage's or Rai no Kuni's daimyo?"

"No… She's…she _was_ a Kumo genin, but now she's retired. She was a waitress before her town was burnt down."

"Just a genin…?" Ina closed her eyes in thought. _'That makes no sense. After kidnapping a Kage's child, they go on to trying to kidnap a simple genin? There has to be more to this.'_ "Are you sure that's all?"

'_She's also transformed into a giant flaming cat and almost killed me when I finally found her again.'_ "That is all. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Seian stood up, stumbling a bit before he regained his balance. "I have to go and find her…before they try and hurt her again."

"Hey, wait! You're still injured!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Yes, I've stopped the blood loss, but you still need to take it easy." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Besides, this is _our_ mission, and _our_ country, so, no offense, but you should go back home to Kumogakure."

"No. I failed to protect her. If anyone has to find her, it's me."

"Oh, shut up. _We_ are a team hired to find these criminals who have started to cause fires around the country. _You_ do not have a mission. Therefore, you really should go home and leave it to us." Before Kaoru could retaliate, Seian spun on his heel and grabbed Kaoru by the collar of his jacket. "Hey!!"

"She's my friend. My former comrade. If there's even just one thing I could do in this situation, it's to make sure that she's safe," the dark-haired teen spoke in an emotionless tone. "So if you're going to look for the people who are chasing her, I'm coming with you."

Nataro stared at Seian for a moment before scratching his head. "We should just let him help us. At least if he comes along, we can find this girl that those creeps in black are chasing after. We find the girl, there's a big chance we'll meet up with Hitsuke and those other guys."

"That _does_ make sense," said Konjo. "Besides, I wouldn't feel comfortable in letting an injured ninja travel all the way up north by himself."

"What?! We _cannot_ do that!! Tell them, Inahime!" The squad medic shouted as his cheeks became red with frustration.

Ina shrugged. "Amazingly, Nataro has a point. I highly doubt he'd tell us what this girl looks like if we didn't agree to take him along, so…" She looked at Seian. "What's your name?"

"Aohara Seian."

"Seian, on this mission, I, Uchiha Ina, am in charge, and you are just a subordinate under my control. That means you don't go running off unless I tell you to." The Uchiha looked at Nataro after she said this.

"What?!" The blonde shouted, gritted his teeth and shaking a fist at her.

Ina turned her back on Nataro before adding, "Is that clear."

"Yes, m'am. I'll follow your lead, Uchiha-taichou."

The raven-haired girl smirked. "Uchiha-taichou… Not bad. You three need to learn how to be as respectful as Seian to your squad leader."

"It'd be too weird calling my childhood teammate _'captain'_, " Konjo said with a nervous smile, holding his hands up in front of him in defense.

"In my opinion_, 'Taichou'_ is too coarse a word for a pretty girl like yourself," Kaoru stated, still looking slightly upset over the decision.

Nataro folded his arms across his chest and snorted. "Don't look at me. No way in hell would I refer to you as my captain, _Weasel-taichou_."

"Be glad we're on the clock or I would _so_ pound your right about now, idiot…"

**X-X-X**

Koneko blinked her eyes open and found herself staring up at a ceiling. When she sat up, she found that she was on a bed with the sheets covering her body. "Huh? What happened _now_…?"

A woman then walked in with a pile of cloth in her arms and stopped in the doorway upon seeing Koneko. "Oh! I see you're up!" She said with a smile while the dark-skinned girl stared at the woman in confusion. "My family found you on our way over here. We heard that someone's been causing fires throughout the countryside for some time, so we felt it wasn't right to just leave you there in the middle of nowhere. Things just aren't safe anymore…" The woman said with a sigh. "We came from Tagahara—that's a town that was a few miles to the north—to live with our relatives until the town could be rebuilt. Where are you from, dear?"

"Um… I'm from Hana no Kuni. You probably wouldn't know the name of the town I'm from."

The woman's eyes widened. "Hana no Kuni? My, that's a ways off. What's a sweet-looking girl like you doing traveling here all by yourself? Don't you know all the things that have been happening here lately?"

Koneko blinked and twirled a finger around one of her ponytails. "Um… No."

"Well, for one thing, these _awful_ people wearing masks! Going around abducting people. Do you know how afraid I was of moving because of them? And then there's been someone running around burning villages to the ground!"

"R-really?!" _'I never knew this country was so dangerous…!'_

"**You really are naïve…"** The Nibi growled in the back of her mind.

"Eep!" Koneko looked around the small room. "D-did you hear that?" She spoke softly.

"Hm? Hear what?"

"Oh… I guess it was just my imagination," the dark-haired girl said with a smile. _'Of course I imagined all of that! I'm a demon… I'm insane just for thinking that!'_

**X-X-X**

On the outskirts of a small town called Himura, just as the sun was starting to set and the sky resembled a sunset painting, three familiar cloaked individuals stood on a knoll.

"Okay..! _This_ time for sure! I swear that I'll mark that accursed Nibi—even if I have to burn this entire damn town down!!" Hitsuke growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Hitsuke… As…_interesting_ as it has been to watch you chase your target around the country, I believe you should try to approach the situation in a _different_ way if you want to catch it. Otherwise, it will take longer for our plans to come to fruition," Ichinisan suggested.

"Don't you fucking think I _know_ that?! But every time I get that cat to show its true form, it turns tail and runs!!"

"Then find a way to make it _want_ to come to you."

"Like what? Offer it catnip?" The scarlet-haired nukenin snarled.

"_Or_ you could just do what Ichinisan did and threaten to kill that Kumo boy who's been following the Nibi!" Tetsuotome suggested with a smile.

"That kid…?" Hitsuke snorted and scratched his head. "Damn. The last time I saw him, the Nibi trounced him. Then, when he was going to make chase, I took him down. I'm pretty sure he's damn." His partners sighed from frustration before he continued, "But I'm sure we can cage that thing…if we all _'cooperate' _like the big bosses want us to do."

"Does this mean you admit that you need us for this?"

"Oh, goodie! I _love_ playing with fire…!" Tetsuotome cooed fondly as they made their way for the town of Himura, just as the young Konoha shinobi and one Kumo ninja did the same from another side and Koneko stepped out of the kind family's temporary home, humming to herself, unaware of the clash that she would find herself in the midst of…

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!!**

**This title's chapter references the 2D fighting game "BlazBlue" (Read as "Blaze Blue").**

**According to the data books, Naruto's hobby is gardening—horticulture if you want to be precise. He even gave Kakashi a plant named "Mr. Ukki".**

**Tagahara means "Rice Field" (Ta), "Moth" (ga), "Prarie" (hara). Himura means "Blaze" (Hi), "Village" (mura)—know I didn't realize this until **_**after**_** I looked up other definitions for Hi.**

**X-X-X**

_Ending Omake: Wedding Gift_

"Oh…wow! Is this…really ours?"

"You…you didn't have to do this, Pops."

"Nonsense! What's the point of being in this position if I can't use my power like this?"

The recently married Uzumaki Azuki and Natsuki were blushing from a mixture of embarrassment and gratitude. Not that they hated their gift. In fact, while they were still engaged, they had discussed getting one for themselves. But they had never expected that upon their return, they'd get it for a gift.

Said gift was a nice little house. Good for a newlywed couple who would want to start their own family with due time—which Azuki was sure Naruto approved of 100 percent.

"I'm sure that having a house built isn't an abuse of power…but for a wedding gift, it's a bit much!" Natsuki said, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"That's my dad. Doing things in a big way even when they don't have to be," Azuki said as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "And here I thought that your agreeing to pay for the wedding setup was your gift to us."

The Rokudaime grinned. "Heh-heh. I fooled you, didn't I?"

"Thank you so very much, Naruto-san! We're eternally grateful!!" His daughter-in-law exclaimed as she bowed her head in respect.

"D-don't say that! He'll use that to say we owe him grandchildren!" Her husband smiled and scratched his head. "But…thanks, Dad."

"There's another part to your gift in the back."

"Really?" The couple asked, but while Natsuki had the bright-eyed appearance of a child in a toy store, Azuki was confused. As his wife walked into the house, followed by the two blondes, he added, "This isn't anything weird, is it? Like…you didn't give us a _maid_ or anything?"

"Eh? A maid? Don't be ridiculous! You should be able to clean up after yourselves," his father said, giving the strawberry blonde an incredulous look.

When they walked onto the veranda in the back, they saw Natsuki staring down at something in her hands. That something turned out to be some sort of shrub.

"A potted plant?" Natsuki asked.

"You give us a house for a gift…then turn around and give us a _plant_?" Azuki spoke flatly as he gave his father a half-lidded stare.

"It's meant for decoration," Naruto replied in an equally flat tone.

"I thought potted bamboo was everyone's idea of a good plant gift."

"Excuse me for wanting to be unique! If you want, I could take back the house and get you a potted bamboo plant."

"Alright, alright! Don't have a stroke…! Sheesh!"

Natsuki smiled. "It's sort of cute."

"It looks dead," Azuki commented.

"It always looks like that."

"So you gave us a dead plant."

"It doesn't need a lot of attention is all! It's part cactus. You never _could_ appreciate gardening…"

Natsuki hooked her arm around Azuki and nudged him in the ribs. "Thank you very much, Naruto-san!"

"Yeah… Thanks… You really are a great dad."

**X-X-X**

"I'm so sorry…" Sakura mumbled as she and Naruto stood in front of the house, five years later. She didn't think things would get so bad for the two of them. It was bad enough that Natsuki's family despised the fact that their daughter married a shinobi and made her come home, but Azuki spent five years alone in a house that was meant to be for them both before he went MIA during the battle with the Asura.

"It's a shame," Naruto mumbled with his eyes closed. "It's a waste of a good gift…"

**X-X-X**

**Blu: Well, I'm finished. These chapters may be short, but I'm glad. Sometimes, I feel like my chapters are too long. Hopefully, the action in the next chapter will satisfy you readers. So I hope you enjoyed this fic and will decide to review.**


	68. Living Demonic Inferno: Nibi no Nekomata

**Blu: I'M ALIVE!!!**

**Naruto: Yeah, yeah.**

**Nataro: That's great.**

**Kazemaru: We missed you.**

**Blu: (Sweatdrops) I'm not exactly feeling the love right now… I mean, my summer's just begun. I thought I'd get more love from you guys for being diligent and posting this chapter! It took a hell of a long time to finish! You'd best appreciate it and review! REVIEW, I SAY!!!**

**Hanzo: Uh, Blu? Didn't you have something to announce to the readers?**

**Blu: Huh? Oh, right! Now open on Blu Rose's author page is a new poll: which team do YOU prefer? Team 7 or Team 14? If you're gonna vote on the poll, remember to review and say why you like the team you chose. Okay? Now on to the fic! **

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic. (If she did, would the fans still be watching?)_

**X-X-X**

_#68: Living Demonic Inferno: Nibi no Nekomata!_

"_A cat's rage is beautiful, burning with pure cat flame, all its hair standing up and crackling blue sparks, eyes blazing and sputtering."_

It was dark and it was drizzling. The wind wasn't strong, but it was cold enough to make her shiver. The only thing keeping her warm were her little kitty friends, whose numbers always seemed to dwindle for one reason or another—someone would pick them up, they would wind up walking over cliffs to their deaths, or they simply wandered off after losing interest in her. But she had grown used to this. This was her life, for as long as she could remember in her short time of existence. Her earliest memories were of her parents, of blood and pain, kitties and fire that felt painful and pleasurable at the same time.

She looked up and through her dark bangs, she saw a little boy standing in front of her. His skin was as pale as the moon that was hidden behind the clouds at the moment, but even in the darkness, she could make him out. He held an umbrella over his head. He couldn't have been any older than her. Why wasn't he with his loving family at this time of night, she wondered?

Why, could this be a kindred spirit? Another like her whose life seemed to be rife with misery and loneliness? She wanted to hope and pray, but it had been so long that she forgot how to do such things. Had she honestly sunk so low…?

**X-X-X**

It was nighttime in Konohagakure. It was still early, though, so there were plenty of people in the streets and in the restaurants—and of course, in the bars. But rather than spend the early evening amongst the crowd, Akasha found herself wandering through the park. She hadn't gone back to Nataro's apartment since she left Naruto in the afternoon. She'd spent most of the day wandering around, somewhat dazed and confused by her own actions.

'_Is there…something wrong with me? There must be.'_ The red-haired girl thought as she stared down at the cobblestone road. _'This couldn't simply be depression or worry… So then…'_ She held a hand to the choker on her neck with a somber expression. _'Could it be…Akash…?'_ She looked up and saw Masaru standing in the middle of the way, staring up at the sky. "Huh?" She looked up and saw nothing but the stars and the moon in the night sky.

'_The sky…'_ He raised a hand up to the sky, up to the moon the reflected in his eyes. _'It never seems to change. How I wish…'_ He closed his hand and closed his eyes. "_'When I leave this world, the only thing I'll regret leaving is the sky_'." He then dropped his hand and happened to look in Akasha's direction. He blushed in embarrassment for a moment before he stared at her. "You're…the Asura girl."

Akasha flinched. _'He knows what I am?'_

"Akasha, right? Nataro-kun talked about you a lot."

"Mm?" _'He called him __**'-kun'**__. Common manners says that when people call each other '-kun', they are in a superior-subordinate relationship or are close friends. So…'_ "You're a friend of Nataro-san!" The red-haired girl exclaimed cheerfully with a smile.

"Friend…? Well…I've only been on a few missions with him, so…I'm more like an acquaintance of Nataro-kun's," the blue-eyed raven said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh."

"But you know…" Masaru began as he walked towards the Asura girl. "I think we're very much alike."

"Huh?"

"Wanting to be accepted…"

"Wha?" A large red question mark floated over Akasha's head. "What are you talking about…?"

"Eh… Never mind. I guess what I was trying to ask was…if you wanted to come with me to eat somewhere. That is if you haven't eaten already—"

"Okay!" The red-haired girl chirped with a blush on her cheeks, grabbing hold of Masaru's hand. "Let's go to Hagakure!"

"Hagakure? That's that ramen place, isn't it?"

"Mm-hm! We can get a Hagakure Special~!" Akasha swooned, little hearts floating around her head. "It's been so long since I last had one of those…!"

"Um, I'm not exactly into ramen... They _do_ sell other things aside from ramen, right? I want gyoza or soba…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in the town of Himura, the Konoha team and Seian jumped along the rooftops, barely seen by the civilians below.

"I still don't see why I can't just use my Kage Bunshin to scout for 'em," Nataro said with a frown and half-lidded eyes.

"We have Konjo's Byakugan to do the scouting for us," Ina explained slowly, as if speaking to a child. "So stop complaining and leave it to him." While the blonde fumed and stuck his tongue out at her, the Uchiha added, "Well, Konjo? Do you see anyone in black cloaks?"

"…To the northwest. Three of them," Konjo spoke with his Byakugan activate. "It looks like they're talking to a girl…"

Seian flinched visibly. "They found her? So quickly?"

**X-X-X**

In another part of Himura, the three cloaked shinobi Hitsuke, Ichinisan and Tetsuotome had managed to corner Koneko. Most of the people who had been nearby quickly ran off, but a few stayed behind to witness the confrontation.

"So we meet again, Nibi no Nekomata. Why don't you do us the pleasure of letting us mark you…before you burn _this_ town down, too?" Hitsuke said with a smirk.

"Did…that guy say what I think he said?" One of the people standing nearby asked.

"That girl couldn't have burned all those places down…! She doesn't look like a shinobi…" Said another.

"N-no! Th-that wasn't my fault! _You_ started all those fires!!" Koneko stuttered, pressing her back against the wall.

"As much as I'd _love_ to take credit for all those _beautiful_ infernos, you're the only person who can make those lovely, otherworldly blue flames…!" Hitsuke continued. "Or should I say, you're the only _demon_, Nekomata? Unless there's another _demon_ running around and setting fires? Is there, Ichinisan?"

"There is the Yonbi…but that's all the way in Tsuchi no Kuni."

"There! Ya see, my pretty little pussy cat? You're not a victim—you're a suspect!"

The civilians' whispers seemed a bit louder now. "They're kidding! They can't honestly be serious!"

"That girl? A _demon_?"

"Mommy, what's a Nekomata?"

"I-it's nothing, dear. Let's go home, okay?"

Koneko held onto her head, biting her bottom lip. "No…! It…it's not t-true…!" She sank to her knees and began to cry. "I'm not a demon!! What gives you the right to say such things, huh?!"

"Hee-hee! Looks like the pussy cat has some fire, now!" Tetsuotome said, baring a deceptive smile. "If you wanna know, we've known what you were from the beginning. Since that little accident in Kumogakure…"

"Kumo…gakure? Is that some sort of ninja village?"

"You oughta know: it was your home, wasn't it?"

"H-home? I…"

The female cloaked ninja frowned under her hood as she folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot. "Y'know, I _really_ didn't expect for a Bijuu to be so…_pathetic_. Losing your memory from a bump on the head? Forgetting that it's your destiny to destroy all in flames? I'll give you points for surviving, but…"

"I…"

**X-X-X**

"_St-stay back!"_

"_Tamae! Get back here! The road's unsteady! TAMAE!!!"_

"_G-get away from me you—GUH!!"In a flash, a flaming hand slashes across a man's torso. Blood spills on the ground, the stains on the hand dry up and burn away as if they were insignificant._

"_TAMAE!!!"_

"_Hold it! One more step and I'll cause an avalanche! …Don't think I mean it? I __**swear**__ I'll do it! …You asked for it, you freak!!" Hand signs are made, hands are pressed against the wall of the mountain, and it suddenly begins to shake. A landslide of rocks and boulders began. She finds herself being pushed off the edge, crushed beneath their weight._

"_**No…! This is how I'll die…?"**__ A voice hisses, in pain. __**"I refuse…to die because of a weakling like…you…!"**_

**X-X-X**

"Days later, once the mess from that little avalanche incident was cleared, the body of a girl was found. They thought she was _dead_—she sure as hell _looked_ like it until she started to move," Tetsuotome spoke with a grin. "Next thing you know, through some _twist_ of fate, she loses her memory, gets a job as a waitress, and no one is none the wiser that there's a demon in their midst!"

"Demon… I…remember…" She slowly removed her hands from her head. "All the pain and suffering I've endured over the years…I can pay BACK!!!" Her eyes became yellow and green and her entire body suddenly caught aflame with blue fire. The flames took on the form of a sort of cloak that surrounded her like an ethereal aura. "You'll be the first ones to feel my sorrow!!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" The civilians nearby screamed and began to run away while the three cloaked figures jumped away from her.

"Awww, Kitty Cat finally admits it!! That means we can get this _over with_!!" Tetsuotome said with disturbing smile as she held up a fist.

"Hell yes!! I can't wait to get this started!!" Hitsuke exclaimed, grabbing the hilt of his sword with one hand.

"Remember what you have to do," Ichinisan reminded the arsonist nukenin.

"Of course. Tag her, right?" The scarlet-haired man smirked. "That doesn't mean I can't play with her before I do…" He swung his broadsword at the possessed girl as the blade burst into flames, but she grabbed it and held on tightly.

"You fool…! You think the likes of this is enough to defeat _me_? _Me_, who scorched the land and set the sky on fire?!" Koneko growled, narrowing her bi-colored eyes as her grip on the sword tightened.

"You're a bit to full of yourself for a demon in human form… I'm gonna take you down a peg!!" Hitsuke screamed as he flung Koneko up into the air. The flames surrounding the large sword grew and burned in a more frenzied manner until he swung it upwards in a crescent arc. The burning crescent blade hit the former amnesiac and engulfed her in flames, burning away her most of her clothes and revealing part of her underwear. She landed on the roof of a building and proceeded to glare down at the cloaked shinobi. "Well, it looks like it has fire resistance. My only pleasure'll be in putting some cuts on her body," the Kiri nukenin spoke as he licked his lower lip.

"Hey, don't hog the fun!" Tetsuotome said with a laugh as her hand disappeared into her cloak and came out with a scroll. When she whipped it open and pressed a seal on the parchment, the trio was engulfed in smoke.

Koneko bared her teeth as Hitsuke appeared in front of her with a manic grin and his raised sword over his head, Ichinisan appeared on her left with his pupils reduced to slits and a clawed hand raised to slash, and Tetsuotome appeared on her right with a naginata that had an iron ball on the end. They all made to attack when the the swordsman shifted his blade to deflect a barrage of shuriken, the beast-like man took a deep breath and gave a sonic roar that stopped the kunai that were coming towards him, and Tetsuotome simply took it a kunai to the forehead before they all landed back on the ground.

"Not so fast!! If you wanna get to _her—_" Nataro appeared near the cloak shinobi, smirking. "You'll have to go through me!!"

'_Who's __**this**__ fool…?'_ Koneko thought as she stared down at the blonde ninja, who was immediately smacked in the back of the head by Ina as she, Konjo and Seian appeared behind him.

"Ouch!!"

"Idiot!! You aren't supposed to just rush in when there's a situation like this!!" The Uchiha girl chastised her subordinate.

"I couldn't just let her get hurt!!"

"That didn't mean you have to act like a ham!!"

Hitsuke gave the blonde a half-lidded stare. "Oh. It's the Kyuubi again."

"Still on two tails, foxy?" Tetsuotome taunted, laughing behind her hand.

Nataro glared at the trio. "The name's Nataro! Not that you guys are gonna live long enough to use it."

"He talks big. But can he back it up?" The silver-haired girl spoke as she pulled the kunai out of her head, leaving just a hole with no blood whatsoever gushing out. She gingerly touched the hole, much to the surprise of the Konoha ninja. "You went and ruined my head! I'm so gonna kill you…!"

"I'm not the only one who saw that…right?" Nataro asked no one in particular. "No one? Okay."

"What's with all these people showing up?" Koneko spoke up, getting the newcomers' attention. "Most people would be smart to run away, but you're all like moths to flames."

"Uh!" Seian visibly flinched. "She's…done it again…!"

Konjo stared at the flaming girl in awe, Byakugan active. "I can't believe it…! This chakra doesn't feel human! Sh-she's on fire and she's acting like everything's normal!"

"Don't tell me she's like that guy from the other time…" Ina groaned.

"She's done this before…" Seian spoke up. "And every time…she causes so much damage. Someone always seems to get hurt."

The dark-skinned girl gave a wide, malicious smile, showing her jagged fangs and canines to the Konoha group. "You again, huh? You're a pest, you know…" She began to shake with irritation. "You just keep following me and stalking me. Ah, flame and shadow are just one of the inseparable pairs in this world. For every light, there is a darkness…but I have my own darkness and my own anger. _I only need you for an anger outlet_!!" She took a deep breath and spat out a large blue fireball in their direction. The teenagers immediately jumped out of the way and Seian reappeared on top of the roof a few feet away from Koneko. "All things are on fire. The eye is on fire; forms are on fire; consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the eye are on fire!"

"Koneko! Tamae…! You need to stop this! You aren't like this!" The Kumo shinobi persisted.

"Tamae isn't here! Koneko never existed! All there is ME!!!" Tamae shrieked as a trail of blue flames ran towards Seian. He jumped up into the air to avoid being hit, but Tamae appeared behind him and drove her hand into his stomach from the back. Seian dropped down onto the roof with the scorched hole in his back, drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness.

'_Ta…Tamae…!'_

"Seian!!" Nataro exclaimed.

"Kaoru," Ina stated as the red-haired medic adjusted his glasses.

"It doesn't _look_ like she hit anything important from here, but from this distance, I'm not sure of the damage."

"Then what're you waiting for?! Go heal him!!" Nataro growled as a cloak of red chakra began to form around him.

Kaoru glared at the blonde. "I _would_ if that creepy girl wasn't so close to him! And what the hell's wrong with you?!" He shouted upon getting a good look at the blonde.

Nataro rubbed his temples as he bared his canines. "Damn it…! Guess it's up to _me_ again!" He jumped onto the roof behind Tamae, who was stepping on Seian's back. "Hey!! You wanna take your anger out on someone, try me!!"

"Be patient!! You're all going to get what's coming to you! Just as soon as I'm done with this one here…!" The pigtailed girl said with a growl as she held up a hand. "First I'll break his spine. Then I'll shatter his kneecaps. Then—" She stopped midway and used her raised hand to block a punch from the blonde. "But if you want to die so badly, I'll make you burn slowly!" The flames surrounding her hand began to burn the blonde's hand.

"We'll see about _that_!!" Nataro shouted as he threw the dark-haired girl off the roof and onto the other side of the street. The few people that had been standing over there, watching the flaming girl on the roof were now running away in panic as the black-clad blonde jumped off of the roof and balled up a fist to strike Tamae.

"Hitsuke. Your target—" Ichinisan began.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Beat the shit out of the Kyuubi before it kills the Nibi," Hitsuke finished as he hoisted his blade onto his shoulder and jumped onto the roof.

"Hold it!!" Ina shouted as she threw a kunai at the nukenin. It grazed his cheek and made him glare down at the Uchiha.

"Ahhh, it's _you_! Don't worry, Uchiha-chan—we'll finish what we've started once I bag my prize." He jumped off of the roof to the other side of the street, where Nataro and Tamae were grappling and biting each other. Hitsuke got into a fighting stance before Ina came out of nowhere and kicked him in the face. The scarlet-haired man stumbled to the side, but regained his footing and looked at the young jonin with a smirk. "What's wrong, babe? You can't wait? Are you a glutton for _pain_?"

"I won't let you hurt either one of them!" Ina spoke as she reached into her back pouch with one hand.

"Great! I'll hurt _you_ instead!!" Hitsuke exclaimed as he suddenly swung his sword at the raven-haired girl, but she back flipped up into the air to avoid being hit and threw a set of kunai at his feet that had bomb notes attached to them. The kunai exploded, sending the scarlet-haired man through the wall of a home. Seconds later, the man who was lying down inside got out of his bed and ran out the door before Hitsuke's body began to radiate flame and set fire to the home.

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed as Hitsuke walked out of the burning home, his shadowy outline looking like a sort of demon. _'This guy's dangerous in a small place like this.'_ An explosion sounded from the direction where Nataro and Tamae were fighting. The flaming girl had Nataro on the ground on his stomach inside of a small crater, holding his arm behind his back while shoving her knee into his spine.

"First I'll…crush your…_spine_…! Then I'll break…your _neck_!" The Nibi host growled, pushing her knee deeper into into Nataro's back.

"Will you SHUT UP?!?" The blonde chunin roared when he suddenly found the strength to hit her in the face with the back of his head, got on his knees, and fell back, crushing the pigtailed girl beneath him. He then jumped up into the air and held up a hand. A Rasengan began to form in the palm of his hand, its blue shell turned purple from mixing with the cloak of red chakra. "Rasengan!!" He shouted as he came down and slammed the chakra sphere into the dark-skinned girl's stomach. The blonde smirked until Tamae suddenly raised her leg and kicked the blonde in the side hard enough to make him flinch. She sat up to headbutt Nataro, and then threw him off of her.

"GRRRRR!!!" The cloak of blue flame began to grow and began to resemble the outline of a large bipedal cat with a long tail of flame. Tamae took a deep breath, puffing her semi-exposed chest out before she blew out a large blue fireball that appeared to have a face. _'Katon: Hitodama (Fire Style: Spirit Fireball)!!'_ The fireball hit Nataro and seemed to engulf him.

"Nataro!!" Ina shouted before Hitsuke ran past her, slashing her in the side as he did. She almost faltered and held onto the wound, which appeared to be slightly scorched.

'_This is starting to piss me off!'_ "HEY!!!" The scarlet-haired man shouted, making the flaming girl turn around so he could slash at her twice. He held up a gloved hand and the glowing symbol for _'Ni'_ appeared on the back of his hand for a moment before he slammed it into her chest and made her stumble back. "Done!!"

At the same time, Konjo was trying to fight off Ichinisan and Tetsuotome on his own while Kaoru was kneeling over the injured Seian, healing the injury in his back.

"I see no point in doing any of this," Kaoru muttered he held his hands glowing with green chakra over the Kumo ninja's back. "This guy shouldn't have been here in the first place! He's completely useless… Couldn't even control that monster he thought was a girl…" He flinched. "And Nataro…he's even more of a freak than I thought before. He's like a _monster_!"

On the ground, Konjo had just fallen back in time to avoid a slash to the face from Ichinisan. His eyes widened as he saw Tetsuotome standing over him with the blade of her naginata pointing down at his face. Just as she was about to stab him with it in-between the eyes, the Hyuga balanced on his hand and kicked the naginata away, then twisted his body upward to kick the silver-haired kunoichi in the face in a feat of flexibility before jumping out of the way and easing back into a traditional Jyuken stance.

"This kid's giving us more trouble than he's worth. I'm gonna unleash _the big one_!!" Tetsuotome exclaimed as she pulled out a scroll.

Ichinisan looked at the pale-skinned girl. "How about you don't do that? Save it for something that matters."

"Hup!" Konjo dashed towards the two cloaked shinobi, Byakugan activated. He ducked an attempt at a clothesline from Tetsuotome and was about to strike at Ichinisan with a chakra-powered blow when the dark-skinned man jumped back. His shorter partner was about to elbow him in the back of the head when Konjo spun on his heel, ducking as he did, before unleashing an uppercut on the silver-haired girl. He turned and blocked a strike from Ichinisan's hand just as Tetsuotome grabbed hold of him from behind and threw him into a wall.

"Step it up, Konjo!" Kaoru called from up on the roof. "Or do I have to bail you out?"

"Big talk from a _little_ boy…!" Tetsuotome spoke as she picked up a kunai that had fallen on the ground. She threw it up at the medical ninja, but he ducked in time to avoid getting hit in the head and reached into his back pouch as he did. "Why don't you come down here and _try_ to fight like a man?"

"No thanks. I'll stay up here." Kaoru began to form a string of hand signs when Tetsuotome appeared before him in midair, smirking. He immediately stopped and threw a small black ball at the kunoichi that hit her in the face and exploded, releasing a pea green liquid that got into her eyes and began to sizzle.

"KYAAAAH!!! MY EYES!!!" She fell to the ground and landed on her back. "Shit!! I can't see a thing!!"

Kaoru smirked as he fixed up his glasses. "_That_ was corrosive acid. Though I'm surprised that the only thing wrong with you is your sight… I hate to hurt females…especially little girls, but you left me no choice."

Ichinisan hurried over to Tetsuotome and helped her to stand up. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay! I just can't see! I need that freak Masui to fix me up…"

The red-haired medic's eyes widened a bit. _'Masui…?!'_ He was brought out of his shock when he noticed Hitsuke had appeared beside his partners.

"I'm done here. Nibi's been marked. But I think the Kyuubi's been smoked."

"Hitsuke…!" Ichinisan growled.

"Hey, _I_ didn't do it. Blame the cat. Whoa, what happened to _you_…?"

Tetsuotome raised her head and opened eyes to reveal semi-empty sockets. "Wanna find out for yourself? C'mere!!" She clawed at the Kiri nukenin, but he stepped back from her.

Hitsuke laughed cruelly before he swiftly poked a finger into a socket. "Good! I hated lookin' at those fugging doll eyes of yours!"

Ichinisan sniffed the air and looked over to the right. Blue flames were beginning to consume the town as the panicking people that had been living there began to leave in whatever direction the flames weren't raging on in. But a few weren't so lucky and wound up being trapped within their homes as they burned to the ground. "We need to leave."

"Huh? But I didn't even get into the mood!!" The scarlet-haired ninja complained. He noticed Konjo standing up out of the corner of his eye and smirked until the dark-skinned man grabbed his shoulder.

"No time. We've done what we came here to do. Let's leave." Ichinisan disappeared along with Tetsuotome in the blink of an eye.

Hitsuke sucked his teeth in disdain. "That's _twice_. Damn it, when am I gonna have some fun?!" He growled before disappearing as well.

"What just happened?" Konjo growled as his Byakugan deactivated.

"Hey!! We've got a problem!!" Kaoru shouted.

"I know… This town's burning down!"

"Not just that! The girl who caused all this is starting to freak out!"

Seian began to stir and get up slowly. "Ta…Tamae…?"

Kaoru looked down at the Kumo boy with a half-lidded stare. "About time you woke up. Your _'friend'_ appears to be having a panic attack."

"What?"

"GYAAAAH!!!" Tamae cried as she pulled her hair loose from its ponytails, clenching her teeth. "Why won't you _die_?!"

"Has she gone nuts or something?" Kaoru asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What's she talking about…?" Konjo mumbled. He activated his Byakugan and blinked. "Oh…wow."

"What?"

"Nataro."

"What about that freak?"

"I don't think you should say things like that when Nataro's looking the way he does now…"

From the raging blue inferno, a figure was visible. Said figure set foot out of the flames, outline shadowed over by the ethereal light and eyes a bloody shade of red. Nataro looked downright demonic standing there with his teeth bared and the cloak of red chakra outlined in the shape of a fox. A single tail had formed, but that was beginning to split.

"Nataro…?" Ina mumbled as she held onto her injury.

"You're like me… So why the _hell_ are you doing this?! Shouldn't you want the same thing as me?!" Tamae shouted as she pointed a finger at him.

"I'm not…like you!! So quit your bitching and grow up!!"

The Nekomata's eye twitched as a vein throbbed on her head. "Do you think…you're better than me? You do, don't you? Because here you are, lecturing me, as if you know everything. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: _I_ _hate life_—mine's, yours, everybody in this damn wretched world!! We'd _ALL_ be happier if we were dead, because we're all heading towards _MAJOR _pain down the way!!"

"So you're suicidal. Big whoop. Don't drag all of us down with you just 'cuz you're afraid to die alone!" The blonde growled.

Tamae's eye twitched and she grabbed hold of her head as she felt a throbbing pain. "DAMN IT!!! Quit thinking you're all that!! I'm gonna…! I'm gonna…! URRRGH!!!" She doubled over, gritting her teeth as the flames surrounding her began to consume her entirely, growing in size and hiding her body from sight. She fell onto her hands as the flames began to look more like a cat and the single tail divided into two.

"I won't allow you to interfere any longer, you confused wretch. Life truly is wasted on humans like yourself," the Nibi no Nekomata spoke as it pressed its body down against the ground. It opened its mouth and what appeared to be a small blue fireball began to form inside it. The fireball began to grow in size until it was as big as a house.

'_Shit!'_ Ina thought as she pushed aside the thoughts of her injury and blocked out the pain to pull out a scroll and a folded Fuma shuriken appeared in a puff of smoke. She immediately grabbed the handle, dug her foot into the ground and threw the Fuma shuriken at the flaming bijuu. But it was easily smacked back at her with a whip of the beast's tails. The raven-haired girl stepped out of the way in time to avoid getting another injury.

"First, I'll burn this entire village down to the ground and kill everyone here. Then perhaps I'll go back to Kumogakure and do what I wish Yugito had done and burn it down, too." The Nekomata spoke, not hindered by the giant fireball in its mouth. "But first, I'll end you!!" It fired the fireball at the black-clad blonde, just as the tail behind him split into three.

Nataro took a deep breath and gave a loud sonic roar. "RAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The force of the roar pushed against the fireball until it exploded, setting what little of the block remained on fire.

**X-X-X**

Back in Konoha, in Hagakure, Masaru stared down at large empty bowl in front of Akasha that once held a Hagakure Special. His eyes were little blue dots and his mouth hung open, missing putting the piece of gyoza into his mouth. _'That's amazing! That looked like almost a dozen bowls put into one! I thought Inahime ate a lot…but __**this**__ girl could probably put a sumo to shame!'_

"Hmmm…" Akasha hummed with a pout, cupping her hands together.

The young jonin's attention switched from the bowl to the girl. "Is something wrong? Do you have a stomachache?" _'It'd be a miracle if you didn't from eating all that ramen…'_

"That wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped it would be." Akasha slumped a bit. "Is it because Nataro-san isn't here to enjoy it with me? I can't seem to help but worry about him now whenever he goes away…"

"Hm? There's no need to worry, I'm sure. Nataro-kun is…a strong ninja. I've only been on a few missions with him and he can take care of himself…even if it's in an odd way." _'Should I tell her how he turned an Asura to ashes? Unless she'd be offended by that…?'_

"I know… But he always overdoes it. I wish I knew why. I couldn't stand it if he came back all bruised up like the last time."

"Really?" _'Nataro-kun's lucky. I wish I had someone to worry about me back home...'_ The raven-haired teen thought, looking down at his hand. "I'm sure he has his reasons. What's it called…? A nindo?"

The Asura girl looked at him in confusion. "Nindo? What's that?"

"I was told…a nindo is a shinobi's way of life, their motto, their dream. It can be just about anything, no matter how immoral it is. Maybe Nataro-kun's way of life is to go at everything with 110 percent of what he's got."

"And you?"

"Huh?"

"You. What's your _nin-do_?"

"Mine? Well, uh…" Masaru looked out of his eye. "I don't have one. Embarrassing, huh? A jonin as young as me without dreams…"

Akasha looked down, pouting. "I have dreams… Just not in the same sense as you put it. I know Nataro-san's dream is to become the Hokage, but…he doesn't talk about that as much anymore." _'Dreams, huh? What does he dream about now?'_

**X-X-X**

"Ughhh…" Ina slowly blinked her eyes open and realized that she was smelling smoke. She was laying on the ground, with Kaoru smirking down at her in a creepy manner, his glasses shining. Although it didn't frighten her, having someone hover over her upon waking up made her react how she usually did in such situations. She punched him in the face—or at least tried to. Kaoru easily pulled his head back to avoid getting hit.

"I can tell that you're one of those people who hate being disturbed when they sleep," the red-haired medic noted with a frown as the raven-haired girl sat up and began grasping at the empty air in the back of her head where her ponytail had been set. Which was odd, because she couldn't feel her loose hair hanging on her shoulders.

"Before you say anything, you should know that this fire doesn't stop burning once it starts. Seian said it himself," Konjo explained, scratching his head. "So, uh… We didn't have a choice."

"Why _didn't_ you have a choice, Konjo…?" Ina spoke slowly.

"Well, your hair—the ponytail, actually—got…set on fire. But we cut it off, so no harm done!"

"What?!" Ina reached into her pouch and pulled out a kunai. She tried her best to see how her hair had been cut. It now reached her neck in the back, but the bangs that framed her face had remained. _'It's gonna take me forever to grow it all back.'_ She looked at the indigo-haired Hyuga. "Where's Nataro?"

The ground shook for a moment. "Oh, he's nearby…" Kaoru mumbled, fiddling with his glasses.

"Well, what're we waiting for?! We need to assist him!" The Uchiha exclaimed as she got to her feet and looked at their surroundings. It appeared as if they weren't in the town anymore. Now they were on the outskirts, where the townspeople had gathered to watch the blue-flamed inferno that their town had become. "Why the hell are we out here?!"

"Inahime… You weren't awake for a while, so you didn't get to see the incredible amount of damage Nataro caused while trying to prevent that flaming cat from doing damage… I doubt you know why it's best to just let _him_ take care of things," Kaoru spoke.

"You're…_kidding_. Just because he was the one who delivered the last blow that killed an Asura, that doesn't mean he's capable of S-rank damage!"

"He destroyed an entire block, Ina! Or…what would equal for a block!" Konjo whispered into his squad leader's ear, not sure if the people should hear that one of the ninjas they hired was actually helping destroy their home.

"Is that a joke?"

"I don't think that's a joke…"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, within the burning village, Nataro, protected in the three-tailed cloak of the Kyuubi, was holding back the raging Nibi no Nekomata's claws—which were white hot and sure to leave a scar even if the burn healed. It opened its mouth to apparently unleash another blast of fire, so the blonde summoned up an incredibly amount of strength to flip it over onto its back. At that moment, it breathed out a stream of blue flames that rose up to the sky before fading away.

"When are you gonna realize that you can't beat me?!" Nataro growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"I'm the one who should be saying such things!!" The two-tailed cat roared as it tried to swipe its claws at the blonde chunin, but wound up swatting at air. It looked up in time to get grabbed by a pair of large chakra hands and thrown up into the air.

Nataro landed in the spot where the Nibi had been, holding out a hand. A Rasengan began to form in the palm of his hand while he bared his canines. "I've had enough of you and your complaining!! Let's end this!!" The Rasengan began to grow larger.

"You insignificant waste of space!! I won't show you anymore mercy!!" The Nibi roared as balls of blue flame began to circle around its body while it was in the air. The balls began to grow in size until they were about as big as an average human being. "NOW DIE!!!" The fireballs were launched at the black-clad blonde, spinning around and leaving a comet-like trail behind them. Nataro jumped up into the air with a roar, heading up towards the comet-like fireballs until they made impact and exploded. The Nekomata appeared to give a twisted smile—or the closest it could get to one…until it was smacked to the ground by a large claw of chakra, making it form a smoking crater where some homes once stood. _'What's this…? St-stop pulling me back, you wretched…! GAH!!!'_ The Nibi's blue flames began to dissipate, both from its host's body and from the surrounding area.

'_Is this…the end…?'_ Tamae thought as she looked up at the sky with dull eyes. She could see Nataro coming down towards her, holding a large Rasengan with bloodlust in his eyes and a disturbing sharp-toothed smirk. _'It's about time…'_ She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

"OODAMA RASENGAN!!!"

**X-X-X**

"_Here you go. One fugu sashimi,' said the man behind the counter as he set down the plate of sashimi set up to resemble chrysanthemum._

"_Mmm…!" She picked up her chopsticks and began to immediately eat the slices of fish._

"_I can't believe you can eat that knowing it could be poisonous," said the boy sitting next to her._

"_You've got no balls. Real shinobi shouldn't fear a thing as minor as death. In fact, when the time comes, I'll welcome it. Hell, I'll look forward to it."_

_He turned his head to assumedly look at her. Who could tell when his bangs hid his eyes like that? "You don't hear many normal people saying that. In fact, some would think it's sort of creepy—" He took a punch in the face as soon as he said that._

"_Moron!! Being unafraid to die does __**not**__ make me creepy!!"_

"_You're right… But that's just what normal people would think. Death isn't exactly a thing that people look forward to."_

"_Yeah, well, people are stupid." She got a far off look in her eyes. "The afterlife is supposed to be a wonderful place, right? Paradise. Anyone who doesn't want to see paradise as soon as they can…they're stupid."_

**X-X-X**

"Damn it!! I've had enough of just waiting!!" Ina shouted as she ran towards the village as smoke rose from it.

"So have I," said Seian as he followed her.

"What the hell?!" Kaoru shouted when he and Konjo ran after the dark-haired shinobi. "Are you two aware that a pair of monstrosities is clashing like something out of a bad monster movie?!"

"Shut up, Kaoru!! One of them's your teammate!! And Konoha shinobi never abandon their comrade!!"

"I never wanted him to be my teammate!! I mean—!" Kaoru stopped speaking as he noticed the flames engulfing the village began to fade and smolder. "It stopped? Did they kill each other?"

The four shinobi ran towards the village entrance, but stopped when they saw a cloaked figure walking down the scorched path, carrying an unconscious Nataro and Tamae on his back.

'_Geez, these two are heavier than they look…!' _The cloaked man thought as he walked. "Once again, you managed to disappoint me, Kyuubi. You didn't even go up to the fourth tail again, let alone the fifth. How can I accomplish my goal if you make me look so bad? And this is no way for a frightening bijuu to be acting. I thought I had to stop you from killing the Nibi, but you just wound up fainting… Pathetic."

"Hold it right there!!"

"Hm?" The cloaked man easily stepped out of the way of a kunai that had been thrown at him. He looked at Ina, Seian, Kaoru, and Konjo as they stood a few feet away. "Ah, so the cavalry finally arrives. 'Bout time. I was getting tired…" He threw the two bijuu hosts at the four young ninja. Ina caught Nataro while Seian caught Tamae. "Of carrying those two. See ya." He disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Who…was _that_?" Kaoru asked no one in particular, arching an eyebrow. "He was wearing the same thing as those ninja who were attacking that monster girl. But why would he do something like carry her and Nataro if he was with them…?"

"Kaoru! Come here! Nataro isn't waking up!" Ina called over her shoulder. She continued to slap him in the face and pull on his cheek. "Hey!! Moron!! Wake up!! If you can survive killing a monster with only burns, you can survive this!!"

Konjo sweatdropped. "I-ina… Shouldn't you be a bit more…_gentle_ in this sort of situation…?"

**X-X-X**

The next day, in the so-called camp that had been set near the burned down site of Himura, Ina stood over the sleeping Nataro while he drooled and rolled along the ground. _'Here he is…looking like nothing happened…'_ She thought as she stared down at him with half-lidded eyes and a vein throbbed on her forehead. _'For all the trouble he caused yesterday…!'_ She tapped her foot with her arms folded across her chest for a moment before raising her foot over his pelvis, right about his family jewels and…

Nearby, the cry of "AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" that came from the blonde teen woke up Tamae and anyone within the vicinity.

"Wuh…? What the—?" The dark-haired girl looked around in confusion. "This ain't paradise…" A vein throbbed on her forehead as she bared her slightly sharper than normal teeth. "WHAT THE HELL _IS_ THIS?!?" All eyes nearby seemed to go on Tamae—even Nataro, who was rolling on the ground with his hands between his legs and tears in his eyes.

"Damn it…! I don't need this so early in the morning…! It's bad enough seeing _your_ ugly face in the morning, but the chick who obsesses about death is freaking out and I think you busted one of my balls~!"

"Quit complaining or I'll bust the _other_ one!" Ina growled, raising her foot to make the threat seem real. The blonde chunin immediately flinched at the sight of the foot and kicked the raven in her leg.

"C-cut that out!! Dirty tactics like that shouldn't be done by jonin!!"

"All tactics are allowed in battle! Unless you want me to stomp on your chest and see if it's possible to give you cardiac arrest that way!"

"Y-you're not gonna do _any_ such thing, you—GUH!!!" Nataro was silenced as a foot came down on his stomach. But it wasn't Ina's. It was Tamae's.

"Hey! What's the big deal? You were supposed to kill me! Why'd you have to wuss out at the last minute, you _pussy_?!" The former Kumogakure kunoichi shouted as she continued stomping on the blonde. "Stupid! Useless! USELESS!!!"

"Hey!! Knock it off! He's injured—he doesn't need that sort of thing right now!" Ina commanded.

Nataro glared up at the raven-haired girl with half-lidded eyes. "Really…? Take your own freaking advice, why don'tcha?!" He then glared up at Tamae. "And you!! Get the hell over yourself and try to find a positive reason to live your life instead of finding a buncha crappy reasons to die!! Both of you are giving me a _headache_…!"

Ina arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"What'd you say?! Who the hell do you think you are?! You can't talk to me like that!!" Tamae growled as the air seemed to get warmer. "GRRRR!!! GET UP!!! I'll pound your face black and blue!!"

"My head hurts…among other things…! I'm in no mood to play punching bag today. If you wanna get into something with me, I swear that _this time_, I'll break something—_permanently_!" Nataro grunted.

"Is there something wrong with you?" His raven-haired captain asked.

"I feel cranky…and snappish…with undertones of violent outbursts if she doesn't stop glaring at me like that," Nataro spoke flatly as he folded his arms across his chest. "Y'know, even if your life was crappy and you wanna end it all, you should really think about the guy who risked his ass trying to save you from your anger and your actions."

Tamae gave him a half-lidded gaze. "Say what?"

"Seian seems to think your life's worth it to risk being burned and gutted alive by criminal shinobi _and_ you. And even if only one person in this big, cruel world wants you around, you should be grateful it's someone like him."

"Say _what_?"

"Are you _deaf_?! Think about your friend before you start spewing off things like _'I wanna die'_ or _'Life's a waste'_!! Think about how much he cares for you, what he's done for you, and _then_ see if life's still such a waste!!" Nataro screamed, pointing a finger at the dark-skinned girl. "Well?!" She didn't say anything back. She just stared at the ground while biting the inside of her cheek. "Got nothing to say? Good!! Now, I'm going back to sleep. If anybody disturbs me, I'll unleash hell upon them!! Night-night."

"Oh, no you don't!!" Ina exclaimed as she grabbed Nataro's ear and pulled on it. "We've been waiting for you two to get up all morning so we can guide these townspeople to the next town! They played the guilt card and decided that we should at least protect them on the way to the next safe town since we couldn't prevent this one from being burned down…" She sweatdropped.

"OWWWW!!! What, what, what?! Another mission lumped on top of another?! And a boring one?!"

"Don't complain when you helped destroy the place!"

"That wasn't on purpose, so it shouldn't count!"

"It _does_ count, you moron!!"

From a distance, Kaoru fiddled with his glasses while Konjo sweatdropped while the blonde and raven butted heads. _'I can't believe I feared this guy…! If he's a monster, he's __**pathetic**__ one…!'_ The medic thought with a sigh.

Seian looked at Tamae, expressionless as usual.

**X-X-X**

And so, the two Kumo shinobi broke away from the Konoha shinobi and the once-again homeless townspeople. There were no sad goodbyes, no hugs and kisses. Just Nataro grinning like an idiot, saying that he was glad to be of service—which got him glares from his teammates—and telling Seian to keep a close eye on Tamae, followed by Tamae threatening to beat up Nataro if she ever saw him in Rai no Kuni. This led to the two arguing for minutes until they broke it off, the blonde telling her to keep her nose clean and stop being violent since violent girls were unattractive—and he was saying this while staring at Ina, who chose not to react.

"So…you _really_ came all this way to look after me?" Tamae asked as she walked beside Seian while the Konoha shinobi became mere dots behind them. "What are you—some kind of stalker?" She added with an arched eyebrow and a slightly sickened expression.

"I was worried about you," the dark-haired boy stated

"What for? I've already told you that I welcome my death."

"I know. _I_ just haven't…" At this, the dark-skinned girl stared at him in confusion. "I think it's the same selfishness one feels when someone they know is on the verge of a painful death. Even when they can't control it, some demand for a way that person to be saved—anyway at all."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I guess…because we're friends. Friends do that sort of thing, right? We worry about each other's physical and mental health."

"Friends…? Do you do that with your team?"

"I guess…"

"You guess, you think! Is that all you do?!" Tamae growled as she jumped up and performed a spin kick, aiming for Seian's head, but she wound up hitting hitting his open palm instead. She landed on her feet, sucking her teeth and looking at the ground. "So what? I owe you now?"

The dark-haired teen dropped his hand. "No. Just promise me you won't leave again. It's awful when the only person you have to talk to is Hotaru."

The dark-skinned girl looked away, forcing herself to frown while she slapped Seian in the back of the head. "You're an idiot…"

"Maybe…that Nataro guy was right when he said you should stop being so violent."

"_What'd you say…_? Don't say that idiot's name in front of me!! If _ever_ see him again, I'll unleash the hammer of fury on his blonde ass!!"

"ACHOO!!" Nataro sniffled and rubbed his nose. "I think I'm catching a cold…"

"After being exposed to such intense heat last night, that'd be a surprise," Konjo told the blonde. "Unless you can get a fever from being too hot...which I don't _think_ you can…" The Hyuga and the blonde looked at Kaoru, who just kept looking ahead.

"I refuse to answer such a stupid question just because I'm a medic."

Nataro gave the redhead a half-lidded glare. "Hanzo would have answered it."

"Well I'm not Hanzo, and you're not human. Guess we both can't have what we want."

"I am _so_ human!"

"Then what was that thing you did last night with that red chakra, and the roaring, and the massive explosions?"

"That was a jutsu!!"

"You're lying. A guy like you couldn't make such a dangerous and effective jutsu!"

"WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?" Nataro roared, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "I'll backhand you, you know! It would take _that_ much to take you out!!"

"You wish…"

"Could you three please try to act like shinobi instead of children?" Said Ina as she looked at her subordinates from over her shoulder.

"We will when you start acting like a girl," Nataro spoke out loud, before adding quietly, "And that new haircut of yours only says otherwise. The only girl who can make short hair look good to me is Sakura-chan…" He immediately flinched, realizing what he said. "I mean…!"

"Sakura? First it's Akasha, now it's _Sakura_? Where do you _find_ these girls?" Kaoru groaned and held a hand to his head. "It's a sign! An omen! All these girls being attracted to Nataro…it means the end is coming!"

"Who…the hell…is Sakura?" Ina slowly asked with an arched eyebrow. She then turned her back on the blonde in a huff. "On second thought, I don't wanna know!" She growled as she fastened her pace.

Konjo sweatdropped. "You're in it deep now…"

"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE, KONJO?!?" Nataro screamed loudly, making the Hyuga flinch. "Ugh…! I'll be glad when I can get a break from these guys…!"

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!!**

**Gyoza are what pot stickers—the name for Chinese dumplings over here that are filled with ground meat and vegetables and eaten with dipping sauce. Soba are thin buckwheat noodles either served chilled with dipping sauce or hot in broth.**

**Hitodama doesn't literally mean fireball, but it is often used to describe the mysterious fireball-like souls of the newly dead and dying.**

**Fugu sashimi is…well…it's sliced up pieces of fugu—better known to us as pufferfish/blowfish/baloonfish or whatever other names they are called around the world, the famous poisonous fish that can be eaten at one's own risk. When cut up, the thin slices of fugu tessa are placed on the plate to resemble the chrysanthemum flower, which is a symbol of death in Japan. (Yay for themes about death!)**

**X-X-X**

_Ending Omake: The Popular Main Team?!_

"HELLO, all you Naruto X lovers!!" Kira exclaimed as he shouted into a mike while standing next to Jiraiya. "The legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya and the even _more_ legendary Mad Genius Kira are on the scene!!"

"Huh? What'd you say about being more legendary than me?" Jiraiya growled as he glared at the younger shinobi. "Have you even come as close as I have to building a reputation?"

"Of course! There are shinobi, daimyo and bounty hunters in many countries—from the ninja-less ones to the five major countries—who seethe and shriek at the mere thought or mention of me! I've done damage to castles, shrines, and tourist attractions—I'm a freaking legend in my own right!" The ex-ANBU said with a broad grin.

The legendary pervert sweatdropped. "I didn't mean a _bad_ reputation…?" _'And he's supposed to be one of the good guys…' _"Uh, why don't we explain what we're doing for this omake?"

"Whatever floats your boat, J-Man." Kira turned to look at the camera. "Recently, Blu Rose put up another poll relating to Naruto X! Last time, it was about the pairings of this story, but this time, we're talking about teams! To be more precise, Blu's asking you—the readers—which team you like more, Naruto's **Team 7** or Naruto X's **Team 14**?"

"This ending segment is to inform the vote on the polls and post their reasons for choosing the team of their choice in their reviews," said Jiraiya. "Personally, I think Team 7 will win. After all, there have been many allusions that they're the successors to the title of Sannin."

"Riiight… And _you_ guys turned out just fine…" Kira mumbled while looking out of the corner of his eye. "Never mind that one's a proud pervert, one's a mad man, and one's a violent drunk Not that you aren't excellent ninja… I mean, I'm not exactly an excellent moral role model either! But then again, _their_ team's looking good right now with one vowing to destroy an entire village for the sins of a bunch of old geezers, one battling his true self and inner darkness like something out of a Persona 4, and the chick's that getting so much hate and under so much pressure that I'm amazed _she_ hasn't snapped yet. No, really. It's okay." After a few seconds, he blinked. "I'm sorry, I kinda blanked out there for a moment. I think I was made into a semi-author avatar."

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow. "_Semi_?"

"Well, I feel that way. I just didn't mean to say it."

The Sannin sweatdropped. "O…kay… Well, why don't we just get on to what we're here to do?"

"Right! Talking to the characters of both series for _their_ opinions on who's the better team!"

**X-X-X**

"We're standing here with one of the most hyped characters in Naruto! A guy who is so mighty and powerful, only a slight bit of his awesomeness could be shown through Kakashi Gaiden and in Shippuden! Not counting the intro, this guy's only had two speaking roles in an arc—and they weren't very long! But nonetheless, he is considered one of the most powerful and fearsome shinobi of Konoha—before _me_ anyway…the legendary YONDAIME HOKAGE!!!" Kira exclaimed while a fake audience cheered in the background.

Minato, who was sitting at a table with his lover Kushina, smiled modestly and scratched the back of his head. "Heh-heh… That's a bit much, don't you think?" He was suddenly slapped in the back by Minato and almost landed face first in what he was eating.

"Don't be so modest! Even fifty years in the future, you'll be famous amongst the kids! Not even the Shodai and Nidaime get that sort of treatment!" Jiraiya said with a grin, unaware of the mourning Shodai and Nidaime Hokage in the background. "And of course, he wouldn't have gotten this far if he didn't have an _excellent_ teacher such as myself!"

"Sensei…"

Kushina puffed up her cheeks in irritation. "Be grateful for the popularity, Minato! I only show up once in the entire manga so far, and fans can't tell if I'm dead or alive!"

Minato flinched. "You're…not alive?"

"NOT EVEN _YOU_ KNOW?!?" The redhead growled, pointing her knife at her lover.

"K-Kushina…!" Minato gulped, leaning away from her.

"Wow… And I thought Sakura-san was scary when she was angry," said Kira. "So, Yondaime-sama, who do you think should win the vote?"

"Well—"

"Of course he's going to choose his son's team!! Have you seen the things my baby's done in the series so far—and he isn't even finished growing as a shinobi! He knows how to make a mother proud…!" Kushina gushed like any mother praising their child does.

"Yeah, well… I admit, he _has_ gotten stronger. And if by some miracle Team 7 _does_ get back together, they'd be a force to reckon with," Minato said with a smile.

**X-X-X**

"Next we have the masters of our competing squads: Hatake Kakashi and the enchanting Asahara Tsuki," Jiraiya spoke as he took up Tsuki's hand. "I bet you're dubbed the most beautiful kunoichi in Konoha in your series, huh?"

Tsuki looked down at the pervert with a half-lidded gaze. "Y'know, I thought it was just a joke when I heard you were a lady chaser… But I now I see that to be true."

"Would it help if I said I feel inspired to take down notes at the sight of you?"

"If you said _that_, I think I'd break your nose…of course, that's just _hypothetical_, right, Jiraiya-sama?" The purple-haired woman said with a disturbing smile that made a chill run down Jiraiya's spine.

"Of course." _'Figures that a girl taught by that Uchiha kid would be the violent sort…!'_

"If you're done trying to seduce Tsu-Tsu, can we get to the question?!" Kira shouted.

"Fine, fine. Sheesh." Jiraiya held out his mic to Kakashi as he read his Icha-Icha Tactics. "So, Kakashi, what do you think your team's chances of winning are?"

The Copy Ninja looked at the Sannin out of the corner of his eye. "Well, no offense to Blu Rose, but Team 7 _is_ the original. Without them, she wouldn't have an idea on what sort of team she wanted to create."

"That's true. But at the same time, she didn't want to make them _exactly_ the same. That was why she made Team 14 three boys who weren't amongst the highest and lowest scoring students. Most people often do that in future stories because they believe the main team should be like Team 7—a stoic genius, an idiot, and a girl with a personality to be named later," said Tsuki.

"Good point."

"You guys realize this is a _popularity contest_, right?" Kira drawled.

"Of course. We just know who's going to win: Team 14."

Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, as I see it, even though your team has battle and killed S-rank shinobi and have their own devastating power, most of the fans now hate two-thirds of them. They hate Sasuke because…well…he's acting like a criminal psychopath. He discarded his new teammates who risked their lives to protect him and he wants to kill one of his old teammates simply to go against his views. And Sakura-chan…even if her heart is in the right place, people seem to consider her a bitch for doing things like saying she loved Naruto when she may not have meant it and knocking out her teammates to try and kill her insane teammate by herself because she was guilted into it and felt she had no other choice yet wound up unable to actually kill. Add to the fact that Karin girl insulted her for her poison poisoning Naruto, and… Kira's right. I'm surprised the poor girl hasn't snapped yet under that pressure."

"Told ya! That's why I love her child," Kira swooned with little hearts floating over his head.

"Well, your squad isn't perfect either. One's a pyromaniac who was held hostage by an arsonist/murderer with a bit of an obsession on the subject, one's almost always having an identity crisis, and who knows what the smart one does when he's not onscreen," said Kakashi.

Tsuki sweatdropped. "True…"

Jiraiya looked at Kira. "I think they'll be voting for their own teams."

"Kinda obvious, huh? We need someone who'll throw the people off! Someone like…!"

**X-X-X**

"I'm not sure if I'll vote for Team 7," said Uchiha Itachi, who because of a lack of eyes was wearing a pair of shades.

Kira blinked. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I was thinking about a comic I saw online of you wearing those exact same glasses…"

"That wouldn't be because Sasuke took your eyes now, would it?" Jiraiya asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Not really. I wanted him to take my eyes. I knew he'd unlock his Mangekyo Sharingan when I died… I wouldn't want him to go blind," Itachi explained.

"That's sweet. Really. If I had siblings, I wouldn't even give them blood, let alone my eyes," Kira sniffled. "No wonder you two are a popular incestuous pairing!"

"So, if it isn't because of the eyes, it must be because he's going against your wishes by attacking Konoha," Jiraiya deduced.

"No duh. After what Madara said about Itachi sacrificing his life and reputation for Konoha's and Sasuke's sake, you'd think he'd respect that. If he were my little brother, I'd haunt him from the grave for this and make him crap himself with _fear_ every day for the rest of his miserable life. But that's just me. But is it fair to judge the entire team on your brother's actions?"

"This poll is about who the more popular _team_ is, right? I have no hatred for my brother or his former teammates, but with the things that have been happening between them…I wouldn't think of them as a team right now."

"What about Sai?"

"Original team."

"Touché." Kira looked at Jiraiya. "How many more people do we have to interview?"

"Let's see… According to the girl by the camera holding the cue cards…a lot more."

"Aw, hell… Wanna go check out the Mizukage? I hear she's got a bangin' body for a spinster." _'And I could go for some comedy.'_

"Ooh! Hell yeah!!"

**X-X-X**

A long while of humorous interviews—some of which ended in arguments and violence because of Jiraiya's lechery and Kira's bluntness—later…

"Will you two get outta here?!" Hikari growled as she threw a plate at the duo, hitting Kira right in the back of the head and causing a bloody bump.

"Geez… If you had told me she got her mother's temper, I wouldn't have asked what I did!" Jiraiya growled as he pointed a finger at Kira. "But in the end…it was _your_ answer that made her lose it!!"

"She knows it to be true deep down in her heart. She'll accept it eventually…" The mad genius muttered. "Let's just get this segment over with and interview the last people…Team 7 from Naruto X. Those old geezers…"

"We're right here," Sasuke grumbled from the table behind Kira and Jiraiya, where he was sitting with Sakura and Naruto.

"So?" At the sound of electricity crackling, Kira stiffened. "Alright, alright, you old codger!! Seeing as how the choices are your younger selves and Team 14, whom you have bonds with, it must be hard for you to choose… Although I think I know what Sasu-sensei's answer."

"Team 7," the Uchiha patriarch answered simply with his arms folded across his chest.

"Are you _really_ voting for the sake of the team or just for you?" Naruto spoke with squinted eyes before going back to his ramen.

"What makes you think I don't like our team?"

"Not like. Just voting because it's _your_ team."

"We're _supposed_ to do that, idiot! Right, Sakura?"

Sakura scratched her cheek in thought. "We really _should_ be fair… In my opinion, Team 14's no better or worse than us. Although their altogether teamwork during their genin years _was_ a bit better than ours."

Her husband snorted and looked away. "Just admit that you like them just because Hanzo's on their team."

"I don't know what you've got against them. I think those kids are a riot! Heh-heh!" The Rokudaime chuckled.

15-year old Naruto suddenly popped up beside his older self. "Hold on a sec!! You're honestly gonna vote against yourself?! Do I gotta remind you that if it wasn't for _us_, the main character of this story wouldn't exist?!"

Nataro then appeared on the other side of the Hokage. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?! You're just jealous because _I'm_ the better hero!"

"Really? How many S-rank ninja have you fought and defeated? How many important figures have you saved? How many people have you inspired?! You fail as a semi-progeny of mine!!" The whiskered teen shouted as he pointed a finger at the black-clad blonde.

Nataro clenched his teeth and growled. "Oh, yeah?! I may not have done as much stuff as you have, but at least my relationship with _my_ teammates isn't mistaken for gay love and stalker-like obsession!!"

"What do you call what you do with that Akasha chick?!"

"That's different!! Besides, _she_ returns my friendship!! And I don't have to worry about her trying to kill me!!"

"Oh, how naïve…" Kira mumbled under his breath with closed eyes. "You're both such pathetic excuses of a main character. You're both idiots, you both suck at women, and you both need better jutsu. The series would be better off if an Uchiha was the main character."

Both blonde teens glared at the mad genius as Jiraiya asked, "Were you just made into an author avatar again?"

"What? No! That's what I think! I mean, don't you agree, J-man?"

"Don't call me that! But, I _do_ have to admit that they aren't exactly hero-like from time to time."

"Yeah, yeah! Don't you wish they could act a bit more like…oh, I dunno, _us_?"

"I doubt they could even come close."

"LIKE WE WANNA BE LIKE YOU!!!" Naruto and Nataro screamed as they dropkicked their respective teachers and began a dust cloud fight before the camera shut off.


	69. Dangerous Beauty: The S Rank Criminal

**Blu: Summer vacation has become, but my writing is deterred by the lack of internet connection at my school. (It's not gonna be reactivated until Fall, either.)**

**Hanzo: Well, you updated, didn't you?**

**Blu: Yeah.**

**Nataro: What's with that sullen expression?**

**Blu: Team 14 won the poll between them and Team 7.**

**Kazemaru: Hey! What's so bad about that? Don't tell me you didn't think we would win!**

**Blu: Honestly? No. The fans of this story must not like Team 7 much these days if they prefer OCs over them.**

**Hanzo: Doesn't that mean your fanfic's successful?**

**Blu: I really don't know **_**how**_** to feel… Oh well. My worries shouldn't be pinned on the readers. So on with the fic!**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of the characters from the series. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#69: Dangerous Beauty: The S-Rank Criminal_

Correctional Facilities for ninja villages were the answer to restraining criminals who weren't seen as big enough threats to be killed on sight. There, shinobi that did both minor and serious crimes such as picking fights with fellow shinobi on a regular basis, causing trouble with civilians, extortion of money from war funds or the sending of important information to enemies were forced to live in cells for the rest of their days…or until a proper method of execution was chosen. The ninja who worked there were allowed to use whatever means of discipline it took to keep the prisoners in line…and their superiors barely did a thing when an inmate was killed.

That, however, was before. These days, the facilities' methods are a bit more humane. For example, Konohagakure tries to help rehabilitate the inmates while having them work off their debts to society before being released back into the village. Those that couldn't be helped were forced into imprisonment with their chakra sealed for life. That was the best humane punishment that their Rokudaime could give for minor crimes. Surprisingly, the method actually works.

**X-X-X**

"#317. Lunch," the Leaf chunin on lunch duty in the C-block spoke as he slipped a tray of bread and water through the opening of the steel door, then went off to do the same with the other inmates. Out from the shadows, a woman's hand reached out, picking up the loaf of bread. She took a bite out of the loaf, running a hand through her magenta hair.

She was an attractive woman in her own opinion. With curves and a chest size that caught the wandering eyes of men, she considered herself damn sexy. Too bad the drab gray prison jumpsuit took away from that.

Looking down, she noticed something that made her jump. A _bug_… She couldn't help but cringe. Even at her age, bugs disgusted her. She made to squash it under her foot when the darndest thing happened.

"Hello, Barano-san. You look radiant as ever." The bug _spoke_. She blinked and wondered if after all this time, she'd finally lost her mind. "That means it turned out better than I thought."

She flinched. "Huh? Wait a second…" Her honey brown eyes narrowed as she growled, "You…!" The bug wasn't a bug. It was some sort of machine with a camera that was so small, it could be missed if one didn't look at it closely.

"Why the look of hostility? After what I've done for you."

"Oh, yes. And look where your _good will_ has gotten me: _prison_! I doubt you even know how long I've been in here…!"

"Actually, I have. And there is no reason for you to blame _me_ for _your_ failures. All I asked was for you to get a scroll for me. If you couldn't do such a simple thing…"

"It was the Scroll of Seals. The security was too much even for me!"

"But you could have killed them, a kunoichi of your skill level." When no reply came from the woman, the bug continued, "Anyway, I have need of you. Or rather a higher power has need of the _'skills'_ I gave you."

The magenta-haired woman frowned. "Excluding the fact that I'm trapped in prison, _why_ exactly would I want to work for any _higher power_ connected to you?"

"I think you know why…"

She snorted and ran a hand through her hair. "Do you take me for a fool? Do you know how long it's been since you last told me that promise? I bet all you've got is his body."

"Would you like to see him? Very well…"

In a few seconds, the stone wall in the back of the cell was blown apart in an explosion. The magenta-haired woman held her arm over her face for a few seconds before she could make out the figure standing in the hole, body overcast in shadow. She stared at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly open.

"You're…" Before she could finish, the person grabbed her and threw her over their shoulder. "HEY! Watch the hands, buster!"

"Hold it right there!" A group of shinobi skidded to a halt in front of Prisoner 317's cell, prepared to attack when the intruder jumped out of the hole, the prisoner screaming bloody murder until her voice faded. The door of the cell was kicked down and they all ran in to look down from the hole. There appeared to be no sign of either one. Just the sight of the lava that surrounded the volcano-based prison. "Hyuga, scan the perimeter."

"…There doesn't seem to be any sign of them on the premises."

"Takai."

"Not picking up the prisoner. It's almost as if they just vanished."

"There's nothing but lava down there… They couldn't have honestly just jumped down there. That'd be suicide!"

"Wait, which prisoner was in here?"

"#317, Barano Akimi, sir…"

The leading shinobi flinched and grit his teeth. "Fuck! We need to alert the Hokage—immediately!"

**X-X-X**

In a puff of smoke, prisoner #317 AKA Barano Akimi, landed on cold hard ground. "Oof! Holy shit that was too damn close! What sort of psychopath jumps off of buildings and into lava?"

"You _are_ alive, aren't you?" A familiar voice spoke, making the magenta-haired woman turn her head to look at a thin man in his twenties or thirties—hard to tell with the lack of lighting. He had shoulder-length red hair with a set of bangs hanging over his right red eye. He wore a long white lab coat that was only buttoned down to his waist, white pants and white gloves. Standing behind the red-haired man was a woman with long black hair that was tied back into a long black ponytail with straight bangs, reddish-brown eyes and pale skin, wearing an open black kimono with a red web-like design and a short red kimono underneath with a black obi wrapped around her waist.

"Enjaku Masui…" Akimi grumbled. "It's official, I'm in Hell…"

**X-X-X**

In Konohagakure, Nataro opened his mouth wide and yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Man, this place is boring… Aren't you done yet, Akasha-chan?"

"Almost~!" She exclaimed as she swept the porch.

"What the—! I thought all you had to do was water some plants! Why're you sweeping?"

"I want to do a good job so Naruto-san will notice."

"I hope you're gonna make 'em pay extra! Remember: he's the Hokage! He should have _tons_ of money to spare!"

"You can't just let the girl get away with a good deed for free, can you?"

"Huh?" Nataro looked over his shoulder and saw Naruto walk into the courtyard. "Hey, Gramps! Skipping out on paperwork, I see."

"You're one to talk. Future Hokage should be training, not lying around someone's house! Quit slacking off!"

"Uh, well, I…!" The younger blonde stuttered. "Back off, would ya? You act like _you_ trained 24/7 to get to where you're at!"

Naruto ignored Nataro and looked at Akasha. "So what was that about more pay…?"

The red-haired girl gave the old man a watery puppy-eyed look. "I need more money to buy ramen!"

"Hm? I already give you enough money to buy a bowl."

"I want enough to buy _two_."

"You need to learn to save money. That means eating less."

"But—"

"D-d-don't try to argue with him, Akasha-chan. His idea of being frugal is buying nothing but ramen and milk," Nataro spoke with half-lidded eyes.

Naruto glared at the younger blonde. "That…was years ago…! And don't you do the same thing?"

"No! …Yes. But at least I splurge sometimes!"

"A giant bowl of ramen isn't splurging when it's part of your routine."

"Blah, blah, blah…" The chunin spoke just as an ANBU wearing a bird mask appeared behind Naruto. "Huh?"

"Hokage-sama. An urgent message."

"Yes?" The ANBU glanced at Nataro and Akasha before he started whispering into Naruto's ear. The Rokudaime's eyes widened. "What? Is that true? When? _How_?"

"Assumedly three hours ago, sir. The prisoner was broken out of jail by a shinobi that left before he could be identified. They apparently jumped to their deaths, sir, but considering the prisoner, that could be highly unlikely. Awaiting your orders, sir." The ANBU whispered.

Nataro blinked. "Hey, what's going on? Something happen?"

"Nataro…it shouldn't concern you. Just relax and enjoy your time off, okay?" The elderly blonde spoke before he left with the ANBU.

"But…!" Nataro growled under his breath in irritation. "Relax and enjoy your time off… As if!" He looked at Akasha with a smile. "Hey, Akasha-chan! Why don't you go and wait for me outside of Hagakure? I've got, uh…things to take care of."

"What sort of things?"

"Um, _personal_ things."

"They aren't personal things that would have to do with whatever Naruto-san left for…would it? Because then he'd get mad at you," Akasha said with a pout as she wrung the broom handle in her hands.

The blonde teen sweatdropped. _'She's getting sharper. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.'_ "Of course not! I just remembered I had to see Kira-sensei about something. He owes me money for a bet we had about my next door neighbor."

"You mean the man you said had the weird-looking doll under his bed?"

"Y-yeah, that…" _'Technically, __**that's**__ true…!'_ Nataro clapped his hands together and grinned broadly. "So _please_ wait for me at Hagakure? I can use the cash to buy us a Hagakure Special to share!"

The red-haired girl got a dreamy look in her eyes as her cheeks turned red. "Ahhh…! O-okay!" She said with a grin.

'_Score!'_ The blonde thought as the mental image of a chibi Nataro kicking a ball into a goal appeared in his mind.

**X-X-X**

A while later found Nataro and Kira crawling through the ducts inside of the administration building.

"Ah, I love stealth and infiltration missions. When was the last time we did this?" Kira asked his student with a smile as he led the way.

"Last year before the festival and Gramps' birthday. We snuck in, left a scroll on his desk, and when he opened it, a pair of our bunshin transformed into sexy naked girls popped up and sat on his lap," Nataro recalled with a grin. "The expression he got when your clone asked if he wanted a blowjob… It was worth the pain and a month of D-rank missions!"

"Good times. Good times… Oh, we're here! Now remember, mask your chakra, hold your breath, and make sure not to make a sound. You don't know what sort of ninja he's meeting with in there…" The mad genius spoke. He moved a tile just a crack and the master-student duo looked through it. They could barely make out the familiar flak jackets of Konoha shinobi and the masks of ANBU as Naruto finished speaking to them.

"Do you all understand? Barano Akimi isn't to set foot outside of Hi no Kuni for even a second! You're dismissed!"

"Yes, sir!" The shinobi exclaimed before they filed out of the room and Kira slid the tile back into place. A few seconds passed, and then…

"Nataro. Kira. I know you're there," Naruto spoke as he looked up at the ceiling. After a few seconds, Kira pushed aside the tile and jumped down from the ceiling duct, followed by Nataro. Both looked down at the floor with their hands shoved into their pants pockets. "What the hell were you two doing? This is serious business!"

"Sorry, old man! I was helping Nataro practice his subterfuge and infiltration skills when we—"

"Stow it! I'm not in the mood…" The elderly Hokage grumbled as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

"Penny for your thoughts?" The black-and-white-haired man asked while Nataro arched an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm a very good psychoanalyst if I do say so myself, and talking to Nataro is the equivalent of talking to an overly sensitive wall."

"…Huh?" The blonde teen sweatdropped. "What the hell's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Put the pieces together, kid."

"This is none of your business. If the two of you don't get out now, I will make you regret it," Naruto mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"Come on, Gramps! Even if it's none of our business, you'll feel a lot better if you talk about it!" Nataro said with a grin.

"I concur! Even if you have to tell us information of the utmost secrecy, we will endure it for the sake of your mentality."

The Rokudaime glared at the master and student pair as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

**X-X-X**

Seconds later, two people were thrown out of the window of the Hokage's office. They easily landed on their feet, though, being shinobi and all.

"You didn't have to take your aggression out on _us_! Sheesh!" Nataro shouted up at the window, only to be hit in the head by a bookend. "Ow! Being angry doesn't give you the right to throw stuff!" Another bookend was thrown out of the window, but the teen was smart enough to duck this time. "Why you—!

"Kid, unless you're trying to get the old man to throw a book at you next, I suggest you give up." _'Although I admit that the old guy's got a hell of an arm!'_ Just then, a book hit Kira in the head, but all that did was make him stare up at the window in amazement. "Wow! I didn't know mind reading was one of his abilities." He held a hand up to catch another thrown book. "Okay, okay! I get! I'm leaving! I think I've got a paper cut. Time for a checkup~! Later, kiddo."

"Later, Kira-sensei…" _'Barano Akimi, huh? I don't think I know anyone by that name. And yet, it kinda sounds familiar… Like it's on the tip of my tongue…'_ "Ah, well. Maybe I'll be able to remember on a full stomach," the blonde teen spoke as he walked away from the administration building with his hands in his pockets.

Inside of the building, Naruto was lying his head down on his desk, muttering, "What the hell am I going to do…?"

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, in a home in the Uchiha district, Ina ran a comb through her hair while looking at herself in the mirror. She managed to get its appearance straightened out after the incident with the Nibi no Nekomata. The back was slightly spiky, hanging a few inches above her shoulders, while the bangs that framed her face remained the same. Since the raven-haired girl had no missions today, she was in her casual wear of a blue tank top with black straps and black ankle-length pants.

'_God knows how long it's going to take for me to regrow it to its original length… Ah, well. I guess short hair's not so bad…'_ Ina thought as she observed her reflection. _'It looks good.'_

"_The only girl who can make short hair look good to me is Sakura-chan."_

The young jonin's eye twitched as she gripped the comb in her hand, accidentally breaking it. _'Who the hell is Sakura? There are probably a dozen girls in the village with that name!'_

"Whoa. Someone's in a bad mood this morning." The girl looked to the open door and saw Haruhi standing outside in the hallway. "Still griping about how your hair makes you look like a boy?" The red-haired Uchiha sidestepped the broken comb that had been thrown at his head. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Go away. The last thing I wanna do is see your face—unless you want me to pound it in for you!"

"What's wrong with you? One of your boyfriends did you wrong?"

"Haruhi, I'm going to castrate you personally if you don't get outta my face!"

"Okay, okay. Just consider yourself lucky. When was the last time you got the house all to yourself?" Haruhi said with a smile. His little sister arched an eyebrow. "Your big brother has finally been assigned to a mission outside of the village—and one of the utmost priority."

Ina frowned. "Then what are you doing here yakking off, you loser? Get to work already!"

"I am, I am! And while you're on break, loosen up. 'Cuz neither of those boys will want you if you keep flying off the handle like that," Haruhi called back as he walked down the hall.

"Shut up and stay out of my business, jackass!" Ina shouted, a vein throbbing on her forehead.

**X-X-X**

Akimi stared down at the plate of food that had been offered to her. It looked like actual chicken and rice. But she was still wary and kept poking it with her fork.

"What's wrong? Do you expect it to explode?" Masui said with a smirk.

"Knowing you? Yes. Either that or transform me into some hideous monstrosity you'd _love _to dissect," she spoke as she dropped her silverware and glared at the man sitting across her at the table. "So, no thanks. I'm more in the mood to make you tell me why the _hell_ you broke me out and brought me to your hellhole."

"I see prison hasn't done anything about that attitude."

"And I see you're still a douche with a thing for bondage," the magenta-haired woman spoke as she pulled her leg, which was chained to the floor. "Do you mind letting me go? Being in a jail cell has made me iffy about things like this."

Masui chuckled behind his hand. "If I did a thing like _that_, I would have to be a fool. And I am no fool."

"Well, if you're not gonna release me, then tell me why I'm here."

"Very well. As I said, a higher power wants to use your abilities to help change the world."

Akimi, who had been chewing a piece of chicken, stopped and spoke with her mouth full, "You mean a gang?"

"It's a bit…I suppose you could say religious. Some people certainly think so."

"A _cult_?"

"That's a bit insulting, but I suppose you could view it as a cult. Especially when you consider their practices. For the first of their goals, they plan on using the bijuu."

The prison escapee's eyes suddenly got a bit sharper. "Bijuu? No offense, but from what I heard, the bijuu are gone except for the Kyuubi. And _that's_ inside of Konoha's Hokage. These _higher powers _haven't done their research if they don't know _that_!" She snorted.

The red-haired man smirked. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong… Through higher powers, the bijuu have been brought back to our plane of living. All nine."

"Huh? Pardon?"

"Anyway… We don't have that many _special_ members who are on a high enough level to deal with those little demons—naturally, anyway. So, I've been forced to get more capable members by any means necessary."

Akimi gave the mad man a skeptical look. "Uh-huh. So, if by some highly unlikely chance that I believe you about the bijuu being alive…why do you think I would join a cult and risk my life hunting them? Especially since I am now a free woman who may or may not be wanted in the Land of Fire?"

Masui raised a hand and pointed at something behind her. "Because then you wouldn't be able to see _him_ back to normal." Akimi looked over her shoulder to see a tall, thin man wearing a black hooded cloak. The hood was down, though, allowing her to see his long pale blonde hair with bangs that hung in front of his lifeless green eyes. "You remember Natsumoto, right?"

"Natsu…? But…he looks so…"

"Young? Well, so are you. That goes to show the height of my genius," said the redhead as he ran a hand through his hair. "Granted, he's not exactly all that human in terms of morality anymore, but I would certainly call him a far better warrior than when he was in Konoha."

'_He was a __**child**__ when he was in Konoha…'_

"If all our goals are met, we'll all be able to get what we want. And those who want to, say, fix some things that went wrong in their lives. So, in a way, you're doing it more for your dear friend Natsumoto than you…" He smirked. "Do you really have a choice…?"

"Hey! Masui!" The redhead stood up as Ichinisan, Hitsuke and the blinded Tetsuotome entered the room. "The iron maiden here needs you to fix up her eyes—or lack there of. Heh!"

"Laugh while you can, you deranged pyromaniac! Once I get some new eyes, you're _dead_!" The silver-haired iron maiden shouted as she lashed out her arm and fortunately backhanded the scarlet-haired man in the groin.

"Guh! Why you…!" Hitsuke grabbed the hilt of his sword, but Ichinisan grabbed his hand.

"Would you cut that out?"

Masui gave a short, almost inaudible groan as he rubbed his temples. "Barano-san, allow me to introduce you to three of our bijuu hunters. #1: Jinmenjushin no Ichinisan (Ichinisan of the Beast People) from Ta no Kuni (Land of Rice Fields). #2: Tatsujin Hitsuke of the Seven Mist Swordsmen from Kirigakure. #3: Tetsuotome, formerly Sorano Sora—a veteran assassin from the Third Shinobi War."

"Third Shinobi War? Geez, you're fucking _ancient_," Hitsuke muttered under his breath.

"I'm not old, you retard!"

"Now, now, children. May I ask why you're here?" Masui asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Some damn brat threw acid in my eyes and now they're _gone_! Gimme some new ones!" Tetsuotome cried.

"Your eyes, huh? I suppose I could make a new pair…"

Akimi closed her eyes and hummed under her breath. _'What sort of nonsense am I getting myself into…?'_

**X-X-X**

Back in Konoha, Nataro was walking down the street towards Hagakure, checking his wallet in preparation.

'_I should have enough to feed Akasha-chan…I hope…'_ He looked up and gave a smile. "Akasha-chan! And…_YOU_?"

Masaru, who had been standing in front of Hagakure with Akasha, stopped talking to look at the blonde teen. "Hm? Oh, Nataro-kun!"

"What'd I say about calling me that? And what're you doing with Akasha-chan?" Nataro growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

The blue-eyed raven stepped back, sweatdropping. "We were only talking… It's not like I was hitting on her."

"Say what? If I learn that you were hitting on her, God help you, I'll—!"

"Oh, that's right! I never told you what Masaru-san did for me while you were on your mission a while ago," Akasha interrupted. "He was nice enough to take me to dinner at Hagakure! He even offered to pay for my food. Isn't that nice?"

Nataro slumped over. "Say what…?" _'He took her out to eat…? Don't tell me that bastard's trying to lay the mack on Akasha-chan…and she's foolish enough to fall for his tricks!'_

"I was thinking that maybe he could come eat with us."

"Eh?" The blonde's mouth opened and his eyes became blank. _'She __**is**__!'_

"Um, I'm sorry, Akasha-chan. I don't have the time right now. Maybe next time?" Masaru apologized as he scratched the back of his head. "It was still nice seeing you two. Have a nice day," he said while walking away and waving goodbye.

"Goodbye, Masaru-san~!" The red-haired girl chirped as she waved goodbye.

Nataro snorted. "Good riddance… Maybe now we can eat in peace…" He mumbled before grabbing hold of Akasha's hand and taking her into the ramen shop.

**X-X-X**

"So she has me on my stomach, right? And she keeps pounding my head into what's left of this house over and over," Nataro explained as he and Akasha shared a Hagakure Special at her insistence—something about saving money. The blonde paused from his storytelling to slurp up some noodles from the large bowl. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Akasha stirring the broth on her end. "What's wrong? You feeling sick? Or are you regretting buying a Hagakure Special and want your own bowl now?"

"Huh? O-oh, no! I'm fine with that. It's just… Could we talk about something else?"

"Something else…? Like what?"

The red-haired girl picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks. "Masaru-san told me about something called a _'nindo'_. He said that's a ninja's way of life. So I wanted to ask you what _yours_ was."

"My nindo?"

"_I never go back on my word! That's my nindo—my ninja way!"_

'_Can I even call that __**my**__ nindo?'_ Nataro thought as he stared down at the bowl. "My nindo is…um…I guess it's to always protect what's important to me! Like the village…and all the people I care about!"

"Oh… What about Hokage?"

"Eh?"

"Hokage. You used to say you would be Hokage a lot. Now you don't say that much. Have you changed your mind?"

"I…" Nataro scratched his cheek and looked out of the corner of his eye in thought. "Looking back on it, I may have made the decision a bit prematurely. I'm not sure if I _really_ want the position for me or…for something else's sake."

The Asura girl blinked in confusion. "Something else? Like what?"

"Well… People usually do things for two reasons: to please themselves or to please others. I'm not sure if becoming Hokage was my way of pleasing myself or pleasing…someone else."

"Who?"

'_That part of Gramps that's inside of me…'_ The blonde boy smiled. "When I was a kid, Gramps was the one who told me about Hokage. The way he described it… I dunno. It sounded like something amazing. The power, the control, the respect and the acknowledgement. Isn't that the sort of thing that everyone wants?"

Akasha tilted her head thoughtfully. "Power? Control? Respect?" She could understand the last two, but what did respect and acknowledgement have to do with anything? Who needed those when one had power?

"I guess it only seemed glorious because I was an attention-starved kid at the time. What kid didn't want to be like a hero that everyone looked up to? But when I think about it…who'd look up to _me_? Honestly… I'm about as role model worthy as Kira-sensei!"

**X-X-X**

At the hospital, Kira sneezed just as Hikari gave him an injection in his arm, but in the wrong place.

"Uh-oh!" The pink-haired woman gasped.

"What? What're you _'uh-oh'_-ing about?" The mad genius sniffled.

"I think I gave you the injection in your vein. Are you feeling okay?"

"Pssh! I'm fine! It'll more than a little injection to…" Kira suddenly fell off of the table and landed on the ground facedown. "I see spots…"

**X-X-X**

Akasha pouted. "Awww…! I look up to you, Nataro-san!"

"You're only saying that to make me feel better… I mean, I'm not Gramps… When's he's not in a book throwing mood, anyway…"

"Really! I do! I wish I were more like you." The red-haired girl looked down at the bar counter with a somber look. "You're always moving forward. Even when things get you down, you stand up and you go on. You have lots of friends… You have some idea of where your life's going! You have a reason to exist! I don't even know why I'm still alive…" Upon realizing what she said, she clamped her hands over her mouth and bowed her head. "S-sorry… I said I wouldn't say things like that again, didn't I…? Sorry…"

Nataro blinked. "Uh, is something wrong, Akasha-chan? Don't say there isn't, either."

"I need…to know why I exist like this. There must be _something_ I was born to do. Aside from…you know…"

"What? Oh… _That_." _'I still can't imagine her acting like those guys.'_ The blonde briefly remembered the beast Ajit had transformed into. _'What would __**she**__ turn into, I wonder?'_ "Is it honestly that important to have a purpose? Can't you just…_exist_?"

"It is. Everyone has a purpose for existing, either for a minor reason or major one. There is no such thing as existing with no purpose. Therefore, I have to learn what _mine_ is. That's why you're such a motivation to me… If I'm like you, and I never give up, I'm sure I'll find it out someday."

"Akasha-chan… I'm still not sure if _I'm_ the best choice for you to be gunning to be like, but…thanks anyway."

The red-haired girl pouted as the blonde boy began to eat a fishcake. "Th-then, would it help if I said I was your biggest fan, and that you're Kazaki Nataro: kickbutt ninja and future Hokage?"

"Akasha-chan…"

"What if I said…I love you?" She added with large sparkling eyes like some cartoon character.

Nataro sweatdropped and blushed. "Uh… What? Wh-what does _that_ have to do anything?"

"Isn't that what all fans say to their idols?"

"So now I'm an idol? Geez, you're gonna make me blush…" The blonde mumbled, smiling slightly.

"You're already blushing."

The man behind the counter sniffed. "Aww, how cute!"

"What're you up in our business for? D-don't you have other customers to attend to?" Nataro growled as a vein throbbed on his forehead while Akasha stared with little dots for eyes. "Honestly, some people like to get the wrong idea when a guy and a girl are together and they say they love each other! AND NO ONE BETTER READ INTO THAT!"

"N-Nataro-san! You're scaring me right now…!"

"Ah! S-sorry…"

**X-X-X**

Tetsuotome touched her new eyes with a pleased expression while Akimi finished slipping on her knee-high black boot-like sandals. She now wore a short red Chinese-style dress with long sleeves and a hole in the front showing her cleavage, white short-shorts, and had a black cloak thrown over her shoulder.

'_I'd kill to have some makeup… My face feels bare without some…'_ The magenta-haired woman thought as she lightly touched her cheek.

"You're in for it now, Red! A girl like you probably doesn't know what sort of monsters those bijuu are. Trust me, they're _deceiving_ little monsters. When one showed its true form, it was bigger than a mountain!" Tetsuotome said with a smirk.

Akimi smirked back. "Don't underestimate me, little girl. I'm not just a pretty face."

"Oh, yeah…? I'd _love_ to see your reaction when you see one of those beasts drop the illusion of being human. Heh."

"Tetsuotome," Ichinisan spoke up as he and Hitsuke approached. "It's time to get going. We need to locate the Sanbi."

The silver-haired _'girl'_ smiled in a creepy manner. "Yes! Finally, it's _my_ turn to rip a demon a new one…"

As Tetsuotome walked over to her partners, Akimi snorted and ran a hand through her hair. _'Unbelievable. Why am I doing this crap again…?'_ The sound of footsteps made the criminal look to the side. Natsumoto stepped out of the shadows, followed by Masui and a newcomer. He looked a bit young, probably 17 or 18 years old with long white hair that disappeared into his cloak and sharp red eyes. The lower half of his face was hidden by the brim of the cloak. "Who's this?"

"This is Zeta. Just a little creation of mine. Despite his appearance, he's had well over 30 years worth of effort and go into him," Masui explained. "He will be the third member of your group." He held out a piece of paper that had pictures attached to it. "These are the names the bijuu are going by along with the most recent photos and reports on where they were last seen. The rest is up to you. Ta-ta."

Akimi took a look at the paper. "Wait a second! Have you forgotten that I'm a wanted woman? How do you expect me leave the country if people are looking for me?"

"Like I said," Masui spoke as he turned his back on the woman and began to walk away, "The rest is up to you. I'm sure a woman with your skills can find a way, especially with your source of motivation so close by. Hm…"

When the man was gone, Akimi began to frown and almost crumpled the paper in her hands. _'Am I lower than trash or what…?'_

**X-X-X**

Masui was walking through the empty hallway when he suddenly stopped at the sound of a voice in his head.

"_Have you convinced Barano Akimi into being #6?"_

'_Need you ask? No matter what, her mentality is the same: a little girl who wants her teammate back out of guilt of her weakness,'_ Masui thought with a smirk. _'I've already sent her off with Natsumoto and Zeta.' _

"_And #s 7 and 8?"_

'_I'm still working on those. It's difficult trying to find S-rank ninja in this day and age. Those affiliated with ninja villages are either too old or too involved with their villages to agree with our views, and it's even harder to find ones who aren't associated with their country's army. Finding Tetsuotome and Ichinisan was an accident.'_

"_Are you complaining, Masui?"_

'_Yes… But only because I learned one of my Asura was seemingly killed off. And by a beast in child's flesh no less,' _Masui snorted. _'It's not that I care about them, but still…'_

"_Enough. Get back to work."_

'_Of course. My work is never done…'_ Masui thought with a smirk as he continued walking.

**X-X-X**

_Ending Omake: Team Naruto_

The 25-year old jonin, Uzumaki Naruto—legendary shinobi, hero, prophesized savior—was afraid. Could you believe it? Well, maybe it wasn't so much _fear_ as it was _nervousness_. After all, today was the day he would be assigned his own genin squad to make into fine shinobi. Sure, he'd trained with Konohamaru a bit, shown him his jutsu and helped guide him in his youth, but that was different. Konohamaru was likeminded to him and looked up to him ever since he knocked out Old Man Sandaime with his patented Sexy no Jutsu. These kids, on the other hand, he didn't know. They probably may not know him either, hard as it is to believe with his celebrity status, but he remembered a time when he didn't know how just famous Kakashi and Jiraiya were in the shinobi world.

He stared at himself sternly in the mirror. He couldn't mess this up. He would be _'Naruto-sensei'_ from this day forth—if they passed his test, anyway. If he was no good, they'd wind up getting themselves killed. Not to mention that there was a chance—a _slim, slim chance_ that he'd wind up training the next Pain or Orochimaru or Sasu—

…Whatever. He took a deep breath, slapped himself a few times in the face to psyche himself up and smiled wide.

He was gonna be great at this teacher stuff.

**X-X-X**

"So let's start by introducing ourselves," Naruto said with a smile as he leaned against the railing. This place brought back memories. This was where Team 7's first meeting took place. The kids were even sitting in the same spots that Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura sat in when they were in their youth. But he wasn't so sure if the personalities matched the seats.

"Ooh, ooh! Me first! Me first!" The girl with a short magenta hair spoke. She wore her hitai-ate around her neck and wore a short-sleeved red shirt with black shorts and fishnet leggings. "I'm Barano Akimi. I like flowers, perfume, jewelry, and cute things. I hate..._childish brutes._" At this she looked off to the side at one of her teammates. "My hobby is collecting stuffed animals."

"Pssh! What a baby…"

"Can it, you thug!" Akimi growled, a vein throbbing on her forehead.

Naruto blinked, having a flashback of Sakura in her youth. "Right… So, Aki-chan, what's your goal as a ninja?"

"Goal? I'm supposed to have a goal? Well, I guessed civilian life is boring and that it would be great if I were famous like Godaime-sama, known for skills _and _my beauty! It wouldn't kill if I could look like she does when I'm in my sixties…"

"You're gonna need an awful lot of concealer or genjutsu to pull _that _off, ugly."

"Quiet, bastard!" Aki growled.

"Next?" Naruto asked, hoping to avoid a fight until the greetings were done.

"Um…" Began the young boy who was in the middle, sitting where Sasuke sat. He had short blonde hair with bangs that hung down to his forehead, green eyes, and wore a long-sleeved green hoodie with black pants, his hitai-ate tied around his head with the metal plate on the back. He could already tell that he wasn't anything like the stoic Uchiha, despite being one of the more intelligent students. "My name is Kagura Natsumoto. I like…painting. I dislike…torture. My goal is…to help bring recognition back to my clan's name."

'_I can't tell if he's unsure of what he wants…or just shy,'_ Naruto thought.

"Lame-o."

"That's so sweet, Natsu-kun!" Akimi said with a sweet smile that made Natsumoto pale and start sweating. She giggled at his reaction.

'_But I think he has a fear of girls…'_ "And finally…"

All eyes settled on the last student. He had short, spiky white hair and blue eyes, and wore a zipped up dark blue jacket with white shoulders and black pants with one leg reaching his knee, his hitai-ate tied around his forehead. The boy had been reading a used copy of Icha-Icha Paradise that whole time, only speaking up when he felt the urge to insult his teammates.

Naruto frowned. He walked up to the boy and tried to pull the book out of his hand when the boy reached and fell over.

"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doin', huh?" The white-haired boy protested, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"Idiot! Sensei asked you to introduce yourself! So tell him about your lame self so we can get this over with!" Aki shouted.

"Bite me, suck up," the boy grumbled as he folded the page he was on in half and closed the adult novel. "Fine, you wanna know? I'm Yasakani Hatsuharu, but I hate that name so call me Haru. I like pulling pranks and leaving my mark. I dislike school, _her_," he pointed at Akimi, "_Him_," he pointed at Natsumoto, "Sarutobi and right now, _you_. My hobbies are none of your business."

"Do I dare ask _why_ a kid like you wants to become a ninja?" Naruto mumbled.

"According to Old Lady Hokage, it's for discipline. She honestly thinks letting me be a ninja will straighten me out." The white-haired boy snorted and went back to reading his book, but Naruto was quick to take it from him. It took Hatsuharu a while to realize that the book was gone and in his new sensei's grasp. "GIMME THAT BACK!"

"You can get it back _if_ you pass your survival training test tomorrow," the blonde said as he held the book up over his head and Haru tried jumping up to grab it.

"Wh-what test…? We just graduated," said Natsu.

"Well, that test was just to root out the weeds. _This_ test will determine which three squads are best suited to becoming genin and who has to attend a whole 'nother year at the Academy."

"Say what? Fuck that!" Haru shouted as he continued trying to get his book.

"Those are the breaks, kid," Naruto said with a smirk before the white-haired boy kneed him in the groin.

"Those are the breaks, _old man_!" Haru grinned as he snatched his book and ran off, his new sensei chasing off after him. Akimi and Natsumoto just sat there and watched. Minutes later, Naruto dragged Hatsuharu over to his classmates and pushed him down into his seat.

"Now then… Let's meet at Training Area 3 tomorrow at 6 in the morning. And I recommend that you don't eat…unless you like throwing up. See ya." And Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Akimi glared at Hatsuharu and pointed a finger at him. "You idiot! You've done it now! Sensei's gonna train us all ragged as punishment for _your_ behavior!"

"Blah-blah…" Hatsuharu muttered as he flipped the bird at his female teammate. "If he honestly thinks I'm gonna wake up that early in the morning, he doesn't know jack!"

"What're you gonna do, genius? Skip your very first training session?"

"Maybe…" the white-haired boy thought aloud as he looked out of the corner of his eye.

**X-X-X**

Early the following morning, Hatsuharu was sleeping in bed in his small one-room apartment. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt the urge to pee and stared up at something unfamiliar on his ceiling. When his sight cleared up, he realized what it was. His new sensei was standing upside down on the ceiling, grinning down at him.

"Morning, sunshine!"

"AAAAAHHH!" The white-haired boy rolled out of bed in a panic before he grabbed the clock on his drawer. "What the hell are you doing in my _home_, you lunatic?" He shouted as he threw the clock at Naruto, only for the man to catch it in his hand.

"I just came to make sure you were coming to train…and not intending to _skip_…like you said yesterday," the blonde said with a smirk.

"H-how did you—?"

"Sensei knows," Naruto spoke with a mysterious tone in his voice. The truth was that he had been hiding after dismissing his students to hear their first impressions of him. What? It wasn't wrong! Besides, he managed to stop a straggler from skipping the test. "Now get dressed. _Training_ begins in two hours."

Haru narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Why should I?"

"If you wanna be a genin, you will. Y'know, I could tell the Hokage that you aren't prepared to become a genin and send you back to the Academy for _another_ year."

"You _wouldn't_."

"Try me, kid."

"Hmph." Haru turned his head away from Naruto. "Fine! I'll take another year in that stinking school! Probably better than being in the same team with you three."

Naruto's eye twitched. "Look, you… You may not like it," _'And neither do I,'_ "But Granny Tsunade said she's making you do this so you'll have a better appreciation for the village." _'That, and she knows that if you're left in the village, you'll cause more trouble.'_ "Now get ready."

"No."

The blonde jumped down from the ceiling with his arms folded across his chest. "Hatsuharu… I _will_ make you do it. One way or another."

"Huh?" The boy arched an eyebrow.

Seconds later, screams could be heard coming from the apartment.

**X-X-X**

A few minutes after 6 AM, Hatsuharu, Akimi and Natsumoto stood before Naruto at Training Area 3. The kids were tired, and looked like they were struggling to stay awake.

"Alright! Glad to see we're all here. This morning, we're going to be taking a little test. Just like I said, if you fail, you'll be sent back to the Academy and you'll have to try again next year," Naruto explained. "For your test, we're gonna be doing this…" He pulled out a pair of small silver bells. "Your task is for each of you to get a bell."

"But…there's only two bells," Natsumoto pointed out.

"Exactly. The test ends at noon. The two who retrieve their bells will be treated to lunch. The one who doesn't get a bell fails and gets sent back to the Academy."

"No way! Is that even fair?" Akimi complained, slumped over in hunger.

"In order to get these bells, you're gonna have to fight to kill. Use whatever weapons you have at your disposal. No holding back, alright?" Naruto stated as he shook the bells.

Hatsuharu gave a disturbing smile. _'Fight to kill, huh?'_ His hand twitched and moved towards his hip pouch.

"We start—" Before the blonde man finished speaking, the white-haired boy grabbed a kunai from his pouch and ran towards him with gritted teeth. Haru swung the blade at his stomach, but wound up slicing at air. Naruto appeared behind him, frowning. "I didn't say start yet!"

"Hmph!" Haru snorted as he glared at the man out of the corner of his eye.

**X-X-X**

To make a long story short, the kids didn't do so hot. Between Akimi's constant traps and Haru's attempts to maybe _actually_ kill him, he wasn't sure which one was more annoying. Natsumoto was pretty irritating, too, with those genjutsu of his—at least until he caught sight of Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. They were all skilled for their age. Now if they only realized that they had to work together, they wouldn't be sitting in front of him right now, stomachs rumbling from hunger with looks of fatigue.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk. I have to say, you guys disappointed me. None of you even came _close_," Naruto spoke, shaking his head. "It's already noon. I have no choice. I gotta fail you all."

"F-f-fail…?" The three genin echoed as a wind blew past them. After a while, auras of anger appeared around the three of them, their eyes hidden by their bangs. "Fail…? FAIL?"

The blonde man sweatdropped. "Yes, fail. Are you guys okay…?" He barely sidestepped when Akimi threw several shuriken at him. He looked up and saw Hatsuharu with a kunai in each hand. Naruto stepped back so he would land on solid ground and kept stepping back each time the boy took a slash at him with a kunai. He was so busy keeping an eye on Haru that he hadn't noticed Akimi coming in from the side until she jumped up and attempted a roundhouse kick to take his head off. He leaned over, flipping over in the position to kick the magenta-haired girl and the white-haired boy away. "I take it you guys don't take rejection very well." Naruto blinked as he realized he was sinking into the ground, he looked over at Hatsuharu, who had his hands in a sign position. The blonde sighed and began to stop the flow of his chakra. The genjutsu was dispelled with ease.

"Uh…" Natsumoto began, hiding his face behind his hands in embarrassment.

"HAHA! In your face, old man!" He heard Hatsuharu yell behind him. Naruto turned around and saw Haru and Aki shaking their bells victoriously.

"That was _too_ easy! Are you sure you're a jonin, Naruto-sensei?" Aki asked with a cat-like smile. "Or were you just not serious about us trying to kill you?"

"…You were honestly trying to kill me?"

"I did _not_ endure years of Iruka-sensei's lectures on focus and crap like that to get sent back! You heard me?" The red-clad girl growled as she held up a fist. She then looked at Natsumoto. "Sorry, Natsu-kun~! Maybe if you were a bit more aggressive and hands on, you wouldn't be going back to the Academy next year."

The blonde boy flinched at the realization and deflated. "Great… What am I gonna tell my parents…?"

Haru furrowed his brow for a moment before he walked over to Natsu and shoved the bell in his face. "Take it. I don't want it."

"Huh?"

"I've said this once and I'll say it again: another year in school's probably better than being on the same team as the three of you."

"I…don't know what to say…"

"How about _'thank you'_, idiot? _'Thank you so much, Haru, for taking pity on a pathetic waste of space like me'_?" The white-haired boy asked flatly with half-lidded eyes.

"You're turning a nice gesture into an insult right now…" The blonde boy mumbled as a sweatdrop ran down the back of his head.

After a few seconds, Naruto started to beam. "Oh, no, no, no! You're not getting out of this _that_ easy, kid! You pass, too!"

The three genin gave a collective "Huh?"

"The point of the test wasn't just to test your skills as a shinobi. It was also to test your teamwork. When you're out on missions you guys need to work together and look out for each other. That's why you're a _team_. You saw what you accomplished when you worked together!"

Haru and Akimi glared at their new sensei. "Why the hell didn't you tell us it was about teamwork from the start?" They cried while Natsu held onto his chest crying tears of happiness.

"I wanted you guys to figure that out on your own. Granted, it was _after_ the test was supposed to be done, but, uh…I'll let it slide." He sweatdropped when he still felt the auras of anger coming from the two. "Calm down, guys. I'll buy you as much food as you want over at Ichiraku's!"

"That ramen place? No way! I wanna eat barbecue!" Akimi whined.

"I…I'd like sushi…please?" Natsumoto mumbled, scratching his cheek.

"I want gyudon (beef bowl) and I'm gonna get it!" Haru said with a frown.

"Will you stop calling me that?"

**X-X-X**

That night, Naruto fell onto his bed, exhausted from having to deal with his new students. "Sasuke, Sakura and I couldn't have been that bad when we were kids… I have a whole new respect for Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei for dealing with us when we were young…" He spoke into his pillow. "They're little hellions deep down. All three of 'em." He smiled at the memory of the three of them thanking him for treating to ramen—and they purposely tried to make him waste all the money he had on him as vengeance for not eating where they wanted. _'Then again, they may not be so bad. We have all the time in the world to get friendly…' _He yawned before he closed his eyes._ 'I'm gonna try to be a great sensei…'_

**X-X-X**

**(Naruto & Nataro are playing video games on a pair of PSPs)**

**Naruto: I've got you now!**

**Nataro: That's what **_**you**_** think!**

**Naruto: What the—? How'd you do that?**

**Nataro: I've got skill, pal!**

**Naruto: Grrr…!**

**Sakura: Do I dare ask what they're doing?**

**Blu: I got Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 a while ago and they've been playing to determine who's the better ninja.**

**Hanzo: Why don't they just fight each other?**

**Blu: Because they're too evenly matched. Each time they fight, they blow things up but neither one wins. So they've said that whoever wins the best out of a hundred matches is the best between the two of them.**

**Hanzo: That's…kinda…stupid.**

**Sakura: No, it **_**is**_** stupid. How does beating each other in a video game prove who's the better ninja?**

**Naruto: Take this! Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!**

**Nataro: Aah!**

**Naruto: Haha! I win!**

**Nataro: Alright, next match! This time, let's pick girls! I get Hinata-chan!**

**Naruto: No fair! You always spam her Rokujuyon Sho (64 Palms Guard)!**

**Nataro: You do the same thing with Karin's Kagura Shingan (Mind's Eye of the Divine Entertainment) jutsu!**

**Naruto: That's strategy!**

**Nataro: Not when you use it every time I'm about to use my finishing moves on you, you cheater!**

**Blu: (Sighs) Kira was right… These guys really are pathetic excuses for heroes… (Looks at the readers) Please remember to review for the sake of Blu, and say what you think of the story. See you in the next chapter!**


	70. She who was Left Behind

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose does not own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#70: She Who was Left Behind_

"_You never know what you have until you lose it."_

"Mmmm…" The middle-aged woman with short brown hair pursed her lips in thought as she stared down. "I…will take this," she snatched up something. "And this." Then another thing. "And _maaaaybe_ this." She picked up another thing.

"Will that be all, m'am?" The woman standing behind the counter asked.

"Ohhh…" The brunette looked around at the other items for sale in the beauty shop. All sorts of fancy and expensive perfumes, makeup, jewelry… She gave a sigh and a pout. "No, thank you." Before the saleswoman could say how much she got, she handed the woman 1000 ryo ($100). "Keep the change," she spoke before walking out of the store, only to bump into a tall person in a hooded cloak. "Geez, give me a heart attack, why don't you, Natsu? I thought you were an ANBU member or something…!"

Natsu remained silent as he stared down at the brunette woman blankly from under his hood.

"What are you doing just standing out here? Where's that kid?" She looked behind Natsumoto and saw Zeta standing behind him, hood down and red eyes staring down at the road.

"I do not see the point in this action," the white-haired boy spoke without any hint of emotion in his voice. "Our first target is in Tsuchi no Kuni. There is a high chance that you will be caught by Konoha's shinobi if you linger here."

"You obviously do not know me." The brunette woman ducked into a nearby alleyway and in a puff of smoke transformed back into Akimi. She stood in front of the window of a shop that had closed for the day and took out a tube of lipstick. She ran the head along her lips and smacked her lips when she was done. "Men don't have to go through such processes in order to look stunning." She took out a tube of light pink eye shadow and applied it, then she sprayed some perfume all over herself. "Besides, if you had been in the living conditions I've had to endure for twenty-something years…!" She looked over her shoulder at Natsu and Zeta. "Oh, who am I kidding? You two could care less, could you? Let's just get going…"

**X-X-X**

Later, the trio moved through the trees, quickly and quietly as possible. Akimi had already planned it out. Tsuchi no Kuni was miles to the northwest. They would have to get through Kusa no Kuni's jungle-like terrain, the mountains at the border of Tsuchi no Kuni, and find the Yonbi and Gobi—which may or may not require sneaking into Iwagakure to search for them. And that was _if_ there were no Konoha shinobi trying to find them. If by some highly likely chance they believed she _hadn't_ been burned alive in a river of lava, there were sure to be men waiting at all borders to other countries as well as scouring the country for her.

'_Why the hell has my life been shot to hell?'_

**X-X-X**

_**29 Years Ago…**_

A 33-year old Akimi had been walking through the village aimlessly at night, in thought. Many things happened to her in her life that she had been proud of. She was the student of the legendary Uzumaki Naruto, a role model and example to young girls that kunoichi could be strong and look good doing it, respected and feared for her skills. She was no longer the weak, average girl she despised for not being strong enough. She was practically a celebrity now.

But every time she thought about her accomplishments, she thought about her failures. And every time, the one that haunted her to no end was when she and her teammates first encountered that young man with the cold eyes who somehow knew about them. He talked about their medical records while they fought, easily and fluidly evading their attacks while they were unknowingly cut from the inside with a Chakra Scalpel. He expressed interest in all of them, but Natsumoto was the one he had chosen, prattling on about how he thought all Kurama clan members possessed powerful mental abilities deep down inside of their minds.

The last thing they saw was their teammate being dragged away by his feet, eyes blank as he spat up blood and left a trail of red on the gravel of the cave floor. It was an image that had appeared in her nightmares for months afterwards and a memory that continued to haunt her to this day.

The magenta-haired woman looked up from the ground and saw a familiar outline standing in front of the village gate. She hadn't even noticed that she walked that far. She stepped forward, the sound of her footfalls drawing the attention of the person at the gate.

"Huh? Aki?"

Akimi blinked at the familiar voice and the childhood nickname. "Haru? What're you doing out at this time of night?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" The white-haired man spoke flatly when she came closer and saw the bag on his back. "What?"

"What's that?"

"This is a bag."

"I meant what're _you_ doing with it?" The kunoichi asked as she pointed at the bag.

"Eh…" Haru scratched the back of his head and gave a small, nervous smile. "I was gonna tell you, but I couldn't find you. So I decided that it was for the best that I not say anything."

"Say _what_?" Akimi spoke in a bit harsher tone, getting angry.

"I'm leaving."

The wind blew. It took a while for her to regain senses, but when she did, she still couldn't believe it. "Come again? Leaving on a mission so late at night?"

"No… Leaving permanently."

"Per…manently? What do you mean?"

Hatsuharu scratched the back of his eye as he looked out of the corner of his eye. "Y'see… Aw, hell! Why sugarcoat it? I retired."

"Retired? You're 34 years old! What the hell would make you retire?" The magenta-haired woman spoke as she got up into the taller shinobi's face.

"Nothing! I just got tired, okay?" The white-haired man gave an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes. "It seems like the life of all Leaf shinobi is tied down to the village. Not everyone's lucky enough to live up to the point where they'll be old enough to retire, and, well… It's not like I ever _wanted_ to be a ninja in the first place."

Akimi arched an eyebrow. "Really? Come on, you don't expect me to believe such a lie. If you didn't want to be a ninja, why'd you stick with it for so long and go for everything with such gusto while training?"

"That was before, when I was a kid. It was fun before: fighting bad guys, saving people, and all that stuff made me feel like a superhero. But, now the adrenaline's gone. Everything's gotten tedious. I got into teaching a squad and they kept me entertained for a while, but once I taught 'em everything I knew, the boredom settled in again. Then Kyoko-chan left me, and…"

"Oh, so this is what this is about? Waa-waa! So she dumped you. Big deal. No reason to leave the village!"

"Are you deaf? I said I'm tired of this place!" Haru shouted, but immediately clamped a hand over his mouth. "…Look. I don't need your approval. You don't have to happy for me. What matters is that _I'm_ happy." He turned his back on his old teammate. "See ya. Hn. Maybe not…" He muttered as he walked out of the gate.

Akimi frowned as she glared at the blue-clad man's back. _'I don't believe him. Not for a second.'_

So she followed him without even thinking and didn't look back. She knew that if he really retired, Naruto wouldn't send ANBU to hunt after him, so of course, she had to do it herself. She was discreet and kept a distance from him, watching his every move, until somehow, she lost track of him. Everything after that was a blur. The only thing she knew that was worth remembering was when she woke up half-naked on an operating table with dashes marking parts of her body and Enjaku Masui standing over her with a scalpel.

"Oh. You woke up. I must not have used enough anesthesia," the red-haired man spoke as Akimi struggled to sit up. "Thank goodness I used enough to hinder your movements, Barano-san." He tilted his head slightly. "You don't remember me, do you? Hm. Hatsuharu was the same. You're all so inconsiderate…" He began to slice down her chest open her chest cavity, to her horror, but she didn't feel any pain from it. Just a slight prick, then nothing. "It's very hard finding _good_ test subjects. I don't know how Yakushi-san got his, but maybe I just have high standards. Ordinary people and average shinobi—while their results often please me—don't please me as much as it would to modify the abilities of an already excellent shinobi."

"Uh…" She tried to speak as she focused on Masui's face, not on her open chest and what he was doing inside of it. She couldn't even do _that_.

"It would please me to no end to make an S-rank shinobi…without actually _making_ them from scratch and getting my hands dirty with genetics and biology and all that. Alas, I haven't been able to find out how to do that…until _now_, anyway. Which is why I'm going to do you a favor and grant you power. For a favor in return, of course," the redhead said with a smirk. "I'd love to get a look at the Scroll of Seals from Konoha. I hear that there are plenty of jutsu in it that defy the laws of life and nature. Including a jutsu that can summon the dead. It sounds fascinating. And in exchange, I'll give you back your friends."

Akimi narrowed her eyes and glared at the medic. "_You_…!"

"Ah, remember me _now_, do you?"

"_Bas_…_tard_…!"

"If you don't do as I say, I will kill you and your little friends, too. And I can make it happen. _Trust me_."

She didn't know if it was the drugs, the threat, or the unsettling look in his eyes as he continued to work on her that said he'd enjoy killing her, but she did it. She snuck into Konoha after going missing, for, what, a couple of months? Her sense of time while locked up in that place was shot. She succeeded in sneaking into the Hokage's Mansion and stealing the scroll, but she didn't even make it out of the forest behind the village where ANBU had apprehended her. She fought back, staving them off left and right. She felt empowered by whatever the hell Masui had done to her, but even after the ANBU fell, she blacked out once more and woke up inside of an interrogation cell.

Long story short, she refused to cooperate. When they tried to interrogate her, both normally and via mind-reading jutsu, her mind went blank and she just blanked out. Had she done it to herself subconsciously or was that Masui? She didn't know. She couldn't _remember_, damn it. But thank goodness her old sensei was a softie for the apparent last of his students. He didn't have her executed. He just charged with theft and sent her to prison to be rehabilitated, sealing off her chakra before shipping her off.

**X-X-X**

In reality, Akimi stopped moving and narrowed her eyes. "Ugh… They're coming." Zeta and Natsumoto stopped moving as well and landed a tree in front of her. "ANBU. And they have a damn tracker, too." She bent over to avoid being hit by a large shuriken, but its blades immediately detached from its main body and shot off in four directions. The red-clad kunoichi got scratched on her shoulder before jumping out of the tree and landing on the ground, followed by Natsumoto and Zeta.

"There are six enemies in camouflage. Two are up in the trees and four are on the ground surrounding us," the white-haired boy stated. "Shall I take care of them?"

"It's been a while since I've been in combat. I must be rusty to fall for something like that," Akimi muttered as she touched the scratch on her shoulder.

"Akimi-san."

"Sure, sure. Do whatever you want so long as it doesn't attract attention."

"Very well." The white-haired boy pulled up the sleeve of his cloak and his arm became black and scythe-like. With a swing, he appeared to graze at least one ANBU member, as a bit of blood dropped onto the grass. "Your jutsu won't work on me. I know exactly where you are."

'_He's bluffing. He can't possibly tell where we are…unless he's a sensor type.'_ One of the camouflaged ANBU thought.

'_We know which one to take out first,'_ one of the ANBU positioned up in the trees thought as he pulled out a scroll and whipped it open. In a puff of smoke, multiple spiked steel balls, kunai and larger than average shuriken fell towards the wanted trio.

Zeta's hands were a blur as he made hand signs. _'Raiton: Jishakuno Atorakushon (Lightning Release: Magnetic Attraction).'_ The spiked balls, kunai and shuriken were all zapped by a single stream of lightning that came from the boy's hands while it was set in a hand sign. He formed another and the weapons were suddenly brought together, forming a ball. He caught it and tossed the steel ball up into the air before forming another hand sign. The ball broke apart and the weapons went zooming up towards the trees where the hidden ANBU had been. He moved in time to avoid being hit by the kunai, but the shuriken and spiked balls were still moving towards him. "I've already marked you. You can't escape," the white-haired boy spoke before stepping aside for avoid being slashed in half by an ANBU's blade. His hand became a hammer-like object and he took a swing at the ANBU. A grunt and the sound of something hitting a tree was a sign that he hit his mark.

"You're an interesting little freak, aren't you?" Akimi spoke as she formed a hand sign and dark green chakra began to rise up from her body. The chakra was thick and began to swirl around the area, carrying small speck-sized things. She formed another hand sign and several blood red flower buds suddenly bloomed around the place. A gagging sound was heard as an ANBU's camouflage was dropped, revealing the red bud that had grown out of the eyehole of his mask before he toppled over. After a while, the shinobi's body withered away into a dull-skinned husk and the bud bloomed into a large poppy flower. "At least _that_ still works."

The remaining ANBU released their camouflage and stood at the ready. "Barano Akimi, we have been sent to bring you back to confinement. If you surrender peacefully, you will not be harmed."

"_I_ won't be harmed? You don't know who you're talking to, do you?" Akimi said, folding her arms across her chest. Just then, the ANBU who was being chased by the electromagnetic weapons, still camouflaged, appeared in front of the red-haired woman in the blink of an eye and disappeared seconds before those weapons came towards her. Her eyes narrowed and she prepared to dodge when Natsumoto stepped in front of her. To her surprise, instead of piercing his skin, the weapons bounced off.

Two other ANBU took advantage of the opportunity and began to form hand signs quickly. The first to finish slammed his hands onto the ground. The forest floor beneath the trio began to sink like an ant lion's sand trap. When another had finished his chain, he flicked his hand and created a small tornado that went flying towards the sand trap and sucked up the three criminals into its vortex.

Just then, another had appeared over the tornado, forming several hand signs quickly before slightly raising up his mask for his mouth to be exposed. _'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!'_ A large fireball was blown into the eye of the tornado, making it catch aflame and scorch the trunks and leaves of the trees around them. _'I gotcha!'_

"Very nice," said Akimi as she appeared behind the ANBU in midair, holding a red flower in her hand. With amazing strength, she flipped him over in midair so that he was facing her and grabbed onto his face. "Now lemme show you _my_ little trick," she spoke in a sultry tone as the flames and the tornado beneath them dispersed. Natsumoto's body was at the center of a transparent circular field of chakra and Zeta's arms had become long black tentacle appendages. As Zeta's arms shot out and branched out all over the place as quick as a bullet, piercing two ANBU through the head, another in the stomach, one in the eye, and one in the leg, Akimi put her lips on the ANBU's and began to kiss him. He immediately grabbed the hilt of the short sword on his back. After a few seconds, her body began to glow with dark green chakra and the ANBU's chakra was made visible around his body as they began to fall to the ground.

After Akimi landed on the ground on top of the ANBU, she sat up and licked her lips. "Mmm… I detect a natural blend of fire elemental chakra and lightning chakra… You must be an Uchiha." She removed his mask and began to trace her fingers along his young face and blew aside his red hair out of his eyes. "So young. If I didn't like 'em young, I'd feel sad," the red-clad woman said with a smile. She noticed that her victim was still moving. "Still have energy, huh? I'll fix that…" Her eyes widened as she felt the young Uchiha stabbing her in the side with his sword.

"Heh…!" Haruhi smirked as he drove the sword in deeper. A jolt of electricity ran through the blade and into her body. But it wasn't enough to prevent her from lowering her body on top of his and pressing her lips against his once more. After a few more seconds, Haruhi stopped struggling and moving altogether.

"Good night, sweet prince~" Akimi cooed as she stood up and gingerly touched the injury in her side. She looked at the injured and dead remaining ANBU and smirked. "I think we've made our point. Let's get the hell out of here."

"As soon as the termination of all enemies is seen through," said Zeta as his transformed arms continued to pin the ANBU against trees and on the ground.

"Forget termination. As soon as we cross the border into Tsuchi no Kuni, they won't have the jurisdiction. From that point on, we'll just have to watch out for Iwa's shinobi. Now stop it and let's go."

Zeta gave the red-haired woman a blank stare before his arms retracted out of the Konoha ANBU and returned to normal. The trio disappeared in the blink of an eye. Just as the conscious shinobi began to move so they could go after them, light red pollen began to rise from the blood red flowers in the area that knocked them out.

**X-X-X**

In Konoha, in a home in the Uchiha District, a big, fluffy white cat—whose size may have been due to the size of its fur or the amount food it ate—was sleeping on the bed of its master when it noticed something flittering along the room. A moth. The moth caught the cat's interest and it stared in interest as it landed on the dresser next to its owner's bed. The cat pounced onto the dresser, knocking down several things and breaking something.

Ina sat up with a start and looked beside her. "The hell? Bad Hime! Geez…" She got out of bed, dressed in only a vest and shorts, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck. "Hmph! Look what you did…!" She grumbled as she dropped the cat onto her bed and began to pick up the items that had been dropped onto the ground. She stopped as she realized that the glass frame of an old family picture was broken. She touched the crack and eyed the picture with a somber expression.

**X-X-X**

The next day in Konoha, at the hospital, Ina stood in front of the door to her father's room with a blank expression on her face. After a few seconds, she opened the door. Naota was lying in a bed with Sakura sitting by his bedside.

"Ah. I see. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Mm-hm."

The old woman smiled wryly. "Really? I wonder what Ina will think?"

"It doesn't matter," the raven-haired man spoke, his eyes closed and head bowed. "Does it, Inahime?"

Ina stared at Naota blankly. Before she could respond, Sakura had already gotten up from her seat and was hugging her tightly.

"How are you faring, sweetie?" She asked as she cupped the girl's face in one hand.

"What do you mean, Grandmother?" At her grandmother's quizzical expression, she added, "I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"…Alright," Sakura spoke as she kissed Ina on the forehead. "But if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me. Okay?"

When the Uchiha matriarch left, Ina approached her father's bedside. She didn't bother to sit down. "What was it that you two were talking about?"

Naota bridged his fingers together as he leaned back against the head of the bed. "I've decided to retire from ANBU. I've had a longer run than most members. I've had my fill."

"So this isn't about what happened to Haruhi? Because I wouldn't believe it if you retired for such a pathetic reason." The Uchiha clan head gave her a half-lidded look, not bothering to say anything in reply. "That's unbecoming of you, father."

"…Your grandparents and Aunt Mai will be taking care of the needs for the funeral. You might want to get a dress to wear to the procession."

"Okay."

**X-X-X**

Over at Nataro's apartment, the blonde was lying down on a chair, reading a scroll while Akasha swept the floor. After a while, he put down the scroll to look at her. "Okay, stop that."

"Stop what?" The Asura girl asked as she walked past him, still sweeping.

"Stop cleaning! You're my guest, so _I_ should be the one cleaning."

Akasha stopped and looked over her shoulder. "But I've never seen you clean before."

Nataro sweatdropped and held the scroll up in front of his face, feigning reading. "Well, uh…! That's only because I'm so busy that I don't have the time to clean!" _'Really. It's not like I'm lazy when it comes to my chores…'_

"Huh? But…" The girl was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. "Coming, coming!" She spoke up, going to answer it. When she opened the door, she saw Hanzo standing in the hallway. "Oh, hello, Hanzo-san!"

"Hey…" The raven-haired teen looked at the broom in her hands. "So, Nataro's decided to take advantage of you living here, huh?"

"I'm _right here_!" Nataro shouted from the back. "And I am _not_!"

"Sure you aren't," Hanzo spoke as he entered the room. "Anyway, I've got something ask you."

"Eh?" The blonde put down his scroll with an arched eyebrow. "What?"

The raven-haired teen looked down at the floor. "One of my cousins has passed away."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but I'm not the one you should be saying that to… The one who passed was Ina's brother. So…I was thinking…since you're a family friend and all, won't you come?"

The blonde blinked. "You honestly consider me a family friend? I mean, at your mother's funeral, I only went because of you."

"Well, then go because of Ina." Nataro opened his mouth to say something, but Hanzo quickly said, "And please don't say anything insulting. This is a somber occasion after all. Calling her things like _'bitch'_ and _'weasel girl'_ will only be disrespectful to cousin Haruhi's memory."

Nataro gave him a half-lidded stare. "I was _going_ to say okay…I'll come. I just won't come for Ina. I'll be there because you asked me to."

"Thanks. I'll tell you when the funeral's taking place in a few days. Make sure you get everything ready, okay?"

"Yeah. See ya."

After Hanzo left, Akasha closed the door and looked at Nataro in confusion. "Did you know Inahime-san's brother, Nataro-san?"

"Not really. I can't even remember if I ever met the guy before…" Nataro spoke as he shifted around so he was sitting in the chair and slumping over the coffee table. He held his head in his hands, running them through his hair as he sighed.

"Is something wrong?"

"It feels funny to be giving _Ina_ of all people sympathy…" He looked up and grinned, eyes squinted. "With the way we act, I'm kinda worried we'll start something no matter how hard we try…and then everyone there's gonna be so embarrassed and ashamed of how we're acting at a funeral of all things… Why the hell did I have to say I'd go? I don't even _like_ Ina!"

Akasha tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Maybe you _do_ like Inahime-san, deep down inside. Just like how Arashi and Hatsuma on _Samurai Showoff _argue and challenge each other every episode, but respect each other as well."

Nataro sweatdropped and stared at her with half-lidded eyes. "No offense, Akasha-chan, but life doesn't always turn out like it does on television." _'But I sure wish it did.'_ "I'm not exactly the main character that everyone gets along with. You don't know how many people in this village dislike me." _'Then again, that may have something to do with me breaking into their homes, stealing their stuff, snapping pictures of them in naughty acts and all of the above…'_

"Aw, but you're like just about every anime character I see on television!"

The chunin got up and stretched. "Yeah, yeah… I'm gonna go and see if I have anything to wear to the funeral…"

**X-X-X**

Days later at the funeral, Nataro stood at the far back, unsure if he should be standing near anyone in particular. He was wondering if he should be near Ina and her father, but he felt the best way to ensure nothing bad happened between them was to keep away from the girl. So he was content to be standing _away_ from the Uchiha clan—although the looks he got from Hanzo made him wonder if the raven had expected him to be closer up front.

"Why are we here?" A creepy voice whispered into the blonde's ear, making him jump. It was all he could do to clamp his hands over his mouth and give a muffled yelp before turning to glare at the culprit. Kira was standing next to him, arms folded across his chest and shades on his face.

"Why indeed?" muttered Hanasotsu, who was next to Kira. Unlike Nataro, the two were wearing their regular clothing so they stuck out amongst a sea of black-clad funeral goers. "You saw Nataro and immediately deemed it your responsibility to find out why he was here."

"So? Who died?" The mad genius whispered into his student's ear. "Anybody I know? Anybody you know? If it's your mother, I…I have to say good riddance. I'm sorry, but woman always yelled at me and threw things at me for stuff _you_ did under _my_ supervision like you're _my_ responsibility."

"Will you shut up?" Nataro grunted before he looked towards the front once more. "…It's Ina's brother."

"Who? Oh, Weasel Girl. Right, right. That sure is friendly considering that you, quote: _'hate her with the intensity of the sun times a billion,'_ unquote."

"It's not for her. I'm just a friend of the family."

"Right. Then why are you all the way in back, friend of the family?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just because!" Nataro hissed, turned his head to glare at his master. "Now will you _please_ shut up before you get me in trouble?"

Kira opened his mouth to say something when he locked eyes with Naruto up in front. He gulped and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. _'I'll be good…!'_ He thought with squinted eyes while he pouted childishly. As if he heard the thought, Naruto looked away from the mad genius.

"Thanks…" The black-clad teen muttered with half-lidded eyes before closing them and bowing his head in respect.

Minutes passed and before Nataro knew it, the service was over. Kira yawned and began to stretch while Hanasotsu looked at him incredulously. When Nataro did the same, he got the same look.

"Nataro!"

"Eh?" The blonde cracked open an eye and frowned. "What?"

"I expect this behavior of Kira-sempai, but please have some more respect! This is a funeral!"

"Oh, please!" Kira grumbled as he pounded the feminine-looking blonde on the head with his fist. "The funeral's officially over. Right now this is just a bunch of people in black in a graveyard, mourning over a headstone. Completely normal for a ninja village."

"Actually, I was just stiff…" Nataro mumbled, cracking his neck. He blinked as he noticed Ina walk past them out of the corner of his eye.

"I _saw _that." The chunin looked up at his master, who ruffled his hair playfully. "I'm hurt, y'know! I don't mind if you come to funerals to pick up chicks… I'm a little _creeped out_, though."

"WHAT?" The blonde screamed, drawing a lot of people's attention as he glared at Kira.

"But if you got something you wanna say to her, better do it now while the doing's good, you little stud."

"You…!" Nataro trailed off and looked at Ina's shrinking figure once more. "I'll deal with _you_ later!" He grunted as he pulled himself out from under Kira's hand and jogged after the raven-haired girl. "Ina!" Ina looked over her shoulder at the blonde and quickened her pace. Nataro arched an eyebrow in confusion and stopped for a moment before he began after her once more.

**X-X-X**

'_Geez, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was trying to evade me on purpose.'_ Nataro thought with irritation as he found himself farther away from the funeral and closer to the training fields. "I don't even know why I'm bothering… This _is_ Ina we're talking about. I'm sure people like _her_ don't cry for the dead."

After a few more seconds, the blonde found the Uchiha girl sitting under a tree, eating a chocolate-covered rice ball—one of many inside of a plastic bag. "Why did you decide to stalk me today?" She asked flatly with her mouth full, not even bothering to look up at him.

"You should be _grateful_ if I _ever_ wanted to stalk you—which I _don't_," the Kazaki boy spoke in an equally flat tone, staring down at her with half-lidded eyes. After a short moment of silence, he remembered why he had followed after her. "Anyway, stop trying to start something. I just came to tell you…that I'm sorry for your loss."

Ina snorted and folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, joy. I'm not so pathetic that even the likes of _you_ feel the need to pity me, am I?"

"This isn't about pity. I'm—"

"This is all Haruhi's fault," the Uchiha muttered, looking out of the corner of her eye before taking another bite out of her chocolate rice ball. "If he wasn't stupid enough to be killed by that nukenin, I wouldn't be forced to endure all of this. And people act as if I should be sad that he's gone."

Nataro blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Like you could understand... How many funerals has _your_ family held?"

"Er…"

"So of course, you don't know the feeling of being jostled around by those who miss the dearly departed. People always say _'are you alright?'_ _'You can talk to me, if you want.' 'It's alright to cry.'_ Like hell I'm gonna cry for _that_ loser…"

"That so… I can't believe I was right," Nataro spoke, closing his eyes. "Even when I told myself that you probably wouldn't cry over your dead loved ones, I didn't really believe it. I can't believe that someone out there doesn't even feel bad when someone's died. And your own brother at that…?" His eyes snapped open and he pointed a finger at the raven-haired girl. "What kind of person are you? Did you _hate_ your brother or something?"

"The state of my family isn't something I'm going to talk about with you of all people," Ina growled as she dug her nails into the grass and dirt beneath her.

"Just tell me!"

"Shut _up_! You don't _get it_!" The raven-haired girl balled up a fist and caught the blonde off guard with a punch to the gut. It knocked the wind out of him and made him step back, holding onto his stomach. "The dead don't deserve tears… You can cry all you want, but they won't come back. So why bother being sad in the first place over a corpse? And the corpse of an idiot who allowed himself to be killed so easily at that."

When Nataro felt well enough to stand up straight, he coughed. "Geez… I see what's going on. You're one of _those_ types who think that by crying, you'll show signs of weakness. Typical…"

"Excuse me?"

"Of course crying can't bring back the dead. It just helps us feel better. Better to let out all your feelings now and have a good cry. Then you want feel so depressed about it."

The Uchiha was skeptical and gave him a look that said that. "And where did you learn of this _fantastic_ procedure, Mr. Psychologist?"

Nataro narrowed his eyes. "Oh, why the hell do I bother…? I was only trying to help you as a friend, but if you wanna be difficult, fine! Stay there denying your feelings! No skin off _my_ bones!" The blonde exclaimed as he turned around and began to leave the training field.

Ina stared at his back as he left. She half-expected him to come back and try again. But she was half-wrong.

**X-X-X**

When Nataro entered his apartment building, he slammed the door shut out of irritation. _'I can't believe I tried to feel sorry for her... That girl's the living definition of a stone-cold bitch.'_ He thought as he walked into his bedroom. _'But maybe I'm being a bit harsh. I've never really had any relatives die, so all my memories of funerals are Gramps' own.'_ The blonde blinked as he noticed Akasha lying down on his bed. The girl was chewing on his pillow and mumbling things. He went over and shook her gently. "Akasha-chan. Wake up."

"Nnn…?" She cracked an eye open and yawned. "Oh. Nataro-san. You're back," she spoke, still half-asleep. "How was the funeral?"

"Terrible."

"Very sad?"

The black-clad blonde opened his mouth to correct her, but opted against that and nodded his head. "Yeah… Hey. Promise me something."

"Nnn…?"

"If I die before you, cry, okay?"

"Huh?" Akasha rolled onto her side and blinked. "Why are you asking that? Of course I would cry if you died, Nataro-san. I'd miss you so much!"

Nataro gave a slight smile. "I'd miss you, too… Let's go out to Hagakure for dinner!"

"Oh, boy!"

**X-X-X**

That night, in a house in the Uchiha District, Naota was walking through the dark hall when he noticed the door to Haruhi's room was open. He looked inside and saw Ina lying down on Haruhi's bed, fast asleep. She was clutching an old family picture while her cat Hime curled up next to her and tears streamed down her face.

**X-X-X**

**Blu: How long has it been since I last updated? Centuries?**

**Naruto: Months, actually. Where've you been?**

**Blu: Oh, you know. Here and there. .hack, Kingdom Hearts, Harvest Moon.**

**Naruto: Harvest Moon?**

**Blu: If they had more games where you can play as a girl available for PSP and DS, I'd be happy! DS Cute barely has any cute guys…**

**Sakura: Um, Blu?**

**Blu: Oh, right! Well, with the latest revelations and happenings in the Naruto manga, I got sidetracked. Most of the stuff in it kinda contradicts what I'm planning to happen in this fic.**

**Naruto: Dear God, don't tell me she's planning another rewrite!**

**Blu: Hell no! I'm satisfied with my work, no matter how much it contradicts cannon! This…is…FAN FICTION! No one gives a crap if it's contradictory or not, they just want a story!**

**Naruto: Phew! So no rewrite.**

**Blu: Nope. Although I'm kinda stuck on the next chapter. That's why it took so long to post this one.**

**Sakura: Yeah, right. Just admit that you're getting lazy in the summer.**

**Blu: That, too. Even though I'm spending my days in…(shudders)…summer school. So anyway, please remember to review for the sake of Blu! Your reviews give her the strength to ignore the cannon and just **_**write**_**, for Pete's sake! Till the next chapter, so long!**


	71. Omake 6: Naruto Gakuenden X3

**Blu: I'm sorry for not updating in…a hell of a long time. But the events in the manga have made me lose some of my passion for the Naruto series. Kushina a jinchuriki… Naruto being related to Rikudo Sennin distantly… Nagato's an Uzumaki… It's all too much! Next thing you know, they'll say that Karin's an Uzumaki, too! …Anyway, please forgive me and enjoy this chapter. I may not be updating this fic any time soon.**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_Omake 6: Naruto Gakuenden X-3_

In the depths of an unknown location, were two lines of beds. Lying in the beds were people of different ages and gender, strapped down with leather bonds over their mouths. Some of them had IV going into their arms. Some had fear in their eyes, others looked as if they were completely dead inside. At the end of the rows of beds was a door, which led into a room where a man was performing surgery on some poor soul who, despite the signs on the monitor that their heart was still beating, looked dead.

The one doing the experiment was a man with shoulder-length red hair that had a set of bangs combed over his left red eye. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt that had the sleeves rolled up, latex gloves, and a white smock that was stained with splotches of blood. The door opened and the sound of heels clicking along the floor didn't deter him from what he was doing.

"What do you have to report?"

"Things are going well at the school."

"And my little monster…?"

"Every day, she's there when that brat Kazaki Nataro gets picked up."

The red-haired man gave a wry smile. "Loyal and dedicated. That's my little monster…" He chuckled dryly. "But I suppose I'll have to do something about this before she forgets her place, though…"

"Just tell me: what _are_ you going to do about it?"

"Please, leave that up to me." The red-haired man smirked as he stood up straight and began to pull off the latex gloves with a snap.

**X-X-X**

That night, Hanzo slowly closed the door behind him, breathing a sigh of relief. He slipped off his shoes and made his way up the stairs. He walked past his grandparents' room, where he could hear sounds from the television, and thought he was home free.

"Hanzo." And then his grandmother had the honor of breaking that dream. "Please come in here." He walked inside to see his grandparents lying down in bed. As usual, his grandfather Sasuke laid down on the left side of the bed, oxygen tank still on as he gave a few wheezing breaths. His grandmother Sakura was already dressed in her sleepwear, her hair braided and over her shoulder. "It's almost 10. I thought you were just going to the movies?"

"W-we did… We just ran into a little problem," Hanzo spoke with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Because of that, we had to see the late show."

"What…problem?" His grandfather wheezed as he straightened himself up.

"Kazemaru wanted to spend time at the bookstore on the other side of the lot before going to get our tickets. But somehow, he and Nataro wound up arguing over which comic series by the same artist is better: _Red Panic_ or _Kenka Bancho_. By the time they were done, the movie was already playing and they didn't want to walk in after the intro. So we walked around and browsed the stores for about two hours until the 7 o'clock show."

"Oh. You should have called home and said you'd be running late," Sakura said with a pout.

"I know… But those two were pulling me everywhere so quickly that I didn't have the time," The raven-haired boy said, smiling slightly at the memory.

His grandmother smiled along with him. "I'm glad you had fun, dear. If you didn't fill up at the movies, there're leftovers in the kitchen."

"Thank you. Good night."

When Hanzo left, Sakura settled herself back down on the bed, still smiling. "I'm happy he's found some nice friends—questionable as they are. The only time he smiles like that is when he talks about Shizuka-chan."

"You really…believe him…?" Sasuke mumbled, sounding a bit skeptical.

"You don't?"

"He was with…_Naruto's_ grandson. God knows…what that little criminal…got Hanzo into. Don't think he's…any different because…he said you were pretty for your…your age."

"Oh, please! You act as if Naruto was a demon or something. You need to stop pinning your dislike for Naruto on his family. It's not _his_ fault you're like this, remember?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes and gave a cough, but said nothing. Sakura frowned and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear! You know I didn't mean to say that!"

"Hn…"

"But you know it wouldn't kill you to believe that Hanzo has _actual_ friends," the old woman went on, stroking his cheek to get a reaction from him other than a grunt.

"Yeah, yeah. Where's…the remote?" Sasuke grumbled. He reached over to the bedside dresser and took the remote. He changed the channel to something resembling business news.

"_Sasuke_…! Retirement means no getting involved in business! _Or_ stocks! You know you've got a bad heart among other things, honey. And you get so stressed out when things go wrong…"

"Fine, fine! I won't…watch it! Happy now?" The elderly man growled.

**X-X-X**

The next morning, Sakura walked into the room holding a tray of food for Sasuke. Just then, Hanzo poked his head into the room, wearing a gray hoodie jacket with a black shirt and jeans pants. "Hey, Grandma! I'm going out for the day."

"Ah, really?" Sakura spoke in a mock surprised tone as Sasuke began to eat his food slowly. "Why would you do something like that? Don't you usually study on Saturdays?"

"W-well… Nataro, Kazemaru, and I are going out. We're meeting up at Nataro's and going to the mall. Then we're going to see a new movie that's coming out today."

"That's nice. Have fun, dear!" She said before the boy left. "Did you hear that?"

"I…heard. He better…call in…this time," her husband mumbled before he took a bite of his breakfast.

"Yes, well, do you realize something?" Sakura said with a smile. "This is the first time we've been alone in the house in _years_. Hanzo's at the mall…Kotaro's at a friend's house…Kira's watching the triplets this weekend…"

"Hm."

"We could do anything and they wouldn't know."

"Mm-hm."

"You're not getting the gist of this, are you?"

"I get that you...don't seem to understand…that having sex with you is…bad for my heart."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Oh, _now_ you worry about your health, huh?"

**X-X-X**

"It's so nice to see my son hanging out with some nice, _decent_ boys for a change," Aiko gushed she looked at the three boys.

"_Ma_…! You're embarrassing me!" Nataro complained, although it kind of sounded more like whining. He was wearing a black and orange T-shirt with a red spiral on the front, black pants and a black leather jacket.

"Well, I can't help but be happy when I see you being in the _right_ crowd, instead of running around picking fights like some kind of hooligan!"

"Hooligan?" Kazemaru asked, scratching his head. He was wearing a short-sleeved black shirt with dark blue pants and a red jacket tied around his waist. "No sir, m'am. We're good boys," he played along.

"R-right… We'll make sure Nataro doesn't get into any trouble, Aiko-san," Hanzo said with a bow of his head.

"So polite… You can learn a thing or two from your friends, Nataro."

"Yeah, yeah. See you later, Mom!" Nataro exclaimed as he grabbed both boys by the backs of their shirts and dragged them out of the house.

"Your mother seems pretty nice," the raven-haired boy said as the blonde closed the door behind him with his foot.

"Seems is the right word for her… She's as scary as a demon when she gets angry. I tell you…" The blonde said as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets and they began to walk down the street.

"So, are we going over to your gramps' place to pick up your _future wife_?" Kaze said with a smirk.

Nataro glared at the orange-haired teen from the corner of his eye. "For your information, _no_. And quit calling her that! She's just a friend who's living with a relative…"

"Why isn't she coming with us?" Hanzo asked.

"Maybe Nataro doesn't want us to see Akasha-chan in another skimpy maid's outfit! Heh-heh-heh!" _'Of course, __**I**__ wouldn't mind seeing that again…'_

"_For your information_! …She's going to the doctor."

Hanzo and Kazemaru blinked and stared at their friend in interest. "A doctor…?"

**X-X-X**

"B-boss… I don't think I'm qualified enough to be doing this," said Matsu, the Hi gang's personal doctor, as he sat across from Akasha.

"Nonsense! You're a doctor," Naruto spoke from his spot by the door where two Suits were as well.

"But it's been years since I've done anything like this… Maybe you ought to take her to a _real_ psychologist…sir," the blue-haired man spoke with an unsure smile.

"You act like she's a lost cause when you haven't even started yet. At the very least _try_ that psycho mumbo jumbo," the elderly blonde said as he made a hand gesture.

"If you call it mumbo jumbo, sir, why do this?"

"Because I can't think of any other way to help Akasha-chan regain her memory. And we can't afford to take her to a government enlisted psychologist, just in case…you know…"

"I didn't know that psychologists were a part of the government," said one of the suits.

"They're technically on their payroll. So if one of their patients were to say something like: _'I think I may have murdered someone'_ or _'I was almost killed by someone'_, they'd have to get the police and whatnot involved," said the other.

"Will you two shut your mouths and let the man _work_?" Naruto grumbled as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"S-sorry, boss…"

Matsu rolled his eyes as he pulled out a pocket watch hanging from a chain. "I suppose I'll try hypnotism. Akasha-chan, look at me, please."

The red-haired girl snapped out of her daze and looked at the blue-haired man. "Hm? Okay. But I don't see how this will help…"

"Trust me: this _will_ help," he said as he held the watch up by the chain and it began to swing back and forth. "Keep your eyes on the watch as it moves back and forth. Don't take your eyes off for a second. Listen to the sound of my voice. Watch and listen, even as you find yourself growing sleepy. Even as your eyelids began to feel heavy…"

Akasha gave a yawn and began to slump forward. Her eyes became glazed over.

"You are under my hypnotic trance, Akasha-chan. No matter what I ask, you _must_ answer me. Now tell me, what is your real name?"

"My codename is…Asura no Akasha. My number is 8," she answered robotically.

Matsu blinked in confusion, as did Naruto and his men. "I…asked for your name. Your _real_ name. And I'm pretty sure a phone number is more than a single digit."

"My codename is Asura no Akasha. My number is 8."

Matsu looked at Naruto in confusion, as if wanting to ask "what now?"

"Try asking her where she lives."

The blue-haired man nodded. "Where do you live?" Akasha remained silent. "Akasha-chan, where do you live? …I'm not sure she knows where she used to live!"

"That's preposterous," the elderly blonde said with a snort.

"Well… One more question at least. Akasha-chan…who are your parents?" Matsu asked.

"My father…is…Ma… Ow!" Akasha grabbed her head and blinked. "I have a headache…!" She said with a slight pout.

Matsu flinched. "I can't believe this… She managed to break out of the hypnotic trance of her own volition! And she didn't exactly seem the type to do so…"

"Huh?" Naruto arched an eyebrow.

The doctor walked over to his boss and whispered to him, "I once read about this in my psychology classes. Akasha-chan seems to have a mental lock on her memories. I suspect that maybe…she doesn't _want_ to remember her past for some reason. She broke out as soon as I mentioned her parents. Perhaps she has family troubles…?"

"Hmmm…"

"Naruto-san?" Akasha piped up, holding onto her head with one hand. "My head hurts… Can I please leave now?"

"Huh?" Naruto gave a sympathetic smile. "Sure, dear."

"Thank you…" The red-haired girl left the room, staring at the floor as she did. _'I will indulge my sorrows…and give way to all the pangs and fury of despair.'_

**X-X-X**

At the local mall, Nataro, Hanzo and Kazemaru were sitting in the food court. The blonde and orange-haired boys were eating burgers while Hanzo was only drinking orange juice.

"I can't believe you two can eat that stuff so early in the morning…" Hanzo said, rolling his eyes.

"Food's food," Kaze said with his mouth full before he took another bite.

"And besides, I've been meaning to check out this new place since I saw the sign months back!" Nataro added, mouth also full.

"It's so good, ain't it?"

"Doesn't beat ramen, but it's still pretty good!"

The raven's eyebrow twitched. "At least have the decency to not speak with your mouth full…"

"Come on~! You know you want some~!" The blonde delinquent said with grin as he waved the burger in front of him.

"Stop that! I already had breakfast. My stomach's not a pit like yours!"

"Maybe if you ate more, you'd get more muscle and Shizuka-chan would ask you out on a date."

Kazemaru almost choked on the meat of his burger. "Hahahaha! Maybe that _would_ do the trick, Hanzo!"

"That's not funny!" Hanzo shouted, his face entirely red.

From a distance, they were being watched by a woman with dark skin and red-orange hair. She wore a leather jacket over her open school blouse, revealing a sleeveless black shirt, and short black skirt. Her brown eyes stared at the boys while a cigarette hung from her mouth. She walked over to them as the blonde and redhead laughed at the raven's expense. She leaned over Nataro's shoulder and breathed into his ear, "How you doing?"

"Eh?" The blonde looked at the dark-skinned girl and coughed as she blew smoke in her face. "Hey, hey! Are you dumb or what? You're not supposed to smoke in here!"

"I'm not? My bad… I'll just put it out." She ground the cigarette out on the back of his hand before he pulled it away.

"Ow, ow, ow! The hell? Are you _crazy_ or something, you _ganguro_?" He flinched as the woman stroked her hand through his hair, cheeks turning a sick shade of blue.

"Crazy…? That's not _nice_!" She spoke through gritted teeth as she wrapped her arm around his neck and fell back, making him fall out of his seat.

'_Shit!'_ Nataro tried to kick her in the head, but she didn't seem to be affected by it.

"Say your prayers!" The woman screamed before she thrust her fingers into his stomach. Nataro tasted blood in his mouth as Kazemaru jumped out of his seat and tried to pull the woman off, but she elbowed him in the face and seemed to break his nose. "But I ain't done yet…!" She said with a beast-like smile as she forced the blonde to sit up so she could headbutt him hard. The back of his head hit the floor and he swore in pain.

"Shit…! Get up off of me, you fucking Amazon!" The blonde screamed, kneeing her in the gut, but she punched him in the face.

"Not until you learn your lesson. Kidnapping's a crime, you know! Consider this your punishment before I give you the _electric chair_! Heh-heh…!"

'_Kidnapping…?' _"The hell are you talking about?"

"Criminals don't _get_ to speak!" The orange-haired woman shouted before she began punching him again. At least until Nataro managed to roll over and got her on the bottom, giving the woman a taste of her own medicine.

"Oh, boy… This doesn't look good…" Hanzo muttered, unsure if he should get involved. He saw the mall security coming through the crowd that had formed and sighed. "Thank goodness…!"

"Hey, you two! Knock that off or I'm gonna take you in!" The man shouted, pulling out a taster.

"Tch…! Useless no good piece of…!" The orange-haired woman muttered under her breath as Nataro pushed her off of him, only to be held back by Hanzo and Kazemaru, who had one hand holding a napkin to his bloody nose. "Take me in? Ha! How about…" She reached into her jacket and pulled out a black handgun, "I take you _out_?" She pulled the trigger and shot the mall cop in the chest. Before he even hit the ground, people were screaming and running out of the food court.

"Sh-shit! She's crazy! Crazy people with guns are _not_ a good thing!" Kazemaru screamed, wincing from his broken nose.

"N-now calm down, miss…! Whatever it is Nataro did, it can't be so bad that you'd have to kill him," Hanzo spoke calmly as they all slowly backed away.

"What? Why's it _my_ fault?" Nataro growled to the raven, unable to look at him out of his swollen eye and too cautious to look away from the woman.

"Well, she attacked _you_. The rest of us are all just victims of circumstance, man," said Kazemaru. "That's what happens when you pick fights with people."

"I don't _know_ this crazy Amazon!"

"Well, you obviously did _something_ to piss her off!"

"Forget it. It's hopeless to resist," the woman said with a disturbing grin, and the boys couldn't help but notice how sharp and beast-like her teeth looked. "Now let's just see if you can take a _bullet_ better than you can take a punch, blondie…!" She pulled the trigger and the bullet fired off.

**X-X-X**

That Monday in class, as the school bell rang, several students began to file into their classrooms.

"Hey, did you hear what happened at the mall on Saturday?"

"Yeah, some lunatic with a gun shot someone who worked at the mall, right?"

"Yeah, and it was someone wearing a school uniform. Probably another angst-ridden teenager thinking the rest of us should suffer for their pain."

"So what school were they from?"

"I dunno. All I heard was that a kid from this school got shot."

"Huh? Really? _Who_? Hope it's no one in _my_ class…"

"I only glanced at the name in the paper. I think it was…"

**X-X-X**

"YOU!"

Kazemaru glared at Rie as she stood in his way. He had a bandage on his nose and a sour expression on his face. "What is it, Two-Face?" Before he knew it, the brunette girl had grabbed him by the shirt and was shaking him furiously.

"You're the reason why Hanzo-kun isn't here, aren't you? You and that delinquent Kazaki!" She screeched as the rest of the Hanzo fan club were beginning to glare at the orange-haired teen.

"What do you mean, ya freaking psycho?" He shouted back.

"I saw the two of you with him during the weekend! What sort of trouble did you get him into, you arsonist _punk_?"

"Who you callin' an arsonist, you psychopath? And if you were stalking Hanzo, you should've kept a closer eye on him!" The orange-haired teen shouted as he pushed her aside. He looked at the glaring fan girls, who flinched at the sight of his glare. "What're _you_ looking at, huh, ya fucking pricks?"

"Kazemaru! Settle down!" Tsuki-sensei exclaimed as she entered the room. "Class, _sit_. Now, I'm sure you've all heard the news about one of your class. Hanzo-kun will not be in school for a while for his own safety as it is thought that this attack was an act against his family. So I'll be asking one of you to take notes for Hanzo-kun and give him his homework afterschool…"

"OOOH! Me! Pick _me_!" Rie exclaimed among the noise of several other girls who were all clamoring to be chosen.

"Hmmm…" The purple-haired teacher tapped her cheek in thought. "Maybe…Inahime. Would you mind?"

"Hm?" The raven-haired girl arched an eyebrow. "Do I _have_ to?"

"If you have to say it like _that_, I could always _make_ you do it."

"…_Fine_…" Ina muttered with half-lidded eyes.

"Alright…" Tsuki arched an eyebrow as she looked over her class. "Hm. Nataro-kun isn't here, either. He better have a good excuse."

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere in town, a young thug wearing an Oni mask was shoved into a wall, the porcelain cracking and a horn falling off.

"You got a lot of nerve coming here, kid," said the scarred man in the leather jacket, wearing an Oni mask on the back of his head. "You wanna lose a couple of organs that badly?"

At those words, the younger gang members circled around the intruder, wielding a wooden sword, a lead pipe and a chain. The one with the sword charged forward and tried to strike the intruder in the head, but he missed and wound up getting kicked in the jaw. He fell to the ground just as the member holding the chain whipped it at the intruder and struck him upside the face. The intruder grabbed the chain and pulled the one holding it towards him, punching them several times before finishing with and uppercut that made him fall onto his back. The remaining member holding the lead pipe flinched before he steeled himself and ran towards the intruder. He turned on his heel and swung the pipe, but it was caught and pulled out of his hand in midswing. As he tried to regain his balance, the intruder performed a roundhouse kick that made the member fall face first into a wall.

"Come on, you bunch of wusses! You're _Oni_! You gonna let some _high school punk_ beat you up like that?"

Nataro wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smirked. "This punk's gonna turn you black and blue!"

"Oh, yeah…?" The gang leader picked up an aluminum bat. "_I'm_ gonna turn you _red_ all over!"

**X-X-X**

After school, students began to file out of Konoha Gakuen. Kazemaru was amongst the crowd with a glazed look in his eyes. _'I wonder why Nataro didn't come to school today? Was he afraid? …I don't really blame him. Getting shot at's not exactly lovely…'_ He noticed a familiar car at the sidewalk and immediately ran towards it. He tapped on the glass of the back window, saying, "Hey! Ramen Breath! Where've you been all day, huh?"

The window for the front passenger seat went down and the Suit sitting up front looked outside. "Hey. You're that orange-haired kid who hangs around Nataro-kun. What're you doing that for?"

"Huh? What do you mean—?" The orange-haired teen looked into the backseat and saw no one back there. "Where's Nataro?"

"Nataro…? Didn't you see him on your way out?"

"He wasn't in school today! Didn't you guys know that?"

The Suits in the car flinched. "Not…in school?"

"He said he didn't want a ride today…but the Boss wanted us to pick him up nonetheless. He was worried he would get attacked again."

Kaze's eyes widened with fear. "Attacked? Y-you don't think that some other wackjob's gonna pop up and try to hurt him…?" Before his question was answered, the car tore away from the hallway and left a trail of smoke and burnt tire tracks. _'Nataro...!'_

**X-X-X**

"How do you _like_ some of _this,_ you _bastard_?" Nataro shouted as he continued to pound the man with the steel bat. He was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, clutching at the areas with broken bones and spitting up blood. "You think you're hot stuff? Waving a bat around, thinking you're the _shit_?" The blonde screamed, holding up the bat. "I'm gonna smash you're fucking head in!"

"Nataro-kun!" One of the Suits shouted as they entered the alleyway. He ran up to the blonde boy and grabbed the back of his jacket collar, pulling him back before he could strike the man. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm giving him what he deserves! Lemme go!"

**X-X-X**

The first thing Naruto had done to Nataro when he had been brought over to his house was slap him in the face. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you? You know better than to skip school to go and pick fights! _Especially_ after what happened the last time! Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

The younger blonde remained speechless as he looked down at the floor, clenching his shaking fists.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Nataro!" Nataro did as he said, empty blue eyes staring into angry ones. "Why the hell did you do that? I just wanna know why you did the dumbass things that you did!"

"…I wanted…to feel like I could still do something. I can beat up guys who come at me with bats and crowbars and swords, but as soon as that bitch pulled out a gun, I couldn't do anything. I froze up. And because of that, Hanzo got shot! It's all my fault!" The teen shouted as he grabbed onto his head and grit his teeth in frustration. "Because I'm weak…!"

"So you feel guilty? You think that justifies you skipping school? You think that justifies beating up people just to get your frustration out? Well you're _wrong_! That sort of thinking makes you just another lowdown, no-good _punk_ who thinks they can do anything they want with brute force! And I know for a fact that that's not the sort of person you are!"

"What makes _you_ think that you know what I'm like, huh? I wish you'd stop seeing me as something I'm _not_!" Nataro shouted before he ran out of the room, pushing past the Suits and nearly pushing down Akasha in the process.

"Should…we go after him, Boss?" One of the Suits asked. "Boss…?"

Naruto stared down at the floor with half-lidded eyes. "Just…let him be," he muttered as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

**X-X-X**

Later that night, Nataro was sitting down on a bench somewhere in the park with a tired look in his eyes.

"Nataro?" The blonde looked up and saw Hanzo walking towards him. The raven-haired boy was dressed in a black hoodie jacket and sweatpants, his arm in a sling. "Hey. What're _you_ doing here?"

"Me? Shouldn't you be at home recuperating?"

The raven-haired boy sighed and sat down next to the blonde. "It's not _that_ bad. I just wish everyone would stop making such a big deal out of it. Grandma's coddling me, Grandfather thinks I'm some sort of delinquent. It's all because I'm an Uchiha… Our bad luck is the world's entertainment," Hanzo said with a short laugh. "So be grateful that it isn't _your_ family that's in the limelight. I'm used to this kind of treatment, so…"

Nataro narrowed his eyes. "This isn't a joke! You're hurt 'cuz of _me_! Aren't you angry? Don't you wanna punch me or…_something_?"

Hanzo arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think it's _your_ fault? _I'm_ the one who pushed you out of the way."

"Well then why'd you do it, huh? What makes you think you had the right to butt into my fight like that?"

"My body just…moved. I didn't know what I was doing until it was too late. Besides, I thought you and I were friends. …Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?"

Nataro bit his lower lip. "Friends aren't supposed to get themselves killed for each other…!"

"Nobody was killed! I don't see why you feel so upset over this? If you're feeling guilty, you shouldn't be! When it comes to guns, people freeze up. You're not any less of a person because of that. So long as nobody was _seriously_ hurt, that's what matters." When the blonde didn't answer, Hanzo got up. "Enough of this depressing stuff. Wanna walk me home halfway?"

Nataro blinked. "Halfway?"

"Well, my grandfather'll have a heart attack trying to strangle you if he sees you. No different from his usual attitude."

The two boys stared at each other before the blonde stood up and walked side-by-side by his raven-haired friend.

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**G**_**anguro **_**girls are famous for having tanned skin (most likely spray-on tan), outrageous fashion sense and wild hair colors.**


	72. Battle on the Beachfront

**Nataro: (Holds up a bag in the air triumphantly) I've managed to repack!**

**Kazemaru: Me, too!**

**Hanzo: Me, three.**

**Nataro: Well, let's get outta here before the fic's deleted off the site. (Starts to walk off casually until Hanzo grabs his arm.)**

**Hanzo: Wait… Something's off.**

**Kaze: _Again_?**

**Blu: Yeah… The fic's not gonna be rewritten.**

**Nataro: Say what? B-but you said—!**

**Kaze: I should've known it would be a hassle to go through this AGAIN!**

**Hanzo: So, what exactly compelled you to redo this chapter over and add some stuff?**

**Blu: Oh, I dunno… Maybe it's because of I'm starting to like the series again… The current chapters aren't making me facepalm…the anime episode fillers actually amuse me…plus there's Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations coming out sometime this year, I think, so I can kick Part 2 Sasuke's psychotic ass with the more tolerable Part 1 Sasuke's angsty ass.**

**Hanzo: Ah… So…no rewrite?**

**Blu: No rewrite.**

**Kazemaru: No reboot?**

**Blu: No reboot.**

**Nataro: No retcon?**

**Blu: …No retcon.**

**Nataro: *Sigh* And I was coming up with some nice new names for myself…**

**Kazemaru: Please! You were gonna be renamed Naruto! And you didn't have a choice in the first place, idiot!**

**Blu: (Ignores the fighting in the background) I'd also like to point out that ****I'm thinking of ceasing Naruto Gakuenden X and replacing them with simple in-universe chapter-length omake.**** That may make some of you happy. (You know who you are.)**

_Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own Naruto or any of its characters. She only owns her OCs and this fic._

**X-X-X**

_#71: Battle on the Beachfront_

_(Several months ago in Nami no Kuni…)_

It is nighttime in a small town in Nami no Kuni by the sea coast. The mist is covering a small area out at sea in particular. A small canoe departed from a dock, carrying three young men.

"Alright, let's see your so-called _'monster'_," said the one who was rowing.

"I'm telling you—I _heard_ something when I was out last night!"

"Were you, by any chance, _drinking_ last night?"

While the other two laughed, the alcoholic's face turned red from anger and shouted, "_No_, ya idiots! I think I saw something in the water!"

The other two looked at each other with half-lidded eyes before they stated flatly, "Beer goggles."

"Now look here—!" The trio stopped speaking as something rocked their boat from underneath, almost making it capsize. "Ah! Wh-what was that…?"

"Uh… I dunno… Manatee?"

"There _are_ no manatees in these waters!"

"Well, no _fish_ can make a boat rock like that!" The one who had been rowing said seconds before the mist became thicker. The young men gulped and bunched closer together, two holding up oars as if they were weapons as a low growl could be heard. "O-okay! I think we've had enough for one night! Let's get back to dock! Uh… Wh-which way did we come from?"

"Wasn't it over there?"

"I thought it was over _there_!"

"Hell, let's go _somewhere_!" The man shouted as he put an oar in the water, but it was suddenly pulled out of his hands and into the water. He looked over the side of the boat in fear and watched as bubbles rose up to the water's surface. Seconds later, the broken up oar rose to the surface as well.

"Aw, hell…! I can't believe he's right…! Now we're gonna die because ofthis _idiot_!" The other man shouted as he punched the alcoholic in the arm, but he was too busy staring at something in the distance. "What do you got to say for yourself? _Well_?"

The alcoholic pointed at something in the distance. A beastly-looking shadow with glowing red eyes, floating in the water. "ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRR!" The beastly shadow roared before a large tidal wave rose up in front of it, coming right towards the small boat.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

**X-X-X**

Several days later in Konohagakure…

"I missed you, Tsuki-sensei…" Kazemaru spoke contentedly while he hugged Tsuki. "You have no idea how awful it was going on missions without you leading us!"

Hanzo looked at him out of the corner of his eye and sweatdropped. "They're only awful because you make them out to be awful. You _and_ Nataro…"

"That's nice, Kaze. But let's not have any sentimental stuff in front of the Hokage," the purple-haired jonin spoke flatly while she looked at Naruto, who was sitting behind his desk arching an eyebrow.

"O-of course." The orange-haired teen blushed in embarrassment before he stepped back into line with his arms folded across his chest.

"…Now that we've gotten _that_ out of the way, for the last couple of days, there have been reports of strange happenings near waterfronts in Hi no Kuni and a few neighboring countries. People going onto the water at night and not showing up until morning with several injuries. They all claim the same thing… That it was a monster that did it."

"_Monster_?" Tsuki asked skeptically. "You _can't_ be serious…"

"It might sound ridiculous, but damage caused is real," the Rokudaime spoke as he bridged his fingers and leaned back in his seat. "And it's getting worse with each attack. Before, people weren't attacked when they saw the creature—they just woke up unharmed. Gradually, it appears to have gotten more aggressive, leaving damage along the shores and working up to hurting people. The last attack took place in a town on the coast… One was gravely injured, and two are missing and presumed dead."

"And this guy thinks…a _monster_ did it?" Hanzo asked.

"He thinks that's so. However, I'm not so sure myself." Naruto held out a folder to Tsuki and she took it from him. As she thumbed through the papers inside, he continued, "The target appears to be moving along the coast. It seems it's going into Cha no Kuni. Whether or not the target is human or demon, it needs to be stopped."

"Roger that, sir!" Tsuki said with a salute. "Alright, boys. We meet at the gates in half an hour."

"Huh? But, Tsuki-sempai…Nataro's not even here," said Hanzo.

"Yeah, I mean… Shouldn't one of us go and get him before we prep?" Kaze asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"I've already got that covered," the purple-haired woman said with a nod.

Seconds later, the office door was kicked open and Kira stood in the doorway, holding two pieces of rope. "Well, it was a doozy, but I did it." He walked inside, pulling along Akasha, who had her hands tied up, and dragging Nataro, who was on the ground hogtied. "I've always wanted to try hogtying, and I got to! All thanks to Tsu-Tsu!" He looked at the jonin with a broad grin. "I really did miss you, you know. It gets old picking on this kid all the time."

"UNTIE ME, YOU SONNUVA—GUH!" The blonde stopped speaking when Kira kicked him hard in the ribs.

"Now what did we say about language in front of ladies? Speaking that way in front of your roommate…! Oh, and Tsuki, I guess."

"You're late," Tsuki spoke as she folded her arms across her chest.

"He put up a fight. Luckily, Red was more consenting."

"Which makes _me_ say: and why the hell did you tie _her_ up? I just asked you to bring Nataro!"

Kira's closed his eyes and looked lax as he said, "I got into it. But as a gentleman, I refused to hogtie her. I just tied her up with a difficult knot and it won't come undone."

"…And you did that because…?"

The mad genius shrugged. "I got into it."

"Of course you did," the purple-haired woman spoke flatly with half-lidded eyes. She bent over to look at Nataro as he was trying to lean forward to bite off the rope. "Nataro, we've got a mission. After you get out of that, you have 30 minutes to prepare and get to the gate."

The young chunin had managed to get a strand of the rope in-between his teeth and was trying to loosen it when he finally heard her. "A mission…?" He spoke with his mouth full. "_That's_ why you got him to tie me up for?"

"Well, we couldn't find you and you weren't in any of your usual hang out spots. I had no choice." _'I might have still been a bit tipsy from my last drink off-duty, but I'm not going to say that my first day back…'_ The purple-haired woman added mentally as she looked out of the corner of her eye. "Just untie him, Kira…"

**X-X-X**

A short while later at Nataro's apartment…

"Man… The first day she comes back and I get _hogtied_. Tsuki-sensei… Why'd you have to send _that_ guy after me?" The black-clad blonde grumbled with half-lidded eyes as he stood by his bed, packing his equipment and spare clothes into his bag. "Being dragged through town like that… Hopefully, they'll forget everything they saw when I come back." He gave a sigh as he zipped the bag close before picking it up and walking out into the living room. Akasha was sitting on a chair, reading a book. "I'm off!"

"Good luck! Be careful! I'll miss you! I'll cry if you die!" The redhead called as the blonde walked towards the door, her last sentence making him stop before he could grab the doorknob. "Huh? Aren't you going now?"

Nataro turned around and looked at Akasha with half-lidded eyes. "Y'know…you don't have to say that thing about crying when I die… At least not as part of a farewell."

"I just thought you'd want to hear that. Is that too depressing?"

"Kinda. At least you didn't say _'I'll cry __**when**__ you die'_," he said with a shrug. "See ya later!" He grinned before he opened the door and walked out.

A few seconds later, Akasha got a somber look on her face. "Which one of us will die first, I wonder…?"

**X-X-X**

At the same time, somewhere along the seacoast in Hi no Kuni, Ichinisan, Tetsuotome and Hitsuke walked as the waves crashed against the rock walls, the first cloak-wearing figure looking at a photo in his hand.

"Our target this time is the Sanbi no Kyodaigame. The species it imitates alone can tell you that it has an advantage in the water," Ichinisan spoke.

"And we're stepping right into its territory by fighting it near the sea," said Tetsuotome. "How annoying…"

"What's even worse is its skin. It supposedly has resilience towards physical attacks—ninjutsu included. Plus, there's supposed to be something about its chakra…"

"Tch! It doesn't matter! I'm gonna take care of the bijuu and then… Uh… What comes after that?" The iron maiden asked with half-lidded eyes. "The Sanbi is our last target. What's to do after that?"

"The leader will give us orders on what to do next. Until then, we have to do as we're told and find the tailed beast while _you_ have to mark it."

"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill." Tetsuotome looked out of the corner of her eye at Hitsuke. "_You're_ being awfully quiet. Not that I don't mind."

Hitsuke scratched the back of his head. "…I've been thinking about something. The Sanbi was reborn in _my_ Kirigakure. There's a chance that the Undertaker Squad is going to be looking for it if it's running around outside of the village."

"So? If they try to drag the beast back, we'll beat them red, black and blue before they can interfere!" Tetsuotome said with a disturbing smile.

"_Fuck_ the Sanbi! I don't care about that! I care about the damn Oinin finding me and annoying me once more! It's bad enough we gotta deal with Konoha shinobi while we're here, but now Kiri shinobi are gonna be coming after us? This is _bull_…!"

"Well, cry me a river! It's not like you can't take care of anyone from that pesky village!"

"I ain't weak! They just annoy me… They're like freaking ghosts with the way they seem to fade in and try to kill me."

"Hmph… I suppose hunter-ninja can be irritating from time to time, but you better not run off at the first sight of them!"

"I don't mind them. I think they're irritating when they pop up, but…" Hitsuke smirked underneath the hood of his cloak. "I like it when they _burst into flames_…! Heh-heh-heh…!"

"We've already got ninja from Suna, Kumo, and Konoha who are on the lookout for us. Adding one more village to the list isn't so bad… Besides, it's been a while since I've fought a Kiri ninja."

"The Sanbi is the top priority in this mission. Understand?" Ichinisan spoke flatly. _'I personally don't mind the prospect of not seeing another bijuu again for a while…'_ "Lucky for us, it's leaving an easy trail to follow…"

**X-X-X**

"So our target is a sea monster? Has Gramps finally lost it?" Nataro asked flatly as he and the rest of Team 14 jumped through the treetops.

"It can't _possibly_ be a real monster!" Tsuki exclaimed.

"Sempai… Do I have to remind you about the incident with Suna, and the Asura, and the Oni, and the Nibi that Nataro said he fought a while ago…?" Hanzo trailed off.

"You can't blame me for trying to be hopeful…after my last run-in with a demon left me with a _broken back_... Either way, we were sent to investigate, and if possible, stop the attacks that have been happening. The attacks only happen near large bodies of water: the sea, the ocean, what have you. They also seem to be going down further into the peninsula leading to the ocean."

"Maybe our sea monster is trying to find its home in the sea again," said Kazemaru. This got him skeptical looks from Hanzo and Nataro. "What? Can't _I_ be hopeful, too? The last thing I want's to go to the _sea_…! Why'd it have to be _us_? After the last mission we had near the ocean…!"

'_Here he goes again…'_ The blonde and raven thought at the same time before their pyromanic teammate began his tirade.

"_Damn_ nukenin with his _damn_ giant crabs that hold you under the _damn_ water until you almost _FUCKING BLACK OUT_!"

"KAZEMARU!" Tsuki shouted. "Get a grip!"

"S-sorry…!" The orange-haired teen spoke meekly.

"Well…look on the bright side. If you drown again, there's a chance Tsuki-sensei can give you CPR again. The downside is, there's a chance that Hanzo's lips will be on yours instead," said Nataro.

"Now why'd you have to go and say _that_, you freaking sicko?" Kaze shouted as a small vein throbbed on his forehead.

"Seriously, Nataro…" Hanzo mumbled under his breath as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head.

"What? It could happen!"

**X-X-X**

A few days later, Team Tsuki arrived outside of a town settled near a beach that stretched out for several miles in Cha no Kuni. Nataro and Kazemaru watched in awe while several people walked around, chatting happily.

"You know what I said about the ocean? I take it back…! I take it _all_ back," the orange-haired teen said with a slight blush on his cheeks as he caught sight of a group of girls dressed in bikinis and beach wear. "We can't let such a wonderful place be destroyed by whatever bastard is causing all this trouble!"

"_Focus_, Kaze," said Nataro as he grabbed the taller boy's face and made him look at him. Kaze pushed Nataro back and folded his arms across his chest with a huff. "We gotta find the creep that's responsible for all of these attacks! Whether it's a bijuu or an Asura, they're going down!" The blonde exclaimed as he pounded his fist into his open palm.

'_I swear he's getting obsessive with this Asura thing…'_ Hanzo thought with half-lidded eyes as he looked out of the corner of his eye. "I'd much prefer for it to be something _closer_ to the ordinary, but with our kind of luck, we're sure to run into either one of those things." The medic looked at their squad leader. "So, should we split up now?"

Tsuki nodded. "Mm. Remember to ask for information similar to the descriptions of the incidents: odd mist, monsters, people disappearing, while also keeping an eye out for odd occurrences."

"Got it!" The boys exclaimed before they all disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A few seconds later, a young man of 15 stopped in front of the entrance of the beachside town. "Ugh! I'm finally _here_!" He groaned as he dropped his traveling bag and slumped over, placing his hands on his knees. The boy had short, blue-tinted white hair that had a few short spikes sticking up on the left and black eyes, and wore a sleeveless black vest with a sleeveless gray shirt, fingerless black gloves with metal outlining the back of the hand, and white and black pants. On his back was a large blue aged scroll. "That beach resort town! Nadeshiko? Nareshiko? I can't remember what the guy told me it was called, I don't _care_! I need a break! I haven't been able to get a decent night's sleep in forever." The white-haired boy stretched and yawned. "First things first: find a place to stay. Then I can find a spot to train!" He picked up his bag and walked off.

"There he is…" Said Ichinisan. He, Hitsuke and Tetsuotome were several feet away from the white-haired boy. "Ringo Myoujou—the Sanbi."

"Alright!" Tetsuotome said with a smirk as she pounded her fist into her open palm. "Let's—!"

"Wait," said the dark-skinned man.

"What _now_?"

"We need to be smart in this case. Not only is there a chance that we could encounter Kiri ninja, but I sensed the Kyuubi."

"God, this makes the third time! That thing just likes to pop up every-_damn_-where, doesn't it?" Hitsuke spoke, sucking his teeth in disdain. "I've got an idea. How about if one of us leads the Leaf away while the other two mark the Sanbi? I'd be _happy_ to volunteer—"

"Forget it. We need all the manpower we can get when facing a bijuu," Ichinisan spoke flatly as he folded his arms across his chest. "We will deal with the Leaf and the Mist if we happen to see them together."

"Damn…" The scarlet-haired nukenin grumbled. "All this tension's got me _itching_ to hurt someone…!"

**X-X-X**

On the beach, several people were spending their time relaxing in the water and on the sand. The most appealing being the girls dressed in bikinis, which didn't escape the watchful eye of one young ninja.

'_Tsuki-sensei said I had to ask for information. She never implied __**where**__…'_ Kazemaru thought with shifty eyes and a slight blush on his cheeks as he stood amongst the beach crowd, sticking out like a sore thumb. _'While my common sense tells me not to toe the line with Tsuki-sensei on her first day back, I just can't resist!'_ He watched a woman with an hourglass figure in a two-piece string bikini pass by and sighed in enjoyment. "It's like heaven~!" He suddenly slapped himself in the face. "Come on, Kaze! Focus! You can stare at bikini chicks later!" _'Of course, it doesn't help that no one's seemed to have noticed anything strange…'_

The orange-haired teen looked down the long stretch of beach. _'Wonder if anything's happened down there?'_ He blinked and swore he saw a pair of blurs out of the corner of his eye.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" A woman's shrill scream broke Kazemaru out of his thoughts. "My baby! Where's my baby?"

"C-calm down! He's probably in the water!" A man tried to calm the woman down.

"But he _knows_ he's supposed to tell me before he goes and does things like that!"

"He's a big boy, dear. You should stop treating him like a baby," the man muttered as he went back to reading his book. "He's _fine_."

**X-X-X**

Further down the beach, away from the resort town, was a cave where the tide came in. Within the shaded recesses of the cave, a large lump appeared in the sand. The sand trickled down slowly until it revealed a large yellow toad that was the size of a human being with a white and yellow Oni's mask on its back. The Oni toad's cheeks were puffed up and something appeared to be struggling within it. The mutant creature spat out a small child in swimming trunks.

"_This_ is all you've brought me?" Asura no Apsaras grumbled with her arms folded across her chest as she glared down at the now crying child. "This brat won't even serve as a decent appetizer!" The blonde Asura growled under her breath as the child cried even louder. Eventually, her tongue stretched out of her mouth and struck the boy, paralyzing him with a viscous fluid. "Now look here… I demand something that's _at least_ bigger! Can you do me that?"

The Oni toad gave a croak before it sank down into the sand once more. Apsaras rolled the paralyzed child onto his back and raised her foot over his neck. The boy tried to cry out, but all that came out was a squeak before the Asura's foot stomped down on his neck.

**X-X-X**

Back on the beach, Kazemaru was walking down to the unpopulated area. _'I'm pretty sure I saw something come down this way… And like Hanzo said, with __**our**__ luck, it'll probably be an Asura hoard or a giant bijuu.' _"Would it be too much to ask for a _normal_ mission every once in a while? Like once a month! Here I am at the beach and I'm spending my time tracking down would-be sea monsters. …Somebody, remind me why I wanted to be a ninja in the first place…"

As the orange-haired chunin continued to talk to himself, he appeared to be unaware of the lump in the sand that was behind him. After a while, it sank back down into the sand. Kaze looked over his shoulder, but upon, seeing nothing, he shrugged and continued on. Just then, his foot sank deep into the sand and was pulled down into it.

"What the hell?" He shouted as he tried to pull out his foot. But something underneath the sand was pulling him further down, after a few seconds of tug of war with his leg, the pyromanic ninja was pulled down into the sand entirely. Seconds after _that_, he jumped out of the sand, flames radiating from his body as a vein throbbed on his forehead. "I repeat: _what the hell_?"

The cause, the Oni toad, was waving its prehensile tongue in the air, burned and scorched from when Kazemaru activated his kekkei genkai while still in its grasp. However, it soon recovered and tried to attack the teen with its tongue once more. Kaze tried to grab it, but the creature managed to divert its tongue and make it move down to his leg, where it wrapped around the boy's left leg.

"Let go of me, ya stinkin' frog!" The chunin winced as he felt something dig into his leg and felt a slight bit woozy. He almost stumbled back into the shallow water until the toad retracted its tongue and made him fall on his back. _'Shit… I can't move…!'_ Kaze thought as he struggled in vain.

The frog hopped forward and opened its mouth once more and in a flash, its tongue flew forward, wrapping around the paralyzed redhead's leg. It began to hop down the beach, dragging Kaze along with it when…

"RASENGAN!" A sphere of spiraling chakra hit the Oni toad in the back, right in the mask. The force of the Rasengan was enough to make the porcelain oni mask break before the mutant amphibian collapsed in the small hole that was made in the sand in the process. Nataro and a Kage Bunshin landed on their feet next to the Oni and pumped their fists in the air. "Got 'em!"

"Yeah. Good for you. NOW HELP ME OUT HERE!" Kazemaru screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What do you mean? You look fine to me…" The blonde spoke as he and his clone stared down at the redhead in confusion.

"That thing paralyzed me. _I can't move_!"

"Oh! Well, hang on! I'll just take you to see Hanzo," said Nataro. He bent over and carefully pulled off the Oni toad's tongue before picking up the redhead with some effort. The blonde held his teammate bridal style.

"This…is uncomfortable," Kaze spoke flatly.

"Would you prefer it if I carried you like a sack over my shoulder?"

"…Just get going before I lose all feeling in my body."

**X-X-X**

In the beachside cavern, Apsaras was biting down on her lip while doubled over, holding onto her stomach. Behind her were the remains of the kidnapped child, amazingly nothing now but a pile of bones with traces of bloody meat still on them. She shook her head as her stomach continued to growl. _'Hun…hungry…! It's not enough…! I…need…__**more**__…!'_

**X-X-X**

Back with Team Tsuki, the Konoha squad was gathered in a room at a local inn that they were lucky to reserve. Kazemaru was lying down on one of the futons while Hanzo held his hands out over the orange-haired chunin's body, hands surrounded by a transparent glowing green bubble that appeared to be filled with a clear, viscous liquid.

"That should be it," the raven said as he held his hands out over a dishpan that the inn staff was nice enough to give them. The bubble faded and the paralyzing liquid dropped into the water-filled pan. He turned around and punched his teammate on the knee.

"Ow!"

"Can you feel that?"

"Of course I can feel that! You hit me hard!" Kazemaru exclaimed as he got up and pulled down his pants leg. _'First I get carried around by Nataro and now Fan Boy's abusing his rights as a medic!'_ He thought sourly.

Hanzo rolled down the sleeves of his jacket as he said, "I was only testing you. No need to get sour, Kaze. Anyway…it looks like I was right. Luck deals us a bad hand once more, and we have to fight more Oni." The Uchiha sighed. "Just once…I'd like a normal run-of-the-mill mission."

"It figures that our _'monster'_ is an Asura," Tsuki said with a sigh. _'Oh, well. I hope I'm not too rusty.'_

"Why are you guys complaining like this? This is great! One less Asura means the world's a safer place," Nataro spoke as he folded his arms across his chest and nodded knowingly.

"Oh, please! Cut the heroics! We know that you'd just _love_ to kill everyone of those Asura!" The pyromanic chunin shouted.

"No way!"

"In case you've forgotten, Nataro, we were told to try and keep the Asura intact and alive if we can," Hanzo explained. "Remember: it's for Akasha's sake—whatever _that_ means."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" The blonde said with a pout.

The ground suddenly shook and people could be heard screaming from outside. "_That_ can't be good," the purple-haired woman spoke with a sharp look in her eyes.

**X-X-X**

Outside on the beachfront, Ichinisan, Hitsuke and Tetsuotome were watching the chaos that took place. A large yellow frog with green markings, glowing yellow eyes with slits for pupils, and several rows of sharp teeth was eating up the people on the shore. The only thing that seemed out of place on the creature was a humanoid figure on its back from the waist up, with the same eyes and teeth, the skin a pale shade of yellow with green markings along its arms and its long blonde hair covering the front of its breasts. Those that weren't lucky enough to escape in time were stuck to the end of a long prehensile tongue and pulled into its mouth, body and limbs sliced to bloody pieces while red stained the white sand.

"Whoa. Don't see _that_ every day. It's a carnivorous frog!" Hitsuke said with an arched eyebrow.

"Where'd _that_ freak of nature come from?" Tetsuotome asked. "That's not the water demon we're looking for!"

"Exactly. So it's best to avoid it for the time being," said Ichinisan. "Let's go."

As the hooded trio disappeared in the blink of an eye, Team 14 appeared on the scene.

"HOLY SHIT! It's a bigger one of those frogs!" Kazemaru shouted with his eyes bugging out comically.

"You mean fr— …No, wait. You're right, it's a frog," said Hanzo.

"But…frogs don't have _teeth_!"

"Sure they do. They just aren't so big."

"The frogs or the teeth?"

"_Both_."

"FOOOOOOD! I need more food!" The transformed Apsaras screamed. "Eh?" She noticed the Konoha shinobi in the distance and both parts of her being licked their lips. "_Shinobi_…!" She hissed with a glint of hunger in her eyes. With one grand hop, the Asura landed in front of Team 14, easily towering over them. "C'MERE!" She shrieked as she swung at the group, but they only jumped out of harm's way. Her eyes locked onto Hanzo and her tongue flew out of her mouth, aiming to snatch him. The raven jumped to the side to avoid being hit, but the prehensile tongue bent to the right and stuck to his arm.

"Whoa!" He was immediately pulled back into Apsaras' mouth along with her tongue. The monster frog closed its teeth into an unsettling grin, showing off its bloody-stained teeth until it suddenly jolted.

"Argh! H…hurts…!" Apsaras whined before spitting Hanzo back out. The raven landed on his feet in front of his team, coughing and covered in saliva. "My tongue hurts…!"

"Gross. Giant things seem to like eating you…" Nataro commented while the Uchiha continued coughing. "You okay?

Hanzo took a deep breath before he spoke, "Toxic…inside…mouth…!" He held his hand over his mouth and coughed.

"Grrr…! Why don't you just behave like good little meals and get in my mouth?" Apsaras bellowed before she reared back, took a deep breath and puffed out her chest. She blew out a breath burst of wind that raised some sand, forcing the ninja to cover their eyes.

"I…feel funny…" Kazemaru mumbled as he and Nataro began to sweat, their pupils dilating.

"Me, too…" The blonde muttered, his vision blurring. He suddenly doubled over and fell to his knees, holding onto his stomach. He started to vomit red bile as rats crawled out of his mouth and landed in what appeared to be blood. Kazemaru was doing the same, but snakes were slithering out of his mouth instead.

"Nataro, Kaze, snap out of it! It's not real!" Hanzo shouted at the two. _'No hand signs… It must be a hallucinogen she breathed.'_

"I'm done with being played with!" Tsuki shouted before she bit down on her thumb and pressed it against her fingers. She quickly wove a chain of hand signs before pressing her palm against the sand. Smoke surrounded the purple-haired kunoichi for a moment before it faded away, revealing a large white hawk standing next to her, roughly taller than Apsaras.

"Oho…! So you weren't affected by my poison, hmmm? You have no idea how much that ticks me off…!" Apsaras said with a snarl. "No matter what you do, you'll wind up inside of me!"

"You talk pretty big despite the obstacle before you."

"Obstacle?"

"Hawks eat frogs, y'know?"

A vein throbbed on the transformed Asura's head. "How _dare_ you think that that rat with wings is superior to me?" She took a deep breath, prompting the hawk to take flight before she breathed out another cloud of poisonous smoke. The hawk began to flap its wings to blow back the smoke. The monstrous frog began to spit out gobs of viscous yellow liquid at the hawk, but it evaded each shot with ease. The vein on Apsaras' head became more profound before she gave an angry shout and snapped her tongue up at the bird, aiming for its leg. But it swooped down and grabbed her tongue. "AAAAAHHHH!"

'_It shouldn't have insulted her…!'_ Tsuki thought as the hawk continued to rise upwards, lifting Apsaras off the ground by her tongue. She looked over at Hanzo, who was busy trying to tend to Nataro and Kaze. "Hanzo! We need to move!"

"B-but…!" The raven trailed off as the blonde chunin spat up. "Uh…! I'm sorry. This _will_ hurt you two more than it hurts me to do it." He suddenly punched both of his teammates at the same time, making them spit up a bit more before they were knocked out. He grabbed hold of Kaze while Tsuki grabbed Nataro and they ran off seconds before Apsaras was dropped from high above in the sky, forming a large hole in the sand. "That wasn't so bad. I don't see why we had to move just for _that_," said Hanzo as they stood on the spot where sand became ground.

"Wait for it," the purple-haired woman stated.

From its place up in the sky, the hawk dove down towards Apsaras and began spinning around until it resembled a blur. Apsaras had rolled over onto her stomach seconds before the hawk's beak made impact, somehow causing sand to rise up in a pillar before falling all over the beach. Seconds later, the hawk emerged from the hole with its beak stained in blood, screeching loudly before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Is it dead…?" Hanzo asked.

"It must be. Once she's insulted, Shiroyuki pretty much becomes dead set on killing the one who did it," Tsuki explained.

"Hmmm… Hokage-sama won't like this. That's another Asura that we killed."

"The body _should_ still be intact…hopefully. So long as Shiroyuki didn't peck the meat off its bones…" Tsuki mumbled to herself as she walked over to the hole left behind. She bent over to peer inside and arched an eyebrow…

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, somewhere on the rocky coast far from the resort town, Ringo Myoujou, the supposed Sanbi, stood facing the ocean. He rolled his head and sighed with satisfaction. "Ah…! Finally! I can't hear the people in town anymore!" He took his scroll off his back and held it in front of him. "Maybe now I can train in peace." Just as he started to open the scroll, a rope made of water lashed out and wrapped around his neck tightly. "Huh?" Two more ropes lashed out of nowhere and wrapped around his legs, and two more at his arms.

A foursome of shinobi suddenly faded in, surrounding the white-haired boy and each holding a rope of water. They all wore gray armor over black long-sleeved shirts and pants and white masks that had the Kiri symbol on the foreheads, each with a unique swirl or stripe. On the water, a fifth appeared with a blue streak going along the bottom of their mask.

"You've gotten sloppy, Myoujou," the oinin on the water, a man, spoke. "But that works in our favor. Now you'll be coming with us."

"I don't think so…" Ichinisan spoke as he stepped out from behind a set of rocks with Hitsuke and Tetsuotome, the latter two wielding their weapons with ill-contented smirks. "It would be too much of a hassle to go all the way to the Mist and have _their_ shinobi on our backs as well. So we will silence you and mark the bijuu while we're at it."

"Hope you had a nice life~!" Tetsuotome said with a wink.

"Because you're gonna have a fucking _painful_ death!" Hitsuke added with a disturbing smirk.

**X-X-X**

Somewhere outside of the beach resort town, a small crack formed in the middle of the dirt path leading to it. The crack grew bigger until a large yellow frog bearing an Oni mask on its back poked its head out with a low croak. It slowly crawled out of the earth before suddenly collapsing. The mask on its back shattered as the light left its eyes, and something appeared to be moving underneath the seemingly dead frog's skin. It grew larger and taller until the Oni's skin ripped apart, revealing Apsaras standing in its corpse drenched in blood and bodily fluids with narrowed eyes.

"That thupid bird! I'll kill those bathards!" The blonde Asura lisped as a result of her injured tongue. "All I wanted wath for them to give up and thubmit to me, and they had to play hard to get…!" She looked down and stared at the hole in her stomach, courtesy of Shiroyuki. "Ugh…! I can't fight them in this state…!" Apsaras stepped out of the Oni's corpse with a look of distaste. "I don't wanna have to eat _this_ thing…! Human meat tastes so much better than anything from vermin…! But without anymore cannon fodder, I'll just be bird food for that winged rat… I hate going home without the spoils…!"

**X-X-X**

"What do you mean that it wasn't in there?" Nataro shouted back on the beach.

"Seriously? We endured all that trouble for nothing? I got eaten by a frog and then poisoned by a freak of nature for nothing?" Kazemaru shouted.

"We gotta go after it!"

"Yeah! I'm not gonna let that thing get away with this!"

"I don't think you guys are in any condition to be giving chase. It's not good for your health," said Hanzo, who the two were leaning on. Each boy was leaning limply on one of the raven's shoulders with aggravated looks. "Besides, we don't even know if the Asura is still in the area. The most we can do for the moment is look around town, but we have no idea if it will sprout up on the beach or in the town… It could be anywhere."

"Right!" The blonde chunin stood up straight, stumbling back a bit before he formed a hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! …Nothing's happening. Why is nothing happening?"

"Because that's not the hand sign for Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Tsuki spoke flatly as a drop of sweat ran down the side of her head. Nataro, instead of the typical hand sign for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, had his fingers shaping a heart."Not even close… You two will have to sit this search out."

"I-I can get it right!" Nataro insisted. He wound up successfully making the proper hand sign, but in a puff of smoke, a joke of a clone was laying on the ground, blank-eyed and white as paper with its tongue sticking out.

"I wanna laugh…but I get the feeling I'd do the same thing, too," said Kaze.

"You can't go anywhere near that Asura until the effects of that gas wears off. Otherwise, you'd be easy targets!"

His bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke and Nataro dropped to the ground, frowning. "Man… Talk about unfair…! Our second Asura and I won't be there when we get it cornered…?"

"Maybe it's for the best, seeing as how you burnt the last one to dust," Kaze grumbled.

Tsuki looked at Hanzo. "Hanzo, you'll take southwest and northwest, and I'll take southeast and northeast."

"W-wait a second! What about if that thing comes back around here? We'll be sitting ducks!" Said Kaze.

"Let that thing come around here. It'll _wish_ that hawk had killed it off when I get my hands on it!" Nataro boasted.

"That might actually be a problem…" Tsuki mumbled. "Are you two well enough to move?" Nataro and Kazemaru nodded. "Go back to the hotel and rest. We'll come back after we comb the area." She looked at Hanzo and nodded, which the raven returned before they both disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Mmm…" The orange-clad blonde grumbled under his breath as he got to his feet. He squinted his eyes in thought and folded his arms across his chest.

"Uh-oh… I know that look. I know you're not the sharpest knife in the set, but you're not dumb enough to fight an Asura when you can't even create a decent clone!"

"Who says I'm going looking for it? I'm…going for a walk," Nataro spoke nonchalantly as he put his hands behind the back of his head and started walking away

"Ohhhh, no you don't! I'm smart enough to know what you're trying to do!" The orange-haired chunin shouted as he got to his feet, stumbling forward a bit. "I don't care if you can heal fast, I'm not gonna let you get yourself killed so _I_ can get in trouble! Nuh-uh!" He briskly walked over to the blonde and grabbed his arm tightly. "You can't run off, dumbass!"

"Then you're leaving me no choice." The blonde formed a hand sign. "Henge no Jutsu!"

"Huh?" In a puff of smoke, standing in Nataro's place was a naked fat girl. Kazemaru's eyes became large and blank. "Gr…GROSS!" He let go of the blonde and covered his eyes. "I think I've gone blind!"

In a puff of smoke, Nataro transformed back to normal, sweatdropping. "That…wasn't what I was aiming for, but okay!"

"I'LL _KILL YOU FOR THAT_, YOU SON OF A…!" Kazemaru shouted as his Houka no Seirei activated and flames began to rise from his body.

"N-no fair! Your kekkei genkai still works when you get angry!"

"C'mere!" The redhead screamed as he ran after his teammate towards the coast.

**X-X-X**

Back on the coast, the black-clad shinobi and the Kirigakure hunter ninja were having a stare down. Ringo was still restrained by the hunters' water ropes, so he couldn't see the interrupters. _'Who are these guys…? Bounty hunters? Talk about being shoved between a rock and a hard place!'_ The white-haired boy thought with a gulp as a bead of sweat trailed down the side of his face.

"…Tatsujin Hitsuke. What could a wanted arsonist want with a fellow nukenin?" The leader of the oinin asked, breaking the silence.

Hitsuke gave a lopsided smirk as he got a dangerous glint in his eye. "None…of your BUSINESS!" The blade of his sword caught on fire and he ran forward. He spun around, aiming to slash some of the oinin's heads off, but they all moved out onto the water, pulling Ringo along with them. The white-haired boy reacted in time to channel his chakra to allow him to walk on water—otherwise, he'd drown with the way the hunter ninja were dragging him along the water. "Where're _you_ going? I thought you wanted me!"

"You're not important right now," the oinin leader spoke flatly. He held up his free hand and showed a ball wrapped up in explosion tags. He threw the ball up into the air over the black-clad shinobi and formed a hand sign. The ball exploded and unleashed a shower of gray powder upon the black-cloaked shinobi.

"What's _this _supposed to be?" Tetsuotome asked.

Ichinisan looked out to the water and narrowed his eyes. "A distraction." The Kiri shinobi and Ringo had disappeared.

"They think they can just run off with my target and let that be that?" The silver-haired kunoichi said with a smirk. "Like hell! I have a quota to fill~!" She exclaimed before she and the others disappeared in the blink of an eye.

**X-X-X**

Meanwhile, with Nataro and Kazemaru, the black-clad blonde was running away from the orange-haired pyro along the beach coast, dodging kunai and shuriken that were thrown.

"This is a waste of equipment, Kaze!" Nataro shouted over his shoulder.

"And you're a waste of space! Now stay the _fuck_ still!" Kaze screamed as he threw a shuriken at the blonde, the projectile hitting him in the butt.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Nataro slowed down to pull the shuriken out of his behind, giving Kazemaru enough time to catch up and tackle him the ground. They both started to wrestle, throwing sand all over until it ended with Kazemaru on top and holding Nataro's arm behind his back.

"Say you're sorry before I either dislocate your arm from its socket or burn it off!" The redhead growled under his breath, the air around them getting hotter by the second.

"Geez, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! You think it was good for _me_?" The blonde chunin muttered as he crawled out from under his teammate. "We shouldn't be playing around! We should be out looking for that Asura!" He started to walk off, but Kaze grabbed the back of his collar and held him back.

"HOLD IT! Tsuki-sensei said we had to get some rest! And besides, if we _did_ find that Asura, we're not really in top condition to fight it! I ain't gonna risk my life just because you've got an obsession with those things, and I won't let _you_, either! So let's just GO!" As soon as he said that, a large plume of water rose up from the sea in the distance. "What was _that_?" Once the water fell again, they were able to see the source of the explosion: a collection of vaguely human-shaped beings. "Something's going on…"

"Out there?" The black-clad blonde leaned forward to try and see what was going on. "…It looks like somebody's fighting! It might be Tsuki-sensei and Hanzo!" He shouted as he began to run onto the water, only to fall in. _'Damn it! I still can't channel my chakra properly enough!'_

Out on the water, Tetsuotome held a giant kusarigama in her hands. She spun around, seemingly trying to slash the remaining oinin, who still held Ringo under the grasp of his rope of water. He jumped back, trying to avoid the attack and further choking his young target, but wound up being wrapped up in the chain attached to the end of the scythe.

"Grrr…!" The oinin growled as he struggled to get free. His mask now had a crack in it, a part having shattered off to reveal one of his eyes.

'_Damn it! This is bad! Oinin are bad enough, but I don't wanna be left alone with…whoever the hell __**these**__ freaks are!'_ Ringo thought as he struggled to remove the water rope tied around his neck. _'If they wind up killing him, I have to move just as soon as he dies…'_

"Y'know, we _would've_ let you live if you had _only_ given up without a fight. But just because you had to make my job a _little_ harder than it already was,I'm gonna screw you up so bad, not even the best medics'll be able to identify you…!" The silver-haired kunoichi spoke in a cold tone. And then, in the blink of an eye, she beheaded the oinin, returning the water bindings to mere water and allowing the white-haired nukenin to dart towards the land. "Damn it! Running away's only going to make me madder!" The iron maiden complained as her weapon disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I can stop him in his tracks," Hitsuke said with a disturbing grin as he held up his sword. The blade burst into flames, and with a swing, the scarlet-haired nukenin sent a wave of fire running across the water towards Ringo. The flames seemingly engulfed the white-haired teen and were large enough to be seen from the resort town. When the flames faded, however, Ringo was nowhere to be seen. "Ah, great. Where'd he disappear to?"

"Thanks a lot for the help…_moron_!" Tetsuotome said with a frown.

Beneath the ocean surface was Ringo, looking up at the cloak-clad trio as he swam in place _'Crap…! Things are looking bad…!'_

"**Are you serious?" **A voice echoed in the teen's head. He closed his eyes and found himself standing in front of a large grey-green creature that resembled a turtle standing in the dark beneath a spotlight. It had a spiky crab-like shell, a pair of human-like hands with no hind legs and three long tails moving around behind it that resembled shrimp tails. The Sanbi no Kyodaigame (Three-tailed Giant Turtle). **"You haven't even laid a finger on that lot, let alone showed them **_**our**_** power!"**

"I'm just being cautious. I remember that sword that one guy has…" The white-haired boy closed his eyes as the image of Hitsuke's sword appeared in his mind. "It's made of a special metal that fell from the sky and landed in Kiri no Kuni. It has a special quality to automatically change the chakra channeled through it into the wielder's chakra affinity… But there's also something of a side-effect to it."

"**Hm? Ah, of course. It was because of one of those accursed weapons that I first awoke within you…"**

"I'll never forget that day…" Ringo clenched his fists and opened his eyes to glare at the Sanbi in its single working eye. "The day my life went to hell."

**X-X-X**

**NOTES!**

**As per Kiri ninja naming theme tradition, the name Ringo means "apple"—a fruit, while Myoujou means "morning star".**

**Shiroyuki means "White (Shiro) Snow (Yuki)".**

**X-X-X**

**Reviews would be appreciated. Or, in this case, private messaging if you can't review again.**


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